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Jackmaster DJ-Kicks !K7

08.08.16

It’s already been a strong year for !K7 and the DJ Kicks series, with star turns from Dam-Funk and Moodymann bringing a solid soul injection to the long running compilation institution. There has always been a sense that a DJ Kicks mix has to reach beyond the average whip-around of contemporary bangers and deliver something with home-listening appeal, or at least a dose of the unexpected. Jack Revill’s opening gambit for his own entry is indeed something of a curveball, as LNRDCROY’s ambient jam Freedom For Antboy II lilts to life with a slow-release subtlety you wouldn’t predict from the Scottish upstart.

It’s reassuring to see that Revill isn’t aiming for some lofty departure from his established reputation as an energetic spinner, and from track two onwards there’s a clear club-ready instinct on display. On this occasion the party manifests in colourful splashes of house, acid, techno and electro, but there’s plenty of cult tracks that nod to Revill’s credentials as a long-time fixture in the Glasgow scene rather than his reputation as a marquee festival booking dropping sing-a-long anthems.

There is of course bags of personality in these selections, from the classic Mike Dunn jam A Groove through to the audacious break down of Dubelle Oh XX (JVIP) from Denis Sulta. Like many of the DJ Kicks collections that have come before, the flow occasionally feels more like a mixtape rather than a typical club mix, but there’s still a sense of cohesion that transcends the eclecticism even as the likes of Tessela and Ricardo Villalobos are sparring on their way into the final techno run-through of the session.

Revill has been quoted as wanting to reach to his Glaswegian techno roots for this compilation, but he’s managed to do so while still keeping a firm grip on what’s happening in the here and now, and more importantly he’s kept it fun.