Records II

With the change of name to KOMPAKT in 1998 and the associated conceptual consolidation of the various artistic and commercial activities within a single brand, the image of Kompakt as a company, as projected to the outside world, entered a new era. This was certainly evident in their product design, and the records in particular. 

The corporate identity, as devised by Wolfgang Voigt and developed by graphic designer Bianca Strauch, comprised the new and striking logo with its characteristic dot and the design of representative albums and compilations (see also Record I). But there were also, in particular, the inside labels of classic vinyl issues in 12" format, which were flying off the presses and off record shops’ shelves at the end of the ‘90s. The look of the classic Kompakt maxi single was both simple and ingenious. With variations restricted to the title and color scheme, the brightly colourful records became a kind of worldwide trademark in the finest tradition of pop art. 

In January 1998, the first CD called Köln Kompakt 1, appeared and, along with Jürgen Paape's Triumph, became the first maxi release under the new Kompakt banner. Both were also distributed by the firm’s own new distribution department, which was founded around the same time.

The early days of the KOMPAKT label were also defined by a sense of both stringency and diversity. While the outside world’s perception was of a kind of inner circle and an apparently homogeneous sound was starting to emerge, with a certain formal rigour and little variation, new and as yet unknown artists from all over the world were streaming in to make their contribution to the Kompakt sound, based on their own interpretation.

The first Speicher maxi was released in January 2001 with the title Speicher 1 and marked the 30th release of the mothership label. With the release of Speicher 2, the legendary split 12" from M. Mayer and Reinhard Voigt titled Pride Is Weaker Than Love/Supertiel, the new sublabel Kompakt Extra was formed and proved to be a lively playground for all kinds of techno and club bangers.
The serial artwork provided for the Kompakt Extra series, featuring Cologne’s old coat of arms and the loudest colours, became another timeless trademark for Kompakt.

Michael Mayer’s second solo release on Kompakt, with the title Pensum, was the first 12" on the label with a color photographic cover, designed by Bianca Strauch.

Superpitcher's first musical signs of life on KOMPAKT appeared in 1999 and 2000 in the form of a Kreisel 7inch and "Shadows", a contribution to the TOTAL 2 compilation. 

However, his solo maxis attracted greater attention, above all the 3-track EP "Heroin" released in 2001, which contained the world hit "Tomorrow". Special attention was paid to the artistic collages that Aksel Schaufler displayed on the covers of his 12inches like private photo albums that were nevertheless allusive and full of references.

Two outstanding covers and 12" releases from Justus Köhncke, who had made his debut at Kompakt in 2001 with Jet/Shelter. The two maxis each contained the massive hits Timecode (see video) and 2 After 909, which saw Köhncke move away for a time from his musical beginnings as a member of Whirlpool Prod and from his solo album Spiralen der Erinnerung, which had broken new ground in another area, and from then on create his own technoid, post-disco world within Kompakt.

Three memorable 12" releases from Reinhard Voigt, ALL, and Markus Guentner, which were all personally illustrated by Wolfgang Voigt. Here, Voigt's »digital painting« provides variations and interpretations of the repetition/loop principle in various different ways.

Also the heavy digital noise on the cover of The Field's Cupid's Head (The Gas Remixes) is by Wolfgang Voigt.

In the often-quoted 80ies, they would call it a 'smash hit'. A term as British as the mysterious guy from London who sends out his dog to take this monster hit into all the clubs around the world. The dog's name is Rex and »Prototype« is his message ...

That's what the info sheet for »Prototype«, the debut maxi by Jake Williams aka Rex The Dog for KOMPAKT, said at the time. The beginning of a long and intimate relationship. And the start of a long series of great artwork penned by the gifted musician and illustrator Jake Williams himself.

With DJ Koze and Lawrence, two DJs and producers from Hamburg had joined the KOMPAKT circle at the beginning of the millennium. Both enriched the sound of the label with their very own interpretations of minimalism, depth and texture. 

The cover of Koze's "Late Check Out" tells of a carefree time even before the big international DJ jet set circus and the hostile takeover of techno by post-capitalism. Of a time full of innocence and transcendent excess, when the DJs themselves were often the last to leave a party, exhausted but happy. Only to be thrown out of the hotel room hours later. 

The cover of "Teaser", designed by Sandra Thomsen, congenially illustrates the blur, the fuzziness, but also the melancholy of Peter Kersten's music. Another narrative that may shine through here is the extreme perceived fleetingness and speed of the years around the turn of the millennium.

Three 12" releases designed by three special artists, whose art can also be admired on various LPs from Kompakt (see also the story Records I).

Sarah Szczesny's friendly waving and almost transparent astronaut on Closer Musik's »One, Two, Three (No Gravity)« is strongly reminiscent of Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. 

Terranova's Headache by Marc Brandenburg picks up on the kinds of role models, body images, costumes, and rituals that do not fit social norms and are often dealt with in Brandenburg's work.


The collage by Matthias Schaufler for the 12" Moon Fever Remixe by his brother Aksel aka Superpitcher uses cutouts from magazines that show fragments of naked bodies.

Reinhard Voigt's 12" releases »Kontraste« and »Rachanee« look like they have been lifted straight from a museum exhibition. Both covers were designed by Mareena Von Cube, who has come up with a total of five designs for releases by Reinhard Voigt.

In three consecutive years (2013–15), Kompakt issued three limited edition 12" releases under the title »Kompakt meets Oz.« as part of the pop-up store in Amsterdam in collaboration with the Dutch designer group KERN, whose Oz. project space hosted the temporary record shop for several days each year on the occasion of the ADE Festival. These were only available for sale in the pop-up store.
The cover of the 2014 release Kompakt meets Oz. 2, with tracks and remixes by Kölsch, Gui Boratto, GusGus, Dave DK, Patrice Bäumel, Monkey Safari, and Michael Mayer, creates a confusing visual effect with multiple copies of the two logos: the KOMPAKT dot and the Oz. egg.

Three artwork highlights from the second half of the ‘10s. The Orb's Moonbuilding 2703 AD Remixes/Sin In Space Pt.1 by The Designers Republic as well as Atlantis and the Tranquilizer tribute Lora by COMA, both designed by Edi Winarni.