"L is for lover,
O is for an offer,
V you got to venture,
E maybe forever."
(Al Jarreau, 1986)
OK, we don't know whether Grammy-award-winning Jazz icon Al Jarreau has actually already thought of the twelfth Cocoon Compilation when he wrote his 86' hit. But that the Cocoon Compilation L is all about love, is beyond debate: the love for electronic dance music, for its complexity and its diversity, the love for this global musical language and last not least the enthusiasm for the well-known and the still non-famous protagonists of this tonal romance that faithfully accompanies us through night and day for more than 30 years now. And that's why L begins with a proper love song: for "Equilibrio", the Berlin residents Tale Of Us have teamed up in the studio with their - currently extremely hip - boosters Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtiss aka Visionquest. The result is a romantic sonnet for the 21st century, and its dreamlike dabbed piano will be carrying us into some sunrise still - a perfect start for this compilation. On with the Tiefschwarz proteges Rampa & Re.You, whose club hit "Ghost" was essential in last year's Ibiza season. Also "Yeah Yeah Yeah feat. Meggy" bewitches with a unique sense for soulful vocals without baroque-like embellishment, and with its deep organ riff the dry and bass-heavy Trax House gains unimagined emotional intensity. DJ Tim Green from London, well-known for his releases on Four Twenty, Trapez and last not least for his "Lemon"-EP on Cocoon Recordings in 2011, generates in "Curious Smile" club-related but still shy Pop House from playful keyboard improvisations. This is what you - in a better world - would hear on standard-format radio. And also in the further course of the compilation the cornucopia is lavishly emptied: the Italian duo Doomwork, well-known for tracks for 100%%Pure and Tronic, is lustfully petering out in the summery space-time continuum with percussive Dub, gorgeous sound layers and slow-motion vocals; Graham Goodwin aka Sian is pumping out his subsonic rave signal "East Of Eden" to the front and will thus presents true challenges to some club PAs. Keinemusik act Adam Port, who seems not to have any stylistic anxieties, does his gusto for Boogie bass credit also with "Black Noise", while DJ globetrotter and Tronic label boss Christian Smith (currently on everyone's lips with his remixes for Carl Craig and Underworld) will make even bigger floors shake with his tropical, powerful energy. Two extraordinary percussion-driven energy infusions are then celebrated by Mark Reeve ("Planet Green") and DJ Paul Ritch from Paris, whose core statement "music never separated people" can't be emphasized enough, while the Dutch dream team Secret Cinema and Peter Horrevorts serve a surprisingly industrially-characterized Techno. The finale is initiated by the best known Israeli producer besides Guy Gerber, Guy J, whose "Genesis" finds a perfect balance between hypnotic melodies and demanding rhythms, totally in the manner of his works for John Digweed's Bedrock label. The last chord is set by Daniel Stefanik from Leipzig: his more than ten minutes long "Everything Goes Green" elevates the process of waiting for the right moment to an art form and is, with fragmented rhythms, patient enough to intonate grated chocolate instead of exuberant sweetness. There's no better way to capture the magic intensity of a terrific after hour party for ever and ever. An album to fall in love with!
