Tag Archives: Kompakt

Switched On: Various Artists – Total 23 (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The end of summer brings one of those reassuring points in the Kompakt calendar, the annual release of their Total compilation. Once again it draws a line in the sand to bring us a snapshot of the music the Cologne label’s artists have been making over the last year, while throwing in the gratefully accepted new versions and rarities that we collectors treasure.

What’s the music like?

Very good indeed. While techno is the broad area where the 13 tracks lie, the range of the music runs from soulful introspection to peak time euphoria (aka Rex The Dog)

The collection begins with the subtle shades of Kollmorgen‘s Muddy. After that, Argia’s No Concept is quite stark but movingly so, before the confident poise of Jürgen Paape makes itself known. Talmi is a cracker, brooding and bristling over a strong four to the floor beat. The cinematic dance is suitably nocturnal. Four Down is classy, while Jon Tejada offers a lovely heat soaked number on Wild Ride. Rex tge Dog an excellent vocal number with its hook take away my sorrow and this pain. Hardt Antoine’s All We See sends tracers out into the night

Does it all work?

It does. Kompakt are well-versed in compilations of this sort, so there is no reason the 23rd instalment should be any different! It has a very satisfying ebb and flow, played out to a nocturnal background.

Is it recommended?

It is – a consistently good guide to where the label is at musically right now.

It is – typically thought provoking work from one of Britain’s finest electronicmusic makers.

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Switched On – Wata Igarashi – Agartha (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Wata Igarashi makes his Kompakt debut with this multi-dimensional album, the latest chapter in a career that has seen him release for The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar and Time To Express, as well as his own WIP net label.

Here he is for a full-blown concept album release, around the mythical secret kingdom of Agartha. In his own words, “Named for the mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, perhaps designed by Martians who colonised the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, it’s a similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip – but this time, exploring an inner, deeply personal cosmos.”

On his journey, Igarashi creates scenes from an imaginary film based on the kingdom, teeming with musical incident.

What’s the music like?

Deeply mysterious from the start. Igarashi sets the mood with a thick cloud of ambience, that folds gradually over the music and sets a mood of disquiet through its use of microtones. This unsettled outlook continues when the beats arrive on Searching, but with Subterranean Life it feels as though the explorer has arrived at their destination and are beginning a journey of discovery.

The music becomes more fragmented and improvised, exploring more dimensions with metallic snippets of percussion, but then the mood changes with Ceremony Of The Dead, whose urgency increases as the melodic layers build. This track was originally written as part of a Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial sound concert, and it sounds great on headphones especially when a fresh vocal loop crosses over with Igarashi’s beats. The mood raises still further with Floating Against Time, a beatless number doffing its cap to Steve Reich, while at the same time showing Igarashi’s ability to cross-pollenate a number of different melodic lines with beautiful results. Abyss II runs with similar material, adding electronic sharpness.

Another scene change plunges us into the experimental climate of Burning, where musical activity and syncopation is rife, busy riffs trading off against each other. Agartha itself is the most descriptive scene, Igarashi painting pictures at a slower tempo even with the brush of a hi hat or the crescendo of a drone. This ushers in Darkness, but not the expected downward turn of mood – rather a cosmic interplay from swooping lines on the treble synth over an exquisite held chord. The mood settles towards the end, segueing nicely into Eternally, where the cosmic mood prevails but in much calmer waters.

Does it all work?

It does – though Agartha is definitely best experienced in one listen, so you get the twists, turns and mood changes of the whole journey.

Is it recommended?

It is. This is music of dense textures and intense colours, rewarding the listener who is prepared to revisit on several occasions. That way the secrets of Agartha can be fully unlocked.

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Switched On – Blank Gloss: Cornered (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the third album from Sacramento duo Blank Gloss, following up their Melt debut from February 2021 – which made a strong impression on Arcana around its release.

For this record, Morgan Fox (piano and synthesizers) and Patrick Hills (guitar) united for just two days at the studio in Sacramento in December 2020. During the sessions the music came together quickly, Hills benefiting from the use of a MIDI pick-up on his guitar that gave it a darker sound.

What’s the music like?

There is a sparseness to the music of Blank Gloss this time, stripping their music back to the bare elements while looking to still paint pictures of the great outdoors. In many respects the cover encapsulates this approach, replacing the dusky orange cloud of Melt with a black and white image, a single tree in a field. The tree represents some of the inner detail Fox and Hills bring to their music, while the listener can almost feel the wind in the long grass around.

To start with, the duo take their listeners and place them once again in a huge space under a starry sky, the reverberant guitar track of Sender replicating the ‘ambient Americana’ of the previous album. Yet this time there is a sense of unease, perhaps reflecting the lockdown conditions under which the recording may well have taken place. The piano for Dusted has a distracted thought pattern, reflecting nagging pulses and signals from outer sources.

By contrast the extended No Appetite, though reserved in mood, has a soothing and sustained set of chords in which the listener can float, and Salt is similarly static. On The Ground pans right out to take in solemn piano threads and ambient outdoor noises, while Soda Lake bubbles under the surface, its positive energy just held in check.

Dressed Alike finishes the album with a warm glow.

Does it all work?

Yes. The less is more approach works really well, giving opportunity for the listener to place their thoughts. The colours given to the piano and guitar are carefully managed and beautifully achieved, with a damper often applied to the keyboard to soften the attack.

Is it recommended?

Yes – a strong complement to Melt, but a sign that Blank Gloss are moving on in their thought patterns and musical phrasing. Cornered feels like a wholly appropriate response to the troubles of the world, and while sombre in mood it offers ample consolation for darker times.

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Switched On – De Lux: Do You Need A Release? (Innovative Leisure)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Do You Need A Release? is a highly appropriate title for our times. It is the third album from Californian band De Lux, who are principally the founding duo of Sean Guerin and Isaac Franco. However on the sessions for this album they brought their live band into the studios at Long Beach and made this set of powerful, electronically sourced pop music.

What’s the music like?

De Lux offer an invigorating album of time travelling, switching effortlessly between the past (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and Blancmange are all palpable influences) and the present / future. Like a poppier version of The Rapture or !!!, they hit the listener right between the eyes with a set of euphoric choruses, sharply defined electro disco and highly effective power pop.

The live aspect is important and keeps the music with a quickly beating heart. They Call This Love provides a brilliant first chorus, a sign of strength for the album lying ahead. Validation has a sharper edge, nicely realised, while Some Things Never Break mines the archive for a riff that could easily have been transported in from a Telex record. The punchy guitars are a great complement here.

On And On (Till The End Of Us) has a strutting beat and a strong chorus (going on and on and on!) while by contrast The Final Breath You Take is a poignant and understated number, and rather moving with it.

Does it all work?

It does indeed – a really strong set of grooves and sentiments for our times. The only slight problem is one of length, with some tracks fulfilling a 12″ structure – but if you’re happy with that, there really are no problems.

Is it recommended?

Yes, and especially if you like any of the names mentioned above. If you do need a release, you know exactly what you should do!

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Switched On – Agents Of Time: Universo (Kompakt)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Italian duo Andrea Di Ceglie and Luigi Tutolo return with their second album as Agents Of Time. Having boosted their profile with recent single Afterlife and a remix of The Weeknd’s Take My Breath, the pair return to an approach blending techno knowhow and song-based structures – with a few instrumentals thrown in for good measure.

What’s the music like?

Strong and assured. Agents Of Time are pretty consistent in their marriage of full bodied, club-based beats and song structures, and get a satisfying variety in their choice of material. The net result is a set of what can only be called ‘moody bangers’!

There is a good deal of versatility in this music. Dream Vision, for instance, makes a really strong impact with its cinematic strings, while Blu proves its worth as one of the strongest vocal tracks.

Clipped beats and moody vocals from Audrey Janssens in Fallin’ hark back to the UK garage sound at the turn of the century. Janssens reappears later on the tougher Poison. Interstellar Cowboy goes for a futuristic approach, the vocal accents balancing a solid instrumental backing.

On the instrumental front, Pulses and Ciao are both excellent in the way they channel evocative lines through driving beats with a sharper edge to the bass. Finally Dinasty signs off with no beats at all, succeeding through a trancey loop instead.

Does it all work?

Mostly. There are some curious vocal additions (The World Is Dump, for instance) but most of Universo squarely hits the mark.

Is it recommended?

It is, if you like a dose of vocal pop against melodic techno as part of your dance music experience. Expressive and cinematic, this is an album well worth trying.

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