Music Reviews

Gilles Peterson

Desert Island Mix

Journeys By DJ

The London acid jazz pioneer DJ and ultimate European taste maker is back… sort of. In response to Peterson’s immaculate mix for Incredible Sound and the Brit’s growing eminence stateside, Journeys By DJ has decided to re-release his contribution to the series (which is actually the second-most demanded mix of the series). For those unaware of this man’s talent, Peterson is a master of making the eclectic sound uniform. A strict disciple of the original acid jazz sound, Sir Gilles mixes everything from jazz to hip-hop to house and everything in between and beyond into a cohesive whole that lies somewhere on the soulful fringes of lounge and the Xanax-cool of the dance floor.

While definitely not as earth-shattering as his Incredible Sound disc, Desert Island Mix captures all that is wonderful in a Peterson mix. There’s the dripping hipness of Letta Mbulu’s “What’s Wrong with Groovin’”; the driving dance floor jazz of Pnu Riff’s “Comfy Club”; the vibrant kaleidoscopic journey of dance floor jazz (or, if you rather, “nu jazz”) by the likes of Jazzanova (the legendary “Fedime’s Flight”), Buscemi, Ballistic Brothers, Kevin Yost, and Los Quatros Diablos; the soulful sounds of Roy Davis, Jr. and Peven Everett; a hot house flower from Blaze; some ultra-frenetic Breakbeat Era d&b; Roni Size’s “It’s Jazzy”; and the original “Black Gold of the Sun” by Rotary Connection.

All over the place, yet all good, while Desert Island Mix wouldn’t make it with this castaway, it is a good mix hard to discard from your stereo.

Journeys By DJ: http://www.journeysbydj.com/


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