The long established and critically acclaimed DJ-Kicks series kicks off 2017 with suitably accomplished DJ, producer, vocalist and instrumentalist Matthew Dear at the helm.
A man of many musical hats, Texas born, Detroit raised Dear has a wide reaching discography that takes in face melting techno as Jabberjaw, dark avant-pop under his own name and intricate minimal as Audion. Often with a gothic slant and full of curiousness, his pensive but playful music is an intoxicating distillation of many different influences, often with his own stylised vocals at the centre.
“There are snippets of friends and family strewn throughout the mix. A lot of the vocal interludes you hear are from a portable recorder I’ve carried with me over the years.”
As co-founder of both Ghostly International and Spectral Sound, Dear has also been responsible for some of the underground scene’s most exciting new music, plenty of which appears here. Now more than 15 years, five albums and 20 EPs into his esteemed and always evolving career, Dear is exactly the sort of fascinating character that makes the very personal DJ-Kicks series so special.
Included along the way are three brand new and exclusive cuts from Dear himself, one under his own name and two as Audion. They are typically weird and intriguing cuts that tie the whole unhinged and freaky mix together. Also helping to add to the left-of-centre afterparty vibe are inclusions by artists as diverse as Thatmanmonkz and Matrixxmann, ItaloJohnson and Pearson Sound, Randomer and Simian Mobile Disco.
“I always have a lot of unreleased music laying around, those I included on here seemed to fit. A mix like this is always a good place to showcase my own productions, but I didn’t want to oversaturate it with my own stuff.”
Wholly timeless yet totally of its time, this is the first new work from Dear in a while. Once again, though, it proves that he is a master of subversion; someone who can head down a brain frying techno warren then effortlessly onto raw machine grooves via left of centre synth ditties and kaleidoscopic house music. In his considered hands, they all make perfect sense.
“I wanted to create a mix that could be listened to anywhere, and reflect a little bit of everything that I play. Whether you’re in your car, preparing to open the club, or having a bottle of wine with friends at home, this mix is for you.”
Tracklisting:
01. Nils Frahm – Ode
02. Matthew Dear – Wrong With Us (DJ-Kicks)
03. Mahal – Ongaku (HVL Remix)
04. Monsieur Georget – Double Lune (Third Child Boomer Mix)
05. Kreon – Silo Sol
06. Caserta – Ricky (Thatmanmonkz Remix)
07. Gwilym Gold x Doc Daneeka – Lust For Sale (MGF Mix)
08. Smoke – Nuutri
09. Decius – Bread & Butter
10. Italojohnson – ITJ10B1
11. Vin Sol – Instinct (Matrixxman Remix)
12. Groovesh – Glowing
13. Duff Disco – Feed The Horse
14. Dudley Strangeways – Hallam
15. Alex & Digby – Angolan Rumble
16. Gary Sloan & Clone – Harmonitalk (Alex & Digby Edit)
17. Randomer – Rendell Pips
18. Markus Enochson – Hot Juice Box
19. Simian Mobile Disco – Staring At All This Handle
20. Pearson Sound – XLB
21. Soulphiction – Sky So High
22. Audion – Live Breakdown
23. Audion – Starfucker
24. Audion – Brines
25. DJ Khalab & Baba Sissoko – Kumu
