- Stefan Kozalla made his name as Kompakt's resident huckster of pop oddities and bumpy soundscapes. He's particularly comfortable in the world of the remix—the form lends itself to the kind of tongue-in-cheek sonic kitsch that Koze thrives on, and parallels the same desire for rebirth and spiritual rejuvenation that led him to make a pilgrimage to India in 2013. With last year's Amygdala, he proved himself as a refined album artist, but 2009's Reincarnations compilation was arguably the moment that best declared Kozalla's intentions. That a wide-ranging array of remixes made over a number of years flowed so well as an album suggested that he was always carefully constructing a legacy, twiddling knobs in search of a constant thread.
Like the last installment, Reincarnations Part 2 offers a tour through Koze's tastes and interests. He pulls in two tracks from Herbert's microhouse staple Bodily Functions, borrows some from early '00s indie psychedelia and classic Kompakt, and upholds his own roster of Pampa releases by re-working Ada's "Faith." Part of the fun is the totally deliberate nature of this canonization—as Kozalla deadpans in a facetious interview clip, "What do I think is, the all-time best remixer… I think it's me."
Reincarnations Part 2 is a polished collection that, if not quite as consistent as the last one, nevertheless succeeds in furthering Koze's reputation as a stellar remixer. There's a recurring focus on voices, sometimes chopped and treated into unrecognizable snippets, other times providing the grounding force for a stuttering backing track (The Big Crunch Theory's "Distortion," Ada's "Faith"). The deft surgical work on an initially slight-sounding version of Chilly Gonzales's "Knight Moves" culminates in a swoon-worthy patchwork of vocals. The two Herbert remixes are among the best tracks here—Koze's slow-boiling version of "It's Only" (RA's #1 track of last year) is outdone only by his lovely take on "You Saw It All," which is full of aimless tootling, outbursts of laughter and toy-piano flourishes, like a soulful ballad performed by the Portsmouth Sinfonia.
Not every entry is so memorable. On the last two tracks—reworks of Soap & Skin's "Marche Funèbre" and Apparat's "Black Water"—Koze's whimsical detailing is overpowered by self-seriousness. Still, it makes sense to release them in this collection, if only to highlight their idiosyncrasies.
Tracklist01. Intro
02. Super Flu - Jo Gurt (DJ Koze Remix)
03. Moderat - Bad Kingdom (DJ Koze Remix)
04. Herbert - It's Only (DJ Koze Remix)
05. Herbert - You Saw It All (DJ Koze Remix)
06. Mount Kimbie - Made To Stray (DJ Koze Remix)
07. Who Made Who - Keep Me In My Plane (DJ Koze's Hudson River Dub)
08. Caribou - Found Out (DJ Koze Remix)
09. Zwanie Jonson - Golden Song (DJ Koze Remix)
10. Gonzales - Knight Moves (DJ Koze Remix)
11. The Big Crunch Theory - Distortion (DJ Koze Remix)
12. Ada - Faith (DJ Koze’s Grungerwomen Remix)
13. Soap & Skin - Marche Funèbre (DJ Koze Remix)
14. Apparat - Black Water (DJ Koze Remix)