Kiki: Boogy Bytes Vol. 01
Bpitch Control

Bpitch Control's Boogy Bytes Vol. 01 adds a subtle twist to the mix genre: par for the course, it features a generous number of tracks—sixteen—but it turns out there's actually twenty-five, with Kiki (Joakim Ijäs) splicing and layering songs within one another during the 72-minute set (Ellen Allien's “Your Body Is My Body,” for instance, shows up inside Fairmont's “Gazebo” while roaring elephants from Andre Kraml's “Safari” stampede through Donal Tierney's “Verse 2 the Chorus”). Regardless, it's a fresh and grooving Euro-techno mix whose energy level grows ever-more euphoric until Infusion lessens the intensity with its elegant closer “Daylight Hours.”

Opening jubilantly with sunny techno (Fred Giannelli's “Distant gratification”), the vibe gradually turns darker, with synths crying like seagulls in Oliver Koletzki's “Da Bleibt er Ganz Cool” and Anja Schneider & Sebo K's “Rancho Relaxo” as if signaling the transition; a heavier ambiance sets in, with Kiki's mix growing ever more decadent as it heads down dank alleyways and through underground tunnels. Highlights? Try the swelling army of sweeping synths inflaming Michael Forzza's “Kahana” (too bad the lines “It's so easy to forget / What you give is what you get” are a less witty remodeling of The Beatles' “The love you take / Is equal to the love you make”), Rob Hood's surging house makeover of Turner's “When Will We Leave,” the clockwork swirls and synth lattices of Misc.'s “Metroland,” and Guy Gerber's mesmerizing trance-techno (“Stoppage Time”), for starters.

March 2006