Hamburg based producer DJ Koze drops a wide ranging mix for !K7's DJ Kicks. Throughout his career DJ Koze has carved out a unique space in the dance music world. He moves through hip-hop, house and pop with a psychedelic twist and never seems to take things too seriously. When you hear his productions they're almost instantly recognizable as something only he could do. It's one of the things that stands out on what is the 50th installment of the DJ Kicks series. Koze goes back to the original intentions of the series, something more geared towards home listening than an out and out club set. Despite all that he still edits and remixes many of the tracks in a way that helps to tie them all together. The mix kicks off with an original track from Koze, one that hews more towards hip hop than dance music. The sound stays fairly hip hop and beats oriented with tracks from cLOUDDEAD, Madlib and Los Angeles beat scene regular, Mndsgn. It's the songs that follow this beat filled opening that might make up the most interesting part of the mix. Broadcast's "Tears In The Typing Pool" opens the mid-section with its melancholy bent. Koze helps along the transition from the beat head beginning to the mixes more house filled close with a mashup of the 2 Bears and an instrumental from Cincinnati producer Hi-Tek. And finally we end with a selection of expertly mixed house tracks from the likes of Session Victim, Frank & Tony and Marcel Fengler. Koze's take on DJ Kicks is one of the most unique and enjoyable yet.

• 17 selections from DJ Koze's DJ-Kicks mix
• black double vinyl pressing
• housed in gatefold sleeve
  
• music label: !K7 Records 2015

reviewed by tech-house ninja 08/2015