Darren Cunningham aka Actress becomes the latest in a long line of legendary DJ’s to step up to the decks for the renowned !K7’s DJ-Kicks series.
A showcase for the brightest musical talent both old and new, the Wolverhampton born DJ has big shoes to fill. Russian vinyl queen Nina Kraviz‘ recent mix for DJ-Kicks was simply hypnotic, the bar has been set high.
Cunningham’s singular hour long set will be the 49th installment of the DJ-Kicks collection, in which the techno-related visionary will undoubtedly deliver.
This has been an active year for Actress thus far, releasing his fourth full length LP, Ghettoville. This is alongside a re-release of his debut LP Hazyville, and the release of limited-edition black label Xoul on his own label, Werkdiscs.
Actress demonstrates a thoughtful approach to his upcoming mix for DJ-Kicks. “When I’m selecting music I’m not always thinking about the music alone,” Cunningham explains. “I’m thinking about the names of the artists, tracks, and labels, and what they mean to me. I often base my tracklisting purely on how well the track titles work together in a poetic sense.”
Actress evidently relies on more than simply a smooth BPM to BPM transition, instead allowing other factors to influence his track selection process. “I’ve tried to keep space between tracks, allowing them to speak,” he continues. “I tried not to force BPM shifts and to let the programming remain choppy and quick.”
With Actress filling the 49th installment, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will step up for the 50th, but judging by previous choices, whoever it is will almost certainly hit the bull’s-eye.
Actress’ DJ-Kicks will be released via !K7 on May 4.
CD TRACK LIST 01 Breaker 1 2 – 2 02 Lorenzo Senni – Elegant, and Never Tiring 03 Reel by Real – Look At Me 04 Autechre – Pen Expers 05 Chameleon – Thought 2 06 Beneath – Stress 1 07 Simbiosi – Impari 08 Zennor – Tin 09 John Beltran – Anticipation 10 Moon B – Those Moments 11 STL – Psychelicious 12 Snakepiss – Toil 13 Shit and Shine – Pearl Drop 14 Chez n Trent – Windy City Club 15 Mark Fell – Section 1-7 16 GNESIS – Pear 17 Shxcxchcxsh – LDWGWTT 18 Hank Jackson – Track 3 19 Actress – Bird Matrix (DJ-Kicks) 20 Gherkin Jerks – Red Planet
LP SIDE SPLITS A1 Lorenzo Senni – Elegant, and Never Tiring A2 Reel by Real – Look At Me A3 Simbiosi – Impari B1 John Beltran – Anticipation B2 Shit and Shine – Pearl Drop C1 Chez n Trent – Windy City Club C2 Mark Fell – Section 1-7 D1 Actress – Bird Matrix (DJ-Kicks) D2 Gherkin Jerks – Red Planet