John Talabot
DJ Kicks
!K7
Sometimes reviewers get lazy and try to sneak a listen to that shiny new release on their laptop speakers. The results are usually lacklustre; the anaemic bass response of most small speakers takes the shine off even decent tunes – and those are rare enough. But from its slithering opening through to the final vocals of the conclusion, Talabot’s take on the DJ Kicks series will leave your jaw on the ground.
The mix opens with the haunting strains of 'Journey to the Centre of the Sun'. Laced with metallic chimes and ethereal flutes, it ushers you gently into a psychedelic summertime resort in the Amazonian rainforest, where everything is just ever so slightly detuned and off time. It’s beautiful, but you can’t help but feel you’re about to be eaten by cannibals.
If that sounds slightly disturbing, it is. Anyone who’s snuck a peak at the track list will understand why Talabot programmed things in such a way; he needed a setup for the four tunes that follow. The appearance of an Andy Stott remix should tip you off that while the chuggy, detuned analogue bass lines which have made Talabot’s name do make an appearance, this compilation has a darker edge. The stretched out reverbs and relentless hats make the Stott remix feel more like an old Apparat tune than one of Talabot’s poppier offerings, and while the Michael Ozone track that folllows might have a tribal tinge, it also shares that disturbed, arped-up and slowed down techno vibe.
The compilation soon carries you back out into the sun with a more tribal groove (thank god, they decided not to eat you). Talabot's debut album 'Fin' may have challenged his reputation for sunny, blissed-out tracks (see 'My Old School' and his earlier output on Permanent Vacation) but this compilation is enough to restore your faith that he still has a passion for congas – Madteo’s 'We Doubt' followed up by some Tempel Rytmik and Harmonius Thelonius proves that he can still funk.
By the time Night Watcher and the ever mysterious #001 come along in the middle of the compilation, you’re almost starting to criticise Talabot’s mixing style - it’s almost a little too safe. All of the transitions are well executed and timed, but you might feel everything is a little too careful. You’d be wrong, as the sudden appearance of Round’s 'Glass' (another tricky to find tune) demonstrates. The mix is restrained, controlled, but also takes you off guard, slipping you a little slice of a paradise like a back room dealer. The sudden appearance of some classics from Paradise’s 'Deep Groove' and Kron bring you up on the high he’s handed you; the Motorcity Drum Ensemble and Jus Ed tunes sustain it and Pional’s sublime 'It's All Over' hammers it home.
Talabot brings something truly worthwhile to the table with this compilation. In an age when most tunes are readily available online, he’s successfully produced a record which contains at least three or four gems from the crate; you won’t find these easily elsewhere. So before you step out your door next Saturday night, put this album on and miss the first set of the night. John Talabot will make you happier anyway.
Tracklist:
01. North Lake - Journey To The Center Of The Sun
02. Pye Corner Audio - Underneath The Dancefloor
03. Maps - I Heard Them Say (Andy Stott Remix)
04. Pye Corner Audio - Zero Centre
05. Michael Ozone - Hetrotopia (Young Marco Remix)
06. Madteo - We Doubt (You Can Make It)
07. Harmonious Thelonious - The Grasshopper Was The Witness (Elmore Judd & Rowan Park Remix)
08. Tempel Rytmik - Anagrama
09. John Talabot - Without You (DJ-Kicks)
10. Axel Boman - Klinsmann
11. Joaquin Joe Claussell presents Residue Part One - Eno (Melodic Dub)
12. Bostro Pesopeo & Pional - Bonus Beats
13. Mara TK - Run (Moodymann Remix)
14. Alex Burkat - Shower Scene
15. Mistakes are Okay - Night Watcher
16. Unknown - #001
17. Round - Glass
18. Max Mohr - Old Song
19. Samo DJ - Tai Po Kau
20. Motor City Drum Ensemble - Escape To Nowhere
21. Paradise's Deep Groove - Innermind
22. Abby - Streets (Wraetlic Remix)
23. DJ Jus-Ed - Turn Of The Century
24. Genius of Time - Juno Jam
25. Kron - Silikron (Jürgen Paape Remix)
26. Talaboman - Sideral
27. Pional - It's All Over (Locked Groove Rendition)