DJ Koze - with his friendly and sometimes slightly melancholic take on the world - is one of the greatest auteurs of club music today. Countless gigs worldwide, assorted productions and remixes have brought the Hamburg native to the center of the scene. He is particularly admired for the niceness, the weirdness, the soul and the humor in his music. And also because he makes it clear that music is something bigger and more encompassing than just a party. Koze is one of the few internationally active DJs who dares to make music that has relevance beyond the club.

Yet Kosi has never held up a certain style as a signifier for his music. He is concerned with the bigger picture, which is formed by a relentless curiosity and a penchant for making unlikely connections. His discography includes the hip hop of his early rap act Fischmob, the soul and funk of International Pony, the mixture between Dadaism and sonic research with Adolf Noise, and the reduced psychedelic house that he publishes under his own name.

During the 70-minute journey on his DJ Kicks - the 50th edition - Kosi Kos manages to establish a uniform color even though genres alternate in a way that is rarely heard on a mix CD: the stripped down hip hop of Madlib, brutalist Berghain techno, timeless songwriting, floating indie-pop and outlier numbers that oscillate between absurdity and melancholy. Koze's disregard for the stylistic yoke presents him with an immense challenge. Hence, almost all the tracks are more or less edited, and one is fully rhymed (Session Victim: Hyuwee)

Koze rambles on here himself: "I didn't want to kick around sophisticated knowledge, but rather try and weave together some good gems that would make sense to anyone, even people who aren't necessarily music nerds". But this is blabbing that you can count on, also because he approaches the term "mix" from a different angle and doesn't even try to make something fit that doesn't fit: "During the day, I don't need to hear anything that's mixed on the beat. I put the focus on making sure that it works harmoniously - the idea is more to create the impression of a radio show, like people such as John Peel did so uniquely. There is a giant cosmos of music and it runs through my filter".

He makes the point with his own brand new exclusive DJ Kicks opening track - once again from a different angle. the Dilla-esque "I Haven't Been Everywhere But It's On My List" with its melting, fragile soul samples, the pinched, anxiously-expressive vocal snippets and sweet guitar riff says it all, and whets your appetite for more and more. The mood is gentle, laid back, extremely open and ready to take risks.

The space of the set has been opened. After the cool Dimlite track "Can't Get Used To Those" and a long lost Boards of Canada remix, the journey heads straight over to LA, with three tracks from the legendary Stones Throw label. Two edited instrumentals from the maestro Madlib: Strong Arm Steady, Homeboy Sandman & Freddy Gibbs combine the sweetness of yesteryear with the beats of the present day - sweet surprise included! "The beats are unquantized and elements are too loud. Everything sounds broken, cracked. It's punk and yet it has so much soul. There's a hint of madness hidden beneath the blanket of harmony."