Kompakt: Total 10

Various Artists
Kompakt: Total 10

Kompakt, the Cologne, Germany-based techno label, is well known for its Total compilation series. 2009’s Total 10, the tenth edition, flows from beginning to end, and as usual there are some exciting standouts. The opener, “40 Love,” starts with the intriguing sounds and rhythms of a tennis match, before it ever-so-gradually segues into a low-key dance groove, only to eventually return to the match. Produced by the Pet Shop Boys, Sam Taylor-Wood’s “I’m In Love with a German Film Star” has room for a finely contoured chorus and hazy atmospherics in Gui Boratto’s mix. A few tracks later, Boratto strikes again with the four-on-the-floor-driven “No Turning Back,” while Matias Aguayo’s “Walter Neff” livens things up with handclaps, a funky beat, and some wonderfully slack vocals. Burger/Voigt’s “Wand aus Klang” brings a little old-school Krautrock spirit to 21st-century dance music, and Total 10 closes with Pachanga Boys’ “Fiesta Forever,” a collaboration between Superpitcher’s Aksel Schaufler and Mauricio Rebolledo. The song is closer to folk music than techno, but one doesn’t turn to Kompakt for the obvious.

Disc 1

Disc 2

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada