Jeff Mills - Exhibitionist

This DVD is such a wetkiss, so generous of him to put it out there. It's pure porno for techno fans, watching his long graceful fingers flit over the mixer like hummingbirds, sometimes touching it, sometimes just flirting. Records go in his hand and a few seconds later they're in the mix. And it's great that technically it has a couple sloppy moments, which he pounces on and fixes and moves on; dude, he's Jeff Mills, he doesn't need to care what you think of him, and more power to him for walking that.

And those eyes, big and opiated, so intelligent, so sultry. What a treat.

Makes a great gift for sure, especially for someone who didn't even know it existed. got it for a buddy who's a big detroit techno fan and he almost fell out of his chair.

This DVD is indeed not suitable for educational purposes. With or without image, the technique for spinning is not explained, just very good mixing registered on audio and film.

It's a great commercial/marketing tool for AXIS, but who can blame them. Producing is not a simple matter of entertaining the crowd, just as banks are no charity organisation, yet we need them.

Nevertheless, I love watching and hearing this disc. It will not set his mark as the Mix-up did, but everybody that has been following Jeff Mills' music will enjoy this ride.

It's easy to be wowed when a DJ/producer of Mills' caliber puts forth a DVD showcasing his aggressive, raw, 3-deck mixing style. A project like this also places itself under even heavier scrutiny, having claimed that it can serve as an educational tool. Comments about loose technique aside, there is little doubt that Mills' efforts are impressive, if ambitious. However, the DVD mixes largely fall short on two fronts. The first is that if this is indeed to be an educational tool of sorts, the technique encompasses only a very small range of what DJing could be. If one actually sits through the entire sets, one would find out that much of Mills' work with the mixer consists of florid, superfluous hand movements. Sure, the mixing is fast, but almost at the expense of the music. Live at the Liquid Rooms is probably a better example of Mills' prowess at piecing together heavy-duty techno on the fly. Here, it's a bit premeditated, and the excessive DJ-like movements have to fill in the gaps. The second (and more important) shortcoming is the heavy emphasis on rather uniform, Latinesque tribal techno. Yes, this is Mills' signature style, but Mills' own work on Axis--the more adventurous and even eerie efforts--is infinitely more intriguing than the tracks featured in the Exhibitionist portion and even the Purposemaker portion of the DVD. in the end, this DVD is probably essential for fans of Mills only. It's good, but not stunning.