Available on: Kompakt 2xCD

What’s a label to do after setting electronic music standards for 15 years? Release another Total compilation, of course. The latest year-in-review from Cologne-based label Kompakt is an orgiastic sampling of what’s driving dance music. A cast of veteran producers and several new names offers wide-ranging sounds, many of which lie outside the label’s sonic signature. Total 11 finds Kompakt being unpredictable and embracing the eclectic across its two discs, while still sticking close to the pulse of modern electronic music.

The mid-tempo arrangements of the first CD shuffle through multiple subgenres. From languid machine-sampled techno (‘Mensch und Maschine’ by Jurgen Paape), it jumps to R&B bounce (‘Walk Over’ by Ada & Heiko Voss), spacey rockabilly (‘Eins Fine Grind’ by It’s A Fine Line), and even stuff that sounds like UK funky (‘St. Anne’ by Sebastien Bouchet). It’s so varied that the Field’s ‘Caroline’, which sounds like something Harmonia would have recorded 35 years ago, doesn’t seem out of place.

Total 11’s track-to-track incongruity assures that everyone will be entertained. And, over the years Kompakt has shown that techno needn’t only be melodic, emotive, and immaculately produced – it can also be fun. Thus, less serious moments – the prankster, off-key vocals of ‘Lapdance’ by Superpitcher, and the sassy disco of Justus Kohnck’s ‘I Wouldn’t Wanna Be Like You’ – suggest that electronic music isn’t ruined if it’s humorous or whimsical.

While much of Total 11 doesn’t capture the label’s core aesthetic, straight-laced techno isn’t completely forgotten. Label co-founder Michael Mayer contributes one of the few club-friendly numbers, the slow-building and sexy ‘Picanha Frenesi’. The modulating arpeggios of ‘Bruxelles’ by Coma, as well as rigid dynamics of ‘For Eves’ by Jonas Bering, bring to mind the linear manoeuvres of classic German techno.

Total 11’s diversity reflects the label’s recent ventures in developing new talent (witness the signing of crossover producers Walls and the Matias Aguayo-affiliated Pachanga Boys). But purists shouldn’t be alarmed – Kompakt could never be accused of courting dance floor trends. Rather, the label is continuing the completely unique course that’s always set it apart from the crowd. Nearly two decades on, they still have the ability to surprise.

Patrick Burns