KOMPAKT TOTAL 21 (2LP + DL)

TOTAL turns 21 this year, and Kompakt™s venerable compilation series couldn™t have asked for a more auspicious coming-of-age collection. If TOTAL 20 was consolidation against the odds, the Kompakt crew producing for a dreamt-of dancefloor in an uncertain future, then TOTAL 21 feels abuzz and alive with possibilities. Significantly, it™s the first TOTAL in some time that™s streamlined down to a single disc; this makes TOTAL 21 even punchier than usual, a joyous, reflective, and always thrilling 75-minute audio scan of the world according to Kompakt. As with every instalment of TOTAL, there™s a deft balancing here of Kompakt regulars and new blood. Of the latter, there™s a first appearance by KOLLMORGEN, remixed by PATRICE BÄUMEL into an astral torch song; Amsterdam™s NICKY ELISABETH, offering up ROMAN FLÜGEL™s pulsating, arpeggiated remix of šCeleste›; and CAPTAIN MUSTACHE swoops down into view, PLAY PAUL in tow, with the dream-like electro lift-off that is šEverything›. JONATHAN KASPAR also drops by with a new track, šVon Draussen›, a stealthy and lethal floor-hugger with prowling bass. Elsewhere, there™s the lead track to MICHAEL MAYER™s astonishing recent EP, šBrainwave Technology›, which not-so-gently spears the tech-futurist babble of AI, transhumanism and posthumanism, soundtracked by one of Mayer™s typically lush, glimmering soundscapes. JOHN TEJADA reaches back to the heyday of glitch and dub techno with the gorgeous šSpectral Progressions›, while the brothers VOIGT & VOIGT, on šNicht Mein Job›, seem reinvigorated by the interwoven patterns and funky minimalism of the Profan days. Not to be outdone, JÜRGEN PAAPE kicks TOTAL 21 with šLa Guittara Romantica›, a chiming and lilting lullaby for woozy late-night reflection. Throughout, it feels as though Kompakt are taking a moment to both breathe in the dust of the past and look forward to a bright future. Perhaps that™s why, on šFasson›, SASCHA FUNKE seems so confident, with pinprick melodies bouncing around a hall of audio mirrors, or why THE BIONAUT returns with šBlue Sky Motor Lodge›, a song so moistly melancholy, so enduringly lovely, it™ll make you weep tears of joy. ROBAG WRUHME gets a little delirious on the ticking, twisting šNo›, and then GUI BORATTO mops everything up with the bubbling, bumping glam-stomp šWake Up›. That™s not all  spring for the digital and/or vinyl edition and you™ll get a new cut, šHappy›, from MICHAEL MAYER, and MARC ROMBOY & C.A.R.™s šI Am A Dancer›. But however you choose to play it, now TOTAL™s turned 21, it™s your duty to throw it the celebration to end all celebrations. Let the party begin, and don™t forget to bring a party favor„