Exhibitionist

• Artist: Jeff Mills
• Rating:
• Release Date: February 17, 2004
• Type: Mix-album
• Genre: Electronica

Review

Given his renown, you'd think Jeff Mills would have quite a few commercially released mix CDs out there to choose from. Not so. In fact, until the release of The Exhibitionist on his own Axis label in 2004, Mills had only one mix on the market, his Live at the Liquid Room disc from 1996. And to make matters more frustrating for fans, that mix was a tough one to track down stateside, as it was released by Sony Japan and React overseas and was generally out of print. A shame that was, because Live at the Liquid Room is one of the most astonishing techno mixes you're ever liable to hear in your lifetime. It's trademark Mills -- he blazes through innumerable tracks, many of them his own productions, often overlapping them and rarely letting any given track play out for more than a minute or (maybe) two, all the while throwing in some Detroit techno classics simply for the sake of doing so. The Exhibitionist is similar. Here Mills again showcases his trademark mixing style, dropping an astounding 45 tracks over the course of a single disc, about half of them his own productions and a couple of them bearing the Made in Detroit stamp (i.e., Octave One's "Blackwater" and the Aztec Mystic's "Aguila," both of which are standouts). The chief difference between the two, then, is track selection. Liquid Room was recorded back in 1996, while Exhibitionist dates from 2004, and though the sound of techno didn't change too much over that span, Mills did broaden his selection for the more recent mix, incorporating a number of outside productions. These outside producers (e.g., Ben Sims, Oliver Ho, Samuel L. Sessions) share Mills' aesthetic -- hard-driving minimal techno with ample rhythmic density -- and fit in well, often as mixing tools that Mills uses to segue between two of his own tracks. Of note is the run from tracks six through ten, which includes the lushness of the aforementioned "Blackwater" and a festive foray into Latin with UK Gold's remix of "Bateria-Latin Impressions." Of further note are the older Purpose Maker productions of Mills that have become staples of his mixes over the years: "The Bells," "Tango," and "Alarms," the latter appearing in the form of its Ben Sims remix. But for the most part, Mills sticks with his more recent productions rather than older, well-known ones from the '90s. That, above all, distinguishes The Exhibitionist from Live at the Liquid Room: both are similar in style, one that is characteristically Mills and only Mills, and both are representative of their points in time, which are nearly a decade apart. You can't go wrong with either mix; they're both great. If anything, it'll probably come down to whichever you can find, and if you're serious about either Mills or techno DJing, you are recommended to pick up both, for this is the apex of techno as it pertains to DJing. Few can hold a candle to Mills on the turntables. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Ax-009F Segment 3	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(0:43)
Condor to Mallorca	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:03)
Organic Synthetic	Oliver Ho	Oliver Ho	(2:11)
New Soil Dances [D'afrique Remix]	Samuel L. Session	Samuel L. Session	(1:19)
Laget Hans	Jesper Dahlbäck	Jesper Dahlbäck	(0:55)
Zulu Nation, Pt. 6 [the End of the Witch Doctor Remix]	Alan Barratt		(1:02)
Black Water	Lenny Burden	Octave One	(0:49)
Moments [Dope Mix]	Ben Sims	Ben Sims	(1:57)
Bateria-Latin Impressions [UK Gold Remix]	UK Gold	Victor Simonelli	(2:15)
Slipped Again	Troy Geary	Troy Geary	(0:52)
Contact			(1:10)
B2 from CR007	Oscar Mulero	Oscar Mulero	(1:40)
Harmonix		WJH	(0:40)
Ride the Threshold	Patrik Skoog	Headroom	(2:10)
The Bells	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:24)
Ricoque	Samuel Geiser	Samuel L. Session	(1:26)
Latin Lover [Voodoooamt AKA Patrick Lindsey Remix]		Monika Kruse, Zafra Negra	(1:22)
The, Pt. 1	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:16)
Preview	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:42)
Knap	Danilo Vigorito	Danilo Vigorito	(1:40)
Camborele	Andreas Saag	Andreas Saag	(1:22)
Respectall		John Arnold	(2:26)
Tango	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:47)
[Untitled]	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:15)
Sacred Object (Track A)	Oliver Ho	Oliver Ho	(1:20)
More Over	Paul Mac	Paul Mac	(1:36)
Long Summer Nights	Gary Martin	Gary Martin	(1:56)
Watching Me	Aaron Hedges	Aaron Hedges	(1:16)
Midnight Confessions		DJ Rush	(1:30)
Love Club			(2:36)
4Art	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(0:53)
[Untitled]	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:00)
Core		Samuel L. Session	(1:12)
[Untitled]	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(2:10)
Sugar Is Sweeter	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:43)
Finger Four	DJ Zank	DJ Zank	(1:22)
See, Pt. 3	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:29)
Thought of Phutura Side B	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills, Claude Young	(1:16)
The, Pt. 3	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(2:15)
Native High	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(0:45)
Light, Pt. 3	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:44)
Alarms [Ben Sims Mix]	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(3:16)
[Untitled]	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:35)
Aguila	DJ Rolando	Aztec Mystic	(2:57)
See This Way	Jeff Mills	Jeff Mills	(1:39)

Credits

Jeff Mills (Producer), Jeff Mills (Mixing), Jeff Mills (Concept), R. Chris Murphy (Mastering), Sergio Caballero (Concept Design), Zafra Negra (Performer)