“14 tracks hi-fiving Kompakt”

As one of the most visible and well known 'dance' imprints of the last 10 years, Cologne's Kompakt label has re-shaped electronic music with a vast and sprawling catalogue of releases spread over a number of related labels, as well as amassing a hefty DJ roster, building a distribution empire and keeping their infamous record shop on point. Closer Musik's sublime 'One Two Three (No Gravity)' was the track that first made us prick up our ears back in the year 2000, and fittingly opens our selection here with it's padded bassline and bittersweet narrative. It's precisely that confluence of pop music, propulsion, melancholy and depth that dictates the rest of our selection, dipping into the immense tension and release of Lawrence's 'Teaser', through the shimmering Pop Ambience of Klimek and into the dense, barely containable forest drone of label founder Wolfgang Voigt's 'GAS' project. Whether you're familiar with the label or not, this selection should provide some idea of how Kompakt has gone about adjusting electronic music vernacular in the 21st Century.