Customer Reviews

DJ Kicks

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"As sluggish as wet cement yet as treacherous as quicksand, digital rhythm is industrialized to extreme densities, processed past the timbral spectrum of metal, reinforced to the tonecolour of concrete. Bass is synthesized from analogue frequencies..."

and so it goes on

Its impressive enough that someone could write such nonsense, but to include it in the sleeve notes is a spectacular achievement.

So, what do we really have here?

This is a drum & bass mix. But what kind? Think of witches (indulge me for a moment!). There are good witches, who cast love spells and the like, and there are evil witches, who do bad things such as turning princes into frogs.

Good drum & bass would be LTJ Bukem (check out his outstanding Logical Progression series), with his intelligent samples, delicate motifs and a focus on melody. Evil drum & bass would be...

...well, it would be this CD. This mix is the clearly the devil's work, but the involvement of the cloven-hooved one is no bad thing. In this instance, the opposite of good is not bad.

This quality of the mix is top notch, and if you fancy driving your car at 120mph while your ears bleed, this is certainly one for you.

Dark, brooding, dangerous and evil. And really quite splendid.

Kemistry & Storm may look sweet enough on the cover, but they will kick down your door and shoot your dog if you so much as glance at them!

One of the few DJ mix CD's that has stood the test of time for me, I initially bought this mix after seeing Kemistry & Storm in Washington DC a week or so before the tragic car accident.

After Kemistry's death it became something different.

I've since become a hardcore drum'n'bass fanatic and I can honestly say that the best DJ's are the ones who can MIX.
Kemistry & Storm were innovators and it really comes through with this caustic and bracing 74 minute set. They never sought recognition for their track selection, yet the selection here is superb with now classics like "Clear Skies" by DJ Die, "Hyeana" by Goldie, and "Uneasy" by Jonny L. What they wanted to convey with this mix CD was a moment in time when Drum N Bass was still very volitile and experimental. They wanted to showcase the brilliant tension and precision that these tracks produce and demand of the listener. You see, its all about the MIX, and so few DJs truly understand this. LTJ Bukem, Randall, Bailey, Dieselboy and Grooverider are the other masters of this style. What made these 2 Metalheadz DJs the best of the best was championed with their extremely difficult 'double impact' style of mixing. 'Double Impact' is achieved when all of the beats, basslines and harmonies line up and are released all at once. The beats and the basslines from both records drop at the same time and you get double the impact. What should happen is that in the middle of the mix, a 3rd tune should come out of the first 2; and should only exist because of the first 2. If you want to understand what true mixing is about then pay attention to the transitions that take place in tracks 1-8. This CD is a definate must have for any potential junglist out there, and especially for the DJ who wants to learn to tell a story, and not just play a bunch of tunes.

one of the better collections out there (another good one is grooverider pure dnb 2). the strength/weakness is that almost all the tracks sound the same. personally i like this consistency-- they maintain nice tight atmospherics and keep the rhythm pounding. i especially like the tracks that incorporate snippets of NON-DIVA-ISH vocals, e.g. the haunted voice midway through the mix muttering "now things are closing in..." Closing in is the right phrase, this is a claustrophobic skittering set with tension & no release. nice tracks from bill riley, john b, digital & spirit, & the usual metalheadz suspects. kemistry died a few years back in a tragic auto accident, but she won't be forgotten. peace

After hearing Roni Size, DJ Krust, Amon Tobin, and a few others I feel that this cd stands up to any of these fine artist. Kemistry & Storm have put together a musical journey for serious listeners of this genre. It is a dense sound that takes no prisoners and rightly so, since anything less does no justice to this art form. Though I've heard of very few of the artist on this cd, the fact that I was still able to enjoy the music is to me a testament to the mixing skills of these two.
Every track has a mood to it, and though you may not like the mood it's certainly not trashy and vulgar(anyone heard little Kim lately?) and straight ahead jungle beats, with the exception of the Sci-clone remix "Everywhere I Go". I was sorry to hear of the death of Kemistry(it seems that we always loose the best and brightest too early)and while this may be the only cd they've done together it is worth the money and time to listen.

After ploughing thru hundreds, and I mean hundreds of dance CDs, particularly drum n bass ones, I have come to the conclusion that there is no other that comes close to the intensity, energy, ferocity and adrenaline this album pumps. This album is tops! There is no other quite like it....damn!

An excellent hard mix of drum 'n bass...it does not offer the entire spectrum of drum 'n bass, but keeps the bpms and adrenaline high. The mixing is top notch and smooth (as one would expect from one the world's best jungle duos). "Trauma", "Clear Skyz", and "Pressure" stand out. It is a tragedy regading Kemistry's death...she will be missed.

This is the best dark drum n bass mix I have ever heard. Listening to this well formed mixed brought me from the sidelines to trying my own hands at the decks. From begining to end, this mix takes you a journey which is something many mixes never do... yeah it is a cliche but it is true. Listening to this... you want to be a in a club, packed in, with low blue lights. All you can see are those few headz around you and some this mix pounding your ears.

buy it now.

The same beat throughout the entire CD with barely any difference between one track and the next. Truly I must have been on drugs when I bought it, encouraged by all these 5 star reviews, but now - the morning after, for which there is no pill - that I' m sober and I pledge not to take any more drugs and (please congratulate me and organize a parade in celebration) have checked into a rehab center, I would like to get rid of this overrated album, most likely given great reviews by either people who want to turn it into cash (truth be damned!), or truly believe this is a great piece of work out of loyalty and honoring the memory of DJ Kemistry, who was tragically and bizarrely killed by a flying pavement marker. (look it up in Google)

I was not very fond of Drum & Bass music, however I really like electronic music and I have listen a few other D&B artist, thus I purchased this CD mainly because it was on sale (less than $8 bucks)and because I have a lot of respect for the DJ-KICKS series, but sadly, I must admit that I was very dissapointed with what I heard in comparison with my expectation, and this is because this London DJ female-good looking-Duo did not moved my feet an inch. I was expecting some variety but the result was always the same, not highs and not lows, always the same plain and boring beat and that was really dissapointing. Probably I will need to heard them live or in the Dance floor, but my personal opinion this CD does not paid honour to what Kemistry & Storm can probably do.

technical very well made... a must have! you like deep junglish /dnb beats? buy this