REVIEW: DJ Kicks: Maya Jane Coles

A relative newcomer to the electronic music is making a tremendous name for herself in a primarily male dominated industry.  DJ Maya Jane Coles also goes by "Nocturnal Sunshine" and also appropriately "She is Danger" and hails from England.  She has received numerous accolades including being named Beatport's 2012 "Staff Pick Artist of the Year" and 2011 "Producer of the Year" by DJ Mag.  You may have also heard her sleek remix of Tricky's "Time to Dance" or maybe read this awesome writeup about her on NPR.org.

This DJ Kicks compilation, like many of them, is a great listen and Coles selects a number of great tracks which are either grooving hypnotic house tracks or are more representative of her bass-oriented style.  I really liked her inclusion of  Phil Kieran and White Noise Sound's "Never Believed" which was darker in tone with very sleepy almost chanting vocals but still packed a punch with a driving midtempo beat.

The one track of Coles' on the compilation is the multilayered "Not Listening" that has a sample of a soulful female vocal alternating with a deep distorted voice and then is mixed with a frenetic beat that will keep you going all night long.  That track then blends into the synthy glitch filled Caribou remix of Virgo Four's "It's a Crime" which provides for an almost perfect transition.   All of the tracks flow tremendously smoothly from one to the next and I literally could not stop listening!

Coles is currently touring in Europe but will be coming stateside next month including a stop at The Morgan in Brooklyn presented by Verboten.  Her DJ Kicks compilation was released April 17th and you can get it at the !K7 Records store along with Amazon and everywhere else now.  Go get it!

-Chris