Are Booka Shade DJs? Well, not really. But that little fact doesn't phase !K7, who in the past have invited such non-DJs as Trüby Trio, Erlend Øye and Annie behind the decks for their 'DJ Kicks' series. As the PR puts it: "Booka Shade have an intimate knowledge of the dancefloor and the differing tools required in a DJ's arsenal, but Jeff Mills or Richie Hawtin…they are not."But the lack of a DJ resume isn't going to stop Booka, who promise something a little different from the run of the mill DJ mix in their first foray into the format.
"DJ-Kicks is the perfect project for us," says Arno Kammermeier. "It allows us to do our own thing. It allows us to make a musical statement. And that was what was appealing to us. People don't see us as hot DJs, so this isn't a snapshot of summer 2007, it's about creating something that will last."Rather than documenting their the latest club tunes, Booka Shade mix up older gems with unreleased newies on a CD which promises to be eclectic.
Amid dance music from Carl Craig, Matthew Dear and Lopazz, Booka Shade find room for French disco (Cerrone), rap (The Streets), '70s soundtracks (John Carpenter), '80s electro-pop (Heaven 17, Yazoo) and even the downright odd (Brigitte Bardot, The Tubes). "We really got into the material that we were using," explains Walter Merziger, "Putting it together was like creating a remix."Many of the cuts are mixed together using Booka Shade rhythm tracks, while the mix also contains two Booka exclusives, 'Numbers' ("The mix inspired us to write a song with vocals. It's the first time we've had real vocals on a Booka Shade track") and 'Estoril'. "We came at it from a producer's background," Walter explains.
"It wasn't just about choosing tracks that blended rhythmically, but we were interested in the harmony as well. The transition of the mixes had to be harmonically correct too. That's why there's lots of layers in there."
click here and download DJ Kicks - Mixed By Booka Shade (2007)
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