DJ-Kicks: Dj Koze (2LP) [!K7]

DJ Koze, with his friendly, sometimes slightly melancholic approach to the world, is one of the greatest club music authors working today, and one of the few internationally active DJs who dares to create music that transcends the dancefloor.

During the 70-minute journey on his DJ Kicks, the 50th edition, Kosi Kos manages to establish a uniform color even though the genres alternate in a way rarely heard on a mix CD: from Madlib’s simplified hip-hop, through brutalist Berghain techno, to timeless songwriting, floating indie-pop and numbers that oscillate between absurdity and melancholy. Koze’s lack of attachment to stylistic limitations presents him with an immense challenge, so almost every track is more or less edited, and one of them is completely rhymed (Session Victim: Hyuwee).

Koze elaborates here: "I didn’t want to mess around with sophisticated knowledge, but rather try to interweave a few gems that would make sense to anyone, even to people who aren’t necessarily music fans." But this is a discourse you can trust, also because it approaches the term "mix" from a different angle and doesn’t even try to make something fit that doesn’t fit: "During the day, I don’t need to hear anything that’s mixed to the beat. I put the focus on making sure it works harmonically; the idea is more to create the impression of a radio show, as people like John Peel uniquely did. There’s a giant cosmos of music and it passes through my filter."