Various Artists Normoton Gold

• Words: Ross Holland
• Label: Normoton
• XLR8R Rating: /10

Celebrating their 25th release, Normoton's label head Klaus Burkard pulled together a pretty solid representation of his sound, a disparate offering of house, ambient, techno, and electro. The problem here lies not necessarily in stylistic variation (plenty of great labels dabble in all of these genres), but in the varied musical success of each track. That is to say, some of this is fantastic, and some is garbage. The varied forms of techno (minimal, tech-house) work best here: Strassmann and Landesvatter each make gorgeous tracks that recall late-night train rides and smoky, underground dance hideouts. Unfortunately, the rest of this compilation is spotty at best.