Coming up with a singular style and honing it till it can be recognized from 100 yards is a good way to become noticed. Adhering to that style and altering it in only the most incremental of ways
for a solid decade is a good way to be forgotten. So why do people still love KOMPAKT so much? The Cologne, Germany, techno label`s longevity is down to a number of factors?the rise of minimal in lub-music popularity, the smart way it`s positioned itself as a
major center of the European dance community as a distributor and
vinyl shop as well as a maker of records. But what`s most remarkable
is the way the label has been able to stay current while staying
resolutely KOMPAKT.

If it weren`t for the number in the title, Total 8?the third of Kompakt`s annual compilation series to contain two CDs?might seem like a freshly energetic new label`s opening salvo. Tobias Thomas and Michael Mayer`s "Ueber Wiesen" resembles the beginning of Orbital`s "Chime"?compare the bass lines?bent and stretched to build continuously for seven minutes without ever entirely peaking; its languorous surge ends only when the track does. JoergBurger`s "Polyform 1" layers a bubbling computer melody and string-pad mist that calls to mind early Warp Records chill-out, only prodded by the beat into a delicately liquid groove. And Broke`s "Coladancer" spends eight minutes worrying its crunchy little 303 squiggle, echoed human grunts, clomping snares, and twittering keyboards into something that spins odd shapes from old Chicago acid. None of it sounds exactly alike, and all of it sounds like KOMPAKT.

U can buy 3 x LP or unmixed 2CDs at Juno Records.


Here comes the tracklist:

CD 1
1.Burger/Voigt - Man Lebt Nur Zweimal
2.Jurgen Paape + Boy Schaufler/Gesang - We Love
3.Superpitcher - Rainy Nights In Georgia
4.Partial Arts - Trauermusik
5.Rex The Dog - Every Day
6.Thomas/Mayer - Uber Wiesen
7.Jorg Burger - Polyform 1
8.Supermayer - Two Of Us
9.Steadycam - In The Moog For Love
10.Nightcats - Inside
11.The Rice Twins - Can I Say

CD 2
1.Herve Ak - The Closer
2.DJ Koze - Mariposa
3.Reinhard Voigt - Follow The DJ
4.Jurgen Paape - Nord
5.Echo Club - Falter
6.Aril Brikha - Berghain
7.Gui Boratto - Mr Decay
8.Justus Kohncke - Pickpockets
9.Broke - Coladancer
10.Schaeben & Voss - Cold Wind
11.Oxia - Not Sure