Various Artists - DJ Koze Presents Pampa Vol. 1

Label: Pampa Records – Pampa LP011
Format: 3 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo
Country: Germany
Released: Apr 22, 2016
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno, Minimal, Deep House

Pampa Vol. 1 is DJ Koze’s label finally stepping back to present itself, a triple LP with one rule: every single song has to be a star. It took almost two years of chasing and squeezing the best out of friends and admired artists, and the result is what the label calls a firmament of stars. Matthew Herbert remixes Lianne La Havas, Koze reworks Roman Flügel’s 9 Years into a ten-minute club version, and Ada, Axel Boman, Lawrence, Stimming, Mount Kimbie, Isolée, Dntel, Gold Panda and Acid Pauli all contribute alongside Jamie xx, Funkstörung with Sensational of the Jungle Brothers, and Die Vögel with vocals from Sophia Kennedy.

The sleeve notes give each track its own small story. Axel Boman stretches the end of a song until it becomes the beginning, Mount Kimbie’s Bells_5 was written while sleeping in a Bermondsey studio on a foam bed heated by guitar amps, and Isolée’s piece was made for a sick cat. Jamie XX’s Come We Go is an ode to the M25, and Dntel’s Snowshoe is named after snowshoes he never wore and returned unused. It runs through techno, minimal and deep house without ever losing a sense of friendship, and works as both a portrait of the label and a very good record. Roman Flügel’s original 9 Years closes the set, a reminder of how precious friendship is.