Pitchfork

Let's not beat around bush, my stalwart indie-rocking comrades: In our world, lyrics can be heartfelt, songs can be ironic, albums can be post-grammatological, and occasionally, guitars can be acoustic. But unless there's some punk behind that disco, we aren't likely to indulge in dance music too often-- let alone dance to it. Because unlike indie rock, dance music's all the same, it's gay, and if it's in Massachusetts, its equal marriage rights are probably going to be denied.

Wait a second: Is it 1998 again? Because I remember more than a few of us thought the same thing about IDM, until we were all persuaded to pick up Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children. It was electronica and it was taboo, but we purchased in good faith because it was on Matador, a label we trusted. Boy, did we love the shit out of it-- and there weren't even guitars!

Erlend Øye's DJ Kicks seems like that kind of gateway record. Its most instantly alluring trait is its surprising pop/rock-accessibility, but-- for a guy most people know for his tenure in the hushed folk duo Kings of Convenience-- it's also remarkably innovative in its field. Here, in a move that really is not as gimmicky as it might seem, Øye frequently dubs his own buoyant tenor over bright dancefloor instrumentals and vocal tracks. Interestingly, these lyrics are often culled from well-known pop classics (such as The Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"), with slight melodic changes. It's a fascinating, vaguely mash-up-like approach that effectively softens the blow for non-tech-house listeners, while also assuring each track a strong hook and lending the record a quality often underdeveloped in other DJ mixes: namely, a discernible personality.

Enough can't be said about the quality and variety of these tracks, and the unique sense of humor with which Øye approaches their sequencing. Take how subtly Øye gives new life to Jürgen Paape's "So Weit Wie Noch Wie", an instant tech-house gem that notably appeared on Kompakt's Total 3 compilation: If only because the song is so often associated with the close of that mix, it takes on an unusual potency as Øye's kickoff. The Paape opener is firm anchorage for the string of slick German dance tracks which Øye weaves in and out of the other numbers: Justus Köhncke's slick 1980s-meets-2100s groove "2 After 909"; Jackmate's phaseshifted jitterbug "Airraid"; Ricardo Villalobos' blipped-up but downtrodden "Dexter".

Øye's slick tech-house base allows him some indulgences: There are the truly laidback moments like his tasteful remix of Cornelius' "Drop", Phoenix's less dance-oriented but utterly catchy French house gem "If I Ever Feel Better", and downright silly tracks like Avenue D's "2D2F". It's amazing the latter track works as well as it does: its lyrics ("Don't pass out going down on me/ Or I'll wake you up with a mouth full of pee" is but one) put the entire Peaches and Fannypack catalogs to shame.

For these moments alone, the mix is perfectly enjoyable, but where Øye distinguishes himself is on two back-to-back tracks near the end of DJ Kicks, in which he explosively pits the familiar against the obscure. Over a dark monochromatic Silicon Soul remix of Röyksopp's "Poor Leno", Øye overdubs his soft but confident croon of The Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", which reaches a quiet climax when Øye's vocals from "Poor Leno" surface momentarily in the background, then disappear. Just as compelling is when the ultra-obscure track Skateboard's "Metal Chix" provides a velvet-metal backdrop for Øye's heartfelt delivery of "Always on My Mind", synching up the chorus with the accompaniment's dreamy interlude. We could stand more mash-ups like this and much less Jay-Zeezer.

Those two songs seem to encapsulate Øye's intentions with his DJ Kicks album. In the liner notes, he places his DJ style somewhere between a house DJ who plays to drugs, dancing shoes, and "the artistic dimension", and a wedding DJ who plays strictly to vaguely foot-worthy nostalgia. "I am not really a skilled beat-mixer," says Øye-- which is only sort of true-- but it's clear that he's as concerned with his track selection as with making sure that his listeners are enjoying themselves: "A good DJ is not only musically responsible, but he is also the host of the party." With DJ Kicks bearing testament, Øye's party is truly a democratic one: The record is as warm and welcoming for first-timers as for longtime tech-house addicts.