Jürgen Paape

A cofounder of Cologne’s iconic Kompakt organisation, Jürgen Paape isn’t the most prolific artist on the imprint, but his stripped-down techno productions are a cornerstone of the label’s minimalist aesthetic. Paape got his start in the mid-’90s, releasing brittle, percussive club tracks under short-lived aliases like Care and Areal. After EPs on predecessor labels like NTA and Profan, he was tapped to inaugurate Kompakt with 1998’s Triumph EP, which confidently established the label’s resolutely spartan sound. Despite his low profile—Paape has never granted an interview—and no-frills bona fides, he nevertheless gave Kompakt one of its brightest ambient-pop masterpieces in the form of 2002’s “So Weit Wie Noch Nie”, a misty-eyed fusion of lush ’70s pop and restrained 2000s house. In 2011, Paape’s slim but essential catalogue was pulled together for Kompilation, a deeply focused anthology that hangs together as well as any of Kompakt’s albums.