DJ Koze
DJ-Kicks: DJ Koze
Release Date: Jun 15, 2015
Genre(s): Electronic, Rap, House, Downtempo, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Left-Field House, Left-Field Hip-Hop
Record label: !K7
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Album Review: DJ-Kicks: DJ Koze by DJ Koze
Great, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4.1/5
There's no one out there like DJ Koze. Over the years, Stefan Kozalla has forged a sound that's psychedelic, funny and highly functional, moving effortlessly between hip-hop, house and pop. Whether it's an original track or one of his revered remixes, you can usually detect his fingerprints instantly. That's especially true on this landmark 50th instalment of DJ-Kicks, which taps into the !K7 series' original mission to provide something for home-listening instead of a club set.
Based on rating 8/10
Any over-the-top audiophile (as if there was any other type) will tell you that a person’s private playlist is a window into their heart. This probably isn’t the sentiment that the DJ Kicks series is aiming for. Instead, over the last few years, they’ve been snapping up DJs from around the world, asking for mixes from a colorful cast, from unpredictable renaissance man Apparat to Spanish beat genius John Talabot.
Based on rating 8.0/10
The music of Hamburg-based producer DJ Koze offers an unusual collision of the blissful and precise. In his singles, albums, and remixes, the immersive sensation of shoegaze and psychedelia meets the pointillist precision of minimal techno. So while his affinity for beautiful surface textures conjures feelings of drifting ecstasy, his crisp percussion and fondness for 4/4 propulsion concentrates those airy feelings into diamond-hard bursts.
Based on rating 7/10
DJ Koze has never been one to play by the rules, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that his contribution to !K7's seminal DJ-Kicks series (its 50th edition) isn't a typical 70-minute peaks-and-valleys club mix. Instead, Koze's laid-back, eclectic selection showcases his love for left-field hip-hop and pop as well as dance music, coming closer to an entry in the defunct Back to Mine series. His signature offbeat sense of humor is still intact, as displayed by the computer voice introducing Koze's own "I Haven't Been Everywhere But It's on My List," a glitchy, J Dilla-esque hip-hop instrumental which kicks off the disc.
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