Kompakt Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: Kompakt have billed their latest collaborative spiritual house release - three groove sandwiches shared between Deer Jade, David Hasert and Nicone - as an antidote to the all-to-prevalent late-winter blues and lack of sun, an affliction that seems to blight ravers in particular. Aside from canvassing for more outdoor and/or glass-roofed venues, all we can do in the meantime is weight the tonearm and jog-start the disc; 'Jukurpa' and 'Wasting My Time With You' are just the course of sonic vitamins us daywalkers need. The former is a deep, righteous blur of just piano tritones and circumscribed handholds around fires, as weighted knee-slaps and impacts evoke the feeling of a collective ritual come out-of-body experience. 'Cosmic Dream' returns to the very same rave spot at nighttime; at this point, it's all gone a bit lunar-psy, but the desert winds and temperate nighttime heat allow ample energy for continued soul flight.

Review: Global Essence Sampler is a new series from Deep Inspiration Show Records that calls upon a fine roster of international producer talent to serve up one track each and reflect on what deep house is today. For Allstarr Motomusic the answer is smooth and cruising house grooves with elastic basslines and distant vocal wails. Barce explores classic Larry Heard-style cosmic melodic territory with plenty of star-gazing potential, and Zarenzeit's 'Zahara' is another one that floats amongst the stars with lush ambient pads. Jank offers a more dusty, rhythmic house sound for cosy backroom parties, and then come the jazzy melodies and soulful bass noodling of Jan Kincl's '3300 Gratiot Ave.' Magic stuff.

Review: This year marks the 24th edition of Kompakts 'Pop Ambient' series, starting way back in 2001, a celebration of predominantly German collaborators who have come together to create a digital encyclopedia of ambient for over two decades. 'Octarine' by Mikkel Metal is a gentle, layered vibraphone track that conjures dream sequences, it's subtle guitar buildup in the back adding a sense of unease into the mix. 'Panta Rhei' by Joachim Speith is a more typical piece, a droning ambient synth creating a cloudlike texture - think Lovesliescrushing or DJ Lostboi.

Review: Michael Mayer's Kompakt label has managed to help shape a number of niche sounds, from ambient with its excellent annual compilations, to a mature and melodic take on techno through countless LPs and 12"s. This new remix EP sits somewhere in between. Running Back don Gerd Janson goes first with his take on 'Follow Your Line' which has zoned out and filtered vocals of a nice and languid electronic disco rhythm. Ada then brings some signature melodic beauty and whisky to a remix of 'Talking Man' that has Balearic potential and the boss himself dubs out 'Follow Your Line' to perfection.