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Album Reviews
Album Review: Various Artists – DJ Kicks: Juan Maclean (!K7)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 23 April 2010
The ‘DJ Kicks’ series invites artists working in electronic music to create their own mixtape, if you like; a compilation of past and present tracks but also with their own original work. DFA signed Juan Maclean follows in the footsteps of such diverse predecessors as Carl Craig, Annie and Hot Chip but his selections are uniquely his own.
He starts with the Ian Breno dub remix of ‘Happy House’, the twelve minute epic closing track from his superb 2009 album ‘The Future Will Come’. It’s completely unrecognisable from the original, dispensing with Nancy Whang’s vocals, save for brief snippets in the opening seconds, and the standard DFA production. This segues into ‘Spaghetti Circus’ by Still Going, a DFA signed act that features deep, soulful vocals and the retro house template that Juan Maclean and other bands on the label have nailed.
German techno makes an appearance with Berlin’s Andre Crom and Florian Meindl, whose ‘Ebony’ and ‘Here Today Gone Tomorrow’ lend an early morning comedown vibe to proceedings, whilst the likes of the Ibiza-based Sardinian producer Jee Day (‘Like A Child’) add a Balaeric edge to this compilation.
Juan Maclean clearly knows his electronic music though and sources the best, most cutting edge stuff around from all over the world; American, Argentinian, Australian and British DJs and producers all contribute. Those familiar with Juan Maclean’s previous material, and/or previous compilations in the ‘DJ Kicks’ series, should anticipate this release with great enthusiasm. KW
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