'Some mixes are just mixes, but some change the agenda'. Rupert Parkes, aka Photek, was determined that his DJ-Kicks set would be the latter. 'I wanted to create one of those classic listening experiences,' he says. 'With a mix like this, you can either bang it with the most current dancefloor tunes, or you can put a theme into it, or you can make it a journey. I was thinking about the classic LTJ Bukem mix tapes that I first came across in '92 and '93 and how epic they were. There was such a range of styles on there, they were so timeless and had real character. They had some personality. That's what I wanted to capture with my DJ-Kicks mix.'

Like the best drum & bass musicians, Photek explores the nuances of the rhythms that most jungle musicians, blinded by dance-floor strobe lights, take for granted. His rarefied electronic tracks rarely overlap more than a handful of discrete sonic elements. On "The Water Margin," for example, cetacean burbles bounce amid an extended percussion solo and a lone, vaporous, synthetic woodwind. And that's it. The composerly sense of musical development Photek brings to these skeletal constructions has lent his earliest recordings a reputation as the blueprint of avant-garde drum & bass. Four of those early recordings, "The Water Margin" among them, are collected on Form & Function, which also includes six appropriately uncluttered remixes (by J Majik, Doc Scott, Peshay, and others) and two brand new tracks, one spooky, one funky. --Marc Weidenbaum

Photek producer Rupert Parkes moved on to embrace Chicago acid house and minimal techno for his 2nd release 'Solaris'. Parkes made the acid house connections direct by enlisting help for two vocal tracks from Chicago institution Robert Owens (Fingers Inc.). The first Owens track, 'Mine to Give', attacks with suprisingly unwavering beats and a rumbling bass line straight out of the Windy City sound of the late '80s. 2000 Astralwerks release.

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'Some mixes are just mixes, but some change the agenda'. Rupert Parkes, aka Photek, was determined that his DJ-Kicks set would be the latter. 'I wanted to create one of those classic listening experiences,' he says. 'With a mix like this, you can either bang it with the most current dancefloor tunes, or you can put a theme into it, or you can make it a journey. I was thinking about the classic LTJ Bukem mix tapes that I first came across in '92 and '93 and how epic they were. There was such a range of styles on there, they were so timeless and had real character. They had some personality. That's what I wanted to capture with my DJ-Kicks mix.'