There Was a Time Everybody Was Around, and I Was Dancing With You...

So I heard from Three Imaginary Girls, who heard from Popjustice, who heard from, oh who knows where these super in the know people get their news... it's beside the point, with the point being that Popjustice reported news that Annie will be releasing a new album this year entitled Don't Stop. Also according to Popjustice, the album is amazing. You can read Three Imaginary Girls contributor Chris B's take on the whole thing right here.

This is of particular interest to me right now, as an exorbitant amount of my time this week and last week has been spent listening to Annie's installment of !k7's DJ Kicks Series. In the interest of full disclosure this particular installment is one of only three that I have from the entire series, all of which I have received through my volunteering at KCRW. That is to say, this is not a series that I have been an avid collector of. Still, I like the idea of it so very much; get a DJ and/or musician(s) to put together a well thought out, mixed compilation CD that will give you the feeling of listening to a club type DJ set at home. I like Annie's set a lot because I get the sense that she DJs the way I like to hear people DJ, there is a nice ratio of pop songs (Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" makes an appearance,) to much more obscure dance specific tracks like Zongamin's excellent instrumental "Bongo Song,"which she segues very nicely into JD Twitch's Optimo edit of the Liquid Liquid track "Flextone." I haven't heard the original version of "Flextone," but I can certainly hear elements of the original version of "Optimo." That is another thing that makes this mix so strong, all of the remixes included are smart remixes, and feel like they have a purpose. The fact that she plays every song almost to it's entirety is yet another reason that I like her comp so much. As I said before, that is the way that I like to hear people DJ. She does manage to beat match everything pretty well, but that happens after you've been able to enjoy almost a whole song. Sure they aren't all perfect, but in a way that makes it almost better. I can listen to a mix like this one and think that with a bit more practice one of these days I will be able to do that!

The only thing that is sad about my current obsession with Annie's DJ Kick's is that the album has existed since 2005, and has been in my Ipod since December of last year. Oh well, it's found it's way to my ears now which is all that really matters. Now I am beyond excited to hear Don't Stop. If this mix, and of course her outstanding 2004 record Anniemal are any indication it will be one of the best records of 2008!

~squaregirl marion

AND, just in case you forgot exactly how good this stuff is...