ALBUM REVIEW: Shir Khan - Maximize!
- Posted on July 22, 2008 10:09 AM
- 0 comments
Shir Khan
Maximize!
Review By Adam Wood
From the first few seconds of Maximize! it is plain to hear why DJ Shir-Khan is causing excitement as a DJ and cut-and-paste merchant, even outside his native Germany.
Within moments you hear the sheer range of his influences from samples through ‘Don’t want to fall in love’ to past dance floor favourites like ‘Super Sharp Shooter.’ Then, immediately, you are thrown headlong into funky beats that grab you by the shoulders and drag you up to dance. Sirius Mo’s ‘Allthegirls’ sleazy, robotic bass line and sparkling synths set the tone of the record beautifully, leading into the energising ‘It’s the Beat’ from ultra-fashionable Simian Mobile Disco.
Spacier, more laid back tunes follow, but the pounding beat never lets up, but this is both a blessing and a curse. While keeping a club-goer on their feet with relentless pacing is a great skill in a DJ, the continual straight-four rhythms can become a little tiresome to a listener after a full hour of Daft Punk-a-likes.
Without the injection of the stonking ‘Around the World’ remix, ironically a Daft Punk track itself, and a sense of humour from the elegantly titled ‘Yeehaw! Humans is target vs Frau (Acapella) vs Sex-o-Matic (Acapella)’ later on could seriously damage the longevity of the record, consigning it to party fare and brief listenings while preparing to go out.
The second disc escapes this with a far more imaginative and varied listing which demonstrates why Shir Khan has been compared to cut-and-paster extraordinaire DJ Yoda. Though he lacks some of the wit and the sheer range of the recognised master of the mishmashers, unusual selections like ‘808 Klap’ manage to pull the disc through the mid-mix doldrums that threatened to overturn the whole compilation. Though the track itself is somewhat laughable, it stands as a hero of the hour (and a quarter) for perking up my ears so that I didn’t miss standout tracks like ‘Quick and Painful’ and ‘Psychoville (Digitalism Remix)’ and the absolute gem of a finisher, Jammin’ Unit’s ‘Never Been on E.’
Technically accomplished, this mammoth double album is, of course, seamlessly mixed and even when a drop jars one of Shir Khan’s great talents is to perfectly integrate the disparity. Munk and Riot in Belgium could have created ‘Mein Schatzi’ and ‘La Musique’ with just such a segue in mind. Persevere through the fifteen or so minutes of less than spectacular track selection in the middle of each of the albums because they set up the fantastic, funk-filled final few tracks on each half of this worthwhile mix. ‘Born of a Star’ must be mentioned before the end of this, as Shir Khan does, not as an afterthought but as a recommendation of value that might otherwise have been missed.
Maximize! is probably not worth everyday listening, but as an introduction to the new rave techno-dance scene, upbeat background music or pre night-out revving up it is quite near perfect.
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