You may ask: "In the day and age of streaming playlists and the omnipresence of freely available mixes, what's the use of a label compilation?" The answer is simple: labels still serve as a dearly needed filter mechanism in this tsunami of music we're facing every day. Labels strive to establish trust between artists and listeners. They're like your favorite restaurant around the corner. On the spur of the moment, you might find more excitement in that hip place that just opened somewhere else. But when the novelty fades, you'll always return to your sanctuary. The safe place where they know your name and the last drink is on the house. KOMPAKT has become such a place for generations of fans and artists alike. And the TOTAL compilation series serves as its menu: always changing but instantly recognizable. As per usual TOTAL is a collection of the past years biggest tunes, the creme de la creme of KOMPAKT's steady output of 12"s topped off with eight exclusive unreleased tracks that are also available on the 2LP vinyl edition of TOTAL 19. With JÜRGEN PAAPE, the notorious VOIGT brothers, THOMAS/MAYER and JÖRG BURGER - all founding fathers are on board. Legacy artists SASCHA FUNKE and JUSTUS KÖHNCKE make their long-awaited comebacks, the latter with a kinky Patrick Cowley homage called "Mindless Sex Track". Cologne young blood JULIAN STETTER nails the starry-eyed, romantic KOMPAKT signature sound with his remix for an up and coming local pop outfit called ALBERT LUXUS. Fellow Colonian JONATHAN KASPAR makes his label debut with his slinky track "Renard". DJ BALDUIN definitely is one to watch in 2020. His massive "E.W.B.A." transcends the friendly populism of an ancient Love Parade anthem while capturing the sincere spirit of today's electro revival. REX THE DOG's "Vortex" and TOM DEMAC's "Serenade" perfectly showcase why KOMPAKT is still one of the most played and charted labels in electronic music today. In a scene that is more fragmented than ever these two producers delivered true consensus hits that are cherished on all sizes and shapes of floors beyond genre boundaries. The second half completely belongs to a whole new breed from our beloved SPEICHER series such as ANNA, YOTAM AVNI, EXTRAWELT, RAXON, BLACKRACHAS, JOHN MONKMAN and LA FLEUR alongside our full time members PATRICE BÄUMEL, KÖLSCH and GUI BORATTO. The energy levels are way up and the mission reads clearly: We'll never stop dancing this way. - MICHAEL MAYER (Kompakt co-owner, curator of the TOTAL series)