KASPAR レコード& CD

Review: Monika Kruse's Terminal M is the sort of label that serves up functional techno that keeps DJs with plenty of weekend weapons without ever really getting any headiness. It is Kaspar who does the basics well here with two tracks that do very different things. First up is 'Imagination' which layers up hands in the air synths over patient, slow burning beats that will cast a real spell on a crowd before things get too steamy. And then on the flip is the banger - 'Cycle Of Life' has darker energy, slamming drums, raw and pixelated leads that never stop twisting and turning.

Review: Monika Kruse's Terminal M takes us on a another of her stripped back techno trips here with studio wizard Kaspar at the controls. 'Valhalla' is real drama with sweeping synth lines and cantering drums that never let up. 'Feel Alive' is darker, harder, more edgy and with eerie pads up top that have something of an old school trance tinge. 'Close Your Eyes' is then the EP highlight for us with its impassioned vocal cries and flat footed drum stomps. It's main room techno with enough emotion to work in more nuanced settings.

Review: With a name like the 'Bangers' series, one can only guess what you're in for. This is the eighth installment in the series from Terminal M, the German label run by techno fiend Monika Kruse. This four-track EP compilation - and there are many more where it came from - reinforces the most hardened cores of the German underground, whether they manifest as mystic darkside trance (Zajon's 'Fierce Pain') or verging-on-hardstyle apocalypses (Kaspar's 'Since 94').