The Juan Maclean will helm the next instalment of !K7‘s long-running DJ-Kicks mix series, available on April 27.

The New York-based producer and DJ, real name John Maclean, has been part of the DFA stable since its inception; his most recent album is 2009’s Human League homage The Future Will Come.

“I really wasn’t joking in the liner notes when I said that in the six months I knew I was going to do this mix, I spent most of the time agonizing over the relevance of doing a DJ mix in 2010,” says MacLean. “A lot has changed in the last 10 years. It seems that anyone at home can make their own mix, whether they’re a proper DJ or not. Which begs the question, why bother putting them out at this point?”

Er, well…

“So at the end of the day I just came back to where I had started,” Maclean adds, “Which was basically wanting to do something that was representative of where I’m coming from in producing my own music, and also focusing on the current house music scene.”

Fair enough. The mix features productions by Still Going, The Revenge, Theo Parrish, Todd Terje and, yes, Danny Howells; there’s also the customary DJ-Kicks exclusive, a new track by The Juan Maclean entitled ‘Feel So Good’.

“As a DJ,” he concludes, “I’ve been wrestling with the idea: how much are you an artist, with your own aesthetic principles, and how much are you an entertainer? I’ve always found it interesting to grapple with those two ideas, rather than throw yourself in either direction. It’s easy to be self-indulgent and stay cool and make the proper moves. It’s also easy to just play hit after hit, which most people do. But to somehow wrestle with those two things and emerge with something that considers both, seems more interesting.”


Tracklisting:
1. The Juan MacLean – Feliz Casa (Ian Breno Dub)
2. Still Going – Spaghetti Cir­cus
3. Andre Crom & Luca Doo­bie – Ebony
4. 6th B0rough Project – Plan­ets (The Revenge Lost Groove)
5. A+O – Take Me
6. Rick Wil­hite – Get On Up!! (Theo Par­rish’ Late Dub)
7. Flo­rian Meindl – Here Today, Gone Tomor­row
8. Armando – Don’t Take It (Tho­mos Edit)
9. Jee Day – Like A Child
10. Giom – I Know You Were Right
11. Alex Nigge­mann & Super­lounge – Chip Chip
12. Manuel Sah­a­gun – Pieces Of Me
13. Sonny Foderra – Every­body Get On The Decks
14. Danny How­ells – Laid Out (Fully Hor­i­zon­tal Mix)
15. Shit Robot – Sim­ple Things (Todd Terje Ver­sion)
16. The Juan MacLean – Feel So Good (DJ-KiCKS)
17. Rick Wil­hite – Get On Up!! (Theo Par­rish’ Late Dub)
18. The Juan MacLean – Feliz Casa (Frankel’s Rhodes Workout)