This music could give a new meaning to the word "accessible." On one hand, Merge is an album constructed from Ikeda's 13-year-old "sound diary," music created to "reflect [his] everyday life," and, therefore, arguably more approachable than something based, say, around a chapter from Ulysses or the story of a mythical lady buying a stairway to heaven. Music from the diary of a living, breathing human is necessarily less demanding than music involving the imagist pile-ups of fictional or narrative songwriting. True, any piece of music will impose a kind of narrative simply by progressing in real time, and, I will admit that upon first listening to Merge, I found myself unconsciously trying to reconstruct the events which inspired such a cold, often unsettling backdrop.
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/mountaineers-mc.jpg)
samples:
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/texlahomaifjust.jpg)
samples:
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/viruscarheart.jpg)
samples:
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/ammoncontact-sounds_like_everything.jpg)
samples:
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/dean_roberts-be_mine_tonight.jpg)
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/nmhagertyhowlhex.jpg)
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/kim-miyage.jpg)
- Arthur Lyman - Ringo Oiwake
- Wieve Stonder - Gypsy Chimp
- Psychic TV - Ov Power
Past volumes of !K7's DJ Kicks series have featured the estimable talents of Tiga, Playgroup's Trevor Jackson and Carl Craig, each taking their turn at the mixing table producing extended DJ mixes that combined newer underground club hits with classic dancefloor material and the odd crate-digging gem. They each had their moments, but for the most part, they were entirely predictable. I mean, who couldn't have guessed that Playgroup's mix would lean heavily on leftfield disco, or that Tiga would fill his set with uber-sassy electro? For me, the gratification of a great DJ mix lies in hearing unexpected juxtapositions of the alien and familiar, or unearthed vintage rarities recontextualized to sound modern. The new entry in the DJ Kicks series, mixed by Chicken Lips, delivers on this promise.
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/serie_noire_2.jpg)
- Savage Process - My Heart Begins to Beat
- Giorgio Moroder - Evolution
- Sandy Steel - Mind Your Own Business