7 cos it's the only one I've heard all the way through. I got on the kompakt wagon a bit late
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Sunday, 18 September 2016 09:56 (seven years ago) link
I've only heard 3 through 7 - voting for 5 because the closing run of Roxy/All Around/Beautiful Day/Maria is flawless.
― Gavin, Leeds, Sunday, 18 September 2016 10:08 (seven years ago) link
That's 4.
― Tim F, Sunday, 18 September 2016 11:51 (seven years ago) link
yeah i need to listen to 2 again.
1 and 3 just flow wonderfully, maybe due to being sparse on the teary eyed anthemic stuff. the placement of "so weit..." towards the end of 3 really strengthens its effect.
4 is pretty much straight up melodic anthems apart from a couple things like the reinhardt voigt that kinda don't fit.
5 split even further between melody/accessibility and pure machine tech, the awesomeness of the former softening my appreciation for the latter.
don't know 6 or 7 well but of the exclusive tracks, the kontrast track that opens up 7 is all time Kompakt for me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACm9xyIKC8
― brimstead, Sunday, 18 September 2016 18:48 (seven years ago) link
i threw up this poll so you all could tell me which ones i need and it's working mwahaha
― savvinesslessness (map), Sunday, 18 September 2016 19:26 (seven years ago) link
Oops, yeah that's what I meant...
― Gavin, Leeds, Sunday, 18 September 2016 19:31 (seven years ago) link
This is between 3 and 4 for me and I'm leaning towards 4. But I want to put it a word for 8 if only because I have extremely fond memories of listening to it on a Balearic island as the good lord intended.
I had no idea 16 existed!
― Matt DC, Sunday, 18 September 2016 19:35 (seven years ago) link
Total 3. The first one I heard and still the best.
― Neptune Bingo (Michael B), Sunday, 18 September 2016 19:48 (seven years ago) link
I have a soft spot for 12, Kolombo's "Waiting For" and Coma's "Playground Altona" are personal favourites.
― boxedjoy, Monday, 19 September 2016 08:09 (seven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Friday, 23 September 2016 00:01 (seven years ago) link
I'm from the future and 19 would totally win this
― octobeard, Friday, 23 September 2016 07:02 (seven years ago) link
Going 4 for, along with Immer, being my introduction and because Making It Whistle.
― ewar woowar (or something), Friday, 23 September 2016 08:04 (seven years ago) link
6 is definitely the one I've listened to the most
9 has DJ Koze's "Zou Zou" though, which is one of the best tracks on any of these
― silverfish, Friday, 23 September 2016 17:28 (seven years ago) link
3 has "so weit wie noch nie" on it, so 3
― adam, Friday, 23 September 2016 17:32 (seven years ago) link
and "departures" and "hush hush baby"
3 is canonical best but i have a soft spot for 4 and agree w/ tim that 2 is underrated although i always end up just listening to 'amanda' on loop
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, 23 September 2016 17:46 (seven years ago) link
voted 4....kaito track is amazing. 'falling hands' is amazing. not as good as hush hush baby maybe but def less recognized
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, 23 September 2016 17:47 (seven years ago) link
i've been bumping 9 a lot lately
w/o thinking about i'd say 4. i've only heard like half of these.
― goole, Friday, 23 September 2016 17:56 (seven years ago) link
3 will walk this
― j., Friday, 23 September 2016 18:24 (seven years ago) link
honestly ? i have no idea which is best.my fave thing is to drop all the total albums (bar 1,2, 5 and 6) in a playlist, hit random and the fade in/out function and let loose.makes for the best mixtape ever.
― mark e, Friday, 23 September 2016 18:46 (seven years ago) link
lol word
― savvinesslessness (map), Friday, 23 September 2016 18:47 (seven years ago) link
clarification : 1,2, 5, and 6 are not hated, just not in the archive.yet.
― mark e, Friday, 23 September 2016 18:47 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, I have 1-15 as an iPod playlist (and a couple of the label's best-ofs like Kompakt 100 and the two 20 Jahre 2CD sets they put out the other year) and regularly shuffle them while driving.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 23 September 2016 19:09 (seven years ago) link
weirdly spotify does not have 13
― goole, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:32 (seven years ago) link
There is no 13.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 23 September 2016 19:34 (seven years ago) link
13 = unlucky.so they avoided it.
― mark e, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:35 (seven years ago) link
voted 13
― goole, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:37 (seven years ago) link
3 has drei auf drei & so weit wie noch nie so i will probably vote for that one, many others are good though. even the classic era totals have some monotonous and grating tracks that i often skip though
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:52 (seven years ago) link
ooh that roxy track on 4 by w voigt is so good
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:54 (seven years ago) link
voted 4....kaito track is amazing.
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, September 23, 2016 1:47 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yea! kaito prob the only kompakt artist i listen to w/ regularity these days (apart from voigt/GAS), hundred million light years is really good imo
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:55 (seven years ago) link
even the classic era totals have some monotonous and grating tracks that i often skip though
― marcos, Friday, September 23, 2016 2:52 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
pretty sure vahid had a whole thing abt how ppl like you were ruining techno lol
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, 23 September 2016 19:55 (seven years ago) link
oh cool i should read about how i've ruined techno that sounds fun, makes me feel v powerful
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:57 (seven years ago) link
people like me who skip a boring kompakt tune every once in while, we've really done a number on the genre huh
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 19:59 (seven years ago) link
haha more something along the lines that ppl listening via laptops looking for pop tunes are missing out on the club oriented context ... some of the best records are functional dance records & "boring" but not really boring
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, 23 September 2016 20:11 (seven years ago) link
I like that album a lot too, but Gui Boratto is the guy whose albums I pull out most often.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 23 September 2016 20:14 (seven years ago) link
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, September 23, 2016 4:11 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
agree w/ that it's not that the bad songs aren't pop songs it's just some of them are bad
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 20:17 (seven years ago) link
i guess i think of a tune like t rauschmire "ost storm" and it is just not good imo and it is on classic kompakt era total 1
monotony or "boringness" lol i acknowledge is not really a negative thing or doesn't ahve to be, i mean richie hawtin concept 1 96 stuff is some of my favorite techno music
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 20:21 (seven years ago) link
fwiw i think superpitcher's "tomorrow" is also bad
― marcos, Friday, 23 September 2016 20:22 (seven years ago) link
ahh - t. raumschmiere.
fucking hell i loved their albums/artwork.
other than an album getting a kompakt stamp due to a distibution deal i had no idea the two were connected.
― mark e, Friday, 23 September 2016 20:32 (seven years ago) link
― marcos, Friday, September 23, 2016 3:22 PM (forty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this song is awes
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, 23 September 2016 21:12 (seven years ago) link
not as good as mushroom or heroin of course
the items or songs
One of the things the Total comps don't necessarily explain as well as a mix might is how the grinding/monotonous tracks and the pop tracks interrelated.
In a lot of ways Kompakt's entire aesthetic presaged parts of the DJ edits scene - the way that endless repetition of small motifs can suddenly flower into full-blown songs before resiling - but this was done by mixing together DJ tools with poppier tracks rather than by breaking up an existing song into parts.
(note i'm not saying this is the first time this dynamic happened in dance music, but it's unusually specifically crucial to the appeal of both the above scenes)
Oddly though while several of the actual DJ mixes which Kompakt put out in its early years captured that push-pull aesthetic as well (Immer being the most obvious example), they don't tend to explain the assortment of sounds you'd hear on the early Total comps, maybe because they tended to steer clear of the label's noisier side (obv the Spiecher mixes bang but more in a banging techno is banging kind of way).
In other news T. Raumschmiere's remix 2Raumwohnung's "Ich Weiss Warum" was the best.
― Tim F, Friday, 23 September 2016 21:15 (seven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Saturday, 24 September 2016 00:01 (seven years ago) link
The science/magic behind the sorting of ties in ILX polls no nearer to being revealed here :/
― Jeff W, Saturday, 24 September 2016 00:09 (seven years ago) link
jesus christ... monotonous techno RULES!!!
― brimstead, Saturday, 24 September 2016 00:10 (seven years ago) link
a2 of this, so raw, so good: https://www.discogs.com/TRaumschmiere-Bolzplatz-EP/master/361732
― brimstead, Saturday, 24 September 2016 00:13 (seven years ago) link
One of the things the Total comps don't necessarily explain as well as a mix might is how the grinding/monotonous tracks and the pop tracks interrelated
Yeah I think one of the ways in which the Total series could have been improved was by supplementing the compilation with a mix by Mayer or whoever that actually did this. Hardly anyone in the real world sits down and puts on a functional minimal 12 inch in the way that they might with 'So Weit Wie Noch Nie' or 'Amanda', or 'All Around (Everybody's Kissing)'. Which isn't actually a criticism of the former but an illustration of how they don't make sense on their own - they're designed to be components that are heard in the context of other records.
Looking back on it, why DIDN'T they mix these together? Especially the more micro 1 and 2, and the later double-CD compilations (which would really have benefited from curatorial hand).
― Matt DC, Saturday, 24 September 2016 00:52 (seven years ago) link
idk i'm not hearing that many pure tools, there's almost always a hook somewhere in this stuff, though i thought 2 was too skeletal-sounding. the triplet shuffle was pretty popular, wasn't it? half of immer is in that mode. a fair amount of these tracks go for it. i don't hear it much in any other era of house / techno. i feel like it dates things a little, like ableton made it really easy to do, and it had a different rhythmic vibe that maybe felt more "organic" or something? but of course it was all the computer. idk.
Hardly anyone in the real world sits down and puts on a functional minimal 12 inch
you always say this i guess i must be hardly anyone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― savvinesslessness (map), Saturday, 24 September 2016 17:27 (seven years ago) link
i think my closer musik pick is "one two three (no gravity)" just because since i only heard it last year at the end of a really long move d set it's kind of been stuck in my head in this idyllic end-of-life space. i dreamt about my ex last night and it made an appearance. then it came up on shuffle during a run this morning. it's weirdly perfect for that kind of moment despite or because of its relatively still quality.
― savvinesslessness (map), Saturday, 24 September 2016 17:52 (seven years ago) link
one other thing i'm noticing is how much disco there was in this sound? especially italo. which i mean, duh. i think what i heard at the time was the micro sound design elements just because i hadn't encountered very much dance music.
― savvinesslessness (map), Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:11 (seven years ago) link
i feel like they really started embracing the disco pulse on seven and moving forward. obviously it was there with dudes like kohncke from the beginning but a lot of tracks (especially the epics) on the later totals (which i'm admittedly less familiar) have as much to do with walter gibbons as mike ink.
probably woulda voted three just for the personal impact it had when it originally came out but i probably listen to four more often now. two through five really is an unfuckwithable run of comps that very few labels get.
― a basset hound (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:56 (seven years ago) link
I just bought these socks:http://i.imgur.com/a9BP3Ye.jpg
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 20 October 2016 04:55 (seven years ago) link
ha !
note : i popped into my local Fopp yesterday (Bristol), and they were selling off back catalogue stuff for a fiver each.
lots of pop ambient releases, and the Ambient sublabel cds along with COMA, Dave DK, the Field and suchlike.
― mark e, Thursday, 20 October 2016 08:30 (seven years ago) link
Is there a Total Total comp? Like one track from each volume.
― nashwan, Thursday, 20 October 2016 10:30 (seven years ago) link
LOL at Albert, I once bought a mug because it had Total-style dots on it.
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 20 October 2016 12:30 (seven years ago) link
Here's a crack at one:
1. Joachim Speith - Abi 992. Michael Mayer - Amanda3. Jurgen Paape - So Weit Wie Noch Nie4. Closer Musik - Maria5. Superpitcher - Mushroom6. The MFA - The Difference It Makes7. SCSI-9 – When She Said Goodbye8. DJ Koze - Mariposa9. Matias Aguayo - Minimal10. Gui Boratto - No Turning Back (Wighnomy Brothers Remix)11. I genuinely can't remember a thing on this one so for completeness sake it can be whichever Voigt is on this one12. Kolombo - Waiting For14. Coma - Atlantis15. Rex The Dog - Sicko16. Wassermann - Die Schallplatte
Somewhat arbitrary picks from 11 onwards (with the exception of the Kolombo, which is all time) and it's actually very difficult NOT to default to the obvious anthems on the early ones while simultaneously ensuring everyone's represented.
The mid-period (7-10 or so) is if anything underrated even if the compilations themselves are WAY overlong. What's striking about the last few is how little identity there is, it stops feeling like a collective of interrelated artists and the comps just become this jumble of artists who have done most of their best-known work elsewhere (Maceo Plex, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Ulrich Schnauss, Patrice Baumel, Agoria, Audion, John Tejada on the last two alone).
― Matt DC, Thursday, 20 October 2016 13:04 (seven years ago) link
next time i am in work i am so making that lot a playlist ..
― mark e, Thursday, 20 October 2016 14:12 (seven years ago) link
Nice one MattDC.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 20 October 2016 15:18 (seven years ago) link
Here's a Spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/1MOtmnGsHI1dwibvOqpIOQ
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 20 October 2016 16:01 (seven years ago) link
my fave thing is to drop all the total albums (bar 1,2, 5 and 6) in a playlist, hit random and the fade in/out function and let loose.makes for the best mixtape ever.― mark e, Friday, 23 September 2016 18:46 (three weeks ago)
tonights booze fuelled soundtrack with added volume(s).
kompakt is now almost on a level pegging with my all time fave, on-u, in regards to hours of music in my archive.
on-u : 112 hourskompakt : 94 hours
― mark e, Thursday, 20 October 2016 16:39 (seven years ago) link
Here's a ready-made playlist that I stick on whenever I feel like a run-through of the greatest hits. Tilts heavily towards the anthems/big pop moments though.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:12 (seven years ago) link
re the TOTAL 11 entry
can i suggest 'hang four [allez-allez mix] - walls'
which is basically walls remixing themselves, as allez-allez was the blog that they ran before becoming walls.
(sorry if this is 'teaching grandma to suck eggs' territory)
― mark e, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:17 (seven years ago) link
Didn't know Walls was behind Allez-Allez, that blog provided some dope mixes
― brimstead, Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:20 (seven years ago) link
phew.
― mark e, Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:31 (seven years ago) link
― Matt DC
I hate that the obvious highlights from each comp are always missing from the vinyl versions of the compilation. There's the comp KOMPAKT 20 JAHRE which you could call a Best of Total compilation. This is the tracklist for the CD version:
CD 101. Heiko Voss – I Think About You02. Matias Aguayo – Minimal (DJ Koze Mix)03. Dorau/Köhncke – Durch Die Nacht (Geiger Mix)04. Matias Aguayo – Walter Neff05. Justus Köhncke – 2 After 90906. Voigt & Voigt – Vision 0307. Leandro Fresco – Cera Uno08. Michael Mayer – Lovefood09. Pluxus – Transient10. The Field – Over The Ice11. Wighnomy Bros. – Wurz + Blosse12. Mayer/Voigt – Transparenza13. Dettinger – TotentanzCD 201. Jonas Bering – Melanie02. Kaito – Everlasting03. Superpitcher – Happiness (Lawrence Mix)04. Gus Gus – Within You05. Scsi 9 – Morskaya06. Thomas Fehlmann – Making It Whistle07. DJ Koze – Mariposa08. Gui Boratto – Arquipélago09. John Tejada -Unstable Condition10. Rex The Dog – Prototype11. Partial Arts – Trauermusik12. The Rice Twins – For Penny And Alexis
CD 201. Jonas Bering – Melanie02. Kaito – Everlasting03. Superpitcher – Happiness (Lawrence Mix)04. Gus Gus – Within You05. Scsi 9 – Morskaya06. Thomas Fehlmann – Making It Whistle07. DJ Koze – Mariposa08. Gui Boratto – Arquipélago09. John Tejada -Unstable Condition10. Rex The Dog – Prototype11. Partial Arts – Trauermusik12. The Rice Twins – For Penny And Alexis
and the vinyl version:
A1 –Justus Köhncke 2 After 909 A2 –Matias Aguayo Minimal (DJ Koze Mix)B1 –Voigt & Voigt Vision 03 B2 –Michael Mayer Lovefood C1 –DJ Koze Mariposa C2 –The Field Over The Ice D1 –Gui Boratto Arquipélago D2 –Superpitcher Happiness (Lawrence Mix)
I guess it's also good in vinyl but come one... why put a track like Lovefood in there which wasn't even a highlight in TOTAL 6. Instead of Heiko Voss or Partial Arts or Rice Twins even Aguayo track is more unique and fun.
I also bought TOTAL 6 on vinyl without knowing the tracklist. Bought TOTAL 6 because these were some of my favorite songs released by Kompakt that year:
MFA - Difference it makesBaxendale -I Built This City (Michael Mayer Mix)Mikkel Metal - DorantSCSI-9 - Mini
Yeah, of course they're missing from the vinyl version. Same thing happened to me with TOTAL 14, my two favorite songs from that year are on the cd version and were completely ignored by the vinyl version.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:57 (seven years ago) link
Anyhoo answering your question the KOMPAKT 20 JAHRE is the TOTAL TOTAL comp you're looking for. Vol. 1 is the tracklist above and here's Vol. 2:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-20-Jahre-Kompakt-Kollektion-2/release/4860692
which includes Maria and So Weit Wie Noch Nie. Difference It Makes is missing tho and it's one of the best Kompakt songs imho.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 20 October 2016 23:01 (seven years ago) link
I think it's common practice (not to mention economical) for a house/techno record company to not repeat tracks that were previously on vinyl on a subsequent vinyl album or comp. The Total vinyls are usually just the exclusive tracks to the comp---the hardcore fans already have/heard the previously released tracks.
― Michael F Gill, Thursday, 20 October 2016 23:41 (seven years ago) link
The Difference It Makes was originally on Border Community and later re-issued by Kompakt, so there might be licensing issues if they put it out again.
― Michael F Gill, Thursday, 20 October 2016 23:42 (seven years ago) link
The Superpitcher Remix of "The Difference It Makes" is more of a "classic" (in both senses of the word) Kompakt track than the original in any event.
Still remember hearing Tobias Thomas dropping that at Maria in Berlin at the beginning of 2005.
― Tim F, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:21 (seven years ago) link
i don't think "amanda" is very good. nice sample, though.
― brimstead, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:23 (seven years ago) link
Moka, if you want "the difference it makes on CD", i'd recommend James Holden's Balance mix: https://www.discogs.com/James-Holden-Balance-005/release/186636
― brimstead, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:32 (seven years ago) link
any Kompakt fans down with Cabinet Records? Same kind of sleek tech house vibe.
― brimstead, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:34 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, the Superpitcher mix definitely ups the ante.
I have probably said this before, but in my opinion a compilation of all the Superpitcher remixes would be the best Kompakt-related album ever.
― Michael F Gill, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:38 (seven years ago) link
My big memory of this record is hearing stirmonster aka Twitch playing it at the Glass House in Williamsburg at exactly the right part of the night. And it making me feel as if I were on drugs despite having had nothing stronger than two Heinekens.
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 21 October 2016 09:03 (seven years ago) link
And mine was getting the National Express coach down to London to see Mayer at Fabric, one and only time I went. He opened his set with it around 4am, was nearly in tears. First time I'd heard it and no idea what it was, had a nosey over the decks and committed the picture of the labEl with the mountain on to memory. Finding the 12" in the record shop a couple of weeks later was a moment.
― ewar woowar (or something), Friday, 21 October 2016 09:37 (seven years ago) link
Yeah the Superpitcher remix of The Difference It Makes is probably one of the five Kompakt tracks I would play to an absolute beginner but it isn't on any of the Totals.
I don't think I've ever heard it in the wild and this is a source of permanent regret to me.
― Matt DC, Friday, 21 October 2016 09:42 (seven years ago) link
They're at #20 by now!Great guide to all of them (with personal favorites from each one) by Michaelangelo Matos on bandcamp daily:https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/kompakt-total-guide
― willem, Thursday, 27 August 2020 14:36 (three years ago) link
i guess the days of kompakt releasing mix cds is coming to an end.
https://kompakt.fm/releases/connecting_the_dots
― mark e, Thursday, 11 February 2021 15:56 (three years ago) link
That cover looks like one of those Japanese logic puzzles where you have to draw a loop around the grid and the dots offer clues.
― Michael F Gill, Thursday, 11 February 2021 16:48 (three years ago) link