Buy/stream: kompakt.fm/releases/the_floor_is_lava_2xlp_dl

Michael Mayer albums don’t come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. It’s been eight years since his last one, the collaborative & released on !K7; its predecessors, Mantasy (2012) and Touch (2004), took their sweet time, too. It’s no real surprise, given the many hats Mayer wears – globetrotting DJ, revered remixer, inveterate collaborator, and boss of both Kompakt and Imara – that his solo productions are relatively sparing. But this also speaks to their quality: Mayer’s name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that’s both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that’s as exploratory as it is functional.

On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There’s that iconic album title, for a start. “The album’s mindset,” he says, reflecting on those four words together. For Mayer, it’s partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing: “Being a free minded spirit that transcends genres has become an uphill battle.” A battle worth fighting, though, and with The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that’s varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable.

Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs: “It’s a DJ album by a DJ that’s easily bored.” Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. It opens with “The Problem”, which looks back to look forward, embracing the rickety way early house productions threw samples together with gleeful abandon. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout.

That’s The Floor Is Lava: then and now, brainwaves and nerve structures, problems and solutions, genres on fire; the real, the unreal, and the surreal. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album’s spirit: “Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music.”

The Floor Is Lava

The Problem

Michael Mayer - The Problem

dj, producer , vinyl collector , since the earlys 2000, it started withe the first vinyl records from my parents

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.

Part of Ketoga & Moyn Festival. 

Booking: dennis@abro-team.de 



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Mr. Ciao believes in energies and frequencies. He brings these to the floors of this world with a powerful sound - sometimes playful, sometimes gangster, sometimes heartfelt, sometimes psychedelic. His sets are as versatile as a prism. For Mr. Ciao music is a channel to transmit emotions and to contribute to the spiritual revolution of our world. Those who feel the music also feel the unity of all beings and our universe.

With cleverness behind the scenes and the right feeling for wild raves, he has also been actively discovering the dance floors of this world as a DJ since 2019 - always with the aim of leaving a fat smile on people's faces... "Ciao" often comes across his lips and those of his listeners as an expression of ecstatic emotion. Fasten your seatbelts, raise the frequency and Ciao!

In March 2025 Mr. Ciao released his first EP “Shadow Work” on the legendary “ALULA TUNES” Label. The EP made it straight in the Top 10 of “Peak Time Techno Releases” and Beatport Top 100 (Peak Time Techno).

In addition to his DJ & Producer career, Mr. Ciao is one of the main organizers of the wellknown "MOYN Festival" in Germany. The festival is famous for its wide range of art, culture and an unique line-up.

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Some past Raves: 

Fusion Festival / Lärz
Moyn Festival / Oyten
Sisyphos / Berlin
Wilde Möhre Festival / Drebkau
Waldfrieden Wonderland / Stemwede 
Hai in den Mai / Stemwede
Kamiwaza Festival / France
Cosy Festival / Magdeburg
Lichtalben Festival / Boffzen
Odonien / Cologne 
TBA Brooklyn / New York City, USA
Anti Social / Mumbai, India
Anti Social / Goa India
Xora / Hyderabad, India
Renate / Berlin
Menschen Meier / Berlin
Greife / Berlin 
Waagenbau / Hamburg
Indiego Glocksee / Hannover
Schrotty / Cologne
Koh Rong / Cambodia
Kampot / Cambodia
... and many more <3