I was so saddened to hear the passing of Horst Weidenmueller, who founded !K7 and launched the DJ-Kicks series. The DJ Kicks series was probably my all-time favorite compilation/mix series. It sat somewhere right in the middle of the TripHop / Techno / Jazz Venn diagram I live in. I wanted to honor Horst's passing with a few of my favorites as recommendations.
Weidenmueller moved to Berlin in his early 20s, where he founded !K7 in 1985 to produce music videos. It evolved into a record label a decade later, releasing mainly techno and house. After the C.J. Bolland mix, came the all-mighty Kruder & Dorfmeister mix. But there have been so many, I used to collect on CD, then started to rebuy them on vinyl as they got remastered. Each mix had at least one exclusive track, but I loved how it allowed or even encouraged artists to put their stamp on a mix, dropping remixes, B-sides, or older tracks they still loved.
Alongside the series, there have been so many greats released on the label including Funkstrong, A Guy Called Gerald, Matthew Herbert, Erol Alkan, Tricky, and Will Saul
In its statement, !K7 wrote that Weidenmueller’s “vision, passion, and dedication shaped !K7 since 1985 into what it is today, and his legacy will continue to inspire us. Beyond his role at !K7, Horst was a passionate advocate for the independent music community, a committed environmentalist, and a true friend. His contributions have left a lasting impact on the industry and will not be forgotten.”
The legendary album by K&D wasn’t quite a DJ Kicks, but they have been working alongside the label since their very inception. This mix album is possibly my all-time favorite mix album, incredible tracks, many remixed, or remastered by the two Austrian producers. Trip Hop, some liquid dnb, all vibe all the time. Admittedly this has now been overplayed in every swanky boutique hotel bar across the planet but still a classic. Top Tracks - Lamb, David Holmes, Herbalizer, Bomb the Bass, Lewis Taylor and LOVE by UFO.
Before the Wild Bunch, before Massive Attack, there was Smith & Mighty. UK legends, Bristol’s convergence of Dub, Reggae, and Punk created a sound so unique to one city, such a small city, but with global impact. Relisten to this album - it feels like a lesson in minimalism, a history lesson, and a reminder of why Bristol has been such a contributor to the global sound of dance music.
DJ Cam, French Producer, sat in an interesting position between hip-hop, early French electro, techno, and some solid trip-hop moments. This album takes the listener on a journey across each of those genres, held together by DJ Cam’s incredible subtle touches.
There are still living 2 godfathers of 7-hour electric jazz-infused sets in the UK. Luke Una and Mr Scruff - Manchester’s gift to the world of dance was not just a laid-back fuck you vibe that is impossible to replicate, but the ability to keep its own sound whilst picking up on what else is in the world without rejection. Initially, on Ninja Tune, Mr. Scruff is still playing 7/8/9-hour sets of interesting music from dub, jazz, soul, hip hop, and everything in between. This was one of the first albums of his outside his own releases or Ninja work.
When it comes to jungle there are few that can create soundscapes like Photek, his DJ Kicks mix was at an interesting time when Jungle was trying to find new avenues to explore. Take the track with Pinch, Photek was playing with early UK Dubstep in a way that was cinematic, and deep whilst holding true to acid loops of electro. A darker more focused mix than some of the others, but one I rinsed so much I was worried I would wear out the CD tracks.
Talking about Jungle reminded me to include this mix by Kemistry & Storm. I think I had this in every format I could get my hands on. It was mid Metalheadz era, a mix by strong female DJs (which was unheard of at the time) in 1999 before the commercialization of Genre and the US attempted to take over. Along with Goldie whom Kemistry had introduced to the drum and bass scene in the early years of the decade, they founded the Metalheadz record label. With Goldie, they led Metalheadz for two-and-a-half years before leaving the label. The success of their DJ-Kicks album brought them opportunities to DJ internationally and has been described as "paving the way for all the other, younger, female DJs"
Kemistry & Storm as a unit came to an end with the death of Kemistry in a traffic accident on the morning of 25 April 1999 months after this release, while returning from a gig in. In an article with The Guardian newspaper, Storm remembers the sound of glass shattering, before she realized something awful had happened. A metal cat’s eye had been dislodged from the road ahead and had smashed through their car windshield on the passenger side. Kemistry never stepped out of the car.
A classic, from the classic never stop innovating.
Another of my favorite artists DJ ease also known as Nightmares on Wax, pulled together this incredible mix early in his career - It opened my ears and eyes to so much new music at the time and it sounds so fresh in 2025 as we are really starting to rediscover soul and Jazz sounds.
Love Apparat, and this mix not only brings so much of their music into one place, it creates a post-club sound that is unique to the Belgian trio.
Early UK dubstep - a classic.
Paul Woodford, AKA Special Request burst on the scene, non ironically mixing a Prodigy sound with harder Jungle drops and classic melodies. This mix was super early before any of his albums, and was an introduction to a sound only Paul creates.
Classic House at it’s best.
A patchwork of sounds and moods with a few of Forest Sword’s own field recordings thrown in (Pre Fred), it's playfully eclectic, hinting at influences and nodding to history. There's only one Forest Swords track, the scratch-itching exclusive "Crow." But with its somber mystical mood, clever combos of acoustic and electronic sounds, and the odd bright shot of pop, the mix as a whole has many of the qualities that define Barnes's own music. After the ambient opening, there's a killer song-led section, where Anna Domino, Dead Can Dance and Neneh Cherry meet the electronica of FIS. Then we pivot around Lutto Lento's "Gyal A Devil," landing in the body of the mix, a dancier passage that hockets between weirdo electronica and trippy almost-techno. There are some gems in here: Disjecta's dank "Smokehead," which is from '96 but could've been bounced out yesterday, Laurel Halo's "Throw," with its sour piano chords, and Demdike Stare's lurching "Mnemosyne." The mood is mostly dark until, around 50 minutes in, Djrum's "Showreel Pt.2" provides the payoff. A gorgeous closing run: a polychrome ambient set with Vashti Bunyan's ethereal "Here Before" at its center.
HAAi’s mix is one of old and new - she leaves room for some lesser-known producers: Surusinghe’s “Bet” places a beat you could skip to underneath a wobbly, descending waver that’s goofy. Welsh-born producer Koreless’s “Seven” is quiet and spacious, transmitting pulses and blips from a distant club night. This is all combined with older, well-known artists such as Pan Sonic or John Selway In the process, her “always ascending” concept erases the 30-year time span over which these tracks were created.
Most recent mix from last year, DJ Boring broke through with "Winona," a classic that blew up around the same time as the first season of Stranger Things in 2016. Following records on labels including Shall Not Fade, Technicolour, and Running Back, Boring released this in 2024. The mix starts with a series of ambient pieces from Anthony Naples and Patrick Holland, as well as a Thomas Fehlmann oldie from the early '90s. Things steer toward trance with Cameo Blush's "Art of Worry," then Boring's own "You Luv Me" is one of the mix's high points. Elsewhere, the mix goes from minimal and quirky (Shanti Celeste's "Cutie") to drummy (Hertz's "More Funk"), verging on hard groove with Regal86's "Fuel (Deep Dish Mix)." Another Boring original, "N15," is a blend of garage and trance. Following a remix of a Ede & Deckert track featuring Sargland, the set ends with a left-field surprise, a Middle Eastern drum'n'bass tune called "Haraka" by Moktar and Saad El Soghayar.
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Peace, more soon.
RIP Horst, so much influence and legacy.