DJ-Kicks

iTunes Review

Launched in 1995, DJ-Kicks is one of the longest-running and best-known series of DJ mix albums around. In late 2011, Brit producer Derwin Panda (a.k.a. Gold Panda) was featured in the series, and his effort is a keeper. His 2010 full-length debut, Lucky Shiner, received strong reviews, and he opens his DJ-Kicks album with one of his own tracks, “An Iceberg Hurtled Northward Through Clouds.” Shimmering bells, handclaps, and stacked rhythms are placed over a thumping beat to create music that’s driving and atmospheric. Electro tracks often trade in goofiness, but Drexciya’s excellent “Andreaen Sand Dunes” has a sense of restraint displaying a quiet sense of drama. Closer Musik’s “Maria” exudes a vibe as pleasing as a warm bath before seguing into Gold Panda’s “Back Home.” This stuttery, organ-laced original, along with Panda’s opener, is one of the best things here. On “Beacon,” LV & Untold create murkily detailed dubstep that evokes the darker, danker spaces of an imagined subterranean world. Giuseppe Ielasi’s “2” brings the album to a hypnotic end with a compelling dronescape.