Kicks

When I used to work in music retail it was really pretty easy to get the customers to buy stuff. Stick something on with a tune, quite upbeat, a bit different maybe, something to grab the attention and more often than not you'd shift a few copies over the course of the CD. Saturday afternoons - even more so. Last Saturday of the monthe ie when people had been paid, up that ante tenfold, you could pretty much shift anything as long it wasn't completely esoteric and/or blatantly offensive.

The DJ Kicks series were always good for this. Accessible without being bland, some decent track selections and these 60-70 minute mix CDs by musicians//DJs you'd actually heard of really did the business like you wouldn't believe. Thievery Corporation, Nightmares On Wax, the classic one by Kruder & Dorfmeister and Kid Loco's instalment were all excellent and the series is still going strong years later.

I only mention this because a few new CDs arrived with me yesterday, including the DJ Kicks volumes from Kode9 and Four Tet. The Kode9 is solid as you like all the way through and pretty much as you'd expect, the Four Tet swings wildly from genre to genre in the best way possible and is indeed only predictable in its unpredictability. Some great selections on there, including this one. Completely crazed, but kind of great at the same time.

Anyway, busy day, shattered. Music review over. Night.