The mix is selected and arranged impeccably; the journey Woolford has planned for us starts with a couple of ambient name-checks—Intergalactic Orchestra mixed with Sun-Ra—and drops into an upbeat classic house/disco mini-set featuring Alicia Myers and Harvey Sutherland.
A time-stamped gateway into an artist’s state of mind
The best DJ sets take you on a journey. Rather than just spinning an hour’s worth of songs that happen to match BPMs or sonic texture, a top-calibre set expresses the selector’s intent, goes places you wouldn’t expect, and teaches the listener something along the way. The DJ-Kicks series has specialized in journeys for twenty-five years, since CJ Bolland’s inaugural entry in the series, and it has presented more than a few of these upper echelon mixes along the way. Andrea Parker’s entry turned remixes into completely new inventions, Kemistry & Storm blew the doors off with their dark drum’n’bass destruction, Erlend Øye sang along with his favorites from Phoenix and the Smiths… the list goes on. Only time will tell for sure, but it seems likely that the series’ latest entry, from Paul Woolford (aka Special Request), may sit comfortably among the pantheon.
Woolford lays out his approach to the mix in the press release quote: “I have wanted to create my own edition of DJ-Kicks since hearing Claude Young, Stacey Pullen and Carl Craig’s contributions back in the mid-nineties. I always saw the series as a benchmark of quality and a time-stamped gateway into an artist’s state of mind… it’s not a ‘current snapshot’ by any means, more of a chronicle of some of my all-time favourites.” The mix is selected and arranged impeccably; the journey Woolford has planned for us starts with a couple of ambient name-checks—Intergalactic Orchestra mixed with Sun-Ra—and drops into an upbeat classic house/disco mini-set featuring Alicia Myers and Harvey Sutherland.
“I have wanted to create my own edition of DJ-Kicks since hearing Claude Young, Stacey Pullen and Carl Craig’s contributions back in the mid-nineties. I always saw the series as a benchmark of quality and a time-stamped gateway into an artist’s state of mind… it’s not a ‘current snapshot’ by any means, more of a chronicle of some of my all-time favourites.” ~ Paul Woolford (aka Special Request)
Special Request’s first entry of his own work then signals a shift into electro/IDM territory. “Vellichor” is also the lead track off the Compassion 12″ that accompanies this release—three original works that sit alongside the mix to embrace and extend its sonic vocabulary. AS ONE, Krystal Klear, and Speedy J check in—this last with the classic “De-Orbit” track from Warp’s seminal Artificial Intelligence compilation. This section of the mix draws a through-line from Woolford’s influences to his own work, particularly 2019’s Vortex. But don’t get complacent, because μ-Ziq’s “Drocovums” signals another shift in the landscape of our voyage—into hardcore territory.
The bass pressure of Woolford’s mix of “Hayling” by FC Kahuna will test your subwoofer, but it’s only a prelude to his rework of the second μ-Ziq appearance—”Twangle Frent” from 1994’s Bluff Limbo. Woolford gives this classic Paradinas track an extended low-end sweep and eschews the original’s frenetic ending for a smooth transition into Galaxian’s banging, and aptly named, “Glasgow to Detroit.” The BPM stays high for a trio of VIP (Variant in Production) cuts that bring old-school drum n’ bass flavor, both rough (“Drowning in Her”) and smooth (the LTJ Bukem-esque “Pull Up”).
And once we’re thoroughly rinsed out, Special Request doesn’t just drop the mic and walk away, but soothes us into the after-party with another new cut from Compassion. This collaboration with 96 Back, called “Petrichor” is a beatless, gentle closer that wraps the mix up in a gauzy bow. It feels like the soundtrack to arriving home after a long night of dancing, just as the sky starts to lighten in the east. Which, I imagine, is how Woolford wanted it.
DJ-Kicks is available on !K7. [Release page | Bandcamp]
