Kid Kenobi. Ministry of Sound. Double CD. Sessions.

You would almost certainly expect the next word to be ‘breaks’. Normally you’d be right, but not this time. Our breaks boy (can we call him that anymore?) has decided to spread his wings, and produce a CD that while it may touch on breaks from time to time, crosses many other genres – electro, house, tech and dub. Hell, it even comes with a warning that it’s in fact not a breaks album. The end result for Kid Kenobi’s latest? Not too shabby at all.

He kicks it off with The Drum ( Groove Diggaz remix) from Soul of Man, and loops it nicely into Fancy Footwork (the Guns & Bombs remix) by Chromeo, and with the latter arguably being breaks laced with electro, it ends up being a pretty catchy tune. Working the chunky electro of Ross Ross Ross from Sebastian into NYC Beat from Armand Van Helden (the MSTRKRFT remix) – while perhaps a touch predictable, also sounds pretty good. If you heard it on a dance floor, it’s certainly the kind of stuff that could get you moving. Similarly with The Screetch and their, well, Screetch: while it’s tinged with familiarity (it’s been around for a little while), it leads into some tracks that actually are just a little left of centre. There’s a touch of breaks with Shake and Pop (the Aston Shuffle mix) by Green Velvet feat. Walter Phillips, but mashed with distinct vocals of Basement Jaxx and their Make Me Sweat, you’ve got yourself a very ‘party sounding’ CD. These are tracks that you could never have imagined on many of the Kid’s previous compilations.

And not surprisingly if you consider that it’s coming out of the Ministry of Sound stable, there’s also enough commercial material to keep the masses happy. Get Up from Global Deejays, featuring the timeless sample from the Technotronic track of the same name, would certainly get a few hands in the air. Wrapping it all up with the ridiculously well known We Are Your Friends from Justice v Simian but in form of the rather smooth Milke “Heavy Friends” Remix, which is in turn laced into Banquet from Bloc Party, a track that despite its relative age still has quite the impact; and you’ve got yourself a pretty solid first installment. Bring on the second disc.

He immediately slows down the pace on disc two, starting things with a chunkier yet slower tempo. The first few tracks sound almost like gangster rap getting high on something pretty potent, and for me it’s not a sound I’m particularly a fan of. The well-known Bump from Aphletik is the crowd pleaser, but DJ T’s Funk On You into My Egyptian Lover from Space Cowboy is welcomed even more. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke do their usual thing on Kelis’ Bossy, with lyrics to please many a feminist. I think… Then ironically (perhaps), a track called Mature Macho Machine by none other than Radioclit. Interesting to say the least, and with the lyrics sounding somewhat Eminem-like, the Kid was beginning to lose me just a touch. Then again, maybe that’s just me.

He picks up the pace a little towards the end, a more electro sound coming through in Beat the Bush (Freeform Reform Vocal) from Alter Ego and I’m Gonna Take U Home from Shitake Monkey, helping to make the middle part of the second CD a distant memory. Wrapping it up with Sono’s A New Cage (the Digitalism mix), which not surprisingly is laced with a distinct Zdarlight sound to it, before looping it into nine minutes of the DFA remix of Tiga’s (Far From) Home .

For Kid Kenobi, this was the release that he hoped would establish him as the ‘everyman’s’ DJ, no longer pigeonholed into the world of breaks. That it does. While the first CD is definitely the pick of the two and provides a much more enjoyable listen, that’s arguably personal opinion and the second CD could definitely grow on you. While our ‘Kid’ may always have an affinity with the breaks genre, there is definitely enough on this first release to suggest that the shift in direction could be worthwhile.

Kid Kenobi has hit the road in support of his Sessions CD, here’s some footage from his recent performance at Family in Brisbane…