Kompakt Total Poll

shoulda been eins / zwei / drei…

Voted 6, because that's the first one I ever heard.

probably six though i probably heard any of the newer ones, after 11 or 12

i think it might be 5 for me. there's got to be good stuff on the newer ones. curious if anyone will rep for 7 or later.

Voted 3... that opening track is all-time (Closer Musik "Departures") and sets the mood for the rest of the set.

that's a great track, closer musik still my favourite mati aguayo material.

goes to listen to maria

i feel the same way about scsi-9 "all she wants is" xpost

"departures" is the last track tho

5 bangs harder than 6 but it's less diverse i think. 3 is gorgeous iirc but i sold it ;_;

"departures" is the last track tho

― savvinesslessness (map)

not on the vinyl, mate

I'd say volumes 1 through 6 are the classic run. Plenty of good tracks on 7 through 16 but hard to fully recommend any of them since they are all double disc hodgepodges.

3
then 1 or 4

There's no Total 13, right?

Head says 3 but heart says 4 as I'm always charmed by the Autobianchi when I pull this out.

Of the early ones, 2 feels a bit underrated at this point, though I feel like it's as strong as 3 or 4. I suppose the issue is that "Amanda" and (arguably) "1, 2, 3, No Gravity" aside, it lacks the "anthems" of the subsequent volumes.

5 is underrated in a different way: if you try to come at it without the baggage of what you expect from a Total comp, its (relative) furrow-browed dancefloor discipline seems really compelling and of its time (or at times slightly ahead of - some of it feels very 2004) in a good way. The SCSI-9, Joachim Spieth, Mikkel Metal and Michael Mayer tracks all feel like they know exactly what they're doing. It's real 'lose yourself in the compulsive rhythm' stuff.

Instinctively, I'd suggest Total 3 but I'm going to have to do some serious research over the next five days.

7 cos it's the only one I've heard all the way through. I got on the kompakt wagon a bit late

I've only heard 3 through 7 - voting for 5 because the closing run of Roxy/All Around/Beautiful Day/Maria is flawless.

That's 4.

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

i threw up this poll so you all could tell me which ones i need and it's working mwahaha

That's 4.

Oops, yeah that's what I meant...

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!

Total 3. The first one I heard and still the best.

I have a soft spot for 12, Kolombo's "Waiting For" and Coma's "Playground Altona" are personal favourites.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I'm from the future and 19 would totally win this

Going 4 for, along with Immer, being my introduction and because Making It Whistle.

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

3 has "so weit wie noch nie" on it, so 3

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

voted 4....kaito track is amazing. 'falling hands' is amazing. not as good as hush hush baby maybe but def less recognized

i've been bumping 9 a lot lately

w/o thinking about i'd say 4. i've only heard like half of these.

3 will walk this

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.

lol word

clarification : 1,2, 5, and 6 are not hated, just not in the archive.
yet.

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.

weirdly spotify does not have 13

There is no 13.

13 = unlucky.
so they avoided it.

voted 13

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

ooh that roxy track on 4 by w voigt is so good

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

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

oh cool i should read about how i've ruined techno that sounds fun, makes me feel v powerful

people like me who skip a boring kompakt tune every once in while, we've really done a number on the genre huh

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

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

I like that album a lot too, but Gui Boratto is the guy whose albums I pull out most often.

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, 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

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

fwiw i think superpitcher's "tomorrow" is also bad

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.

fwiw i think superpitcher's "tomorrow" is also bad

― marcos, Friday, September 23, 2016 3:22 PM (forty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this song is awes

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.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The science/magic behind the sorting of ties in ILX polls no nearer to being revealed here :/

jesus christ... monotonous techno RULES!!!

a2 of this, so raw, so good: https://www.discogs.com/TRaumschmiere-Bolzplatz-EP/master/361732

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).

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)_/¯

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.

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.

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.

I just bought these socks:
http://i.imgur.com/a9BP3Ye.jpg

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.

Is there a Total Total comp? Like one track from each volume.

LOL at Albert, I once bought a mug because it had Total-style dots on it.

Is there a Total Total comp? Like one track from each volume.

Here's a crack at one:

1. Joachim Speith - Abi 99
2. Michael Mayer - Amanda
3. Jurgen Paape - So Weit Wie Noch Nie
4. Closer Musik - Maria
5. Superpitcher - Mushroom
6. The MFA - The Difference It Makes
7. SCSI-9 – When She Said Goodbye
8. DJ Koze - Mariposa
9. Matias Aguayo - Minimal
10. 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 one
12. Kolombo - Waiting For
14. Coma - Atlantis
15. Rex The Dog - Sicko
16. 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).

next time i am in work i am so making that lot a playlist ..

Nice one MattDC.

Here's a Spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/1MOtmnGsHI1dwibvOqpIOQ

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 hours
kompakt : 94 hours

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.

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)

Didn't know Walls was behind Allez-Allez, that blog provided some dope mixes

phew.

Is there a Total Total comp? Like one track from each volume.

Here's a crack at one:

1. Joachim Speith - Abi 99
2. Michael Mayer - Amanda
3. Jurgen Paape - So Weit Wie Noch Nie
4. Closer Musik - Maria
5. Superpitcher - Mushroom
6. The MFA - The Difference It Makes
7. SCSI-9 – When She Said Goodbye
8. DJ Koze - Mariposa
9. Matias Aguayo - Minimal
10. 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 one
12. Kolombo - Waiting For
14. Coma - Atlantis
15. Rex The Dog - Sicko
16. 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

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 1
01. Heiko Voss – I Think About You
02. Matias Aguayo – Minimal (DJ Koze Mix)
03. Dorau/Köhncke – Durch Die Nacht (Geiger Mix)
04. Matias Aguayo – Walter Neff
05. Justus Köhncke – 2 After 909
06. Voigt & Voigt – Vision 03
07. Leandro Fresco – Cera Uno
08. Michael Mayer – Lovefood
09. Pluxus – Transient
10. The Field – Over The Ice
11. Wighnomy Bros. – Wurz + Blosse
12. Mayer/Voigt – Transparenza
13. Dettinger – Totentanz

CD 2
01. Jonas Bering – Melanie
02. Kaito – Everlasting
03. Superpitcher – Happiness (Lawrence Mix)
04. Gus Gus – Within You
05. Scsi 9 – Morskaya
06. Thomas Fehlmann – Making It Whistle
07. DJ Koze – Mariposa
08. Gui Boratto – Arquipélago
09. John Tejada -Unstable Condition
10. Rex The Dog – Prototype
11. Partial Arts – Trauermusik
12. 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 makes
Baxendale -I Built This City (Michael Mayer Mix)
Mikkel Metal - Dorant
SCSI-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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

i don't think "amanda" is very good. nice sample, though.

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

any Kompakt fans down with Cabinet Records? Same kind of sleek tech house vibe.

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.

Still remember hearing Tobias Thomas dropping that at Maria in Berlin at the beginning of 2005.

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.

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.

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.

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

i guess the days of kompakt releasing mix cds is coming to an end.

https://kompakt.fm/releases/connecting_the_dots

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.