FR 118: The Best of Kompakt

Two mammoth playlists to mark the Cologne label's 500th release

This Friday, Kompakt marks a significant milestone: the 500th release in the Cologne label’s catalog. Few imprints ever make it that far into the triple digits, and Kompakt is celebrating the occasion with all the pomp you’d expect: Kompakt 500 takes the form of a 5xLP release accompanied by a bonus 10-inch and a book documenting the label’s visual side (the release is also available as a 3xCD). An accompanying exhibition at the Kölnisher Kunstverein will be on view through July 20.

I’ve been a follower of the label since 1997, when it was still Profan, and the label’s golden-era run of the early 2000s is a crucial part of my history in dance music. So for this week’s newsletter, I tried to unpack the elements that make up Kompakt’s singular identity, and the reasons that it has managed to endure for all these years.

In the process, I also put together a pair of playlists: one focused on techno, the other on ambient. Together, they’re more than 24 hours long, yet they could have run much longer without any dip in quality. It’s been a joy to reconnect with some of these classics, and not only because I associate the label with a particularly pivotal period in my own life. Kompakt may not have the cutting-edge cachet that it once did, but for anyone partial to the label’s careful balance of ecstasy, melancholy, and camp, its track record is indisputable.

This issue and its attendant playlists are exclusively for paying subscribers of the newsletter, in gratitude for their support. And don’t miss Futurism Restated’s 2023 interview with Michael Mayer, marking the 20th anniversary of his Fabric 13 mix.

Futurism Restated: Michael Mayer on 20 Years of Fabric 13

Paid subscriptions are $5 a month or $50 a year; perks include exclusive posts like this one; regularly updated playlists for chilling and clubbing (now available on Deezer as well as Apple Music and Spotify); the ongoing Mixes Digest series; and full access to the archives, including interviews with Anthony Naples, Wisdom Teeth’s Facta & K-LONE, Longform Editions head Andrew Khedoori, drone titans Belong, Seefeel’s Mark Clifford, and more.