Cocoon Germany Vinilo y CD

Review: It's hard to refer to Cocoon without calling it 'mighty' because the now 20+ year old label run by Sven Vath is one of European techno's most prominent. It is synonymous with colourful parties all over the world but still does a great job of serving up fresh sounds too. Two mainstays combine for this one with Defekt and Extrawelt cooking up 'Cell Sync' which is dark and menacing, with rigid drum loops and menacing synths. 'In The Space Of' has more molten synth modulations layered up to a ghoulish effect over slamming drums. It's peak time stuff, for sure.

Review: You can always rely on the Cocoon compilations to bring you a high level of quality control and an authoritative overview of the state of techno around the time of release. This mammoth six-LP set will give you a lot of music to work with, and it's featuring a dizzying cast of high-end operators starting with the mighty Stephen Brown. Each track gets a side of vinyl to itself, serving as a kind of statement for how much faith the label put in each of these 12 tracks. Amongst the best on this top-drawer comp are Daniel Avery's metallic, spellbinding 'Your Future Looks Different In The Light' and Carl Finlow's lithe electro workout 'Surface Control', but as you might well expect each track is one you'll turn to again and again to give your mix some spice.

Review: Midway through 2021, Sven Vath delivered his first single in well over five years, the squelchy, warming and melodious goodness of 'Feiern'. Here he begins 2022 in style via a two-track missive that's every bit as rushing whilst opting for a more abrasive, angular and foreboding sound. 'Mystic Voices' is particularly potent, with its combination of panicked TB-303 acid motifs, throbbing electronics and emotive chords recalling the majesty of Orbital circa the Brown Album. Flipside 'Butoh', meanwhile, is a much more hushed affair, with long, atmospheric ambient build ups dropping into dark techno grooves, pots and pans percussions and more high-register, Orbital style electronic flourishes.

Review: It has been 20 years since Sven Vath last released an album. He was already a well-established techno mainstay by then but has gone stratospheric in the years since. While best known for his epic Cocoon label parties in Ibiza, with their colourful techno sounds, he is about so much more as a producer and proves that here. There is silky electro, rugged new beat, some dream and insular ambient and even a bit of expansive and melodic progressive house. It's a widescreen work from a legend of the scene that reminds us he is more than just a party-starting DJ.