dj koze's completely ridiculous remix of "minimal," matias aguayo's tongue-in-cheek indictment of minimal house has, yet again, reminded me of what makes kompakt and its roster so great:
although koze's remix is out on get physical, aguayo's original track was included on last year's total 9, kompakt's annual round up of the year's singles. pitchfork's review called the track a "sly, addictive . . . critique of contemporary european techno." to wit:
people don't dance
people don't dance
cause that music got no groove
got no balls
no me hace pumpin' pumpin' pumpin'
por que yo quiero bailar
con un ritmo mas nocturno
mas profundo
mas sensual
basta ya de minimal!
at this point (8 or 10 years on), "enough of minimal!" isn't exactly a provocative statement. but the fact that kompakt (godfathers of the genre) put aguayo's original track out is yet another example of what, to me, makes the label so great: the artists' and label's self-deprecating wit and staunch refusal to take themselves too seriously. although i don't think you can understate kompakt's importance and influence in the meteoric rise of both intellectual and listenable dance music in the first half of this decade, i'll admit that the label's ahead-of-the-curve influence has waned. nonetheless, this sarcastic, self-referential track goes to show that kompakt and its artists are still putting out provocative music.
i think it's also genius that, of all people, dj koze (kompakt's "resident malcontent" and possibly the label's least-accessible act) answers aguayo's call and takes the track to 11 on the remix. "ok, so minimal's got no groove and you need something that gets people moving? try this... this is how shallow and ridiculous it'll sound." go listen to that shit in miami. while i think both tracks are to be played with a wink and a nod, it's a pretty interesting dialogue between two [otherwise] minimal stalwarts.
i guess my ultimate point is that, although minimal may have come and gone, kompakt still has my ear.
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