Anyone hoping Brandt Brauer Frick would select a host of tracks in the vein of the Ensemble’s organic, minutely detailed takes on techno (see also the 2013 album, Miami) for their addition to !K7’s acclaimed DJ Kicks series may be in for a disappointment. Taking very little time at all to realise its potential, what’s actually presented here is pure, uncut, five-star party soundtrack material that neither takes itself too seriously, nor signs up to the throwaway doctrine.
Maintaining a constant forward trajectory, even though none of the tracks herein could be really described as driving, whilst the introductory numbers perhaps fit more in line with the live instrumentation that has defined many BBF outings- Theo Parrish’s slow builder, Electric Alleycat, for example; or the Tarantino score-esque Rollercoaster from Dollkraut- broken, filthy, proudly electronic rhythms aren’t far away. Moving through classic funk (William Onyeabor’s message, Better Change Your Mind, has never sounded more infectious) and the wonderful padded repetition of jazz-inflected house bouncer Bummse (timeless Max Graef stuff), Frick’s own Bommel ushers in the heavies proper, exploding into an acidic stepper that flirts with stomping, dread-inspiring techno resplendent in analogue off-keys, and confirms this album’s serious dancefloor-focused approach to genre-splicing.
From there classic Detroit complete with uplifting vocals and brass (Galaxy 2 Galaxy and Atlantis’ Transition) marries percussion heavy Peverelist fare (namely his atmospheric and typically stripped Sun Dance), which in turn gives way to the erratic, clap-heavy broken disco-pop of To Catchy from DJ Do Bass, and then French Fries’ thunderous warehouse-inspired bounding tech number, White Screen. Indeed, purists could argue this latest entry into the ever-expanding Kicks catalogue is all over the shop, but we’d err on the side of variety in this instance. Smooth rides left to those who prefer predictability, this is the kind of track list that’s guaranteed to satisfy a huge range of ears for all the right reasons, and few can argue with that.
