British house music stalwart Will Saul is the proverbial dance music triple threat. A DJ, producer and owner of two labels, Simple Records and Aus Music, Saul has shined the spotlight on acts like Joy Orbison, Bicep, Scuba and Pearson Sound at the start of their careers. In 2013, Saul released his magnificent Getting Closer debut penned under his Close alias, brilliantly connecting the dots between house and bass music. This month Saul steps up again with a mix for !K7’s famed DJ-Kicks series featuring four exclusive tracks from Bicep, Jabru, Marquis Hawkes and Leon Vynehall. Additionally, he also has a brilliant two-tracker called “Pedal Power”/”Valhalla” out this month on Aus Music. Known for his golden ear, we asked Saul to share his five favorite tracks of the moment on SoundCloud.
Will Saul’s DJ-Kicks is out now on !K7. “Pedal Power”/”Valhalla” is released on June 30.
1. Deetron
Deetron is just about the safest pair of hands you can employ for a remix. He always delivers something incredibly hooky that will work a dance floor and this is no exception.
2. Bicep
The deadly duo! Matt and Andy are mainstays on my label Aus, and they dig very, very deep for lots of hard-to-find nuggets and this mix is littered with them. If you haven’t checked out their blog, then do so — funny and full of brilliant music.
3. Axel Bowman
Axel contributed a stunning exclusive track to my DJ-Kicks mix, and he’s one of my favorite producers. This mix gives you a little insight into his brilliance.
4. Bok Bok
Very talented producer and this track genuinely sounds fresh as hell. “Future soul” sums this up perfectly.
5. Leon Vynehall
I could never pick out a favorite track on my DJ-Kicks mix as it would be like picking a favorite child, but this one still gives me goosebumps, and I’ve heard it quite literally hundreds of times.