Search - Optimo :: How to Kill the DJ Part 2

Poorly mixed collection of GREAT music

Monkey Deathcar | Philadelphia, PA United States | 03/28/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been collection mix-CDs for awhile now (Ninja Tune, Paul Oakenfold, etc.), but only came across "How to Kill the DJ" (PT.2) after hearing it in a local coffee shop. I was lucky enough to happen across the disc in a record shop, and it's been in permenant rotation pretty much ever since.



Disc One by Optimo is the real gem here. My favorite mix-CDs are those albums that take the listener or an unexpected journey through styles and times, and Disc 1 doesn't disappoint. Optimo probably could've stuck with pure house-disco - selections from Laiback, Carl Craig and Grauzone in particular really get the party started here. Instead, Optimo goes the kitchen sink route, mixing in everything from funk to punk, indie rock and 80s rock. Tracks by the Cramps, Gang of Four, the Stranglers, the Rapture and Blondie are interspersed with bleepy casio techno and raw house, and make this one of the more unpredictable and fun discs I've ever heard.



Disc 2 by Espacio is ever more eclectic, forgoing the typical house route entirely. Instead, we get classical, vocal tracks, garage rock by the Monks, latin rock by Os Mutantes, funk by the Meters, and pure 60s psychedelia by Sun City Girls. Disc 1 is more fun, but Disc 2 was entirely unexpected and features a lot of great tracks; hardly one clunker in the bunch.



I'd have given this five stars, but parts of both CDs hit some rough spots. Disc 2 is more or less a collection of songs, not truly a mix, so this didn't bother me as much. In Disc 1 there are some serious rough patches, where one song will just sort of end and another will begin. Hey, I realize it must be tough to make the Revolting Cocks flow into "I Walk" by the Quarks, but wasn't there a smoother way to do it? Other than just basically dropping one song out and planting another? At other times, the volume seems to seriously change depending on the track - that made the mix sound even rougher. If "How to Kill the DJ" were recorded live, I could understand - Since it wasn't, at times the mix sounds a little sloppy.



That's about my only complain. Otherwise, "How to Kill the DJ" is LOADED with great music - Tracks that you've already come to love like "Atomic" by Blondie, along with a smattering of songs that sound so perfectly familiar you'll think you've heard them before. The sublime "Opium Den" by Sun City Girls on Disc 2 comes to mind. You could do a lot worse than this CD, especially if you're into a little experimentation and want to be exposed to many different artists at once."