Review: La Fleur is on a roll; having worked with Sasha and completed an Essential Mix, she now turns her attention to a release on Kompakt's Speicher offshoot. "Tears" is based on a bubbly groove and tumbling drums, with a melody unfolding over these elements. If you listen close enough, it's possible to discern a vocal sample buried deep in the arrangement - marking "Tears" out as a truly evocative pieces of music. On the flip side, John Monkman teams up with James Monro for "Pesto Funk"; a slinky slice of tripped out techno funk punctuated by sonic belches, it's in stark contrast to La Fleur's melancholic approach.
Review: Cologne powerhouse Kompakt have continually defined a unique aesthetic as label - deep, atmospheric and absolutely evocative. For the 19th edition of their revered Total series - The Voigt Brothers & Co. curate another splendid compilation featuring the very best in international electronic music from the last year, taking in a wide variety of styles, tempos moods and grooves - yet all with the label's distinct taste. Highlights (and there's many!) came courtesy of: local Gewolbe Club resident Jonathan Kaspar with the mesmerising dancefloor drama of "Renard", label co-founders Tobias Thomas & Michael mayer teaming up on the sexy lo-slung groove antics of "Total Anders", label staple and all round Berlin legend Sascha Funke delivers a typically quirky and oddball groove on "Aus Der Lamang". Elsewhere, you can get your tunnel vision on with the ever reliable Rex The Dog on "Vortex", the ascendant Anii from Poland takes you deep into the rainforest on the tribal trance of "Ride The Tiger" and ANNA from Brazil provides some dystopian narratives for the dancefloor on "Remembrance".
