Cocoon 100 - Cocoon Recordings

COLL: Cocoon 100 - Part 1 Label: Cocoon

The folks at Cocoon actually passed over 100 releases a while ago, but this double-album seals the deal. There's 18 fantastic cuts on this release, and all are representative of the kinds of stuff they'd play at their legendary parties. Moreover, the producers on this compilation are all top artists - Ricardo Villalobos, Loco Dice, Timo Maas, Pig & Dan, Petar Dundov. As expected, every track has great synths & huge beats, but I was especially surprised by the depth and complexity of the productions. It's pretty clear that Cocoon has cemented itself at the forefront of great music coming from Europe for true connoisseurs of electronic music.

All tracks are great, but my special selections would be:

CD 1:
#2 (Ricardo Villalobos: "Arild")
#3 (Andre Galluzzi & Dana Ruh: "Beetle")
#4 (Pig & Dan's banger: "Blossoms to Ashes")
#7 (Legowelt: "In the Dawn of Light")
#9 (Minilogue: "Kana")

CD 2:
#2 (Santé & Frank Lorber: "No More feat. Alland Byallo")
#3 (Timo Maas: "Pop A Bubble")
#5 (Loco Dice: "Slow Moves")
#7 (Secret Cinema: "Supertek")
#8 (Nick Curly: "When The Wild Horse")

CD 1:
1. "100 Times" (7:10) - Moody tech-house with crackly textures, fluttering synth melody
2. "Arild" (10:09) - Bassy and sparse beats, watery effects, simple loops, a wobbly vocal. Techy but very organic a tthe same time.
3. "Beetle" (8:02) - Techy goodness! Ping-ponging effects that crescendo nicely. Awesome.
4. "Blossoms to Ashes" (7:35) - HUGE club banger that just keeps things pumping. Synths are so well-timed to the big breaks & buildups.
5. "Das Ibizenkische Wohlfühlaroma" (8:53) - Nervous, twitchy electro, w/ big synth swirls.
6. "Hangover" (5:35) - Grinding bass, dark tech-house vibe w/ sinister vox samples
7. "In the Dawn of Light" (6:52) - Epic sound with big analog-acid loops and lush synths - dramatic and punchy at the same time
8. "Invisibles Activists" (5:41) - Big electro stabs and punchy broken-beats. Epic party vibe.
9. "Kana" (13:55) - In true Minilogue fashion, an epic track with shimmering synths & pounding beats. Wonderful & organic techno that's blissful and thumping.

CD 2
1. "Lonely Symphony" (7:53) - Hands-in-the-air epic tech-house/progressive. Big room, big beats, synth shots.
2. "No More" (6:27) - Huge thumpin' beats, kooky percussive effects. Funky tribal.
3. "Pop A Bubble" (9:49) - Deep rolling bassline, a crazy Casio-tone effect warbling. Twisted.
4. "Serpentine" (7:23) - Trippy bubbly synth tones, thumpy beats & crisp hi-hats
5. "Slow Moves" (9:27) - Crazy & all-over-the-place. Vocals, odd melodies, a lot of weird effects, and ultimately very cool. Vintage Loco.
6. "Superconductor" (9:25) - Dark progressive techno. The moody melodies give it a goth-y feel.
7. "Supertek" (8:08) - Pumping club banger. Slammin' tech-house beats, big buildups. Eye-opening jolt for a 2AM set.
8. "When the Wild Horse" (7:25) - Analog bassline straight from the early 90s. Twisted, nervy, and raw edge to this acid-house banger.
9. "Windschatten" (8:49) - Cut-up goofy electro weirdness over a dubby tech-house beat.