BRANDT BRAUER FRICK – DJ-Kicks
01. Jan Jelinek – HipBird
02. Inkswel – Australaborialis
03. Theo Parrish – Electric Alleycat
04. Dollkraut – Rollercoaster
05. William Onyeabor – Better Change Your Mind
06. Max Graef – Bummse
07. Brandt Brauer Frick – Bommel
08. Kingdom – Stalker Ha
09. Parental Control – Feel Like / Le K – Abraz
10. Alfabet (Awanto 3 & Tom Trago) – Lap The Music
11. Fantastic Man – Late At Night
12. Brandt Brauer Frick – Out Of Tash
13. Galaxy 2 Galaxy feat. Atlantis – Transition
14. Peverelist – Sun Dance
15. DJ Do Bass – To Catchy
16. French Fries – White Screen
17. Chico Mann – Soul Freedom
18. James Braun & Troels Abrahamsen – Wooden Knuckles
19. Glenn Astro – How I Miss You
20. Philogresz – Edge
21. Bok Bok & Tom Trago – Vector
22. Cosmin TRG – Echolab Disaster
23. MMM – Re-tics
24. Jam City – How We Relate To The Body
25. Brandt Brauer Frick – Hugo (DJ-Kicks)
26. Machinedrum – Now U Know Tha Deal 4 Real
27. Thundercat – Tenfold
28. Dean Blunt – Galice
There’s a difference between doing a usual DJ-mix and participating in the legendary DJ-Kicks series of electronic label !K7 records. Even as a layman you’ll figure this out quite fast when listening to some of the past featured artists who provided mixes for the compilation series. It’s usually less about creating a banging floorfiller soundtrack and more about mixing different influences of one artist into a continuous flow. For a lot of artists who mix their DJ-Kicks the task became a quite emotional one. It’s about creating a mood and a certain feeling. Next in line for the series is German electronic trio BRANDT BRAUER FRICK.
The three-piece has come a long way. From the original concept of creating technoid structures with conventional instruments last year’s album Miami saw Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer and Paul Frick opening their sound to the aspects of pop. And while BRANDT BRAUER FRICK are usually famous for their hypnotic and extraordinary live shows a DJ-mix by these guys could be also quite entertaining. And despite playing records the trio was keen to keep the human element strongly alive on their own DJ-Kicks.
While other contemporary acts tend to perfect their mix with digital software BRANDT BRAUER FRICK kept it analogue. The whole mix was recorded as a live session via vinyl. That said it is still impressive how great the whole mix got together. We can only image how precisely these guys selected their tunes and probably trained very well for this occasion.
The DJ-Kicks of these three Germans turned out to be less experimental as you might expected it to be. There’s a quite cautious beginning that unfolds a dark and mysterious beauty. Tunes like DOLLKRAUT’s Rollercoaster and the soulful Better Change Your Mind by WILLIAM ONEYEABOR lift us slightly out of lethargy. MAX GRAEF’s Bummse is finally opening the dancefloor, followed by Bommel – one of the three new original productions by BRANDT BRAUER FRICK for this compilation. Now the listener finds itself right in the middle of an interesting club night with material ranging from disco to house, minimal to experimental techno. Efficiency and roughness are key notions of this DJ-Kicks. It’s definitely a better instalment for preparing yourself for a club night than experience diversified electronic landscapes.
If the recent contribution by JOHN TALABOT was more for your brain, this one is more for your body. Let’s just keep it that way. It’s kind of hard to tell if this marks a better criterion for the quality of a DJ-Kicks compilation or not. BRANDT BRAUER FRICK did a solid job that came along with a great attitude but it’s definitely not the most memorable instalment of the famous series. But on the other hand – how consistent is a DJ-set supposed to be when it dedicates itself to the caducity of the moment?
German electronic institution BRANDT BRAUER FRICK releases a solid and grooving version of the legendary ‘DJ-Kicks’ series – nothing more but also nothing less.
NBHAP Rating: 3/5
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