DJ Koze: Artist You Should Know

By all accounts German DJ/Producer Stefan Kozalla is on the edge…

Of dance music’s more adventurous avant garde? Of breaking through and finding a wider audience? Of redefining consciousness? Of losing his mind?

All of it.

With the exception of his Reincarnations remix compilation on Get Physical a few years back, the talented producer has been remarkably silent for quite some time, but like a madman whose sedative has worn off Koze is back.

On his stunningly brilliant new album (Amygdala,) his first new work in 8 years, DJ Koze is putting it all on the table and features collaborations with a handful of other equally visionary producers *and personal favorites (Caribou, Apparat, and Matthew Dear to name a few.)

The album is richly textured and trippy as all get out, but is nonetheless one of the most exquisitely melodic and harmonious albums I’ve heard all year. All infused with a lightness and humor that helps keep it from ever getting too heady or self-serious…

Beginning with an audio collage composed of a drug-induced guided meditation, bells and a woman’s voice emphatically claiming “we need to eat, we need to sleep, and we need- music”…the album launches into it’s first audio salvo, “Track ID Anyone?”

A collaboration with Caribou, the track is one of the best things I’ve put in my ears all year. On a bed of reverb-ed and reversed Sgt. Pepper-y guitar sounds and warbled throbbing bass, a steady Tech thump chugs along and toy birds chirp and squeak…until halfway into the track Dan Snaith arrives with a lovely vocal that recalls Erlend Oye at his most tender.

DJ Koze feat. Caribou – Track ID Anyone? by Pampa Records

It is an absolutely perfect start to the rest of Amygdala, which unfolds like the strangest dream. Like the logic of a dream, if you were to isolate the tracks on any given song, you’d probably think it was a psychotic mess, however altogether it gels into an exquistitely unique trip.

We’re all lucky to that Koze has invited us to his pink Elysium…just pick a reindeer and ride.