DJ Hell - Kern Vol.2

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  • With DJ Hell following DJ Deep for the second Kern mix, the names of those chosen for Tresor's new series have been almost as underground as the music they've selected. Needless to say, Helmut Josef Geier has been tapped for his pedigree rather than his pseudonym: he's been a pivotal figure in European techno for decades. This is something sometimes forgotten by those who know him more from the electroclash scene his label, International Deejay Gigolos, helped launch, or for his prancing around with artists like P Diddy. Indeed, the whole aesthetic of International Deejay Gigolos and its fetishisation of glamour seems entirely at odds with the voice that announces no desire "to go in the VIP area and drink fancy fucking champagne" on Dan Diamond's "Club Therapy," which appears here. However, it's Hell the old raver rather than Hell the preening playboy who has taken control here. Kern Vol.2 is a no-frills house and techno mix with a hard industrial edge. From the second the beats begin beneath the swirling pipes of Odori's "Movements 1-4" to the moment the whole thing abruptly stops after Hell's remix of Capracapa's "Flashback '86" 70-odd minutes later, pretty much everything is beefed up with colossal kicks. Unlike his Body Language 9 mix from 2010, Kern Vol. 2 almost completely eschews any big anthems—Kenny Larkin's classic "War Of The Worlds" under his Dark Comedy guise is probably the most famous tune here—in favour of the most ruthlessly efficient DJ tools in his box. But whether they're old numbers like Code 6's "Quad 1" or fresh cuts like Jonas Kopp's "X," Hell deploys them with equal precision. In some senses, then, Kern Vol. 2 feels both classic and contemporary, not just because it places new producers like Recondite alongside old hands like Kevin Saunderson, but also because its industrial sound is now dominating techno again. It shows Hell returning to his roots, but is also the return of an idea that can seem almost quaint in an era when so many mixes are mere fodder to fill up SoundCloud: that of crafting something you'll want to play again and again rather than simply download and discard. An idea that, in Hell's hands, feels far from outdated.
  • Tracklist
      01. Odori - Movements 1-4 02. Code 6 - Quad 1 03. Dan Diamond - Club Therapy (Peace Division Unreleased Mix) 04. Dark Comedy - War Of The Worlds (Epic Mix) 05. DJ Yoav B. - Energize 06. The Horrorist - Wet & Shiny (DJ Hell's 2013 Rework) 07. Literon - Machine 1 08. QX1 feat. Emanuel Pipen - Love Injection (Wild Child) 09. Robert Hood - Sleep Cycles 10. No Smoke - Koro Koro 11. Sub-Culture - Dreams (Tribal Life Mix) 12. Inner City - Ahnongay 13. Halogen - Bliss (DJ Hell's 2013 Rework) 14. Major Problems -Overdose 15. Recondite - DRGN 16. Jonas Kopp - X 17. Shivers -Fornax 18. DJ Spookie - Home Jam 19. Steve Poindexter - Whiplash 20. N.Y. Connection - N.Y.C - The Dub 21. DBX - Blip (Chicago Style - '92 Unreleased) 22. Lisa Cadena - Untitled A1 23. Sebastien San - Arp Madness 24. Recondite - EC 10 25. Capracara - Flashback '86 (DJ Hell's 2013 Rework)
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