Michael Mayer, co-owner of the Cologne-based Kompakt and prolific provider of danceable electronic tunes in his own right, could theoretically be combating nonexistent notions of his own persistent solitude. Nobody necessarily thinks that Mayer prefers entire cars to himself whenever he rides the local Stadtbahn from spot to spot, but nonetheless, here he is presenting a momentous third full-length album that’s literally filled with people other than himself contributing musically and correspondingly appearing in the credits as one-half of a series of Mayer-led duos. Don’t feel the need to draw parallels between the production of this album and that of so many rap-centric ones, because unlike the latter, Mayer has made sure to separate his musical family in order to avoid overcrowding. Personal space is important.
& is appropriately the official name of Mayer’s new release, out October 28 on the Berlin-based !K7 Records, and as you can tell by the tracklist below, nary a track goes by in which Mayer isn’t joined by another well-established musical figure. As far as how Mayer went about selecting these collaborations, he says “all of those involved are good friends of mine and not random choices selected from some Top 100 list. These people mean a lot to me - and by that the music we produced together is heart driven and emotionally powered.”
Some of these collaborations harken back to earlier ones or earlier remixes. I’m personally looking forward to the melodic fruits of the Mayer/Hauschka relationship. Pre-order the album here.
Here’s a track:
& tracklisting:
01. Michael Mayer & Roman Flügel - We Like To Party
02. Michael Mayer & Burger / Voigt & Voigt - Disco Dancers
03. Michael Mayer & Gui Boratto - State Of The Nation
04. Michael Mayer & Ed Macfarlane - Mind Games
05. Michael Mayer & Kölsch - Germination
06. Michael Mayer & Miss Kittin - Voyage Interieur
07. Michael Mayer & Joe Goddard - For You
08. Michael Mayer & Agoria - Blackbird Has Spoken
09. Michael Mayer & Hauschka - La Compostela
10. Michael Mayer & Prins Thomas / Irene Kalisvaart - Comfort Me
11. Michael Mayer & Barnt - Und Da Stehen Fremde Menschen
12. Michael Mayer & Andrew Thomas - Cicadelia
More about: Agoria, Andrew Thomas, Barnt, Ed Macfarlane, Gui Boratto, Hauschka, Joe Goddard, Kölsch, Michael Mayer, Miss Kittin, Prins Thomas, Roman Flügel, Voigt & Voigt
