DJ Kicks: Which is the best one?

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I always here about these DJ Kicks albums but the only one I ever had was the Kid Loco one from 1999 (and that was alright).

I would really like to get into these more. I hear that the K&D one is pretty good. Please help me out.

― Voodoo Child, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

i've herd that the thievery corporation one is good

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 05:55 (twenty years ago)

claude young

― terry lennox. (gareth), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 06:01 (twenty years ago)

Answers are here:

Search and Destroy: DJ Kicks!
DJ Kicks vs. Back to Mine!
DJ Kicks vs Back to Mine vs Another Late Night

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 06:12 (twenty years ago)

Glimmers, Playgroup, Tiga are the easy picks...

― Telephonething (Telephonething), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

Kruder & Dorfmeister is the easiest...

― Zimmer026 (Zimmer026), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:49 (twenty years ago)

Stereo MCs. I like Erland and Thievery Corporation as well but the Stereo MCs one is a great mix altogether.

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:08 (twenty years ago)

Tiga for me, then again I haven't heard any of them for years. I do recall liking A Guy Called Gerald's about five years ago though.

― Anna (Anna), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:13 (twenty years ago)

Andrea Parker's was kind of good.

― Baaderonixx and the choco-pop babies (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:20 (twenty years ago)

SMITH & MIGHTY

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:23 (twenty years ago)

well, it's not a dj kicks thing but i'd wholeheartedly endorse the !K7-released groovetechnology mix by swayzak. it's pretty fantastic. about the best clicks&cuts micro mix of that period.

― sfxxxxx, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

I don't think any one DJ Kicks stands out among the majority of them, being as they are mostly excellent i.e. most difficult OPO ever, enough already.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

Kid Loco hands down.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

My two favorites are the Smith & Mighty and the Daddy G, with Terranova coming in third.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

I love Erlend Øye's, but I couldn't honestly rank it without exploring the series more. I thought Annie's was mediocre on first listen!

― sleep (sleep), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

i vote kruder and dorfmeister for being both consistent and diverse; erlend oye for best highlights (his version of "there's a light that never goes out" rocks my world!). definitely skip the carl craig mix. it's not really even a "mix" more just cutting from one track to another.

― viborgu, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

viborgu is wrong. the carl craig mix is great because

1) it's just cutting from one track to another. like a hip-hop dj. the moment when he breaks harshly from claude young's "changing factors" to ian loveday's "changeling" is an example: without missing a beat we go from hippy-skippy detroit tech-house to bass-led acid minimalism, w/ the abruptness it's like a rollercoaster jerking to life, or the break in a hiphouse track - totally energizing.

2) anyway quick cutting is sort of the name of the game here because most of the tracks are break-led experimental techno, so smooth mixing not only wouldn't work, it'd sound dumb, too.

3) anyway where ELSE are you going to find copies of glittering, mystical, otherworldly detroit techno tracks like 4th wave's "elektroluv", the tom middleton remix of nav katze's "crazy dream", j saul kane's "teasing the dragon's tail", gemini's "crossing mars", random generator's "zone paging", auto repeat's "you can't stop", etc.

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

although if you can find it, you should download an mp3 of carl craig's essential mix 1995 - it's like the uncut director's version of his dj kicks, w/ yes, "better flow" and more developed mixing.

dance music "flow fetishists" are just lame as hell, btw. it's the stupid narrow-minded thinking that gives rise to the equally narrow-minded "god trance / tech-house is so boring" mindset.

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 18:19 (twenty years ago)

I'd say Daddy G, with K&D in second place. I've heard that the Erlend one is top stuff but haven't heard it yet.

― elgolfo (elgolfo), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:12 (twenty years ago)

I like many of these but the Erlend Oye one was the most surprising and has so many of my already favorite tracks.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:25 (twenty years ago)

I agree that fetishizing flow too much is silly - in fact I must agree to this as I'm sucky as mixing.

BUT

if it's sunrise and I've been dancing for six hours, I fucking expect some smooth mixing.

― Lukas (lukas), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

well i should hope that if it's 5 am at a rave, they'd hire chill-out dj and not just throw on a copy of carl craig's DJ kicks.

pitchfork review: "so it was 5 am, i'd been dancing for six hours, jittery from all the LSD i'd dropped, head pounding, dehydrated, when suddenly the DJ just put on aphex twin's "selected ambient works" and left the room. those grating, tinny noises nearly did my head in!! and it wasn't even mixed!! 0.0/10"

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:42 (twenty years ago)

"WTF! i can't chill to this and i can't rave to this?!? WHAT GOOD IS THIS SHITE?!?!"

mixmag rating: "0 gurners out of a possible 5 'avvin it blokes"

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

these fucked-up drug-addled partygoers are YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, mr dj, and if they need your approximation of Northern Exposure to get to the happy place, you will delicately crossfade to some Banco de Gaia, STAT.

now if you're playing to a hip-hop crowd that smooth mixing will likely get shit thrown at you. so just be supple, baby.

― Lukas (lukas), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 22:00 (twenty years ago)

Pulling off a sharp-cut mix between two song that works well is in many ways more difficult (and exciting, to me) than a smooth blend.

― tylero (tylero), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 22:46 (twenty years ago)

Playgroup by far for me

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

In terms of ounces smoked per mix I'd say the K+D mix would be the winner amongst my friends.

My other favourites are the Erland Oye and Andrea Parker because they both surprised me with how good they are.

― Bn1 (Bn1), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:04 (twenty years ago)

Playgroup yes, but not by far. I love the erlend and loved the K&D too, though i wouldn't listen to that one now.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:08 (twenty years ago)

sorry for my little "fetish", but, yes, i do expect a DJ mix to demonstrate some skills. if i just want a compilation, i'll buy a compilation. there are DJs with exceptional cutting skills, ie odi, but i don't hear that too often. i have plenty of singles i can listen to on my own. i think the selection on the carl craig mix is outstanding...i'm not denying that at all. to be honest, i haven't listened to it as a whole in quite a while and at this point i just listen to the selected tracks i like. most techno/house/d&b to me works best as mix material, hence the frequent prolonged fade ins/fade outs. it comes from the dance floor and thats the kind of head space i want it to take me back to. i'll give carl craig another shot tho.

― viborgu, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:09 (twenty years ago)

i still listen to the K&D one a fair bit. i really like the thievery corp one too. good studying music.

― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:10 (twenty years ago)

yeah, the K&D one is kind of the apotheosis of that whole style, innit? it's a really good one.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

loved the K&D too, though i wouldn't listen to that one now.

that's just because i worked in a shop where this was the only decent CD we had so i've probably heard it 400 times.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:46 (twenty years ago)

love the playgroup one too, my fave. like the tiga and erlend the singing dj's. will everyone laugh at me if I rep for the stereo MCs one too?

― deaf leopard (haitch), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:57 (twenty years ago)

Tiga and Erland Oye- though Tiga's own 'Man Hrdina' track is a bit lame.

― Mr Gripper (Mr Gripper), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 02:05 (twenty years ago)

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