Erol Alkan’s Buggin Out and In Again.

If blockbusters need sequels…then mixtapes do too.

Over 7 years after delivering his dance-floor salvo of a mixtape – “Bugged Out/Bugged In” – DJ/Producer Erol Alkan has turned in another stunning double-disc that works as both the soundtrack to the party and the soundtrack to the after-afterparty.

2005’s “Bugged Out/Bugged In“ was a brilliant time-capsule of that era in dance music culture. Highlighting the work Alkan was doing with his Trash party in London and ushering the end of electroclash, while pre-saging the squelchy sound that would come to define Justice and the eventual merging of rock and electronic music, it now seems a bit dated…although still endlessly listenable.

Now that he’s a little older and wiser, (and after dozens of stellar remixes, edits, and production work) Alkan decided it was time to give it another go with the intention of creating something that would perhaps be a little more timeless.

By digging into the past and pulling dusty underground gems of different genres from the 80’s and weaving them together with current bangers by Jai Paul, Gesaffalstein and Jimmy Edgar, Alkan mixed the Bugged Out disc with a real focus on the longview.

Meanwhile, the Bugged In disc (which, like last time, is the chill-out room/headphone mix) pushes the limits of reason by including tracks by The Make Up, Buffalo Springfield, and an unbelievably spectacular track by the Jan Hammer Group.

Erol Alkan – Another “Bugged In” Selection [preview] by !K7 Records

The intent to be “timeless” is alluded to by the choice to make all the photos and artwork a stark black and white and cleverly giving the discs themselves the look of early CDs, right down to the old fashioned Compact Disc logo.

In a year of great albums and great mixes, putting together a double disc mixtape is preposterous and seems definitively hubristic, however, the end result is without a doubt, equally, one of the year’s great mixes AND great albums.

— Mario Cotto