Kompakt Total 16 – about the artists CD2!

Hello,

Following on from my last post – Kompakt Total 16 CD1 – here are some notes on the artistes that make up CD2 of this fantastic collection!

01. Alex Under – Lolog
Genre : Deep House
He’s a Spanish fellow, working out of Madrid – apparently the most sought after DJ/producer in Spain. He has a couple of 12″ singles and a full length album : “Actividades Para Normales” on Trapez records. He’s got his own label too – CMYKmusik – on which he has released EPs and 12″ singles. His style seems to be quite minimal and tuneful, laid back and confident, but with some real technical ability. Have a listen to his tunes on Beatport– some nice minimalism with bounce going on there.

02. Frankey & Sandrino – Hydrae
Genre : Deep House
Frankey & Sandrino are Sandrino Tittel and Frank Beckers, another Berlin duo who create this, slightly cheesy, arpeggio-based tune – I like that single repetitive motif, with some sweet trance synth over-arching the bubbling sequence. Nice! They started out together in 2010, have a couple of EPs out, with one to come.

03. John Tejada – Integrator
Genre : Tech House

John Tejada is s Viennese chap with a very musical pedigree – Dad was a composer and Mum an opera singer, so music in the blood. Now living in Los Angeles, he has an impressive array of releases in several genres (on Kompakt) and is a producer, remixer, DJ, and label owner. Here’s his video for the track, directed by Mark Dadlani, via Xlr8r :

I like the simplicity of this relaxed tune, ideal for chilling or driving through pretty countryside, watching the sheep go by…

04. Hunter/Game – Silver (Redshape Mix)
Genre : Tech House
I liked Hunter/Game’s remix of Weval’s Gimme Some (but not as much as the original) so it’s good to have this latest track from these two Italian guys – Emmanuele Nicosia and Martino Bartola – do their thang in Milan (they’re seriously too sexy for Milan) who have secret loft parties and are hugely influence by the Culture of Milan itself – fashion, film and art. Many releases, including two “Speicher” EPs (which come from Kompakt and need some digging into, watch this space!) – here they do some fine handling of the mystery female vocals with pop-synthy bongies and wooo-type tunesmithing. It’s a remix of the original Silver, which to me sounds more punchier. Redshape is Panorama Bar resident NICK HÖPPNER – who seems to do a fine line in remixes – elusive character, apparently. Here’s the video for Hunter/Game – Silver (Redshape Mix) :

and the original :
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05. Matias Aguayo – Komm
Genre : Tech House
A Chilean-born and German-raised DJ/Producer who uses his voice as his main instrument, coming from a luvvie background (directing, acting, and performing), not that obvious from this tack, though he could have used many a technical trick to get the main riff down, we’ll never know. He does a few underground parties, attracting outsiders and the occasional misfit into his circle – and they tend to be “free-thinking with regards to the musical process” – that can, of course, not just be a bad thing!

06. Michael Mayer – Action
Genre : Techno

Kompakt Generalissimo Michael Mayer usually does something for his Total series, and here is one – really not one for me, surprisingly. Too much of that squelchy age-old Roland sound to me, we really should just let it go, in my (very ‘umble) opinion. Anyway German born Mayer is a key member of Kompakt, deciding who’s in and who’s out – and does a Damn Good Job, I’d say. He has a massive Kompakt bio at Kompakt.fm, well worth a read. He sees himself an entertainer and educator, he certainly is (most of the time).

07. Clarian – Space Noir
Genre : Techno
Canadian Clarian is a “transcendental house music producer”, according to Kompakt – not much known about him, apart from his diet of peanut butter and tobacco … and has an EP on Kompakt, with this here track on it called Mission To Bars. His various bio’s (RA and Kompakt) tell an odd tale of clinics, occupational therapy and existential angst. Some of that is apparent in this track, where synths are bent rather nicely in my opinion – quite a new sound, in fact.

08. Rex The Dog – Teufelsberg
Genre : Techno
Another new tweeking of synths, this time can be seen being done on this video :

This has some fabulous tiny vocoded rhythmic bit, which get me going, really. Plus some “glide/portamento” synth lead sounds, not heard in quite a while. Rex The Dog is Jake Williams and a dog called Rex – according to their website : “They make music with synthesisers, they make remixes, art and animation and they run a regular club night at Dalston Superstore in London called BREED.” and that is it, as far as bio is concerned. And he is a chart-topper! But in the mid-ninety’s, so it’s pretty good to hear him do something new with that old-fashioned kit, on ultra-cool Kompakt (see The Orb, on my previous post).

09. Maceo Plex feat. C.A.R. – Mirror Me (Dark Dub)
Genre : Techno

Actually, I tell yer something, having heard this far, I’m beginning to be amazed at some of the uses of synthesisers in this (new) collection of techno tunes – this one has a pure “choir” sound, often found in synth presets and often (for good reason) not put anywhere near a real tune, because they sound so synthetic. But here, Cuban born, Barcelona resident, Eric Estornel uses that pure aaaaaaaaah sound to good effect, quite refreshing. He is to be seen mainly in Ibiza, but has many releases to his name (Maceo Plex, Maetrik or Mariel ito).

10. Patrice Bäumel – Surge
Genre : Techno
Here he is with his own tune this time, having had a remix on CD1. Remember he is a DJ/Producer who has ” … been on a mission to create and share music that spreads love, positivity and happiness…” and calls his music “techno music for grown-ups“ – so does this track achieve any of that? Yes, I think so, a nice bit tinkling xylophone and two-by-two beat, then some pretty dramatic saw-synth over the top. Don’t like the “erk” bits – what do you think? He also has something on the Kompakt Speicher imprint.

11. Reinhard Voigt – Reisen & Speisen
Genre : Techno

Another founder of Kompakt (brother of Wolfgang) has a tiny bio on Kompakt.fm compared with Michael Mayer’s, oddly. I really like this track : very simple, and yet well-controlled, takes a listen or two to get that sequencer in/out thing going on, and very typically Kompakt.

12. Terranova – Kepler186F (DJ Hell Mix)
Genre : Techno
Terranova is an electronic dance music duo by DJs/producers Fetisch and &ME, based between Berlin and Paris, formed in 1996! Influenced by Punk and hip hop, Fetisch did a lot of illegal raves in the UK, back in the day, and recorded in the same studio as Bowie and Kraftwerk – some experience then! They’ve even done some film soundtracks and worked with New Order, Roxy Music, Fisherspooner, Ennio Morricone and Gui Boratto. Yes, Ennio Morricone. This track is remixed by DJ Hell who is Helmut Geier, a real ol’ timer – DJing since 1985, influenced by Andy Warhol and his Factory – Hell surrounds himself with musicians, fashion designers, photographers, film makers, video artists and actors. He describes himself as “the good soul of German techno” and has worked with Fischerspooner, Vitalic, Miss Kittin & the Hacker, Tiga, the Pet Shop Boys, Jeff Mills, Dopplereffekt, Amanda La Pore and Bryan Ferry. He even had a live John Peel session in 1995. Full bio at RA. I really like this remix – full of seemingly random synth spikes, but are actually a bubbling up tune with some warped vocals, lovely end to CD2, leaves you wanting more …

You can get the Kompakt Total 16 2xCD from : iTunes.

So that’s the end of my epic research (so much more to be said about each artiste, really), have a listen to the tracks and let me know what you think!

Phew,

CheersO,

~andy~