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LP
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KOM 354LP
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$28.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/14/2025
10-year anniversary re-issue! LP version. The Orb, Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann, have become known for their genre-bending curiosity and surprising sonic detours, exploring experimental soundscapes as well as club-friendly beats. COW / Chill Out, World! is a masterful ambient album that branches out in many directions, but unmistakably sounds like The Orb. In contrast to their much-acclaimed previous full-length Moonbuilding 2703 AD, which took years to prepare and fine-tune, COW / Chill Out, World! was produced over the course of only five sessions in six months, directly following the like-minded Alpine EP. Paterson on recording the album: "It got so spontaneous that a track like '9 Elms Over River Eno (Channel 9)' consisted only of material collected at North Carolina's Moogfest in May - second-hand records from local stores, field recordings, live samples from gigs that we liked, and of course an excursion to the Eno River, which actually exists. This geographic intimacy and the spontaneity are among the top reasons why we love this album so much." Fehlmann sees the duo's relentless gigging schedule as a formative influence on the new album: "the countless performances we've played in the last years have brought us closer as a musical unit. The spice of our concerts is improvisation - a fertile process that we've brought to the studio, where we operate with very simple rules of engagement and go wherever the flow takes us." It's an approach that one might expect from traditional acoustic instrumentation, not necessarily an electronic set-up. Once more, The Orb's trademark playfulness is on full display on COW / Chill Out, World! and it doesn't limit itself to the multi-layered sampling and psychedelic sound composites. It's not so much an obscure trope coming full circle as a perfect example for The Orb's multi-timbre approach to sound and meaning - a compelling, immersive journey to diverse places and impressions. Each track title is a conceptual work in its own right, playing with multiple references, some of which remain highly personal and mysterious. But the greatest feat of The Orb's latest outing might just be how all this semantic doodling never gets in the way of the actual listening, at all times directly relating the artists' sonic vitality and cheerful nosiness.
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2LP
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KOM 330LP
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$35.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/14/2025
10-year anniversary re-issue! A major slice of psychedelic synth bliss and powerful basslines. 2LP edition. Gatefold double LP version. Iconic electronic music pioneers The Orb return to Kompakt with Moonbuilding 2703 AD, another major slice of psychedelic synth bliss, obscure loops, and deep ambient textures tossed in swinging breakbeats and powerful basslines. Installing a forward momentum rather unusual for a genre-defying project like this, the latest effort from masterminds Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann follows their 2005 album success on Kompakt, the cheekily named Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt -- as well as several contributions to Kompakt's Speicher and Pop Ambient series -- but, more importantly, it finds the legendary duo at the peak of its creativity, ringing in another essential phase in what can only be called a groundbreaking career. True to form, Moonbuilding 2703 AD features a small track list, but turns each one of its four cuts into a mini-epic in its own right. Opener "God's Mirrorball" hits the ground floating, employing a handful of cozy statics to great effect before finally discharging into an intricate mosaic of atmospheric, melodic sketches and gripping rhythms. With a hypnotic runtime of more than 14 minutes, it immediately establishes a blueprint for the other album tracks to follow, perfectly illustrating the vast extent of the artists' vision and their impressive skills in luring in listeners -- welcome to The Orb's sonic labyrinth, where nothing is what it seems and the unexpected waits just around the corner. Likewise, follow-up track "Moonscapes 2703 BC" presents itself as a uniquely versatile affair sitting comfortably between ambient flourishes and beat-driven focus, holding as many twists and turns as a caper movie, but carefully grounding every single one of its cliffhangers in its impeccable flow. With a runtime of approximately nine minutes, "Lunar Caves" is the shortest jam of the bunch -- and also the most ethereal, keeping its rhythmic content to a bare, pulse-like minimum and opting for enticing, freewheeling synth textures instead. Album closer and title cut "Moonbuilding 2703 AD" introduces a surprisingly jazzy vibe mingling rather well with the wealth of electronic tricks up its sleeve -- even indulging in abrasive bass sweeps and a breathtaking multitude of different rhythm sections constantly switching places. It's a fitting closing act for a full-length as multifaceted as this, as idiosyncratic as possible and as muscular as needed. Cover design by iconic graphic wizards The Designers Republic.
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2LP
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KOM 128LP
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$33.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/14/2025
20-year anniversary re-issue! Okie Dokie It´s The Orb On Kompakt the 13th album of one of Britian's most prized cult bands. The music of The Orb only has an intensive effect when taken in as a long-playing full length. And it proves with this lovingly conjured collection of songs brought together like a collage. The first half of Okie Dokie showcase The Orb´s love for minimal techno and Schaffel/Shuffle as it is so obviously present in the foreground, while the second half is only reserved to the classic Orb-ish ancestral domain. There are wonderful guest appearances by Schneider TM and Kompakt´s ambient-guru Ulf Lohmann. As many of you know, there is so much history about The Orb you could write a book. Since Jimmy Cauty and Alex Paterson, in the flush of euphoria invented chill out and ambient house in the first summer of love 1988, an incredible amount of things have occurred. After 2002, The Orb found with Kompakt a new ambient-loving partner and release a row of singles and play live, as the trimmed-down version as Le Petit Orb.
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LP
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KOM 496LP
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LP version. "In recent years, the introductory texts for the Pop Ambient compilation series, which is released every year on Kompakt as the last release before the Christmas break, often began with the sentence 'Every year again.' 'Every year again,' a quiet, almost unnoticed maxim of self-evidentness. Because this is already the 25th issue to be published this year. 25 years in increasingly fast-moving times in the even faster-moving music business is an eternity that doesn't just feel like it. It is all the more remarkable how I, as someone who is always restless and often driven by this fast pace himself, pleasantly almost haven't realized how -- in pop-ambient contexts -- time does not pass (or passes differently) in the best sense. When compiling the 25th edition I was asked, among other things, what it was like that I was still doing this and whether I had a favorite track. In the spirit of bringing all the tracks together I don't have a favorite track, or all of them. But I have a favorite part (moment) that I played. In this case it was a broad chord in a change of key at minute 2:55 in the piece 'Circles' by Max Würden. A moment of majesty and familiarity that, at that moment, contains the entire Pop Ambient cosmos, that just works and doesn't explain anything -- and I said: 'that's the reason why I'm still doing this.' Pop Ambient is a statement without demands. Is promise without expectation. Is a path without a destination. Every year again." --Wolfgang Voigt, October 2024
As always, the indispensable final mastering by Jörg Burger ensures that everything is brought together and the sound is fine-tuned. And like every year, the 25th edition is of course wrapped in an abstract, floral magic creation by Veronika Unland. Over the years, the grace of her imagery has increasingly merged with the musical aura to form an unmistakable magical symbiosis. Featuring Leandro Fresco/Thore Pfeiffer, Pass Into Silence, Tamarma & Sebastian Mullaert, Sono Kollektiv, Nathalie Brum, Andrew Thomas, Julia Parr, Segensklang, Ümit Han, Max Würden, Blank Gloss, Hendrik Meyer, and Triola Zum.
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CD
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KOMP 185CD
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"In recent years, the introductory texts for the Pop Ambient compilation series, which is released every year on Kompakt as the last release before the Christmas break, often began with the sentence 'Every year again.' 'Every year again,' a quiet, almost unnoticed maxim of self-evidentness. Because this is already the 25th issue to be published this year. 25 years in increasingly fast-moving times in the even faster-moving music business is an eternity that doesn't just feel like it. It is all the more remarkable how I, as someone who is always restless and often driven by this fast pace himself, pleasantly almost haven't realized how -- in pop-ambient contexts -- time does not pass (or passes differently) in the best sense. When compiling the 25th edition I was asked, among other things, what it was like that I was still doing this and whether I had a favorite track. In the spirit of bringing all the tracks together I don't have a favorite track, or all of them. But I have a favorite part (moment) that I played. In this case it was a broad chord in a change of key at minute 2:55 in the piece 'Circles' by Max Würden. A moment of majesty and familiarity that, at that moment, contains the entire Pop Ambient cosmos, that just works and doesn't explain anything -- and I said: 'that's the reason why I'm still doing this.' Pop Ambient is a statement without demands. Is promise without expectation. Is a path without a destination. Every year again." --Wolfgang Voigt, October 2024
As always, the indispensable final mastering by Jörg Burger ensures that everything is brought together and the sound is fine-tuned. And like every year, the 25th edition is of course wrapped in an abstract, floral magic creation by Veronika Unland. Over the years, the grace of her imagery has increasingly merged with the musical aura to form an unmistakable magical symbiosis. Featuring Leandro Fresco/Thore Pfeiffer, Pass Into Silence, Tamarma & Sebastian Mullaert, Sono Kollektiv, Nathalie Brum, Andrew Thomas, Julia Parr, Segensklang, Ümit Han, Max Würden, Blank Gloss, Hendrik Meyer, and Triola Zum.
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12"
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KOM EX133EP
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Patrice Bäumel makes his most welcome return to Kompakt's Speicher series and it's exactly as compelling as you expect it to be. "Luce" is a slenderly pumping piece of minimal soul featuring the otherworldly voice of Chiara Gamo. Once more, Patrice masterfully demonstrates how little elements he needs to create suspense, density and warmth on the floor. "The Cave" follows the same mantra, sucking us into a mystique stalactite cave full of echoing droplets and enchanting whispers.
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CD
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KOMP 184CD
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Michael Mayer albums don't come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. Mayer's name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that's both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that's as exploratory as it is functional. On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There's that iconic album title, for a start. For Mayer, it's partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing. With The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that's varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable. Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs. Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout. There's psychedelic techno on "Feuerstuhl", more minimal techno with "Ardor," slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through "Sycophant", a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy "The Solution." The album closes with the melancholy "Süßer Schlaf", where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in an abstract tribute to a lost friend. It's one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There's also an update on 2020's wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of "Brainwave 2.0," where Mayer's thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album's spirit: "Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music."
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12"
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KOM 492EP
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They still exist, these stories: A fresh newcomer project from Cologne sends their first demo to just one address. An A&R, who has a medically certified autotune allergy, listens to the demo, hears an autotune track and signs the band anyway. "Streetpoet" by Mourad Kehailia and Sebastian Fischer aka 9OASES is as unusual as the genesis of this record. It's a wild hybrid of raving breakbeats, a chord hook that would have done Underworld proud in their heyday and the aforementioned autotune rap. It is magical. Axel Boman is a remixer who can make the magic even more magical. His eight-minute version of "Streetpoet" establishes a long overdue new genre: trancehall! With "New Ballad," 9OASES show listeners that they really mean business with their plans for world conquest. This is great techno pop with heart and mind.
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2LP
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KOM 499LP
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Double LP version. Michael Mayer albums don't come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. Mayer's name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that's both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that's as exploratory as it is functional. On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There's that iconic album title, for a start. For Mayer, it's partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing. With The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that's varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable. Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs. Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout. There's psychedelic techno on "Feuerstuhl", more minimal techno with "Ardor," slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through "Sycophant", a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy "The Solution." The album closes with the melancholy "Süßer Schlaf", where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in an abstract tribute to a lost friend. It's one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There's also an update on 2020's wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of "Brainwave 2.0," where Mayer's thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album's spirit: "Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music."
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2LP
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KOM 495LP
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Double LP version. Includes download code. Kompakt presents Total 24. Having admired Tee Mango from afar for many years, Michael Mayer took heart and invited him to this year's Total. "So In Love" is in the best tradition of the Kompakt minimal funk of the early years. Reinhard Voigt has always placed great emphasis on loving animals. On the track with the unsurprising title "Der, der mit dem Gummiball sang (Orange)," he lets whole hordes of different four-legged friends and poultry on the microphone. Hopefully the stench will dissipate from the studio. When Rhenish cheerfulness meets holiday anticipation, the result is something like this Hawaiian shirt turned music called "Chee-Caruso" by Jürgen Paape. No animals were tortured for this piece either, even if it sounds like it. Next comes London's award-winning pedigree dog Rex The Dog. "Laika" is a heart-warming ode to the mongrel dog of the same name, who was the first living creature to make it from the streets of Moscow into space. A little-known fact about Michael Mayer is that he is one of the fastest crossword puzzle foxes on the left bank of the Rhine, always in relentless rivalry with Wolfgang Voigt, who thinks he is even faster. The big battle is yet to come. As an integral part of the family, Jonathan Kaspar is of course not to be missed. "Are You" celebrates the kind of early morning rapture that is commonplace at his new DJ venue, the brand-new Cologne superclub FI. Everything is so colorful here. Sascha Funke takes a bow to one of the greats of German showbiz with the trippy electro smasher "The Heck." More emotion, more love, more sing-along factor? Si, claro! Argia's "Love Keeps You Running" masterfully combines groove and pop. She may be at home in Madrid, but there's Cologne DNA in her somewhere. Jörg Burger is still in a psychedelic mood in 2024. That suits him, that's where he needs to be. A parallel universe is conceivable in which such music is affectionately called Goa. Before going to bed, the Wassermann reads a fairy tale from the Arabian Nights.
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CD
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KOMP 182CD
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The opening honors on Kompakt's Total 24 go to Hamburg's bundle of joy, Ada, who remixed her dear friend Heiko Voss. When Rhenish cheerfulness meets holiday anticipation, the result is something like this Hawaiian shirt turned music called "Chee-Caruso" by Jürgen Paape. Next up is one of this year's Kompakt debutantes, a truly glamorous bird of paradise called Deer Jade. "Jukurpa" is a highly original, frolicsome house tune that has been moving crowds all over the planet. As an integral part of the family, Jonathan Kaspar is of course not to be missed. "Are You" celebrates the kind of early morning rapture that is commonplace at his new DJ venue, the brand new Cologne superclub FI. Next is Hardt Antoine. who has been firing from all cylinders lately, and he's god damn good at it. Sascha Funke takes a bow to one of the greats of German showbiz with the trippy electro smasher "The Heck." Having admired Tee Mango from afar for many years, Kompakt's A&R Michael Mayer took heart and invited him to this year's Total. Brazilian come Austrian come Berliner Joyce Muniz has certainly become a household name with her intoxicating brand of uplifting pop house. Fittingly, she has joined the ranks here for a collaboration with Sara Blum, "Beats & Lines." More Brazilian feel good vibes come in the form of Gui Boratto's "The Shell" which he conceived together with the former Underworld producer and legend in his own right, Darren Emerson. Next comes the realm of fauna, to London's award-winning pedigree dog Rex The Dog. "Laika" is a heart-warming ode to the mongrel dog of the same name, who was the first living creature to make it from the streets of Moscow into space. Taken from his recent Speicher release, "Beskar" showcases Egyptian lover Raxon's fascination for all things Star Wars and his undeniable ability to churn out monster tracks. David Hasert and Niconé's "Wasting My Time With You" is surely one of the most beloved Kompakt releases of 2024, so it can't be missed on this compilation. Reinhard Voigt has always placed great emphasis on loving animals. On this track with the unsurprising title "Der, der mit dem Gummiball sang (Orange)", he lets whole hordes of different four-legged friends and poultry on the microphone. Argia's "Love Keeps You Running" masterfully combines groove and pop. Before going to bed, Wassermann reads a fairy tale from the Arabian Nights.
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CD
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KOMP 183CD
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Kompakt presents, finally, a reissue of the first, self-titled GAS album. Originally released on electronica imprint Mille Plateaux back in 1996, it's been unavailable in its original form ever since -- the version of GAS included in 2008's Nah Und Fern box featured several different tracks. Here, however, GAS is restored in all its glory, the debut full-length from Wolfgang Voigt's most enigmatic, quixotic project. There had, of course, been signs of what was to come. Back in 1995, Voigt essayed the first Gas release, a slender, yet remarkable four-track EP, Modern. Its center label featured a reduced symbol -- an overhead or lamp light, switched on, its glow radiating outwards in four bold black lines -- a perfect representation of the tight, stylized ambient electronic pop contained on that 12". A few curious compilation tracks were floating around, too, for Mille Plateaux's Modulation & Transformation and Electric Ladyland series. If you were attentive enough, you could tell something was up. But nothing quite prepared listeners for the languorous, effervescing loops and regular-like-clockwork beats that Voigt folded together on GAS. Its six long tracks, all untitled, neither begin nor end but hazily fade into earshot, vibrate majestically in your cochlea for fifteen-or-so minutes -- some a bit shorter, some longer -- and then meander away, reading the mise-en-scène for the next example of Voigt's drift and dream logic to unfold. The material is referential in the most distant way, and you can sense only the most evanescent of ghostly presences, haunting these six compositions. GAS feels, also, like a more pliable hint at what's to come, as the GAS concept really solidified on its successor, 1997's Zauberberg, and reach its apotheosis on Königsforst and Pop. Those three albums share a very similar palette -- blurred, hazy samples, often of classical music, stacked and cross-thatched across a muted 4/4 thud. GAS, then, is an outlier of sorts: it's more expansive in its remit, lighter in its mood, perhaps more fleet of foot. This, of course, is part of its charm. In clearing space for Voigt, by preparing the terrain, GAS sits both at the edge of the forest, and at the verge of an expansive, wide-eyed future; one where GAS would become truly eternal. Text by Jonathan Dale.
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3LP
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KOM 491LP
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Restocked! Triple LP version. Kompakt presents, finally, a reissue of the first, self-titled GAS album. Originally released on electronica imprint Mille Plateaux back in 1996, it's been unavailable in its original form ever since -- the version of GAS included in 2008's Nah Und Fern box featured several different tracks. Here, however, GAS is restored in all its glory, the debut full-length from Wolfgang Voigt's most enigmatic, quixotic project. There had, of course, been signs of what was to come. Back in 1995, Voigt essayed the first Gas release, a slender, yet remarkable four-track EP, Modern. Its center label featured a reduced symbol -- an overhead or lamp light, switched on, its glow radiating outwards in four bold black lines -- a perfect representation of the tight, stylized ambient electronic pop contained on that 12". A few curious compilation tracks were floating around, too, for Mille Plateaux's Modulation & Transformation and Electric Ladyland series. If you were attentive enough, you could tell something was up. But nothing quite prepared listeners for the languorous, effervescing loops and regular-like-clockwork beats that Voigt folded together on GAS. Its six long tracks, all untitled, neither begin nor end but hazily fade into earshot, vibrate majestically in your cochlea for fifteen-or-so minutes -- some a bit shorter, some longer -- and then meander away, reading the mise-en-scène for the next example of Voigt's drift and dream logic to unfold. The material is referential in the most distant way, and you can sense only the most evanescent of ghostly presences, haunting these six compositions. GAS feels, also, like a more pliable hint at what's to come, as the GAS concept really solidified on its successor, 1997's Zauberberg, and reach its apotheosis on Königsforst and Pop. Those three albums share a very similar palette -- blurred, hazy samples, often of classical music, stacked and cross-thatched across a muted 4/4 thud. GAS, then, is an outlier of sorts: it's more expansive in its remit, lighter in its mood, perhaps more fleet of foot. This, of course, is part of its charm. In clearing space for Voigt, by preparing the terrain, GAS sits both at the edge of the forest, and at the verge of an expansive, wide-eyed future; one where GAS would become truly eternal. Text by Jonathan Dale.
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12"
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KOM EX132EP
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Robag Wruhme isn't just a producer; he's a sonic storyteller. His tracks are known for their emotional depth and technical brilliance -- the perfect blend of minimal techno, deep house, and ambient music -- each track a meticulously crafted journey through sound. With influences ranging from classical to jazz to world music, Robag's music is as diverse as it is enchanting. His latest offering on the trailblazing Speicher series is no exception. True to his unmistakable style, "Naila" meanders between heartwarming positivity and menacing darkness induced by one of those bass lines only Robag can deliver. In short: He nailed it! On the flip side, he joins forces with the ominous Bruno Pronsato -- an elusive character that has a string of cult releases on Perlon, Musique Risquée and Foom under his belt. "CDV" was initially released on his album Live At Club Der Visionäre on Logistic Records. Robag's slick re-rub is pushing things decisively in an afterhour-ish direction. Mental music for mental times!
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2LP
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KOM 466LP
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Double LP version. The GAS album Der Lange Marsch once again invites listeners to follow the deep sounding bass drum, to give in to its irresistible pull into a psychedelic world of 1000 promises. At the latest with the release of the albums Zauberberg and Königsforst, in the mid-1990s, one associates GAS, Wolfgang Voigt's very own artistic cross-linking of the spirit of Romanticism and the forest as an artistic fantasy projection surface, with intoxicatingly blurred boundaries of post-ambient infatuation and the impenetrable thicket of abstract atonality. The distant, iconic straight bass drum marching through highly condensed, abstract sounds taken from classical music by the sampler or modulated accordingly, and the enraptured gaze through pop art glasses into the hypnotic thicket of an imaginary forest, manifested over the years this unique connection of audio and visual, which to understand fully, then as now, would be neither possible nor desirable. Quite the opposite.
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CD
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KOMP 166CD
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The GAS album Der Lange Marsch once again invites listeners to follow the deep sounding bass drum, to give in to its irresistible pull into a psychedelic world of 1000 promises. At the latest with the release of the albums Zauberberg and Königsforst, in the mid-1990s, one associates GAS, Wolfgang Voigt's very own artistic cross-linking of the spirit of Romanticism and the forest as an artistic fantasy projection surface, with intoxicatingly blurred boundaries of post-ambient infatuation and the impenetrable thicket of abstract atonality. The distant, iconic straight bass drum marching through highly condensed, abstract sounds taken from classical music by the sampler or modulated accordingly, and the enraptured gaze through pop art glasses into the hypnotic thicket of an imaginary forest, manifested over the years this unique connection of audio and visual, which to understand fully, then as now, would be neither possible nor desirable. Quite the opposite.
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LP
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KOM 485LP
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LP version. With Lucifer, Kompakt presents an album of rare beauty from two masters of modern music. A family affair, it's a collaboration between the Italian father-and-son duo of Luciano Michelini and Lorenzo Dada, whose combined histories bring to Lucifer a depth of experience alongside clarity of vision and a finely tuned, neatly developed combined compositional voice. A lovely, beguiling suite of music that combines the electronic and the acoustic, the urban and the pastoral, its gorgeous night-eye vision and tender melancholy sits neatly within the Kompakt universe, while offering the curious listener some rich new perspectives. Lorenzo Dada creates across multiple fields -- a techno producer and DJ who has already worked with the likes of Jay Haze, Fete, Leo Benassi, and Der, he's released a small clutch of stylish, smartly designed EPs, and a solo album, Second Life (2018). His complementary background in classical music and composition informs his ensemble project, Tears Of Blue (who appear on Lucifer), where Dada paints with neo-classical tones for a quartet of violin, viola, cello and grand piano, supplemented by electronics for live performance. Luciano Michelini's history is yet richer. He may be best known, to many, for his piece "Frolic," the theme to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm series; it was also sampled by Snoop Dogg for 2022's "Crip Ya Enthusiasm." But there's much more to Michelini's story. A successful soundtrack composer, Michelini both studied and taught at the Conservatoro di Santa Cecilia, and worked for RCA from the sixties to the eighties; his soundtracks from this period are gorgeous examples of the form, particularly his work for Il Decamerone Nero (1972), L'Isola Degli Uomini Pesce (1979), and the devastatingly gorgeous Dimensione Donna (1977). There's a familial energy at play through Lucifer, and Dada and Michelini, through exploration and experiment, find a shared language, balancing Dada's tendency toward minimalism, and Michelini's composerly voice. Lucifer flows as a suite that interweaves electronic music with acoustic instruments: the lonely sigh of saxophone; Michelini's lush, verdant piano; the weeping strings of Tears Of Blue (recorded at the studio of Michelini's friend, the late Maestro, Ennio Morricone). These multiple voices are located within the electronic sighs and swarms from Dada's kit; there are moments of propulsion, and passages of lambent drift, where the album revels in its tonal sweetness. If it flows so effortlessly, that's because Lucifer was designed that way, as a suite or a sonata of sorts.
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12"
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KOM 487EP
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The Dutch-American legend Orlando Voorn is back on the block with a very, very yummy four-tracker that is masterfully channeling his deep love for Detroit techno and Chicago house. "No Cellphones" recalls Green Velvet's classic Relief Records sound, applying a sinister bouncer voice that commands everybody to put their f***ing cellphones away. It's quite a tantalizing idea to drop this tune at an Afterlife party. "Raise The Bar" is a primo minimal heater for prime-time usage, classic Voorn intensity through and through. The flipside harbors two gorgeous, summerly house tracks with plenty of soul for those sun flooded festival floors. Orlando Voorn reigns supreme.
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KOM 486EP
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After the great response to the launch with Deer Jade and David Hasert/Niconé, Komapkt's lively split EP format is going into the next round. Always true to the motto: Only killers, no fillers! Brazilian born come Berlin resident Joyce Muniz teams up with Algerian born come Rome resident DJ producer Sara Bluma for their phenomenal Kompakt debut Beats & Lines, an uplifting electro disco affair with plenty of pop appeal. The good vibes between Sara and Joyce are definitely contagious! London's Hardt Antoine is back to the mothership with a bang! "I Will" is a sensual, percussion-driven house anthem for those morning hours, when spirits are high and the sense of unity is palpable. "La Mosca" is taking a more hypnotic approach, putting a joyous chant of unknown origin to good use.
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CD
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KOMP 181CD
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With Lucifer, Kompakt presents an album of rare beauty from two masters of modern music. A family affair, it's a collaboration between the Italian father-and-son duo of Luciano Michelini and Lorenzo Dada, whose combined histories bring to Lucifer a depth of experience alongside clarity of vision and a finely tuned, neatly developed combined compositional voice. A lovely, beguiling suite of music that combines the electronic and the acoustic, the urban and the pastoral, its gorgeous night-eye vision and tender melancholy sits neatly within the Kompakt universe, while offering the curious listener some rich new perspectives. Lorenzo Dada creates across multiple fields -- a techno producer and DJ who has already worked with the likes of Jay Haze, Fete, Leo Benassi, and Der, he's released a small clutch of stylish, smartly designed EPs, and a solo album, Second Life (2018). His complementary background in classical music and composition informs his ensemble project, Tears Of Blue (who appear on Lucifer), where Dada paints with neo-classical tones for a quartet of violin, viola, cello and grand piano, supplemented by electronics for live performance. Luciano Michelini's history is yet richer. He may be best known, to many, for his piece "Frolic," the theme to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm series; it was also sampled by Snoop Dogg for 2022's "Crip Ya Enthusiasm." But there's much more to Michelini's story. A successful soundtrack composer, Michelini both studied and taught at the Conservatoro di Santa Cecilia, and worked for RCA from the sixties to the eighties; his soundtracks from this period are gorgeous examples of the form, particularly his work for Il Decamerone Nero (1972), L'Isola Degli Uomini Pesce (1979), and the devastatingly gorgeous Dimensione Donna (1977). There's a familial energy at play through Lucifer, and Dada and Michelini, through exploration and experiment, find a shared language, balancing Dada's tendency toward minimalism, and Michelini's composerly voice. Lucifer flows as a suite that interweaves electronic music with acoustic instruments: the lonely sigh of saxophone; Michelini's lush, verdant piano; the weeping strings of Tears Of Blue (recorded at the studio of Michelini's friend, the late Maestro, Ennio Morricone). These multiple voices are located within the electronic sighs and swarms from Dada's kit; there are moments of propulsion, and passages of lambent drift, where the album revels in its tonal sweetness. If it flows so effortlessly, that's because Lucifer was designed that way, as a suite or a sonata of sorts.
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LP
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KOM 478LP
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Repressed. Dettinger's Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as pop ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognizable genre. Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt's first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology -- hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats. There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too -- his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma, and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, "invented dubstep." There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt's Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distill Dettinger's singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music.
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LP
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KOM 479LP
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Repressed! Dettinger's Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as Pop Ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognizable genre. Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor, Intershop. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don't often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures -- whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms -- it builds complex emotional resonance. It's no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, "For us, he was the dude." There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too -- his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma, and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, "invented dubstep." There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt's Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger's singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music.
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KOM 483EP
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This 12" is the inauguration of a new split EP format on Kompakt. More hits on one record. Less environmental impact. Everybody wins. Deer Jade is hailing from the picturesque Lake of Geneva, an area about which the late Jean Paul Belmondo had to say a thing or two. Her infectious smile and uplifting energy behind the decks already made her a household name in clubs and festivals around the globe. This solo debut is an expression of her strong self-confidence and in-syncness with the world surrounding her. "Jukurpa" might be just one of the most flamboyant house tunes you'll come across this year, readymade for swaying to on an early summer morning dancefloor. "Cosmic Dream" is of a more introspective nature, putting gentle psychedelic synth movements to good use. There's a lot of heart in Deer Jade's music. David Hasert & Niconé shed rays of sun galore with this lost in reverie deep house jam. Built around a catchy as hell soul vocal and occasional piano outbursts "Wasting My Time With You" will certainly be one of our favorite tunes to waste time to.
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12"
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KOM EX127EP
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After three so elegant, as well as successful EPs on the mothership, you can sometimes get cocky. Jonathan Kaspar invites himself to the Speicher party and really lets his hair down. "Topper" may or may not refer to Charlie Sheen's epic performance in "Hot Shots". It certainly takes no prisoners either. The track rattles and squeaks like an old feather bed while... oh, let's leave that to your imagination. After such an exhilarating burst of exuberance, comes "FEZ" to smooth the waters. An arpeggio that seems quite serious at first glance doesn't quite manage to get past Jonathan's riotous mood unscathed. Half he pulled it, half it sank into him. Nobody gets out of here without a hangover.
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KOM EX131EP
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Kompakt Extra is kicking off the new year in style with a fantastic new double header by Raxon. This Egypt-born, Barcelonese powerhouse has left his scent marks all over the place in recent years. He has developed an instantly recognizable sound and that's no small feat in these times shaped by so much formulaic dullness. "Your Fault" sees the Catalan hot shot in an exuberant disco mood. Mind bending chord progressions foiled with Raxon's trademark vocal stutters guarantee for wonderfully twisted hands in the air moments. With "Beskar" the listener is entering Star Wars nerd territory. Musically speaking, this is a stealthy, funky as hell trance-not-trance juggernaut. 2024 is off to a good start.
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