Kompakt‘s Total compilations punctually arrive every year like a state-of-the-union address (or like an accounting report, how Germanic) for minimalist, melodic techno. Like Perlon‘s Superlongevity and Playhouse‘s Famous When Dead series, Total neatly updates what many of the world’s most advanced producers are doing in their labs.
Since 1999, Kompakt’s Köln-based brain trust—Michael Mayer and brothers Wolfgang and Reinhard Voigt—has been cherry-picking definitive tracks for its Total series, in addition to curating the rewarding Speicher, Pop Ambient, and Schaffelfieber sagas. All of which proves that in its unparalleled depth and quality control, Kompakt is the superpower of underground electronic music. However, with mega-club jocks like John Digweed and his many followers now spinning Kompakt wax, mainstream encroachment seems inevitable.
But back to the matter at hand (or foot, as it were). The new double CD Total 6 is the best entry yet. The assembled producers—divided between reliable old-timers and promising newcomers—wring acutely calibrated variations on sans-serif tech-house and 21st-century disco. Only two duds mar the excellence. Kaito ruins his airy, stompy tech-house with inane keyboard twitters, sounding like Philip Glass suffering sugar poisoning. And Tocotronic‘s “Pure Vernuft Darf Niemals Siegen” is schlager-ized, sloppy-voiced, chubby tech-house. Verdict: German people who can’t really sing shouldn’t get on the mic. Ever. It’s one of the ugliest sounds imaginable.
But let’s accentuate the overwhelming positive. Total 6 is a brilliant mélange of joyous buoyancy and stoic, gritty power. (Kompakt understands balance and moderation.) DJ Koze opens Total 6 with “Hicc Up,” whose sublimely tidal atmospherics and jaunty yet subdued groove are pocked by mad, burbling synth eruptions. Trusty vet Justus Köhncke‘s “Krieg” sprinkles pitched-up keyboards over deadpan disco kick drums that glisten like the backs of Paradise Garage dancers at 5:00 a.m. He’s confident enough to throw monkey wrenches into the smooth-flowing rhythm with warped, saw-tooth synth swirls.
On “I Look into Mid Air,” Rex the Dog conjures swooning, soaring house with treated vocals that make you feel as if you’re engaged in that old cliché of walking on clouds (give in to the feeling, grumpy guts). Similarly, Jürgen Paape‘s anthemic “Cream”—like many tracks here—boasts a bass line that will turn you into an omnisexual nymphomaniac. Brain-jarring tough guys Aguayo/Rossknecht, Reinhard Voigt, Heib, Peter Grummich, and Mikkel Metal bring the Teutonic stomp and tense grooves to mitigate the warm fuzzies engendered by most of the disc. With typical Kompakt classiness, Total 6 saves the best for last: The Field‘s “Action” samples a piercingly poignant string part from the Four Tops’ “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and gallops off into the sunburst horizon with it. It’s just aching to be used in some film’s climactic, heart-swelling scene. Kompakt proves that minimalism can pack a maximal emotional punch.
