Untitled Playlist1

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/speicher_125

Speicher 125 is a most auspicious collaboration between two great, inimitable voices in techno: Kompakt co-founder Michael Mayer, and Magazine’s own Barnt. They’ve both been productive of late, Mayer with his “Brainwave Technology” EP in 2021, Barnt with his first release on Kompakt, "ProMetal Fan Decor Only Product" in 2022. Of course, they’re also busy with their respective record labels, and international DJing schedules.

You may already have heard their first track, which appeared on Michael’s "&" album from 2014, the psychedelic “Und Da Stehen Fremde Menschen”. For Speicher, though, they set their sights firmly on the peak time dance floor – the result is two stunning cuts of techno euphoria. 

On “Teller” Barnt and Mayer unleash a synth storm, tense and thrilling. Percussion piles up against the incessant buzz, but before too long we’re submerged in waves of dense texturology, making the track an object lesson in tension and release. “Duration” is a bittersweet anthem about "life long love". A moving voice tells us about "faith in life" while gleaming, synths, choral swarms and snares shower down from above to form an epic tale about duration and devotion.

Weirding the groove and updating the emotions, Speicher 125 is a monster.

Speicher 125

Barnt / Michael Mayer - Duration

Barnt / Michael Mayer - Teller

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/agartha_lp_dl

‘Where is Agartha? What is the specific region in which it lies? Along what road, through what civilizations, must one walk in order to reach it?.’ Saint-Yves d’Alveydre in 1886

Agartha, the debut full-length album by Japanese producer Wata Igarashi, is a mysterious, divine thing. Named for the mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, perhaps designed by Martians who colonised the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, it’s a similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip – but this time, exploring an inner, deeply personal cosmos. Beautifully detailed and bustling with rich incident, it takes Igarashi’s music to new places, which still retaining his unique sonic imprimatur; in this respect, it’s perfectly at home with Kompakt, a label that’s always encouraged artists to make the visionary music they need to create, to take risks and make sideways steps into uncharted territory.

An eloquent producer and DJ, Igarashi has been releasing techno for eleven years now, appearing on such imprints as The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar, and Time To Express; he has also self-released his productions via his WIP net label. Throughout, Igarashi has consistently explored his unique approach to techno and electronic music, one that’s eloquent and poised, even when it shifts into more psychedelic terrain; he’s a master at balancing the sensual and the functional, and he has an unerring ear for the right texture, the right tone, at the right time. He brings all of this into Agartha, his most thorough-going expression of self to date.

For Agartha, Igarashi had a strong concept he wanted to explore. Visualising specific scenes from an imaginary film based on the titular secret kingdom, he created soundtracks for those scenes, spending time during the pandemic in his studio, working away carefully at the ten tracks here. Given his background in creating music for television and advertisements, Igarashi is well-placed to explore the marriage of the sonic and the visual in such intimate ways, but freed from commercial concerns, he let his imagination run riot. He also drew on a rich palette of musical influences – techno is in there, of course, but you can also hear the smoky, improvised jazz of the likes of Miles Davis (to whom the album’s title is an indirect nod), and the minimalism and systems music of Steve Reich.

The latter is particularly pronounced on the gorgeous, beatless drift of “Floating Against Time”, where an arpeggiated sequence lingers, lovingly, around your ears for nine blissful minutes, coasting across swooning drones and waves of ambient noise. “Ceremony Of The Dead”, originally composed as part of a Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial sound concert, is a deep pass into systems composition, with various patterns overlaid and interlocking, before a wordless vocal rises from the depths, a gorgeous counterpoint to the swarming textures that gather across the track. On the other hand, tracks like “Burning” and “Subterranean Life” nudge toward Fourth World territory, painting deluxe dreamscapes of uncertain provenance; the title cut is an abstract drift-world, Igarashi painting an alien tableau dotted by shape-shifting creatures.

Agartha’s conceptual framework means that everything on the album sits perfectly together; listening to it in one sitting is a dizzying, lush experience. Its imaginings of inner landscapes recall, in some respects, the nautical, aqueous mythologies of the Drexciyan universe, though from different perspectives. But the result is Igarashi’s own creation, a deluxe, enchanting trip through the visionary Agartha of this unique producer’s cinematic mind’s-eye.

Agartha

Wata Igarashi - Eternally

Wata Igarashi - Searching

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/drink_in_paris_feat_lhana_marlet

Brazil’s finest is back with a bang! “Drink In Paris” bears all the hallmarks of a Gui Boratto classic in the tradition of “Beautiful Life”, “Like You” or “No Turning Back”. Something’s different though… This time the vocals don’t come from Gui’s wife Luciana Villanova but from Amsterdam-based fashion designer extraordinaire LHANA MARLET. And there’s another sweet surprise: The pop-heavy original gets expertly carved into a moroderesque club banger by none other than Deep Dish legend DUBFIRE. Santé, les amis!

Drink In Paris feat. Lhana Marlet

Gui Boratto - Drink In Paris feat. Lhana Marlet (Dubfire Remix)

Gui Boratto - Drink In Paris feat. Lhana Marlet

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/speicher_131

We’re kicking off the new year in style with a fantastic new double header by RAXON. This Egypt-born, barcelonese powerhouse has left his scent marks all over the place in recent years. He has developed an instantly recognizable sound and that’s no small feat in these times shaped by so much formulaic dullness. “Your Fault” sees our Catalan hot shot in an exuberant disco mood. Mind bending chord progressions foiled with Raxon’s trademark vocal stutters guarantee for wonderfully twisted hands in the air moments. With “Beskar” we’re entering Star Wars nerd territory. Jedipedia says, Beskar is a uniquely resistant iron that develops a wide range of properties - and colors - in the hands of skilled metalsmiths. Alright. Musically speaking, we’re dealing with a stealthy, funky as hell trance-not-trance juggernaut. 2024 is off to a good start!

Speicher 131

Your Fault

Raxon - Your Fault

Released on: Off The Grid EP (Something Happening Somewhere SoHaSo 001)


Buy on Bandcamp

Groundswell

Droneghost - Dream Logic 
Steam Ritual [Affin Serial 07 / Affin Serial]

Produced by Droneghost
Mastered by Artefacts Mastering
Design by Markus Guentner
Released by Affin Serial from Germany
Release Date: September 05th, 2025

The seventh Affin Serial EP comes from Spanish artist Droneghost, who recently appeared in our context for the first time. Steam Ritual digs deep and delivers three driving tracks that are detailed yet emphatic.

Droneghost (Barcelona, Spain)
https://soundcloud.com/droneghost
https://www.facebook.com/droneghost
https://www.instagram.com/_nigul_

Affin Serial
https://affinmusic.de
https://linktr.ee/AffinLTD
https://soundcloud.com/affin-serial-100031844

Oslated.
http://www.oslated.com

Steam Ritual

Dream Logic

Support & Buy

Droneghost - Dream Logic [Affin Serial]

Karry G - Day Dream (Extended Mix)

Contento de presentarles "Yourself EP", mi nuevo trabajo y mi segundo album en Droid9 South America.

Este lanzamiento es una exploración de mi sonido más deep y minimalista, con la prioridad puesta en la textura y la introspección.

Incluye 3 originales: "Analog Feeling", un track enfocado en la calidez del sonido analógico; "Fire Away", una pieza liberadora sobre soltar los disparadores; y "Yourself", un recordatorio para conectar con uno mismo.

El viaje se expande con 3 remixes de lujo a cargo de mis amigos MATEZYS, SERVANDO y TEIAO, cada uno aportando su visión única.

Gracias a Droid9 South America por el apoyo.
Espero que les guste.

BUY FULL ALBUM

Fire Away (Matezys Remix)

C.P.I. - Proceso (Barnt Remix)

Paerels

Gegenzauber

Bandcamp

B2| Arif - Gegenzauber

@essaiepas
@anthony-rother

"New Path" (Anthony Rother Remix) is taken from Essaie pas' forthcoming EP, New Path (The Remixes), releasing on digital and streaming June 8, 2018.

Preorder here: smarturl.it/NewPathRemixes

Essaie pas - New Path (Anthony Rother Remix)

Nyra - Both Of Us Knowing

See You

Label, booking agency & online record shop

Demo submission: 
We receive a lot of demos every day. Please understand that we are unable to listen to everything. Send your private soundcloud link to: label@kompakt.fm.

Barnt / Michael Mayer - Duration

Kompakt

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