The Juan Maclean - DJ-Kicks

Written by the B&B Crew

Album Review

The DJ-Kicks series has always been the gold standard for the DJ mix compilation. Unfortunately, the past few years have seen the annual collection becoming more esoteric, leading fans further and further from the dance floor.

Luckily The Juan Maclean, the most unlikely of protagonists, steers the series back in the right direction - to the dance floor - with a raw, stripped down set of good old fashion house music.

Some may question the relevance of a commercial DJ mix, however the passion and time put into creating this 72-minute masterpiece may convince more than a few haters otherwise. Built like a night-at-the-club mix, Maclean opens the collection with atmosphere -Ian Breno's dub version of his own "Feliz Casa" and wisely reprises it with a short snippet of Alex Frankel's "Rhodes Workout" remix to close it out. In between these bookends he visits every kind of house music in the genre's wide spectrum, bouncing seamlessly between upfront promos and deep crates. Far from being schizophrenic, it is his encyclopedic knowledge of groove that carries this mix.

With the exception of Florian Meindl's Here Today Gone Tomorrow and Theo Parrish's remix of Rick Wilhite's 1996 classic Get On Up on KDJ there isn't anything very groundbreaking on this collection, the power of it lies in the way DJ Juan Maclean sets up all of the tracks, his blend of Danny Howell's Laid Out with Todd Terje's version of Laid Out by Shit Robot being a prime example. Maclean ranges through minimal, piano, funky, deep, tech, as well as three or four as-yet-to-be-named varieties of house effortlessly with a rugged, hot mixing style that sounds like it was done live on two turntables with real wax platters. This combination of masterful track sequencing plus seminar on the art of mixing records makes the whole affair come to life like an illustration in a child's pop-up book.  

Again, some may question the relevance of a commercial DJ mix in 2010 but here's Juan Maclean reminding folks that it's not the records themselves that are powerful, they are just tools. It's all about how you play them and this installment of DJ Kicks is a reminder that no one has figured out how to replicate the power of a great DJ doing great things in the booth just yet.  

Tracklist:
1. Juan Maclean - Felix Casa (Ian Breno Dub)
2. Still Going - Spaghetti Circus
3. Andre Crom & Luca Doobie – Ebony
4. 6th Burough Project - Planets (The Revenge Lost Groove)
5. A+O - Take Me
6. Rick Wilhite - Get On Up!! (Theo Parrish' Late Dub)
7. Florian Meindl - Here Today Gone Tomorrow
8. Armando - Don't Take It (Thomos Edit)
9. Jay Dee - Like A Child
10. Giom - I Know You Were Right
11. Alex Niggemann & Superlounge - Chip Chip
12. Manuel Sahagun - Pieces Of Me
13. Sonny Foderra - Everybody Get On The Decks
14. Danny Howells - Laid Out (Fully Horizontal Mix)
15. Shit Robot - Simple Things (Todd Terje Version)
16. The Juan Maclean - Feel So Good (DJ-Kicks)
17. Rick Wilhite - Get On Up!! (Theo Parrish' Late Dub)
18. Juan Maclean-Feliz Casa (Frankel's Rhodes Workout)

Rating: 9/10
Label: !K7
Release date: 26-4-2010