Gene Williams - "Don't Let Your Love Fade Away" - (2:46) 95 BPM
The Chosen Few - "People Make The World Go Round" - (3:18) 89 BPM
Esther Phillips - "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" - (3:25) 99 BPM
Delegation - "Oh Honey" - (5:41) 123 BPM
Velly Joonas - "Kaes On Aeg" - (2:52) 98 BPM
Stereolab - "The Flower Called Nowhere" - (4:55) 105 BPM
Kiki Gyan - "Disco Dancer" - (6:56) 116 BPM
Admas Anchi - "Bale Game" - (5:14) 59 BPM
Francis Bebey - "Sanza Nocturne" - (5:51) 95 BPM
Thundercat - "For Love I Come" - (3:35) 69 BPM
River Tiber - "West" (feat Daniel Caesar) - (2:32) 80 BPM
Charlotte Day Wilson - "Work" - (3:44) 65 BPM
The Beach Boys - "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" - (2:58) 78 BPM
Donnie & Joe Emerson - "Baby" - (4:10) 91 BPM
Les Prospection - "Lido" - (3:44) 72 BPM
Grady Tate - "And I Love Her" - (4:47) 81 BPM
Badbadnotgood - "To You" (Exclusive Andy Shauf cover version) - (2:25) 60 BPM
Steve Kuhn - "The Meaning Of Love" - (3:00) 110 BPM
Lydia Lunch - "You, Me & Jim Beam" (Exclusive Spoken Word Piece) - (4:25) 96 BPM
Late Night Tales: Badbadnotgood (continuous mix) - (1:08:19) 98 BPM
Review: Beyond all the clubbing action, another often forgotten tradition of the 90s was the post-club 'all back to mine' session. The air thick with 'smoke', a curated chillout mix by an established dj would sort everyone out. The Late Night Tales series continues that tradition and here we have a new volume curated by Canadian quartet BadBadNotGood. The album features 21 cuts from their record collections woven together in a hazy nocturnal fashion. Highlights include the psychedelic electronica of "Oh Honey" by Delegation, the seductive 60s folk-soul of "Kaes On Aeg" by Velly Joonas and the campy synth-boogie of "Disco Dancer" by Kiki Gyan.
Review: Canadian expat in Berlin Ed Ed teams up with Finnish expat in the same city Kiki, who is usually affiliated with local institution Bpitch Control for these two new tracks on Sasse's Moodmusic. The woozy and smooth rolling tech house of "Day Of Drones" is perfect to set the early evening mood, with its trippy vocal loops and wonky synths. The remix up next by Clink boss Camea is much fiercer and suited to the peak time with its adrenalised 909 beat accompanying those wonky synths to great effect. Second original offering "Wave Of Drones" is a dark journey track that is really in harmony with the current sound of Berlin at present. Finally London duo Azimute's remix breathes even more nefarious vibes into the track sounding like a one way ticket to hell and back!
Review: Jamie Jones returns to his Hottrax imprint for a various artists release. Named after his respected Ibiza party series, Paradise marks the Hot Creations founder's first original solo material since launching the label in 2013. Joining him are three respected producers. Jones kicks things off with the intoxicating bass-heavy bounce of "Under My Control", Finland's Kiki follows up an appearance on Exploited with the dub inflected tech house of "ALT:TUDE", heavyweight Parisian POPOF (Mindshake/MOOD) gets groovy on "Nowhere 2 Go" and Spanish artist Rafa Barrios, who's recently released on Sola and Stereo Productions presents "Lawless" which is aimed squarely at the mainroom dancefloor with that massive drop.
Review: Wisely, house legend Kerri Chandler has used the opportunity provided by this DJ Kicks mix to showcase some of his greatest influences and inspirations. For the most part, that means a slick selection of soul, jazz-funk, disco and boogie gems, with highlights including the dubbed-out, synth-heavy early electro/hip-hop fusion of Fantasy Three's "It's Your Rock (Instrumental)", the sumptuous, solo-heavy bounce of Andre Seccarelli's "Shock Number 1" and the sensual modern soul warmth of The Foreign Exchange's body. Throw in a wealth of specially created interludes, an exclusive Chandler production (the spaced-out Afro-dub deepness of "Stop Wasting My Time") and one of the Innerzone Orchestra's greatest moments (acoustic soul cover "People Make The World Go Round") and you have a suitably superb collection.
Review: Hero of the Berlin scene and former B Pitch Control alumni Kiki is back on Exploited following up some great ones by Shir Khan, Douglas Greed and Adana Twins. "Tentacles" is a right little epic with Jadele's looped angelic vocals over a tight pre-peak time groove plus rich synths and just enough funk in the bassline. Second track "Paradise" featuring Boot Slap is a lot tougher and fierce with its tough and frantic drums working alongside some acid snarls, white noise splashes and another killer synth melody. Guaranteed and surefire dance-floor artillery direct from Berlin's best dance-floors to yours.
Review: It's a trans-continental collaboration as Finland's Kiki and Israel's Chaim question the effects of love. Ably assisted by vocalist Cari Golden, the duo return to the early 90s for influence with a pumping house groove, replete with old school keys and hardcore-evocative bells underpinning Golden's observation that 'love don't pay the rent'. Such existential considerations are put aside on "Clap II Thizz", a rolling groove littered with urgent, squealing saxophones and stuttering vocal snippets. But the remixes do revisit the theme: Chaim's version offers an esoteric feeling with the vocals sounding ghostly and detached, while Kiki's take is more ominous as building chords support Golden's contention that "we ain't got no flame".
Review: Over the course of numerous albums and Eps, Laurel Halo has made a name with her experimental, uncompromising take on electronic music - can she do the same with her DJing? Listening to this, the 68th instalment of DJ-Kicks, the answer is a resounding 'yes'. It moves from the abstract chimes of her own "Public Art" to the bruising rhythms of Stallone the Reducer and Red Axes' low-slung electro into the next-wave Detroit techno of Fit Siegel and the bleary European sound of Dario Zenker, representing here with "Koraimer Bro". However, Halo is also aware that to understand where electronic music is going to, you must first understand its past - and the inclusion of tracks from Jeff Mills' Final Cut band and Blake Baxter's catalogue showcases her deep knowledge and passion.
Review: More succulent than a bucket of fried chicken and twice as heavy, Vehicle's latest "Boogie Box" - the eighth in total - is full to bursting with floor-friendly, finger-licking fun. Editor-in-chief Valique is the man at the controls, gleefully charging between chunky, bass-heavy Afrobeat goodness (the chant-along heaviness of "Like It Is"), party-hearty deep house/disco-funk fusion (the heavy house beats and toasty electric piano stabs of "Mercy", shirts-off celebratory disco ("Disco Dancer"), swinging, Hammond-rich Philly Soul (Timmy Thomas rework "Got To See You Tonight") and strobe-lit peak-time insanity (the Clavinet-sporting disco rush of "Midnight"). In other words, it's another top-notch selection of club-ready revisions from one of the hardest working editors in the scene.
