DJ mixes often get short shrift compared to studio albums: they’re not entirely new creations and anyway, with streaming sites curating intuitive playlists for your every mood, surely the skill for selecting music is becoming extinct? Not so the esteemed DJ-Kicks series on !K7 Records that, along with the mix series from Fabric nightclub and – less clubby, more laidback, the Late Night Tales series – is long dedicated to the art of DJing. Simply, that’s the skill of unearthing excellent tracks and sewing them together.
This year was the turn of dark London technoist Daniel Avery and it’s surely one of their strongest instalments so far. The cosmic Detroitisms here – from the likes of Euro techno goths Reeko, Ulwhednar and Post Scriptum – are a superb stopgap between his debut record, 2013’s Drone Logic, and its presumably far more pummelling follow-up to come. Soak in the meditative, obsidian rhythms and it’s almost like relaxing in a Berghain cubicle.
