COCOON – THE SOUND OF THE 13TH SEASON

Cocoon head honcho Sven Väth offers up his latest ‘Sound of the Season’ compilation with a reflection on the musical moments that made up this auspicious thirteenth year on the White Isle.

On the world’s dancefloors there will always be a bass drum making people dance, but it will rarely sound the same. Techno and House are in continuous flux. There will always be people celebrating. And each year new kids join the scene, hungry for pleasure, for beauty, for ecstasy – for life. Over the last few years, Ibiza has re-established itself as one of the centres of advanced electronic music. A key figure in Ibiza’s electronic awakening is Sven Väth. He and the Mediterranean island have come a long way. As a youth, he experienced the flamboyant nightlife on the island, having been introduced to dimensions of pleasure that were not imaginable in his hometown of Frankfurt. In 1999, Väth decided to return some of the energy and inspiration he had received from this rocky island with the unique atmosphere. Focusing on quality music, Väth established a new type of party experience by summoning a tribe of passionate musicians and activists, and now, in 2012, Cocoon’s Ibiza adventure was created for the 13th time. Being the master of ceremony, Väth conjures up a unique mix featuring long-time companions and upcoming talent.

The 13th Season compilation opens with Thomas Hoffding’s ethereal voice, subtly arranged by Terranova and reworked by Adam Port. Young producer wAFF’s grooves are solid and intense, the erotic female vocal luring us even deeper into the Cocoon, evoking the emotional density of classic New York House. Nobody manages to unleash the forces of the bass so wholeheartedly like Berlin’s WK7, pushing the set into a more technoid direction. The turmoil that will take place on the dancefloor is anticipated by Margot’s meandering acid track. The Tuff City Kids push things even further with striking, demanding chords. Octave One’s unique, soulful grooves highlight the unrestrained force of the synthesizers. Ben Sims’ slick groove takes things deeper, with enigmatic bleeps hovering over the dancefloor like an acoustic sculpture. Sam Paganini moves even further in this direction, startling the dancefloor with sounds from another galaxy. The obvious thing to do is now to push the crowd over the edge with a huge breakdown. But this is not what Väth does. By merging tracks from Sawlin, P.A.S. and Exercise One, he composes a powerful sequence: highly climactic and absolutely collected at the same time, it reaches beyond the vocabulary of peak time Techno. Dissolving into a tribal groove by Silent Servant and poetic sounds of Ray Kajioka, the first set comes to its end.

The second CD starts off at an entirely different note. A sweet House sound is established by Makam. It’s innocent, yet full of suggestion. The crowd is captured by the allure and grace of Dixon’s edit of Romanthony’s classical anthem, “The Wanderer”, and with &ME’s vexing alien sounds, the ideal counterpoint is created. Julien Bracht challengers the floor with broken beats and seduces the listener with a longing vocal at the same time. The simplicity of Alejandro Mosso’s mesmerizing melody finally disarms the crowd. Lawrence’s intangible electronic sounds pour down on the dancers like rain in the midst of summer. Romanian Cocoon Hero Rhadoo applies the brakes, bringing a atmospheric and emotional segment to the mix. Unlike very few artists, Frankfurt’s Roman Flügel manages to challenge the language of dance music. He merges the history and the future of House music in the most startling way possible. Moving away from that playful sound, British electronic music maverick Four Tet strikes an intense note. The heavy, bassy chords of Four Tet turn into Uner’s multi-layered diaphanous House sound, bursting with sun and light. Gathaspar unifies the diverging energies with a pervasive soundscape. And Soy Mustafa and John Tejada have the final word: the dancefloor is taken away by their otherworldly serenity. In the end, the music is only a part of the adventure. Sven Väth creates a unique relationship with his crowd, leading us through the experience like no one else.