Pitchfork calls Djrum's DJ-Kicks one of the best entries in the series

Pitchfork has reviewed Djrum's contribution to the DJ-Kicks series, describing the 82-minute, 32-track mix as one of the best entries in the label's history. The review, by Ben Cardew and dated 17 October 2026, covers the first commercial mix CD from Felix Manuel, the UK producer and DJ who records as Djrum. It is released on !K7.

A mix that refuses genre

According to Pitchfork, the DJ-Kicks series has a 31-year history that includes releases by artists ranging from Detroit techno figures to Massive Attack's Daddy G. Cardew writes that Manuel has said the series is what first drew him into mixing records.

The review describes a set that runs from orchestral breakcore and field recordings to spaced-out jungle and heavy bass, with the mood shifting between meditative calm and frantic energy. Pitchfork says that within the first six minutes Manuel moves from aquatic ambience to classically infused drill'n'bass. Cardew calls the opening intimidating and raises the concern that the set might sacrifice listenability for technical showmanship, before concluding that the worry fades over repeated listens.

Cardew quotes Manuel on genre: "Genre, microgenre—I don't really give a shit," he once said, adding that such terms describe "the boxes, not the music."

Built, not just selected

The review's central argument is that the mix is more than a run of tracks played in sequence. Pitchfork reports that Manuel mixed the records on vinyl, then cut up and overdubbed those mixes to produce the final version. Cardew describes the result as less a DJ set than a journey through Manuel's own musical thinking.

The tracklist as described by Pitchfork includes post-punk band the Raincoats, whose guitars are heard emerging from a production by the Australian artist Core Self, and Emptyset's "Point". Field recordist Chris Watson, president of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society, appears three times, providing atmospheric passages that help hold the transitions together. Cardew adds that dancers may find the set demanding, saying it is designed more for the dreamer than the raver.

From Under Tangled Silence to DJ-Kicks

Pitchfork places the mix alongside Manuel's own productions, noting that his 2025 album Under Tangled Silence was widely seen as a breakthrough. Cardew writes that DJ-Kicks is not necessarily better than that record, but that it feels more representative of Djrum's eclecticism and experimental streak.

The review closes by calling the mix a challenge that sounds diffuse at first but reveals a fluid sense of purpose, and by naming it one of the best entries in DJ-Kicks' history.