- How do you celebrate the fifth birthday of the most-talked about club-affiliated labels in the world of electronic music? You let everyone in on the fun. Seemingly every resident DJ and producer with a connection to Ostgut Ton makes an appearance on Fünf. And seemingly every thing in Berghain makes an appearance as well: Emika did field recordings of "the cooling rooms, storage rooms, PA rooms....lighting rigs, strobelight[s], fridges....cloakroom, toilets, water, glasses, swings" and more, as Nick Höppner related to RA earlier this year, and each track on the two-disc compilation borrows in some way from the source material.
Which would be interesting if you could hear it. There is plenty on Fünf, though, that sounds like just another track from X. That's no bad thing, of course. (And there's an argument to be made that every track was, at the very least, made with the club in mind anyway—whether it be in form or function.) But it underscores the point that this is, to the casual listener, exactly the type of thing that Höppner said in that same interview that he didn't want: A compilation with a bunch of exclusive tracks.
Let me be the first to say, "Whatever." You won't hear many complaining about how Shed's "Boom Room" sounds like a lost track from his EQD moniker or that Cassy's repeating vocal trick works yet again on "Never Give Up on a Moodswing." New tracks from Barker & Baumecker, Substance, Marcel Fengler and Luke Slater won't hurt those that love their techno dark and raw. Höppner, Ben Klock and new resident Ryan Elliott present moody pieces of techno and house that allude sound-wise to the concept but never let it overpower their distinct vision. Only a few tracks sound strange: Dinky's choice to sample someone saying "he danced his pants right off" is hilarious in context but less so without it, Norman Nodge's 115 BPM orchestral-laced wander "Start Up" sounds like nothing he'd ever put his name to otherwise.
For the most part, though, it's business as usual. You understand perhaps why Boris has never released a track before. His strait-laced techno take is competent, but hardly inspiring. Margaret Dygas' "Quintet" would sound wildly experimental if she hadn't already showcased an album's worth of similarly pitched material on How Do You Do? Len Faki can't help but get ridiculously epic in the same way that his Berghain mix did last year. Indeed, it's like any compilation that features 24 tracks from 23 different producers: A mixed bag with a little something for everyone. Some excellent, some good, some average, never uninteresting. Just like a night at the club itself.
Lista de sequência de músicasCD1
01. Emika - Cooling Room
02. Marcel Fengler - Shiraz
03. Prosumer - Daybreak
04. Substance - Gestalts
05. Ryan Elliott - Abatis
06. Nick Hoppner - ISP
07. Marcel Dettmann - Shelter
08. Fiedel - Doors To Manual
09. Shed - Boom Room
10. Steffi - My Room
11. Dinky - Twelve To Four
12. Len Faki - Kraft Und Licht
CD2
01. Barker & Baumecker - Drin
02. Marcel Dettmann - Scourer
03. SCB - Down Moment
04. Tama Sumo - Iron Glance
05. Murat Tepeli feat. Elif Bicer - Hold On
06. Soundstream - Wenn Meine Mutti Wusste
07. Cassy - Never Give Up On A Mood Swing
08. Ben Klock - Bear
09. Norman Nodge - Start Up
10. Luke Slater - Boom Tang Shwuck
11. Boris - Rem
12. Margaret Dygas - Quintet