Kompakt100

A swollen, self-congratulatory package like this seems out of character for a label like Kompakt. Kompakt 100, issued in celebration of the label’s 100th release, is a double-disc (or quadruple vinyl) compilation of remixes. Several producers, most of whom are Kompakt regulars, pick a track from the back catalog and have at it. These remixes rarely top the originals, but they’re all fascinating on some level, and they wind up demonstrating how there’s more of a Kompakt aesthetic than a Kompakt “sound” as well as any of the Total or Pop Ambient compilations. The sheer size of the undertaking makes it nearly impossible to listen to all the way through, so it’s easier to nibble here and there, or digest a disc at a time, even if some poor soul had to spend some hair-pulling hours sequencing everything. While you could shift around the tracks until they’re compartmentalized into easy-to-file categories (beat-less ambient, grinding shuffle-tech, banging techno, sensual microhouse, glossy neo-trance), it’s more of an experience to throw caution to the wind and sail down the course that’s been plotted out for you. Even though the interpretations are brand new, the traces of the originals surface like memories, as if you’re revisiting the not-so-distant past under altered circumstances. Some points of interest: Dettinger’s remix of Closer Musik’s “One Two Three (No Gravity)” reshapes the ambient wash, subtracts the beat, replaces the six-note bassline with an acoustic guitar; Kaito casts a dramatic sheen over Superpitcher’s “Tomorrow”; Markus Guentner turns M. Mayer’s “17 & 4″ into a stately gallop, creating an atmosphere of emotional in-betweenness that’s hard to shake; Justus Köhncke sends up a combination of Wolfgang Voigt productions into over-the-top karaoke-style techno-pop and takes the title of one of them — titled “Hot Love” — a step further by singing T. Rex’s song of the same name (he also changes the gender of Marc Bolan’s beloved). As the tracks pass by, it becomes increasingly apparent that the package was made with the longtime followers in mind. Whatever the aim, Kompakt do deserve to pat themselves on the back. For the past several years, their standing in the dance-music world has continued to peak with no end in sight. An amiable, family-like operation, they’ve built their sizeable empire without ever putting the music lower than first. You can even forgive them for failing to release a Total 6 this year. (Maybe.) – Andy Kellman