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Review: 11 years on from DJ Koze's one and only commercial mix, 2004's All People Is My Friends for Kompakt, the Pampa boss lines the 50th DJ Kicks mix, following high profile contributions from Nina Kraviz and Actress. This vinyl edition offers the best of both worlds really, featuring some 17 highlights of Kozalla's selection in their original form spread across two slabs of vinyl whilst !K7 have also thrown in a CD copy of the mix so you can hear how it's all done Koze-style. As you'd expect Koze presents one of the more far-reaching selections in the series, with Madlib-produced Freddie Gibbs nestling up alongside William Shatner, Boards of Canada remixes, Broadcast whilst the likes of Marcel Fengler, Session Victim and Frank & Tony offer some deepness.

Review: HAAi's ascendance has been nothing short of stratospheric in the past six years, emerging as a dedicated deep house connoisseur with a personal, expressive approach to the genre and swiftly signing to Mute and pushing her sound into wild new areas of exploration. Immediacy has always been at the forefront of what she does, and so it goes now she mints the latest entry in the prestigious DJ Kicks series. As well as some original tracks and collaborations with people like Jon Hopkins, there are standout cuts from contemporary scene leaders like I JORDAN and The Blessed Madonna, plus space for the wilder sonics of Cocktail Party Effect, going some way towards capturing the many-sided spirit of one of dance music's current crop of superstars.

Review: Up next on DJ Kicks' acclaimed mix series is Numbers doyen and Glaswegian iconJackmaster. In his own words, the 24-track mix sees the charismatic Scot 'delivering an honest journey, unearthing a serious passion for the obscure boundaries of house and techno.' This double LP lifts out eight of the tracks most other DJs will want to get their mitts on, and joins the dots between his hometown of Glasgow with Denis Sulta's festival destroying bass driven epic "MSNJ", then NYC; with Eli Escobar's gutsy EBM-flavoured 'Tension (vinyl mix)". Berlin's status as a dance music mecca is referenced with Dutch transplant Anno Stamm's dark house stomper "A Night Out With Therese" and the legend himself Ricardo Villalobos, with his minimal techno classic from 1996 "Logohitz". DJ Kicks throw in a CD of the mix too!

Review: The last few years have really seen Paul Woolford reach the top of his game in many different ways. Be it bowel emptying rave as Special Request, festival baiting piano house tunes or chart topping pop dance crossovers under his own name, the man is proving himself to have a real golden touch. He sure does crank out all these tunes at a prolific rate, too, but you still feel he does everything with meticulous precision. This DJ Kicks is a case in point. It touches on all the many different facets of his sound from glossy and feel good house to early Chicago classics, post-rave dreamscapes to brutal jungle breaks. What a legend.

Review: South Korean star Peggy Gou continues her seemingly unstoppable rise by serving up her first ever DJ mix CD. It's a contribution to one of the longest running series in the business, DJ Kicks, and she's used the opportunity to showcase the depth and variety of the music in her crates. Beginning with the classic early '90s ambient of Spacetime Continuum, Gou flits between humid, mid-tempo Balearic house (her own "Hungboo"), acid-fired downtempo electronica, throbbing 1990 peak-time anthems (Weatherall's ace but largely forgotten remix of Sly & Lovechild), hypnotic techno minimalism, main room throb-jobs (Hiver), pulsating electro, classic breakbeat hardcore, post-dubstep, dark tribal drum jams and sunrise ready Motor City brilliance (Deniro).

Review: Closely affiliated with Nina Kraviz's trip label, Icelandic maverick Bjarki has managed to carve out a unique identity for himself in the hustle and bustle of contemporary electronic music. Following three full-length releases back in 2016, he now appears on !K7 with a new album that shows off the depth and breadth of his idiosyncratic vision. From curious ambient excursions peppered with rich sound design to spooked out boogie and deconstructed techno, sometimes within the same track, Bjarki has ably cemented his reputation as one of the scene's most intriguing operatives. Just take a trip on the fractured breaks and looming pads of "AN6912" and marvel at the originality.

Review: Erol Alkan's 2005 Bugged Out mix was a gateway release for many, soundtracking the entrance into club land, yet also introducing these virgin ears to more esoteric strains of music via the accompanying Bugged In Selection. Some seven years on, Alkan and the evergreen club brand have revisited the concept with a second edition, and like the inaugural release, the Phantasy Sound boss's ever lasting love for the vinyl format has seen a selection of tracks make the translation to this double vinyl release. Six tracks from the Bugged Out mix appear, with the Italo disco of Amin Peck brushing shoulders with Model 500 and an Obi Blanche edit of the Ron Hardy classic "Sensation", while the Bugged In Selection sees some psyche-folk fare from Buffalo Springfield and Space Lady among other gems.

Review: Kassian never hurries his release rate which means that when the Shall Not Fade and SB Jamz producer does drop new music you need to tune in. This latest comes six months after his self-released and self-thief versions 003 back in January and arrives via the esteemed K7. 'X-303' is twisted and textured techno for late night warehouses with 'Tabla' a more layered up jumble of percussion and loopy drums. 'Prelude' burrows deep on a prying lead and bulky but rubbery drum loops and 'Patterns' rounds out with an edgy vibe, clipped vocals and uneasy synths that keep you locked.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The DJ Kicks series has managed to outlast the vast majority of other DJ mixes we can think of - the good, the bad, the populist, and the plain cash cow. Even the mighty fabric compilations have rebranded and rethought, bringing the original legacy, FABRICLIVE included, to a respectful end at 200 outings. Strange, then, to think, that !K7's mighty offering to the world of "What should we listen to at the afters?" has arguably managed to become more relevant as the years have flown by.

There was a time when the series existed at the lighter end of club fare, with some examples barely even matching that description. These days, though, there's often a dance floor heaviness central to the selections, with Jessy Lanza's broken, bass-driven set a case in point. Pointless attempts to describe the music, and lazy track list namedropping aside, this is energy-packed, heads down, futurist stuff packed with infectious percussion.

Review: Oslo-born, London-bred, Delhi-influenced DJ and producer lands on K7 here with an EP that comes after a period of "creative stagnation". To get through it she decided to try and forget what she knew, and went with the flow as she embraced experimentation. The results are fantastically deft - fresh rhythms, wispy synths, plenty of detail but also effective club cuts that make you want to move. Dub, techno and house all get collided in freeform fashion with 'Blamerke' built on double-time polyrhythmic drums and overlaid with warped synths. 'Bottlepop' is more loose and funky with wispy neon melodies and 'Ghungroo' is layered up with sonorous bell and a real sense of urgency. Colourful stuff.

Review: Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard created a landmark of ambient music when they released 76:14 back in the 90s. Their Global Communication project was never just about ambient though, and it also coursed through deep house and more besides. In the spirit of progress, Middleton has returned to thinking about the project from a contemporary perspective, stepping forth as GCOM with the epic scope of E2 XO. From stirring orchestral suites to high octane DSP, it's an expansive listening experience that shows Middleton pushing himself into new terrain in the studio. Whether you tie it back to the prior material or not, it's a towering piece of work from an elder statesman of UK electronica.

Review: Following a string of dreamy excursions on the likes of Solar Body and Shall Not Fade, Ashley Thomas makes his debut on K7 with these two club workouts. 'Crystal Clear' is a pristine and elegant stepper laced with glistening arpeggios and sonic vapour trails. The vibrantly titled 'Rainbow Rhythm' hits with a little more sternness in its tone and direction thanks to the powerful kickdrum... Before opening up into a powerful technicolour hook. Delicious.

Review: Washington DC's James Bangura really stands out from the rest with his truly singular take on electronic music that's appeared of late on labels like Incienso, World Building and Holding Hands. His latest comes courtesy of legendary German imprint !K7 Titled 'Harrar', a frantic and hyper aware experiment in off-the-grid post dubstep that will totally flip your mind. Over on the second side he goes for something more straightforward in the form 'Witness Dub' an emotive deep house cut that's perfect for the late night.