Customer Reviews

DJ Kicks

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a black female, and this man makes me want to leave my job, lounge in my favorite recliner, drink several martinees, and feel beautiful. This album is sensuous.

This album has to be experienced. Kid Loco merges heavy beats, ethereal ambience, and avant-garde jazz seamlessly. I'm not sure how much he actually modified each of these tracks from their original state, but even if he left them unchanged, his choice of songs, their order, and the transitions he provides would still be proof of his genius. Each track leads into an unpredictable yet somehow smooth follow-up, and just when you think Kid has reached his climax he brings the intensity back. Not just a "booty" or a "pothead" album (although it could certainly be put to those uses), "DJ-Kicks" transcends all boundaries and can be savored on so many levels. The casual listener will find a mix of sensual ambience and head-bopping beats. Yet it will reward the close listener for hearing the clever samples, delicate layering of sounds, and the breathtaking transitions.

Kid Loco is a relative newcomer as a professional DJ, the opportunity springing up initially from his success as a producer and remixer of laid back tunes. This mixed set of songs reflects both his eclectic taste in downtempo or psychedelic instrumental hip hop (as the CD aptly labels it), and a competent skill of track blending. The result is an album that stands above his "Jesus Presents..." collection and upholds the quality of the DJ-Kicks series.

The CD begins with a clever little intro, "Don't You Know I'm Loco," then really starts with the slow beats and India chants of "Om Namah Shivaya," a melancholy tune that works even if ethnic vocals aren't your thing. It turns to a series of hazy hip-hop instrumentals predominately off the Ninja Tune label, but thankfully lacking the label's signature too-lazy abstract jazz/funk sound. The highlight of the bunch is DJ Vadim's "Theme From the Conquest of the Irrational," followed by the equally stellar "Introspection" by Jazzanova. The album now begins to take a turn for the worse, as the odd, male off-key chanting of "Dark Soul" is unsettling, and is followed by the bagpipes (!) mixed into and screwing up the subdued guitars of Underworld's "BlueSki." But order is quickly restored on subsequent tracks (with the jarring exception of the painful horns and chanting of "Attitude Adjuster") and ends with Kid Loco's exclusive "Flying on 747."

The scoreboard: there are a few clunkers amidst the 18 tracks you get, but it's as consistently a dreamy-smooth set as you'll find, and without rappers getting in the way. For those who want a mix that's relaxing but not lethargic, or who want to try his best domestic release to date.

Kid Loco brings an ambient/trip-hop/acid jazz/edgy audio trip with this DJ Kicks installment. In fact, it is very difficult to define his schtick--and that is probably the finest compliment you can pay to this album. This mix provides a sort of gooey, funky, artsy background soundtrack to chilled-type indoor activities. It definitely requires additional listens and a worthy sound system to guage its true value.

Of all the K7 DJKicks this one is unique. I have no words to describe what I'm hearing but it sounds like a genius having a good time doing what he loves to do. With the exception of Future Pilot aka, the Cinematic Orchestra, DJ Vadim, Jazzanova, and Boards of Canada all the artist on this cd are totally unknown to me, but I still enjoy hearing this cd again and again.

Sorry folks, but I have nothing bad to say about this cd and I will problably look for other Kid Loco mixes.

Kid Loco's fame is not based on his skills at the turntables (which he picked up barely two years ago) but at the production console. Hence, there is no amazing mixing skills in this latest volume on the excellent `DJ kicks' series (and the new Kid Loco pieces are very disappointing). The real virtue of this CD is the selection of down tempo tracks: from Underworld to Jazzanova, from Future pilot A. K. A. to Bloomington's very own Lisa Germano, from Jazz to post-rock experimentation, Kid Loco's set is a who's who of this electronica genera.

Why are you listening to music per se, if you're not listening to THIS! I have no idea why this album doesn't have a full five-star rating. If you're going to put down great music it better be because you're a musician putting out better material. (It may seem like I'm defending this album over a measly half-star but I'm just endorsing it heavily and this is my method.)

I made a mistake when I first came across this album during a visit to Seattle because I didn't snatch it up then and there (even though I got to hear the whole album). After a month of futile searches in music stores from Seattle to New Orleans, I decided to make it my first purchase from Amazon when I discovered Amazon had the album in its stock. Yes, this album was musically strong enough for me to endure the hassle and initial misgivings of ordering something over the Internet. While this is not a plug for Amazon, this is a definite plug and testament to the hold and strength of this music after listening to it only once.

On that note, this album, the music on it, is evolutionary. This album embodies the future of intelligent DJ mixing. Sure, I think John Digweed's 'Bedrock' is intense and wild after the initial songs on both CD's, but I can still find other DJs who mix in his vein and style, using his approach. I can't say that about Kid Loco's DJ-Kicks album, and neither can you (unless you're listening to something I and the rest of the world hasn't yet heard of). The only other DJ music mix that resembles this effort by Kid Loco is the other DJ-Kicks release by the Thievery Corporation. But they only resemble each other in the intelligence of mixing choices and not in their sound or execution. In my humble and otherwise insignificant opinion, this album by Kid Loco is far more sumptious and haze-inducing than TC's album, but get them both if you can. This is not an endorsement for the DJ-Kicks series, either. These are the only two DJ-Kicks albums I enjoy and listen to with any frequency, even six months after purchase (other DJ-Kicks albums weren't so great).

Take my word for it, I listen to a lot of music in general. A lot of good music, too. These albums, especially Kid Loco's, stands out. As for a short description of the music, it's deep, down, and murky, but not at all subterranean since it lifts, is very soulful, is full of epiphany, is completely accessible, and makes you proud to own and share it with others.

Although Kid Loco has had several great 12" singles and a few good remixes he was not the person to choose for the next in the DJ Kicks series. This cd offers a fair overview of the ever evolving nujazz/brokenbeat sound eminating from the British underground-sadly only skimming the surface. Although he does offer a few tasty musical morsels his journey does not lead far from the previous contribution that set an example in eclecticism by Theivery Corporation. Good buy if you are a casual beathead. If your tastes require a bit more than the average fare aim for the innovative sounds by the Jazznova/Compost records crew who steal the show on this collection and also top it on their own recent complilation Future Sounds Of Jazz Vol6.

I'm very impressed with this outing by Kid Loco. One of the better DJKicks out there,just flows one song into another.

I compare it to a cross between: Kruder & Dorfmeister vs. DJ Cam's mixed cd... has a lil' of that Theivery Corp. flavor too!
It didn't surprise me much, but then again, it didn't put me to sleep either....