- “I need happiness”
Every so often Japan’s Mule Musiq label organizes a Kompakt night and brings out an artist from the Cologne-based label famous for infusing minimal techno with melody. In the past twelve months or so Tobias Thomas, elder statesman Thomas Fehlmann, DJ Koze, and wunderkind Superpitcher have all made the trip to the Far East and tonight “Kompakt Night Vol. 8” (at the excellent Club Unit) marked the third visit by DJ, producer, and co-owner of Kompakt, Michael Mayer.
I arrived, just in time to see LoSoul from Germany's Playhouse starting his live set. Beginning with the most minimal of rhythms and sounds, LoSoul ever so slowly began building them into larger and larger loops until they had transformed into melodic, minimal dancefloor stompers. Sadly, just as his set had started to become really gripping his set was over, which was a real shame. It really would have been great to see him play for another 20 minutes or so and dive into some of his really emotional tracks, such as the killer single “You Know”.
Emotions and feelings, however, were the name of the game for headliner Michael Mayer. Starting sometime around 2am with some sweeping melancholic orchestral sounds, Mayer took the partygoers at Unit on a six-hour journey that was by turns melodic, dramatic, anthemic, emotional, and highly danceable.
Throughout the set Mayer defied genre and defied being pigeon-holed as a “minimal DJ” moving through styles that were united only in their capacity to provoke emotions and feelings.
"...edgy New Wave basslines gave way to swaggering, soaring guitar rock which in turn folded into soaring minimal techno anthems and out and out feel-good tunes."
Kompakt is admittedly famous as a minimal label, but Mayer’s set was a far cry from the academic exercises of, say, Thomas Brinkmann. Edgy, New Wave basslines (Super Discount’s “Fast Track”) gave way to swaggering, soaring guitar rock (Superpitcher’s remix of M83’s “Don’t Save Us From The Flames”) which in turn folded into soaring minimal techno anthems (Mayer’s remix of Superpitcher’s “Happiness”) and out and out feel-good tunes (Justus Koehncke’s “Elan”).
There were moments that would have no doubt made a minimalist purist cringe (“Good Life” by Inner City or Pete Heller's "Stylus Trouble", for example), but Mayer made it all work because he loves music... all music. For Michael Mayer, it's all good, it's all valid, and when he plays a track it's because he loves it, because there’s an emotion to be felt there.
As the sun rose outside and 8am finally rolled around, Mayer let the crowd down gently; his last two hours filled with sweeping ambient textures, letting the journey that had started so dramatically end equally as blissfully.
Earlier in the evening Superpitcher had been crooning “I need happiness.” I think it’s fair to say that tonight, Michael Mayer delivered happiness in spades.
Special thanks to Toshiya Kawasaki, Mule Musiq and the staff at Unit.