Germany’s DJ Koze makes the type of sweeping, kaleidoscopic electronic that sheds easy genre definitions or quick reference points. When he released his 2013 masterpiece Amyglda, some positioned it next to Daft Punk’s album from that year, Random Access Memories, as the go-to electronic release of that year. Coming from a hip-hop background, I detected the influence of Madlib in Koze’s whimsical, slightly stoned collages, and that sense of playfulness and culture spelunking extends to the artists on Koze’s Pampa label. Philip has captured the “pleasure of small surprises” that is essential to label’s charm. It’s an amazing, frequently silly and always surprising collection.
