Pitchfork

Hey party people: buy !K7 a drink this November, as the venerable electronic/dance imprint celebrates the big twenty-one. Originally launched as a video production company in 1985, !K7 has gone on to release quality records by some of the dancefloor's biggest names-- including this year's Herbert smash, Scale, and the DJ-Kicks series.

To commemorate this coming of age (as U.S. law would have it, anyhow), !K7 will host three nights of hijinx in London from November 14-16. !K7 and two of its subsidiaries-- hip-hop/soul label Rapster and indie imprint Ever-- will each curate a night apiece of live music and photo exhibitions, going down at London's Phonica, Luminaire, and KOKO. Performers include Herbert, France's Cyann & Ben, and new !K7 signing Henrik Schwarz. Full details below.

Adulthood doesn't mean slowing down for always-prolific !K7, however, as the label keeps churning out those DJ-Kicks mixes. The latest, featuring Berlin-based Schwarz, hit shops abroad earlier this month and graces U.S. shores on October 31.

A relative newcomer, Schwarz gained notoriety for a spate of 12"s and a few high profile remixes, including tries at Coldcut and Alex Smoke. His DJ-Kicks disc sees him mixing a broad palette of styles, with everything from James Brown, D'Angelo, and Marvin Gaye rubbing up against cuts from Rhythm & Sound, Arthur Russell, and Schwarz's own material. Click on the interview below to hear Schwarz discuss his influences, selections, and computer-based mixing process.

Folks who scoop up the CD version of this DJ-Kicks will be pleased to find a special download code that provides access to an alternative version of Schwarz's mix, while 12" purchasers will be treated to an exclusive download track.

And start practicing those club moves now, because according to a press release, the next installment of DJ-Kicks will be mixed by none other than Hot Chip.

Henrik Schwarz: DJ-Kicks:

01 Intro
02 Moondog - "Bird's Lament"
03 Double - "Woman of the World (Long Instrumental Version)"
04 iO - "Claire"
05 D'Angelo - "Spanish Joint"
06 James Brown - "Since You've Been Gone"
07 Henrik Schwarz - "Jon"
08 Jae Mason - "Let It Out"
09 Cymande - "Anthracite"
10 Henrik Schwarz - "Imagination Limitation (DJ-Kicks)"
11 Drexciya - "Black Sea"
12 Amampondo - "Giya Kasiamore"
13 Coldcut - "Walk a Mile in My Shoes (Henrik Schwarz Remix)"
14 Robert Hood - "The Core"
15 Artist Unknown - "Chant Avec Cithare (Track 1)"
16 Pharoah Sanders - "Summun Bukmun Umyun"
17 Luther Davis Group - "You Can Be a Star"
18 Arthur Russell - "Get Around to It"
19 Womack & Womack - "Conscious of My Conscience"
20 Rhythm & Sound with Sugar Minott - "Let Jah Love Come"
21 Doug Hammond - "Wake Up Brothers"
22 Marvin Gaye - "You're the Man (Alternate Version 2)"
23 Outro

Happy birthday !K7:

11-14 London, England - Phonica (Rapster Records) *
11-15 London, England - The Luminaire (Ever Records) #
11-16 London, England - KOKO (!K7 Records) ^

* "Kings Of" photo exhibition
# with Cyann & Ben, Cortney Tidwell
^ with Matthew Herbert, Henrik Schwarz