DJ - Kicks (John Talabot) [DJ Mix]

It's not easy to establish a distinctive voice in the realm of house music, but since John Talabot's arrived on the scene, he's done just that. The Barcelona producer's spent the last four years crafting and refining his own prismatic take on the dance sub-genre, fusing psychedelic sprawl with a sense of pop-like pacing in a way that has established his position as a crossover artist in an area of music that is typically a niche concern. Interestingly, his headier work has gained just as much, if not more, attention than his more streamlined material: "Families", his 2011 single with Los Angeles electro-pop auteur and Glasser mastermind Cameron Mesirow, may be Talabot's most pop-refined cut to date, but it's "Sunshine", the hypnotizing 2009 single that served as his breakout moment, that still stands as one of his most widely beloved tracks.

Anchored around a sample of impassioned chanting that crests beautifully as tinkling bells swirl and lope around it, "Sunshine" bears resemblance to minimal techno legend Ricardo Villalobos' masterful 2008 single "Enfants (Chants)"—but that comparison could prove potentially misleading. What Talabot does isn't minimal, nor does he skew in the other, more boisterous direction; he's all about control, knowing when to let his vat of sounds gorgeously overflow and when to bring the pot down to a tight, focused simmer. Last year's astounding debut LP ƒIN, then, was a demonstration of his steady hand and mind, a jade-textured record that alternately—and sometimes, simultaneously—shimmered and pulsated with iridescent light.

Mixes don't always explicitly reflect a producer's artistic flair, but Talabot's entry in !K7's long-running DJ-Kicks series is different. An album-length stitchwork of euphoric moments and rich textures, the 75-minute mix proves that everything this guy touches can't help but turn mossy, earthy, groovy. Considering how much of this mix is other people's work reflected in Talabot's own visage, the overall continuation here of the sounds found on ƒIN is impressive and, for the impatient, quite handy. As Philip Sherburne noted in our review of that record, ƒIN was the result of Talabot undergoing a nearly decade-long transformation as an artist, so who knows when we'll get the follow-up to that record—dance artists typically work in the singles format, so long-players typically are not a priority—which makes this DJ-Kicks mix a capable, reflective stopgap release.

In terms of selection, the mix is not too surprising taste-wise, a balanced breakfast of deep-house pulsers and percolating techno jams that keep the mood nice and steady. One track in particular, though, is worth highlighting for its revelatory nature: Mancunian dub-techno crawler Andy Stott's uneasy remix of British shoegaze outfit Maps' "I Heard Them Say", the first arguable peak that appears early in this DJ-Kicks installment. When I first heard this remix upon initial release, I was unimpressed—possibly because endless replays of Stott's commanding 2012 LP Luxury Problems has raised expectations for Stott-branded material a little too highly—but Talabot breathes new life into the track here, as it slithers and leaves a trail of glowing slime that sticks to the mix's opening third. The remix's inclusion also draws a previously unseen analogue between Stott and Talabot, two artists working with distinctly different approaches that nonetheless share a love for dipping their own contractions in layers of drowsy, clattery haze.

Artists from Talabot's Hivern label make appearances throughout, providing seemingly unreleased cuts and showcasing the collective's ear for glistening melodic dance music: Danish producer Round's "Glass" provides a particular moment of bliss with a classic structure and a slight sweep of tones, while Franc Sayol's Mistakes Are Okay project offers up the moody "Night Watcher" to serve as a darkly shaded interstitial cut. In the end, though, Talabot himself steals the show, bounding past DJ-Kicks' tradition of the compiling artist offering up an exclusive track by putting forth three new cuts he had a hand in.

There's "Anagrama", the tropical, woozy track from his and Genius of Time member Alexander Berg's Tempel Rytmik project, and the slyly anthemic "Sideral", a result of Talabot's team-up with Swedish producer Axel Boman (as Talaboman). The true stunner of the three, though—as well as possibly the big highlight on the mix—is Talabot's own "Without You", a big-room jam that wraps layers of shiny, winsome synth work around a muted vocal line like a barbershop pole. The track's yet another pristine example of Talabot's sense of pacing, as he dampens the beat midway through before bringing it back again to reinforce "Without You"'s strong melodic backbone.

John Talabot's DJ-Kicks entry isn't the flashiest mix you'll encounter this year, and there's plenty of room for debate as to whether it ranks in the upper echelon of the series' many installments. Similar to ƒIN, though, it's an immersive experience that grows richer with every listen, as new details emerge from the throbbing green slurry that binds the tracks together. Talabot's ear for songs that walk the balance between trippiness and accessibility is his greatest gift, but this DJ-Kicks mix proves that his hidden strength is a keen sense of structure. The constant chug, a push-and-pull that gives as good as it gets, is not unlike pumping blood—and if you're in the right mindset, a deep listen to this solid collection will give you life, too.