Techno | Minimal | Tech-House 379 Items

A download code is included. Cocoon Recordings presents: Cocoon Compilation T Another year, another expertly curated compilation touches down courtesy of Cocoon Recordings. Somehow, the world keeps turning and with it the Cocoon universe keeps expanding, causing subtle yet persuasive shifts in the sonic soundscape that continue to capture and captivate the imagination. In time-honored tradition the old guard and the new combine with devastating effect, to define the current state of play. Veteran Techno producer Stephen Brown makes it clear the compilation series is back with a bang, opening things up in epic fashion with the lucid dreamscape ‘Level Steps’ - a true work of art. Another heavy-weight hitter steps straight up in the form of Claude von Stroke, who adds his own unique swagger to proceedings with those trademark shuffling beats and freaky, hypnotic bleeps scuffling for dominance on ‘Moody Fuse’. Denis Horvat then slows things down on ‘Monomono’, with post-raveNew Release Information abstractions and disobedient synth-patches causing mayhem before the track finally unfolds in all its terrifying beauty. Motoring on, the collection wastes no time reaching that familiar tipping point as we enter the techno phase of the journey. A very special appearance from Daniel Avery makes it all the more worthwhile amid a dense forest of chiming melodies and blistering electrical surges on ‘Your Future Looks Different In The Light’, before Jeroen Search’s aptly titled ‘Subversive Elements’ lead us deeper and deeper, into the matrix. Marco Bailey then kicks off a triptych of trance with some massive filtered piano action on ‘Kanai’ that’s destined to trigger a serotonin smile with everyone it touches. Revisiting the huge, ever-growing pulsating brain of planet Orb, Damiano van Erckert continues the loved-up vibe on the gorgeously titled ‘500 People 500 Hearts 1 Love’, expertly complimenting the classic ambience with some slick 909 snare and cymbal interplay. The melodic pull of ‘Vision99’ then signifies that the party is peaking at just the right moment as Yokto concocts a glistening, psychedelic groove. The emotional resonance climbs ever higher with brittle melodies endlessly circling a lush, throbbing bass drone to create the sense of something stirring out of reach. Just when you think the acid sound is done and dusted, up pops a track like Jonathan Kaspar’s ‘ccc’ that somehow manages to offer an entirely new perspective. Riding in on a wave of expectant arpeggios, the squelching bass and noise filter go toe to toe before Kaspar gets busy with a freaky tempo excursion that’ll be destroying dance floors all year long. ‘The Art of Electronics’ is, as the title suggests, another superlative example of pure analogue fire, served up by UK legend, Andrew Meecham aka The Emperor Machine. The funk starts to flow as the bass drops, the machines cut loose and a swarm of cascading bleeps ride the trans-europa express to oblivion. Electro overlord Carl Finlow, has come to define the UK take on the genre over the last couple of decades. Here, he makes his long overdue label debut, taking us into the closing straight with a nervous sliver of dystopian futurism, complete with molten basslines and a fuzzy logic that underpins the tight, laser-guided groove on ‘Surface Control’. DeFeKT then draws this great adventure to a close with the deliciously dark robo-disco overtones of ‘Terraform’ creating a dusky landscape that skillfully seduces the listener before the tension finally breaks in a wash of ecstatic chords. All in all, it’s a supremely ambitious collection of tracks, generously featuring some of the most inspirational and durable artists of their respective generations. In fact, is this perhaps the best Cocoon Compilation to date.

(6lp Box Set, 180gr vinyl, 4c print + Glossy varnish). Stephan Bodzin, Luna Semara, Solomun, Adriatique, Mind Against, Maceo Plex, Jupiter Jazz, Avnu, Fideles, Denis Horvat, Kevin de Vries, Ben Böhmer, Boris Brejcha, Roman Flügel, Agents Of Time, Patrice Baumel, Echonomist, Hernan Cattaneo, Soundexile, Dubfire, Anfisa Letyago, Anna, Wehbba, Reinier Zonneveld, Ameloar, Christopher Coe, Anii, Hannes Bieger, Meute, Innellea

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nthng finally follows up his four stunning EPs with a full album proper, arriving in a whopping 3xLP pack.

Arriving a good 6 months after the LT029.5 album sampler which debuted both Soms and In My Dreams, nthng adds another seven hazy, hooded techno bangers to those to make up a pretty dazzling body of work. Opener 'Touches' is true ambient bliss, with shrouded, blissful synths fuzzing into view and cut through by a soft low distant sunlight. Both Galaxy and Eternal thump into view with a hi-paced drums colliding and clashing with syncopated stabs and smooth dusty baselines, recalling the tender techno-trance precipice danced by Dutch producers at the start of the 90's.

The huge mysterious fan favourite and title track It Never Ends gets it's pride of place with 9 mins of deep, cavernous techno, all rippling with epic string-synths and washes of mountainous reverb. Even deeper numbers are extracted from the hard-drive, including the pensively, digitally-bubbling computer jam Unity sitting tidily alongside the super deep and subtle rolls of Abyss. Rounding the album out is the appropriately-titled Last. A dark, shimmering, almost emotionless number that cements a different idea of the future. A hard, pounding, yelping, depthcharged technoid closer.

For us, the album feels like a real masterpiece, conjuring a spectrum of intimate and emotive moods, feelings and nostalgia-tinged memories that float into the mind, like the settling fog in the valley on a crisp winters morning.

A download code is included. Setaoc Mass, Juxta Position, Roman Poncet, Viers, Nocow, Kirilik, Lady Starlight, UBX127, Len Faki, Pablo Mateo, Shlomi Aber, Truncate, Lewis Fautzi, Jeroen Search, Amotik, Setaoc Mass. elebrating its 15th anniversary as well as the monolithic catalogue 100, Figure releases a gem-packed compilation featuring 15 artists who are shaping the current sound of the label. Ranging from machine-driven stompers courtesy of Juxta Position, Kirilik or Lady Starlight, to punchy electro by Viers and UBX127, to Nocow‘s signature style wavey melancho-electronics, or the straight-up high-voltage-techno of Shlomi Aber, Lewis Fautzi and captain Len Faki himself, all adequately framed by Setaoc Mass‘ beautiful ambient pieces – this 4 LP-set encompasses everything Figure both past, present and future. Arriving in a unique gatefolded sleeve that carries the exclusive handmade visual art by Munich artist Julia Schewalie. Whether long time fan or newly recruited follower, this one is a must-have entry in every techno-lover‘s collection.