The DJ Kicks mix by Maya Jane Coles takes you on a lovely & laidback Spring flavored journey - hinting to a sunny Summer yet to come, but not without a bit of Winter sting and frostbite here and there.
After the laid back warm groove on opening tracks by Deft and Kris Wadsworth, a few housey vocal tracks take you to an early dancefloor mood. Chasing Kurt's Money and Bozzwell's Cocoon (great twisted voice effect) keep you happy there. After a brief touch of Africa in Larse´s Karoo you return to a lovely early 90´s groove by Milscot (Angela Sheik vocal): All Alone.
Adam Stacks and Phil Kieran show you some different angles but keep the funky flow going just as Sigward enters with Nuerd. The pace goes up a bit and Maya Jane Coles' own Not Listening takes you into a more dark mood: the more square and electronic, somewhat less housey section of the mix. Virgo Four and Roberto Bardini introduce some techno flavor, with Tripmastaz and Standard Fair taking you back to the funkier groove. Mix section three takes off now, with moody broken beat tracks by Nocturnal Sunshine and Zenker Bros, a haunting Last Magpie (No More Stories), Gerry Read's Roomland - more of a soundscape really - when T. Williams pours some acid into the mix (Analog Tour). Returning to a four to the floor beat, Coles keeps the end section in high-tech spheres through Marcel Dettmann and Claro Intelecto leaving the funk behind.
Exploring 71 minutes of cross-over moods and tracks, Maya Jane Coles delivers a mix album that gives you a good insight in a range of different styles. Her DJ-Kicks stays sort of laid back throughout the mix - it doesn't really turn loose anywhere (no smashing end track) - and might be a bit too diverse for some. Quite a few smooth and interesting tracks however, put together in a somewhat surprising sequence. Nice one!
7/10 - Eric Verlegh
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