Between them, both label founder Michael Mayer and Superpitcher have emerged as perhaps the best known and most immediately recognisable names amongst the impressive Kompakt label roster, meaning that there’ bound to be considerable anticipation and expectation surrounding this collaborative union. From the very outset, their Supermayer project positively screams “ambition’, with this debut album Save The World arriving complete with comic book storyline and an apparently spectacular live show featuring visuals by renowned illustrator Kat Menschik (also responsible for the DC Comics Golden Era homage sleeve art). What’s significantly more unexpected however, is the almost complete departure from the predominantly electronic sounds the duo have both built their reputations upon. Save The World shows Mayer and Superpitcher expanding their palettes well past the meticulously-sculpted techno landscapes established by both parties, taking in a wide range of instrumental performances including trumpets, saxophone, acoustic guitar, flutes and even a gong at several points. As the above impressive armoury of live instrumentation suggests, it’s certainly resulted in this album being an extremely eclectic collection of 13 tracks, as well as perhaps Kompakt’s most atypical sounding release to date.
If brief opening intro segue “Key!’ suggests a dreamlike descent into a Disney storytime hour tale amidst twinkling xylophone tones, the track that follows, “The Art Of Letting Go’, represents one of the biggest departures from the duo’ established individual signatures yet. Fusing looped downbeat live drums to bright handclaps, deep funk basslines and a louche-sounding treated vocal, it comes across as a lot closer to the kind of downbeat disco-funk you’d expect to come from the Gomma label, or perhaps even Snax / Captain Comatose. While the preceding track is certainly guaranteed to catch more than a few Kompakt heads off guard upon first listening, “Saturndays’ sees the label’ more familiar signature techno elements coming to the fore, with a seven minute long glide through streamlined 4/4 beats, deep, Detroit-tinged bass arpeggios and sweeping atmospheric pads that leans far closer to Superpitcher’ often-mentioned “heroin house’ template whilst simultaneously combining the best strengths of both parties involved.
By comparison, “Us And Them’ starts life as a jerky piece of twinkling electro-ska that proves slightly unwieldy and irritating in practice, though it thankfully soon resolves itself into far more palatable smooth downbeat disco-funk that resembles nothing less than the mutant offspring of Daft Punk and Whomadewho’ twisted union, in the way it combines vocoders with curiously country-tinged twanging guitars. “The Lonesome King’ easily represents one of the most ambitious instrumental arrangements the duo have undertaken yet, the opening chords suggesting the intro to a medieval re-enactment, complete with sad flutes, before Mayer and Superpitcher’ twinned vocals take things out on a trajectory that resembles the end theme from a Sergio Leone western – except this time, the lone cowboy’ making his way across a lunar landscape as the rich trumpets rise into the distance. Those afraid at this point that the duo may have completely forsaken their techno heritage will be more than satiated by the ventures back into 4/4 club rhythms that feature more distinctly towards the end of the tracklisting here, with both “Planet Of The Sick’ and stellar album highlight “Two Of Us’ bringing more than their fair share of indoor fireworks. While Save The World seems almost calculated to initially confuse Kompakt heads who’ve been frantically buying the label’ Total compilation series, it more than backs up its flamboyant ambitions with the arrangements, songwriting and production to carry it all off. That said, there’ the slight sense that some of the obtrusive and directionless “segue’ tracks could have been left off the final version.
Chris Downton
