KOMPAKT - Forced Exposure

$15.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 12/4/2020

It's 2020, the year Pop Ambient turns twenty-one years old, a spritely young adult waltzing out of its teenage joys and tears. Pop Ambient has always stood for a certain classicism and elegance, a kind of beatless music that's diaphanous and hazy, gossamer and glittering. For twenty-one years, Kompakt co-founder Wolfgang Voigt has curated a series of peerless compilations that repeatedly find refreshing answers to a simple question: What happens when the dancefloor is empty, and everyone's home to drift away? As with many other Pop Ambient compilations, Pop Ambient 2021 offers a welcome platform to contributions from both old friends and new faces. It opens with the gorgeous, slo-mo drift of "Of A Vessel", from new Kompakt signings Blank Gloss. Sending their music out into the world from their home in Sacramento, this duo makes music that's featherlight and luscious, the muted chime of a guitar over here, the steady hum of a halatial drone. Neozaïre and Seventh World are two additional new voices, the latter closing Pop Ambient 2021 with a long, lambent dreamsong, Neozaïre offering two gaseous, morphing driftworks, "In Verschwenderischer Fülle" etched across with bell-like arpeggios. Pop Ambient has always felt like a field for play for the Kompakt cognoscenti, and 2021 is no different, with Joachim Spieth collaborating with Pepo Galán on the sidereal visions of "Libration", while Leandro Fresco teams up with Thore Pfeiffer on the lovely "Abejorro". Pfeiffer also contributes two lovely solo miniatures of abstract longing. Yui Onodera calls in again, long distance, for their fourth Pop Ambient running, with the refracted, glinting lightscapes of "Cromo 5" and "Monochrome", while there are also star turns from Max Würden, both solo and in Reich & Würden, and Morgen Wurde, who drops by with the "ethereal drama" of "Mittsommer". Pop Ambient gets the balance right: visions and soundscapes, long-distance communications and intimate asides, sweetness and light, drama and dreaming, all wrapped up in floral abstractions -- a most beautiful distraction.

CD version features Blank Gloss, Yui Onodera, Thore Pfeiffer, Morgen Wurde, Reich & Würden, Neozaïre, Joachim Spieth & Pepo Galán, Max Würden, Leandro Fresco & Thore Pfeiffer, and Seventh World.

$22.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 12/4/2020

LP version. Includes download with full CD track listing. LP version features Blank Gloss, Yui Onodera, Thore Pfeiffer, Morgen Wurde, Reich & Würden, Neozaïre, Joachim Spieth & Pepo Galán, Max Würden, and Leandro Fresco & Thore Pfeiffer. It's 2020, the year Pop Ambient turns twenty-one years old, a spritely young adult waltzing out of its teenage joys and tears. Pop Ambient has always stood for a certain classicism and elegance, a kind of beatless music that's diaphanous and hazy, gossamer and glittering. For twenty-one years, Kompakt co-founder Wolfgang Voigt has curated a series of peerless compilations that repeatedly find refreshing answers to a simple question: What happens when the dancefloor is empty, and everyone's home to drift away? As with many other Pop Ambient compilations, Pop Ambient 2021 offers a welcome platform to contributions from both old friends and new faces. It opens with the gorgeous, slo-mo drift of "Of A Vessel", from new Kompakt signings Blank Gloss. Sending their music out into the world from their home in Sacramento, this duo makes music that's featherlight and luscious, the muted chime of a guitar over here, the steady hum of a halatial drone. Neozaïre and Seventh World are two additional new voices, the latter closing Pop Ambient 2021 with a long, lambent dreamsong, Neozaïre offering two gaseous, morphing driftworks, "In Verschwenderischer Fülle" etched across with bell-like arpeggios. Pop Ambient has always felt like a field for play for the Kompakt cognoscenti, and 2021 is no different, with Joachim Spieth collaborating with Pepo Galán on the sidereal visions of "Libration", while Leandro Fresco teams up with Thore Pfeiffer on the lovely "Abejorro". Pfeiffer also contributes two lovely solo miniatures of abstract longing. Yui Onodera calls in again, long distance, for their fourth Pop Ambient running, with the refracted, glinting lightscapes of "Cromo 5" and "Monochrome", while there are also star turns from Max Würden, both solo and in Reich & Würden, and Morgen Wurde, who drops by with the "ethereal drama" of "Mittsommer". Pop Ambient gets the balance right: visions and soundscapes, long-distance communications and intimate asides, sweetness and light, drama and dreaming, all wrapped up in floral abstractions -- a most beautiful distraction.

$15.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 11/27/2020

Kompakt welcomes back Copenhagen's WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfod's penchant for electronic music poetically juxtaposed with Tomas Høffding and Jeppe Kjellberg's respective backgrounds in rock and jazz, gives their music an electrifying combination of sounds, merging a variety of influences to produce a unique sonic fingerprint that is emotive, irresistible and immensely satisfying. Though they have yet to strike a note together since the release of their 2012 full length Brighter (KOM 254LP/KOMP 097CD, 2012), WhoMadeWho have been remarkably productive. With two full-lengths, a DJ mix for Watergate's series (WG 026CD), the trio have found themselves diving more and more into the world of electronic music, tapping into their goldmine of connections within the scene to spearhead an array of collaborations. Synchronicity is all about "meaningful coincidences" -- bringing interpretation to bear on connections that have no actual causal relationship. It's a canny concept to pin onto Copenhagen trio WhoMadeWho's latest album, which sees them return to Kompakt for the first time since 2012's Brighter. On Synchronicity, WhoMadeWho call on friends old and new: Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Alex Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo, and Perel is the cast list; WhoMadeWho direct the material, shaping it into one lovingly flowing gem of dance-pop glory. There's something particularly generous about hearing an album as all-inclusive and open-hearted as Synchronicity in the midst of the profound social and cultural shifts everyone is currently experiencing. While some songs on Synchronicity were recorded together, in real time, such as the collaborations with Adana Twins and Rebolledo, most of them have taken place via long distance, thanks to the pandemic lockdown. But you don't need to know who was where to understand either the magnesium-flare melancholy of "Sooner", recorded with Piñol, which has you holding your breath with the gentle thrill of the song's lush melody, or the stomping strut of the following Adana Twins collaboration, "Shadow Of Doubt". Elsewhere, there's the stentorian robot voice at the heart of "Hamstring", where they're joined by Michael Mayer; the lustrous headsoak of "Twenty Tears", a tender intervention by Rebolledo; the strip-light, slow-motion disco strut of "Cecil", produced alongside Echonomist; or the glittering, arpeggio dreamwork that Perel helps sculpt into shape on "Der Abend Birgt Keine Ruh". From pop revelations to dancefloor delirium to slow-burning brooders, Synchronicity is a space for the joys of the unexpected to collide.

$31.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 11/27/2020

Double LP version. Kompakt welcomes back Copenhagen's WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfod's penchant for electronic music poetically juxtaposed with Tomas Høffding and Jeppe Kjellberg's respective backgrounds in rock and jazz, gives their music an electrifying combination of sounds, merging a variety of influences to produce a unique sonic fingerprint that is emotive, irresistible and immensely satisfying. Though they have yet to strike a note together since the release of their 2012 full length Brighter (KOM 254LP/KOMP 097CD, 2012), WhoMadeWho have been remarkably productive. With two full-lengths, a DJ mix for Watergate's series (WG 026CD), the trio have found themselves diving more and more into the world of electronic music, tapping into their goldmine of connections within the scene to spearhead an array of collaborations. Synchronicity is all about "meaningful coincidences" -- bringing interpretation to bear on connections that have no actual causal relationship. It's a canny concept to pin onto Copenhagen trio WhoMadeWho's latest album, which sees them return to Kompakt for the first time since 2012's Brighter. On Synchronicity, WhoMadeWho call on friends old and new: Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Alex Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo, and Perel is the cast list; WhoMadeWho direct the material, shaping it into one lovingly flowing gem of dance-pop glory. There's something particularly generous about hearing an album as all-inclusive and open-hearted as Synchronicity in the midst of the profound social and cultural shifts everyone is currently experiencing. While some songs on Synchronicity were recorded together, in real time, such as the collaborations with Adana Twins and Rebolledo, most of them have taken place via long distance, thanks to the pandemic lockdown. But you don't need to know who was where to understand either the magnesium-flare melancholy of "Sooner", recorded with Piñol, which has you holding your breath with the gentle thrill of the song's lush melody, or the stomping strut of the following Adana Twins collaboration, "Shadow Of Doubt". Elsewhere, there's the stentorian robot voice at the heart of "Hamstring", where they're joined by Michael Mayer; the lustrous headsoak of "Twenty Tears", a tender intervention by Rebolledo; the strip-light, slow-motion disco strut of "Cecil", produced alongside Echonomist; or the glittering, arpeggio dreamwork that Perel helps sculpt into shape on "Der Abend Birgt Keine Ruh". From pop revelations to dancefloor delirium to slow-burning brooders, Synchronicity is a space for the joys of the unexpected to collide.

$30.50 IN STOCK

Double LP version. On his fourth album proper, Now Here No Where, Danish producer Kölsch (aka Rune Reilly Kölsch) is charting new terrain. Fans of his "years trilogy" -- 1977 (KOM 276LP/KOMP 107CD), 1983 (KOM 329LP/KOMP 122CD), and 1989 (KOM 373LP/KOMP 139CD) released on Kompakt over the past decade -- were privy to a kind of sonic diary, an autobiography, tracking the artist's early years through three albums of superior, meticulously rendered techno. Calling in collaborators where needed -- most notably, the strings of Gregor Schwellenbach -- there was still something deeply personal going down, not quite hermetic, but internally focused; the albums proved not only Kölsch's mastery of his chosen form, but also his capacity to make techno personal, individual, and to trace histories of the self through music. But on Now Here No Where, Kölsch finds his feet firmly planted in the present. For Kölsch, this makes Nowhere Now Here "an album about life in the year 2020. A time defined by confusion, misinformation and environmental challenges." Kölsch does this with music that effortlessly balances emotional heft with the dancefloor's brimming desires. It's a space that Kölsch has navigated for a while now -- one of techno's breakthrough acts -- but Now Here No Where ratchets up the lushness, making for a delirious drift across twelve tracks that are at once perfectly poised and deeply trippy. "Great Escape" is an elegant swoon, an opener that pivots on a sigh and a prayer; then "Shoulder Of Giants" bustles into view, subliminal clatter and an aching violin line giving way to a riff that glows with fluorescence and iridescence. "Remind You" combines an odd ECM jazziness with notes from a 21st century torch song; "Sleeper Must Awaken" mines huge buzzing synths and lets them float, in and out of sync, with reduced, ticking beats; "Traumfabrik" (dream factory) is oddly lush, the tones malleable and plastic, morphing across a glitching undertow. There are sad, emotional washes of strings throughout the penultimate "While Waiting For Something To Care About", while the patterns of "Romtech User Manual" twist and shape in the light. Throughout, Kölsch never keeps his eye off the dancefloor, and you can tell this is his still his home. The club as a temporary autonomous zone, as a space both of freedom and of politics; somehow, that's all here, Now Here No Where.

$15.50 IN STOCK

On his fourth album proper, Now Here No Where, Danish producer Kölsch (aka Rune Reilly Kölsch) is charting new terrain. Fans of his "years trilogy" -- 1977 (KOM 276LP/KOMP 107CD), 1983 (KOM 329LP/KOMP 122CD), and 1989 (KOM 373LP/KOMP 139CD) released on Kompakt over the past decade -- were privy to a kind of sonic diary, an autobiography, tracking the artist's early years through three albums of superior, meticulously rendered techno. Calling in collaborators where needed -- most notably, the strings of Gregor Schwellenbach -- there was still something deeply personal going down, not quite hermetic, but internally focused; the albums proved not only Kölsch's mastery of his chosen form, but also his capacity to make techno personal, individual, and to trace histories of the self through music. But on Now Here No Where, Kölsch finds his feet firmly planted in the present. For Kölsch, this makes Nowhere Now Here "an album about life in the year 2020. A time defined by confusion, misinformation and environmental challenges." Kölsch does this with music that effortlessly balances emotional heft with the dancefloor's brimming desires. It's a space that Kölsch has navigated for a while now -- one of techno's breakthrough acts -- but Now Here No Where ratchets up the lushness, making for a delirious drift across twelve tracks that are at once perfectly poised and deeply trippy. "Great Escape" is an elegant swoon, an opener that pivots on a sigh and a prayer; then "Shoulder Of Giants" bustles into view, subliminal clatter and an aching violin line giving way to a riff that glows with fluorescence and iridescence. "Remind You" combines an odd ECM jazziness with notes from a 21st century torch song; "Sleeper Must Awaken" mines huge buzzing synths and lets them float, in and out of sync, with reduced, ticking beats; "Traumfabrik" (dream factory) is oddly lush, the tones malleable and plastic, morphing across a glitching undertow. There are sad, emotional washes of strings throughout the penultimate "While Waiting For Something To Care About", while the patterns of "Romtech User Manual" twist and shape in the light. Throughout, Kölsch never keeps his eye off the dancefloor, and you can tell this is his still his home. The club as a temporary autonomous zone, as a space both of freedom and of politics; somehow, that's all here, Now Here No Where.

$27.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 10/30/2020

Videosphere, the debut album by the London-based artist Lake Turner (aka Andrew Halford), swoons into focus with "The Sunbird", a teasing drift of lilting, ambient tones, riding out a submerged piston-pulse rhythm. Across its brief 109 seconds, it manages to traverse evocative terrain --something mythopoetic, something both humble and grandiose, a glimpse of the other behind the sky's curtain. It's both sky-bound and earthen, a ritual incantation to call in the music of the spheres. Turner was introduced to the Kompakt family by his sometime collaborator Yannis Philippakis of Foals. He'd previously made music in post-punk and indie groups Great Eskimo Hoax and Trophy Wife, but Videosphere is the first time he's fully articulated his own vision of electronic music, aside from one limited lathe-cut 12", 2018's Prime Mover EP, on Algebra. The lush ambient-disco-techno dreams of Videosphere were constructed and completed in his London studio and at his parents' arable and sheep farm in Worcestershire, which might help explain the hazy, unhurried pastoralism of the album. A student of archaeology and ancient history, Turner is no doubt carefully attuned to the twisting cogs of history and memory, and it's no surprise that Videosphere has a nostalgic, melancholic cast; much of its beauty rests in the way it tugs, gently, at the heart strings. It's not all drift-dream hypnosis, though -- Videosphere is very much grounded in the now. "'No Way Back Forever' is a nod to the linear nature of time," Turner explains by way of example, "and the tipping point of the world climate crisis that scientists have now declared." Jayne Powell's vocals are sent spinning through the song, wound like candyfloss; she takes center stage on the techno hymnal title track, too. Throughout, there's a sense of forward movement, despite the life stasis we find ourselves collectively bound by in mid-2020; there's also a yearning for the communal, for community, that's captured in the album title, a nod to an object Turner encountered at London's Geoffrey Museum, "a television set in the shape of a spaceman's helmet from the 1970s." "The vision I loosely had was to make an electronic record that had a communal warmth and almost ceremonial or ritual feel. I wanted to examine the relationship of our archaic minds in the trappings of the modern world," Turner concludes. "What the Videosphere also symbolizes for me is the oneness of humanity and community, prevailing."

$15.50 IN STOCK

Two decades. Twenty years. Twenty compilations. Over 400 tracks. Over two days of total playing time and countless colored dots. If someone would have told Kompakt in 1999, when they put together Total 1 (KOM 010LP/KOMP 003CD, 1999) that this would turn into one of the longest standing compilation series in techno world, they would have laughed out loud. But here they are -- in the year 2020 which will probably go down in history as the most difficult period ever for club culture. But Kompakt won't stop doing what they're doing. Music is our oxygen. We'll dance together soon again. The Total series has always been like Kompakt's yearbook and to say it with the late Frank Sinatra: It was a very good year. The label's family of artists delivered a strong heterogeneous mix of uplifting sounds, from the lush reveries of Robag Wruhme and Soela to the stark primetime bangers of Marc Romboy or Anna & Kittin and everything in between. Notable new entries to our crew are the Londoner Kiwi with his wonderfully careless "Hello Echo" that picks up the camp disco vibes Justus Köhncke made a staple in our repertoire. Amsterdam's David Douglas delivers an appetizer for a full course meal. His quirky pop approach sits comfortably between fellow dutchmen Weval's abstract beats and Agents Of Time's opulent Italo disco. Yotam Avni blends Detroit techno with new age jazz that reminisces the sound of ECM artists like Jan Garbarek or John Surman. The man with the hat, Kölsch also picks up jazzier notes in his very own big room style. Youngblood Jonathan Kaspar appears twice, fortifying his status as one of the hottest beat smiths of our hometown Cologne. Total wouldn't be Total without our permanent staff present in full force. May Total 20 become your trustworthy companion in these uncertain times. As per tradition, Kompakt's founding fathers, Voigt & Voigt, Jürgen Paape, Jörg Burger, Michael Mayer, as well as our Berlin outpost Sascha Funke all deliver exclusive gems that also feature on Total 20.

2CD version features Robag Wruhme, Soela, Michael Mayer, Jürgen Paape, David Douglas, Kiwi, Sascha Funke, Jonathan Kaspar, Voigt & Voigt, Steve Moore, Weval, Jörg Burger, Agents Of Time, Kölsch, Enzo Elia, Aldebaran, Quique, Yotam Avni, Anna & Kittin, Christian Nielsen, Marc Romboy, and Blackrachas.

$27.50 IN STOCK

Double LP version. Two decades. Twenty years. Twenty compilations. Over 400 tracks. Over two days of total playing time and countless colored dots. If someone would have told Kompakt in 1999, when they put together Total 1 (KOM 010LP/KOMP 003CD, 1999) that this would turn into one of the longest standing compilation series in techno world, they would have laughed out loud. But here they are -- in the year 2020 which will probably go down in history as the most difficult period ever for club culture. But Kompakt won't stop doing what they're doing. Music is our oxygen. We'll dance together soon again. The Total series has always been like Kompakt's yearbook and to say it with the late Frank Sinatra: It was a very good year. The label's family of artists delivered a strong heterogeneous mix of uplifting sounds, from the lush reveries of Robag Wruhme and Soela to the stark primetime bangers of Marc Romboy or Anna & Kittin and everything in between. Notable new entries to our crew are the Londoner Kiwi with his wonderfully careless "Hello Echo" that picks up the camp disco vibes Justus Köhncke made a staple in our repertoire. Amsterdam's David Douglas delivers an appetizer for a full course meal. His quirky pop approach sits comfortably between fellow dutchmen Weval's abstract beats and Agents Of Time's opulent Italo disco. Yotam Avni blends Detroit techno with new age jazz that reminisces the sound of ECM artists like Jan Garbarek or John Surman. The man with the hat, Kölsch also picks up jazzier notes in his very own big room style. Youngblood Jonathan Kaspar appears twice, fortifying his status as one of the hottest beat smiths of our hometown Cologne. Total wouldn't be Total without our permanent staff present in full force. May Total 20 become your trustworthy companion in these uncertain times. As per tradition, Kompakt's founding fathers, Voigt & Voigt, Jürgen Paape, Jörg Burger, Michael Mayer, as well as our Berlin outpost Sascha Funke all deliver exclusive gems that also feature on Total 20.

Double-LP version features Jürgen Paape, Jörg Burger, Michael Mayer, David Douglas, Sascha Funke, Voigt & Voigt, and Jonathan Kaspar. Double-LP edition includes vinyl only track by Christian Nielsen; includes download.

$14.50 LOW STOCK LEVEL

After 2019's lauded three-track EP Topinambur (KOM 409EP) Kompakt announce Robag Wruhme's return to Speicher. On the A-side, Robag delivers a deep hypnotic chugger that goes by the simple but ultimately affirmative name "Yes". In all its simplicity, it's one of those tracks that gently tosses you down the famous rabbit hole. The flip side "Calma Calma" is pure summer festival bliss, resurrecting the spine-tingling a cappella from C'Hantal's proto techno classic "The Realm" for the 2020's. Both tracks are 100% Robag... highly emotive, über sexy, and yet somehow hazardous.

$28.50 IN STOCK

Double LP version. It's taken Yotam Avni a little while to get to his debut album; almost a decade, really, since his debut 12", That's What The World Needs (2012), on California's Seasons Limited imprint. During that time, the Tel-Aviv based producer has refined his productions, tightening the groove and paring everything back to bare essentials; the power in an Avni cut is its combination of piston-pulse propulsion and a deep, but gently applied, musicality. Avni's been on Kompakt's radar for a while, first appearing on the label last year, with his Speicher contribution (KOM EX109EP). The connection immediately made sense -- dance music that managed to feel both lush and streamlined across the same great gasp of late-night energy. But with Yotam Avni Was Here, he's taken a huge leap. After a brief intro, Avni sets his stall with "Beyond The Dance", which features slow-moving vocal melisma over sculptural, melting tonalities, a tintinnabulating, harpsichord-like two-note phrase pacing out the track. Then "It Was What It Was" comes into view, its strip-light textures suddenly placed into sharp relief by a muted trumpet figure that hangs in the air, melancholy and pensive. Avni's inspirations for Was Here are from the histories of both techno and jazz. "I wanted to try something more around Detroit Techno meets ECM," he reflects. "Carl Craig's Just Another Day EP (2004) and Kenny Larkin's Keys, Strings, Tambourines (2008) came out during my high school years and had huge impact on me." Avni continues, "I always wanted to go back to those hi-tek soul roots on a full album," he continues, and he explores that terrain with the sky-strafing brass on "Free Darius Now", Morse-code keys on "Vortex," and glitchy, microhouse tickles of "Know Hope" all contributing to an oblique narrative that seems to arc across Was Here -- one fleshed out by guest musicians, who include dOP and Georg Levin on vocals, and trumpets by Greg Paulus (Beirut, No Regular Play). The cover art makes the jazz connection explicit, riffing on the text-based, minimal design of The Modern Jazz Quartet's 1955 album for Prestige, Concorde. The way Avni has gathered around him both inspiring musicians and intriguing reference points makes you think of his broader career as well. The openness of his productions, which seem to be all about the multiple, the possibilities of cross-pollination, of fusing this with that, of adding and subtracting, all under the pulsating thumbprint of techno.

$15.50 IN STOCK

It's taken Yotam Avni a little while to get to his debut album; almost a decade, really, since his debut 12", That's What The World Needs (2012), on California's Seasons Limited imprint. During that time, the Tel-Aviv based producer has refined his productions, tightening the groove and paring everything back to bare essentials; the power in an Avni cut is its combination of piston-pulse propulsion and a deep, but gently applied, musicality. Avni's been on Kompakt's radar for a while, first appearing on the label last year, with his Speicher contribution (KOM EX109EP). The connection immediately made sense -- dance music that managed to feel both lush and streamlined across the same great gasp of late-night energy. But with Yotam Avni Was Here, he's taken a huge leap. After a brief intro, Avni sets his stall with "Beyond The Dance", which features slow-moving vocal melisma over sculptural, melting tonalities, a tintinnabulating, harpsichord-like two-note phrase pacing out the track. Then "It Was What It Was" comes into view, its strip-light textures suddenly placed into sharp relief by a muted trumpet figure that hangs in the air, melancholy and pensive. Avni's inspirations for Was Here are from the histories of both techno and jazz. "I wanted to try something more around Detroit Techno meets ECM," he reflects. "Carl Craig's Just Another Day EP (2004) and Kenny Larkin's Keys, Strings, Tambourines (2008) came out during my high school years and had huge impact on me." Avni continues, "I always wanted to go back to those hi-tek soul roots on a full album," he continues, and he explores that terrain with the sky-strafing brass on "Free Darius Now", Morse-code keys on "Vortex," and glitchy, microhouse tickles of "Know Hope" all contributing to an oblique narrative that seems to arc across Was Here -- one fleshed out by guest musicians, who include dOP and Georg Levin on vocals, and trumpets by Greg Paulus (Beirut, No Regular Play). The cover art makes the jazz connection explicit, riffing on the text-based, minimal design of The Modern Jazz Quartet's 1955 album for Prestige, Concorde. The way Avni has gathered around him both inspiring musicians and intriguing reference points makes you think of his broader career as well. The openness of his productions, which seem to be all about the multiple, the possibilities of cross-pollination, of fusing this with that, of adding and subtracting, all under the pulsating thumbprint of techno.

$15.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 5/22/2020

Italy's Agents Of Time have long been on the Kompakt radar. It started thanks to their exemplary releases on Correspondant and other labels such as Stem, Ellum plus 2019's collaboration with Mathew Jonson (from whom their name is inspired by). Michael Mayer had chance to play with them last summer at one of their Obscura parties and their friendship was cemented. Which leads now to their four track Kompakt debut, entitled Music Made Paradise. From Kompakt's early days of releasing landmark tracks from Justus Köhncke, the label has never been shy of exploring the enigmatic fringes of disco in their own way. Agents Of Time follow these footsteps but head into galactic territory with Music Made Paradise. They continue their knack for bridging synth-wave with modern bass rhythms in a means which are purely designed for today's dancefloors. This label debut is an incredible selection of music from this talented trio. French touch meets Italo chic on "Drive Me Crazy". At first, "My Heart Is A Microchip" comes across as a segue track, but opens into cascading synths and a predatory breakbeat to lead its own charge. "Under Control" is classy Moroder disco brought to the modern age. Aptly titled "Interstate 10" is an EP highlight -- the percussion lead is infectious and ready for prime-time exploration.

$14.50 IN STOCK

Home is where the heart is, and in this case that saying rings true. Though Michael Mayer puts his love, sweat, and tears into running Kompakt between producing music and DJing, he has managed to evade releasing anything solo on the mothership for the past eight years. There's been no shortage of musical output in that time -- be it his DJ Kicks, the ambitious collaborative full length &, and remixes for Metronomy, Weval, Arthur Baker, and Jagwar Ma, to name a few. This new decade promises a world of change, and fortunately for Michael (and all of us), his begins with the release of Higher. Italo disco and early '90s US deep house (think Nu Groove, Strictly Rhythm, Nervous) are some of the foundation blocks of what motivated Michael to become a DJ and create music. He finds inspiration with the sample heavy tracks from that era -- particularly the ones that used the human voice as an instrument to generate freshness, soul, and warmth. To those that have seen Michael Mayer DJ will immediately recall the spirit of his sets when first hearing the title track "Higher". A house number that is playfully serenaded by lyric-less throwback vocals. "Doot Doot" is a deeper acid tinged affair that is carried by wordless vocal melody that recalls a classic Susanne Vega song from an era gone by. Michael has never been shy of playing a little proto-trance now and then -- "Take A Stand For Love" adheres to the harmonic practice of the genre but changes things up thanks to a growling, gorgeous bass rhythm. Peak time pleasurable. "Belle De Lune" is how Michael is known best and an apt finale that is introspective but very much dancefloor driven. The track evokes an insatiable steaminess thanks to melodic bass rhythms and haunting synths. Epically lush.

$23.00 IN STOCK

Oktember is the second EP release under Wolfgang Voigt's mythical GAS project (it follows Modern on Profan, 1995). The two compositions were originally released in 1999 on Mille Plateaux, and then reissued partially in 2016 on GAS BOX. Oktember is finally released on Voigt's own label Kompakt, pressed on 180 gram vinyl in its original artwork. This reissue features "Tal 90" (instead of the original A side) -- a predecessor to the GAS project originally recorded in 1990 under the alias TAL, it was released as a part of the Pop Ambient 2002 collection (KOM 050LP/KOMP 014CD). With its sampled strings, horns and guitars, "Tal 90" soundtracks a more uplifting side to what is typically accustomed to being the sound of GAS. The title track "Oktember" is a dense, hypnotic affair that conjures a unique vision of dub techno that few have been able to replicate. A monumental soundtrack to uncertain times.

$14.50 IN STOCK

Kompakt welcome a local Cologne hero, Jonathan Kaspar. He's released on Crosstown Rebels, Pets Recordings, Ouie, and of course our own KX imprint. His single "Renard" was a highlight of Kompakt's recently released Total 19 collection (KOM 400LP/KOMP 154CD), so it was time to make the relationship official with a four-track EP. Opener "Kern" leads with layers of melodic synths power charged around a playful house rhythm. "Zentrum" is for that peak-time pace... elevating melodies caress a swelling mid-tempo beat. Not to mention one of the biggest breakdown's on Kompakt in some time. "Licht" literally sounds like it soars, then back to earth comes "Kante" -- the most techno inspired track of the EP -- an oscillating synth rips through solid low-end bass frequencies -- with Jonathan Kaspar skillfully demonstrating prime time, peak and valley production. Kante EP brings out his emotive, high energy style of writing and producing in a means that could be pointed to as his best work to date.

$15.50 IN STOCK

With Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, curator Jörg Burger has intensified his vision for this new series of compilations on Kompakt. The music he's collected here has a unique vibration, perhaps an audio equivalent to the legendary "acid Western" films of the 1960s and 1970s, when the wild frontier logic of the western met the consciousness-altering psychedelia of the counterculture. Velvet Desert Music is Burger exploring possibilities: what happens when you extract the essence from genres as diverse as spaghetti Western soundtracks, moody lamp-lit pop, downtempo, krautrock, minimalism, classic '60s psychedelia, and more, and let their scents intermingle, Des Esseintes-style? On Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, Burger welcomes back old friends -- Fantastic Twins, Sascha Funke, Paulor, Rebolledo, Superpitcher, The Novotones -- and also introduces some exciting new names, such as Golden Bug and The Limiñanas, Mount Obsidian (aka César Urbina/Cubenx), and Lake Turner. Marcus Schmickler's Pluramon project appears, remixed by Burger, and Michael Mayer makes his first appearance with "Not So Far Away". The ultimate strength of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, though, is its seamlessness; you're encouraged to press play, sit back, and listen to the album unfurl as a whole. Much like one of Kompakt's other compilation series, the legendary yearly Pop Ambient collections edited by Wolfgang Voigt, Velvet Desert Music builds its own psychological environment to inhabit. And as you dig deeper into Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, the music takes on synaesthetic turns, the textures all swirl together, igniting the senses. Each of the artists share with Burger himself a production style that echoes the cinèma pour l'oreille (cinema for the ear), with luscious sweeps of tone and melody opening out to reveal new vistas, new terrain for the attentive listener. When listening to Velvet Desert Music, think widescreen, think broad brushstrokes, think boldness but with sensual detail. It's the new frontier music. Also features The Velvet Circle, Charlotte Jestaedt, Daniel Maloso, Gen Pop, and Lake Turner/WEM/Hand.

$29.00 IN STOCK

Double LP version. With Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, curator Jörg Burger has intensified his vision for this new series of compilations on Kompakt. The music he's collected here has a unique vibration, perhaps an audio equivalent to the legendary "acid Western" films of the 1960s and 1970s, when the wild frontier logic of the western met the consciousness-altering psychedelia of the counterculture. Velvet Desert Music is Burger exploring possibilities: what happens when you extract the essence from genres as diverse as spaghetti Western soundtracks, moody lamp-lit pop, downtempo, krautrock, minimalism, classic '60s psychedelia, and more, and let their scents intermingle, Des Esseintes-style? On Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, Burger welcomes back old friends -- Fantastic Twins, Sascha Funke, Paulor, Rebolledo, Superpitcher, The Novotones -- and also introduces some exciting new names, such as Golden Bug and The Limiñanas, Mount Obsidian (aka César Urbina/Cubenx), and Lake Turner. Marcus Schmickler's Pluramon project appears, remixed by Burger, and Michael Mayer makes his first appearance with "Not So Far Away". The ultimate strength of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, though, is its seamlessness; you're encouraged to press play, sit back, and listen to the album unfurl as a whole. Much like one of Kompakt's other compilation series, the legendary yearly Pop Ambient collections edited by Wolfgang Voigt, Velvet Desert Music builds its own psychological environment to inhabit. And as you dig deeper into Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, the music takes on synaesthetic turns, the textures all swirl together, igniting the senses. Each of the artists share with Burger himself a production style that echoes the cinèma pour l'oreille (cinema for the ear), with luscious sweeps of tone and melody opening out to reveal new vistas, new terrain for the attentive listener. When listening to Velvet Desert Music, think widescreen, think broad brushstrokes, think boldness but with sensual detail. It's the new frontier music. Also features The Velvet Circle, Charlotte Jestaedt, Daniel Maloso, Gen Pop, and Lake Turner/WEM/Hand.

$14.50 IN STOCK

Kompakt announce the return of New York's synth wizard Steve Moore to the label -- pretty much exactly ten years after his much lauded first appearance Bayern Kurve on the Speicher series. Steve Moore is widely recognized as one half of Italo disco-tinged horror-prog project Zombi, his numerous thriller movie soundtrack works (The Guest, VFW, Mayhem, Bliss, The Mind's Eye) as well has his clubbier output on Ron Morelli's L.I.E.S. imprint. The title track of this four-track EP, Frame Dragging sees Moore in full spine-tingling mode. In case you've ever stepped into a hot bath on a cold day (in case you haven't you should try it) you should be well familiar with the phenomenon of being incredibly cold and hot at once. That's exactly what "Frame Digging" does to the dancefloor. Goosebump massacre. "Gamma Quadrant" combines emotive Balearic elements with a rolling minimal house track that's reminiscent of early Playhouse glory. Or is it early Kompakt? "Gravity Well" and "Protostar" are both taking a more chilled out route. They perfectly bookend both sides of the record and showcase Moore's stunning ability of creating suspenseful, spaced-out beauty.

$14.50 IN STOCK

Marc Romboy returns to the Kompakt Extra series with Stalker/Beyond. Since last seen in 2018 on Speicher 103, Marc has kept plenty busy with a release on Bedrock, a collaboration with Stephan Bodzin, plus a series of releases with Petar Dundov on his own Systematic Recordings. Beyond Marc's rigorous DJ touring schedule, he performed live in a planetarium and ended the year with a highlight, performing live at Philharmonie Cologne together with violinist Miki Kekenj and the Takeover! Ensemble. Marc appears to be looking back to the deep, twisted forms of techno that shaped his early years with this double header. "Stalker" clearly delivers a typical Detroit-ish '90s grittiness and drive which resounded on the dancefloors of the German rave scene of that era. "Beyond" is a deeper cut for those late-night dreamers who are into the sound of Carpenter. A growling synth and laser light synth mingle relentlessly until a delicate piano quickly produces the realization that it's the place.

$32.00 NOT IN STOCK

Pop -- the album that has become widely recognized as the defining moment in which Wolfgang Voigt brought his listeners into a clearing of his deep, psychedelic forest. A landmark release in the GAS odyssey that drew international attention, Pop was originally released in 2000 on the iconic Frankfurt imprint, Mille Plateux. Pop was heralded by Pitchfork at the time of release as being "an exercise in sonic texture... pure sonic velvet, the layered drone radiating a palpable warmth." Pop was reissued by Kompakt in 2016 as a part of GAS Box (now out of print) and by itself here. First time on 180 gram, triple-LP vinyl; includes original artwork.

$26.50 NOT IN STOCK

2019 repress. Double vinyl version of the highly-anticipated second full-length release by Axel Willner aka The Field for the Kompakt label. A digital trip through ambient, dance and drone, it's been gently pulsating and washing over you. The Field is Axel Willner, and his release Here We Go Sublime (KOMP 057CD/KOM 413LP) was one of the most acclaimed releases of 2007, receiving a 9.0 on Pitchfork and universal praise. The BBC called it "one of those rare albums that makes you wonder how you ever got by without it." The album is the soundtrack to the spit-shined airport of your dreams -- faceless, futuristic, and fuzzy. You could dance to it, sleep to it, or daydream to it: just a versatile little album. Willner's label, Kompakt, moved on from this successful released with his sophomore full-length, Yesterday And Today. Willner expands his palette, continuing the oblique sampling strategy of From Here We Go Sublime while building up the rhythmic architecture; the album features a group of different musicians and on the title track, Willner collaborates for the first time with Battles drummer John Stanier. Since startling the world with his debut, Willner has been highly in demand as a remixer, with tracks from Thom Yorke to Battles to Maps raising his profile, so that now legions are gathered, in that spit-shined terminal, waiting for their blissed-out departure.

$15.50 IN STOCK

Wolfgang Voigt on the release (September 2019): "20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn't notice. It's an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones. In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big 'Tam-Tam'. Or better: 'Bum-Bum'. The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it's a joyful occasion to look back. What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of Pop Ambient in a row is the central theme that holds together the dense aesthetic concept like the pearls of a necklace. Floral beauty for digital naturalists. Music like flowers, that don't wilt. Timeless. Ageless. But with all of the conceptual unity and resolution, Pop Ambient would not be Kompakt without the break, the friction, the expansion of musical boundaries in between tradition and innovation, in between conspiracy and the openness of the discourse. Aestheticism, escapism, acting in the spirit of 'nevertheless'. Swans drifting by, clouds pass over, everything is floating and: 'Boredom is a stylistic device' (Andy Warhol). Pop Ambient music is medicine against illnesses, that you don't even suffer from. It's giving everything, demanding nothing. Musical lotus leafs, off which the virtual wastewater of our time is rolling like the reality is dripping off the matrix. In this sense, we're happy about the pop-ambient anniversary greetings from new and old companions like Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco, as well as contributions from T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas, and, after a long break, from friends from early days like Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner, and Klimek... Breath in. Breath out. Thank you." Also features Maria Estrella, Gen Pop, and Pepo Galan.

$26.50 IN STOCK

While during the 1990s -- higher, faster, further! -- the straight bass drum has been shot around the globe, there arose a number of variations of more or less contemplative slow and sacred music from all kinds of corners at the same time. In a sense, it's the other side of the medal: chillout, lounge, easy listening, trance, muzak, and elevator music, electronic music and intelligent techno... and of course and in particular: ambient. In classical and new variations. Beside the constant pushing forward of the so called "Sound Of Cologne" -- minimal techno in the home of Kompakt, there was also a strong faible for ambient sounds. Not only because of the labels origin and its operator's preference for the pop music of the '70s and '80s, there was evolving a variety of ambient music, that added the aspect of pop to the confusing diversity of genres during that time. Not pop in the sense of actual classic pop music: pop in the sense of subculture, of pop art and, first and foremost, in the sense of pop as an attitude. This was how Pop Ambient was launched and the way it established its own authentic music with a high recognition value. Pop Ambient is indulging the beauty and the timelessness. Pop Ambient is a sonic cosmos of attitude for itself and has no fears of contact with adjoining genres nor with kitsch, art or carnival. It's ambient if you do it nevertheless. Features Joachim Spieth, Ulf Lohmann, All, Dettinger, Geometric Farms, Mint, Markus Guentner, Reinhard Voigt, and Gustavo Lamas.

$36.50 IN STOCK

Double-LP version includes 44-page art book with the whole distinctive cover-series; includes additional track by Thore Pfeiffer; includes download.Wolfgang Voigt on the release (September 2019): "20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn't notice. It's an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones. In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big 'Tam-Tam'. Or better: 'Bum-Bum'. The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it's a joyful occasion to look back. What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of Pop Ambient in a row is the central theme that holds together the dense aesthetic concept like the pearls of a necklace. Floral beauty for digital naturalists. Music like flowers, that don't wilt. Timeless. Ageless. But with all of the conceptual unity and resolution, Pop Ambient would not be Kompakt without the break, the friction, the expansion of musical boundaries in between tradition and innovation, in between conspiracy and the openness of the discourse. Aestheticism, escapism, acting in the spirit of 'nevertheless'. Swans drifting by, clouds pass over, everything is floating and: 'Boredom is a stylistic device' (Andy Warhol). Pop Ambient music is medicine against illnesses, that you don't even suffer from. It's giving everything, demanding nothing. Musical lotus leafs, off which the virtual wastewater of our time is rolling like the reality is dripping off the matrix. In this sense, we're happy about the pop-ambient anniversary greetings from new and old companions like Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco, as well as contributions from T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas, and, after a long break, from friends from early days like Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner, and Klimek... Breath in. Breath out. Thank you." Also features Maria Estrella, Gen Pop, and Pepo Galan.