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Various Artists Ostgut Ton / Zehn Ostgut Ton

19.10.15

There is a loyalty attached to the Ostgut Ton label that stretches far beyond Berghain’s numerous walls and the artists that form the musical structure of the club.

While many of the artists that appear on this 10th anniversary 10 x 12” vinyl release compilation have their own outlets for releasing music, Ostgut Ton feels like the inexorable glue that stitches them all together. In ten years it has arguably helped position some of its foremost artists as international leaders in their field, and helped foster a reinvigoration and love for the tougher end of techno and house. 30 different artists and 30 original productions make up nearly three and a half hours of music in what is likely to be the label’s most coveted release to date.

Musically, the gems come in rich variation that eschew any preconceptions as to what a Ostgut Ton track might entail. This is not 30 tracks of pounding techno, though the first killer track on the compilation does come in the form of Ryan Elliott’s bpm raising Smith Lake, where relentless propulsion is tethered by a killer bass hook. Other notable creations include Steffi’s retro-electro slice of futurism on löweborschtel. The efforts from Substance and Luke Slater’s LB Dub Corp sound like they were created with Berghain’s main chamber in mind, all echo and drive. Possibly the most majestic piece comes in the form of the production duo Barker and Baumecker, whose 10-minute epic Love Is A Battlefield draws on broken beat influences, euphoria and an open-minded structure reminiscent of more linear Aphex Twin productions as much as anything else. Other highlights come in the form of AtomTM & Tobias’s paranoid and sinister Physik E7532, the frantic minimalism of Efdemin’s unten links and the softer melancholy of Virginia’s Never Underestimate.

It’s the musical scope of the compilation which makes Ostgut Zehn an essential acquisition for anyone with an affinity to the sound of the Berghain, but also for anyone with an admiration of Ostgut’s continued collectivism.