Germany’s Freude Am Tanzen imprint celebrates its 50th release with a label compilation featuring some of FAT’s biggest talents…
Mathias Kaden’s Freude Am Tanzen label has grown out to become a household name in minimal house and techno due to its consistent quality control, which explains why it took almost twelve years to get to 50 releases. But instead of looking back to its past successes, this new label compilation presents nothing but all new material from some of the label’s most acclaimed artists in the form of a very diverse dish in which minimalism is the key element.
The (unmixed) compilation opens with the subtle and very mellow Mother Cries by Kadebostan, but soon enough pursues a clubbier direction with tunes from Money Maffia (Cruciante Ligament Dub), and the heavy drum-riddled Noo Sun from Taron-Trekka. The compilation offers enough diversity to keep us hooked to the speakers throughout its entire playtime, as each track shines a different light on house and techno. One of the highlights comes in the form of the soulful Pictures (feat. Fabian Reichelt) by Marek Hemmann’s, while the second half’s biggest track is undoubtedly the devastating Mon Petit Soleil D’Algerie by Kadebostan.
Our verdict: 5Zig has become a very decent overview of the label’s current sound and vision. The compilation elegantly switches from full frontal house to subtle minimal and even a few downtempo tracks, but manages to sound balanced at all times. Not all tracks are of equal quality, but overall speaking this is a very enjoyable collection of FAT tunes.
Stand out tracks: Taron-Trekka – Noo Sun, Marek Hemmann – Pictures, Kadebostan – Mon Petit Soleil D’Algerie. Weak moments: Krause Duo – Drunken Skunkie
Rating: 7.0/10 Label: Freude Am Tanzen Release date: April 15th, 2011
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