Various - Dj-Kicks: Teed [CD]

about his decades- long relationship with electronic music and words like "love," obsession" and "addiction" soon litter the conversation. Born into a musical family—his father is an esteemed organist and choirmaster— the British artist spent his early years becoming both a classically trained pianist and singer, and a jungle and drum & bass fanatic. He'd often skip school to be first in line to nab the latest promos at his local record shop in Oxford. After years of bedroom tinkering, his sharp ear and all-consuming passion bore fruit, with releases on popular 2000s labels like Greco- Roman, Play It Down and later Polydor. By then, of course, he was Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs—a project that began as a private joke, and definitely wasn't meant to last beyond a couple MySpace uploads. But it blew up, and soon he was taking his brand of vocal dance pop to clubs and festivals the world over. Los Angeles was always a popular stop on tour, and in 2015 he made the bold decision to move there full-time. For more than a decade, the City of Angels has been his home and place of work, where he's developed into a full-blown studio producer as well as a solo artist. It's also where he's discovered a different kind of nightlife: new sounds, tempos, energies. Indeed, LA acts as a kind of muse on his long- awaited DJ-Kicks, which sparkles with all the colour and charisma of a Californian sunset. Or, more accurately, the pre-game before a big night Downtown. "I was thinking a lot about what Americans call 'pre-gaming,' which is such a funny phrase," he explained. "It's that feeling of putting on a fun mix before you go out, while you're getting ready and having a drink. That was my flag in the ground in my head while I was making it; how I imagined people would listen to it." This carefree vibe dominates the mix, which after a short beatless intro dives head first into a pumping house bassline. That track, "Everybody" by Casino Times, is one of several exclusives, alongside tunes by Joe Goddard, Austin Ato, Jacques Greene and Oscar Farrell. According to TEED, he knew instinctively that he didn't want a mix that took "seven tracks to get going." In preparation, he relistened to a bunch of classic DJ-Kicks—Tiga, Erlend Øye, Honey Dijon—and quickly realised that big, soulful and house-y was the way to go. "I wanted to do something uptempo and clubby," he added. "I felt very strongly about that straight away. I just want people to put it on and have a good dance."