DJ-Kicks (Will Saul) [Mixed Tracks]

Will Saul’s been around for more than a decade now, but in recent years the Glastonbury producer/DJ’s profile reached new levels of visibility. He started the Simple imprint in 2003 and three years later launched Aus with help from Cornwall musician Fin Greenall. Both labels continue to release material, but Aus in particular has developed into one of the UK’s most notable house/techno imprints. At its best, Aus has served as a breeding ground for promising talent, and even its lesser releases over the last few years have lent the label a reputation for consistency.

Aus and Simple have released their share of floor-driven bangers but both tip towards subtlety, and that extends to Saul’s own work as a producer and DJ. In the former guise, he’s worked infrequently and under his own name; last year, he released a solo album as Close, Getting Closer, that mixed conventional melodic form with slow-burn pacing while yielding two club jams, “Beam Me Up” and “OSCAR”. The approach extends to his DJ work. Although sections of his 3xCD Balance mix in 2009 showed his skill with uptempo pyrotechnics, elsewhere he’s favored a more patient structure. This was none more apparent than on his contribution to BBC radio’s Essential Mix series last year, which found him leaning on key players from his labels’ rosters to create a mix that relied more on mood than immediacy.

His latest mix, for !K7’s esteemed DJ-Kicks series, continues in that vein, with Saul tapping frequent Aus and Simple contributors for unreleased cuts and showing off some of the label’s more notable recent releases over the course of its 80-minute runtime. His feel for composition hasn't diminished; the mix’s first 12 minutes move by at a slow climb, setting a gradually evolving mood. Things finally pick up during the back half of head-in-the-clouds Berlin techno producer Youandewan’s “Ego”, which develops from a wet pound into a spinning array of soft-focus tones. "Ego" has the feel of a track that transforms the mix into something greater, but instead it transitions into Jabru and Joel Culpepper’s ”Church”, a sultry, shuffling vocal tune that sounds nice enough but would’ve fit better alongside Getting Closer’s avant-pop stylings.

Last year, Spanish deep-house producer John Talabot’s own entry in the DJ-Kicks series proved it was possible to create a forceful document that unraveled with a slow, psychedelic feel; so the relative stasis of Saul’s entry is, on one level, a letdown. While its stilted, dreamy sense of pacing is easy enough to get lost in, it’s even easier to tune out entirely. Still, engaging stretches abound: Swedish house producer and co-head of the playful Studio Barnhus imprint Axel Boman impresses with the wobbly, crisp-light “Dubbel (Dub)”, while the mix’s final third locks into a satisfactorily consistent groove cemented by Saul’s ruddy gear workout “Pedal Power” and Dutch weirdo Legowelt’s watery, aptly named “Ethereal Techno Music Will Never Die”.

Of the three roles Saul plays, his talents as curator are most evident, and so the best moments of his DJ-Kicks installment are from artists who’ve made their name, partially or entirely, through releases on his labels. Irish duo Bicep, who have achieved a startling level of consistency over the last few years, return with the skipping, high-octane “Nova”, while George FitzGerald, one of house music’s rising talents, comes through with a big-room sheen and computerized vocals on “Wanting Needing”. Depending on where you looked, FitzGerald’s tunes were all anyone could talk about in 2013; this year, that title belongs to Leon Vynehall, whose Music for the Uninvited showcased an appealing, tasty approach to house. His contribution to Saul’s DJ-Kicks, “Time”, is out of step with his usual jacking fare and all the better for it, a wistful slice of body music that wields subtlety with a steady hand. The lovely, subdued “Time” is a prime example of the type of refined dance music Saul’s expertly curated over the last decade or so; his DJ-Kicks mix could use more moments like it, but the highlights compiled here nonetheless speak to Saul’s excellent taste, as well as a reminder of why Aus and Simple have been worth following.