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Stacking the decks
Annie gets her kicks as a DJ
BY DAVID DAY

Whether it’s Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Carlos D of Interpol, or Kelly Clarkson at the decks, the artist-as-DJ gimmick is getting out of hand. Azuli’s Another Late Night DJ mix series now features Four Tet and the Flaming Lips. And Starbucks’ in-house Hear Music label has even joined the fray: mainstream rockers like the crusty Stones and Sheryl Crow have thrown together comps of their favorite tracks. The idea is simple: if you’re a Stones fan, you’re going to like what they like to listen to. Meta-compilations for our meta-lifestyles.

Until recently, the K7 label’s respectable DJ Kicks series has remained true to turntable talents like Carl Craig, Trevor Jackson, and Kruder & Dorfmeister. But K7 has finally taken the meta bait: it’s retained Norwegian popstress Annie to create the next DJ Kicks comp, which is due October 17. The disc’s a peek inside Annie’s brain — something akin to a disco-pop aneurysm.

Most know Annie (a/k/a Anne Lilia Berge-Strand) as a Scandinavian pop sensation, even though she hasn’t come close to selling the numbers of a Christina or a Britney. The buzz machine’s been humming for more than a year, but Annie, who plays the Paradise tonight (September 22), has yet to score a mainstream breakthrough. Even the mega-cool Vice label, which resurrected Atlantic’s Big Beat imprint for artists like Annie, hasn’t had much luck. The critics love her: "Heartbeat," her debut single, was Pitchfork’s #1 song of 2004, and everyone from Rolling Stone to the New York Times has offered props. It’s a great track, full of heart-melting bittersweet lyrics and atmospheric melodies.

But critical adulation often equals pop flop, and Annie’s become something of an underground pop princess. Her DJ Kicks ups the indie ante by including an Alan Braxe & Fred Falke remix of a tune by Moog-punk thrashers Death from Above 1979, Le Tigre’s "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo," Mu’s "Paris Hilton," and a solo track from Suicide’s Alan Vega. Exclusive tracks are crucial, and Annie has a few: Liquid Liquid re-edited by Optimo’s "JD" Twitch, a new bongo-banger from Japan’s Zongamin, and her own "Wedding." Obscurities like Motiivi: Tuntematon’s "1939," a rerub of Russian synthesizers that’s blown club subwoofers in Europe, and throwback party cuts like Bumblebee Unlimited’s weird and wonderful "Lady Bug" are icing on the cake.

From a DJ’s perspective, the disc’s a technical disaster. (Annie has admitted as much in interviews.) There’s little in the way of layering or beatmatching, and no attention is paid to tempo and flow. But that’s beside the point: a session like this is meant to cash in on already garnered cachet. The appeal of an Annie mix is Annie, not her DJ skills. And if she’s lucky, the mix disc will jump-start the sales of Anniemal, her Big Beat full-length debut, which came out in June.

Is there room in clubland for pop stars turned DJs? It’s a thorny issue. A DJ’s job is to select the right tracks, to balance the flow of an evening, to draw lines between past and future while keeping asses moving on the floor. The party, not the DJ, is the focus; if you can’t move a room from behind a curtain like the Wizard of Oz, the game’s up. As a musical artist, granted, Annie has more right to the decks than a Paris Hilton. But there’s a reason Funkmaster Flex’s mixtapes sell better than rich young upstart Mark Ronson’s. Flex has years on Ronson. And as much as I like the Pet Shop Boys, I’d rather hear Arthur Baker mix them into an evening than vice versa.

At the Paradise, Annie will be on stage, front and center, where she belongs. Rumor has it she’s spinning somewhere after the show, but that’ll just be for kicks.

Annie + Royksopp | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | Sept 22 | 617.228.6000


Issue Date: September 23 - 29, 2005
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