Extra
2004
Speicher
About This Album
It took over two years for the first seven multi-artist Speicher singles -- the basis of Michael Mayer's initial mix-format summary of the releases -- to accumulate on Kompakt's Kompakt Extra sublabel. By the time Mayer had prepared this subsequent mix, released roughly 18 months after the first, Speicher 21 was in record-store bins, virtual shopping carts, and shared folders. This drastic trickle-to-downpour swing in the Kompakt Extra release schedule demonstrates how an occasional diversion has become a prime attraction. Hammering this point home: when this disc came out, a new Speicher 12" was almost as frequent an occurrence as a new single on Kompakt proper. As Mayer attests throughout these 70 minutes, the regularity with which the Speicher releases have shot forth has not erred on the side of overkill. With far more tracks to pull from, Mayer lays down a set that's more diverse and less forced than its predecessor. The Speicher releases have become a little less synonymous with tracks that bang and batter, a notion indicated by the lack of aggression in the mix's first 20 minutes. This opening portion broils (the Wighnomy Brothers' "Wurz und Blosse"), titillates (Mayer's "X"), and heightens the tension for Magnet's "Kisskisskiss," the first full-on stomper -- one of the disc's highlights, it's more a thickened update of Maurizio's dub techno than the neo-trance noir of the producer's 2003 single. From this spot, Mayer shifts through suspenseful soundtrackish fare (the stealth basslines and rattling bells of DJ Koze's "Brutalga Square"), whipcrack/Bigfoot-style stomp-tech, and relatively fleet-footed sequencer workouts. A Reinhard Voigt highlight reel is embedded in the latter half, where three productions from Kompakt Extra's championship-belt holder -- including "Vision 04," another gem co-produced with brother Wolfgang -- are stitched together. After Wolfgang's grinding "Null/Eins," plucked outside from a 2003 Auftrieb release, Naum's "Ari" is wisely tapped to finish us off. An ideal closer, you can envision heads banging to the blockheaded bassline and fists punching air to every cymbal crash. It's a victory lap for everyone involved, from the producers to the dancers to the DJ. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12 and 14)

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