V/A – 5 Years of OFF Recordings

Score: 8/10Label: OFF

5 Years is a long time, especially in electronic music, where every passing day seems to stir up new sounds and trends. One label that continues to tailor its sound to the contemporary market place is Andre Crom’s OFF, and to give the prolific label their dues, they’re not half bad at doing so either.

On 5 Years of OFF, the German labels serves up 4 new slamming tracks, with each one as effective and delectable as the next. The trio of Andre Crom, Chi Thanh and Kevin Knapp team up for the first such offering, with the wonderful ”While You Stand” indicative of the sort of track that OFF has relied on to make the floors move over the years. Again, hip-hop plays its role, and it results in a majestic track that gets us off to a flying start.

Leftwing & Kody and Kruse & Nuernberg is an unusual pairing on paper, but to the trained ear it’s a delicious one, with ”Turning” a really clever number that’s raise eyebrows wherever it’s unleashed. Robosonic & Mat.Joe continue the unlikely duos vibe on ”You On You”, a highly-spirited number whereby heavy bass and watertight grooves abound. Purple Disco Machine & Teenage Mutants, both of whom have played big roles in OFF’s recent success, combine for the finale, with ”Little Treehouse” a most fitting swansong. There’s not much left to say here save for the fact that this is vintage OFF. After 5 years of hits, more of the same is no bad thing.