Review: A aka Mika Vainio's 'Fermionit' is a significant release from the late Finnish producer, who passed away in 2017. Originally featured in a Belgium Detuned 6x12 boxset just before his death, the track received critical acclaim from collectors and fans. Now, it returns to Mika's own Sahko label for a well-deserved 12" release. 'Fermionit' embodies the essence of Finnish techno with its minimalistic, cold and stark sound. The track's passive-aggressive edge showcases Vainio's signature style, blending raw, unfiltered textures with a profound sense of depth. This release not only honors Vainio's legacy but also offers a chance for new listeners to experience the pure DNA of Finnish techno. An essential listen for fans of minimalist and avant-garde electronic music.
Review: M Parent's penchant for texture is laid bare on this searing and arresting new EP for Zement. It opens with 'Gravel Pit' which sounds like an audio diary from a car-wrecking plant. Twisted metal, fizzing battery acid, and crushed glass all feature over a distorted baseline and broken rhythm. Those same scuzzy sounds define the rest of the EP from the acid-laced 'Ideal Future' to the coruscated funk of 'Acid Thirst' via the caustic intensity of closer Climb These Walls'. An impressively unique offering that very much has its own singularly sound palette.
Review: Maahrt is the debut self titled EP from a mysterious producer about whom we know nothing.His new 12" opens up with an eerie bit of slow motion and cosmic techno with tortured pads. 'Clag' is another twisted mix of sinewy electronics and broken beats for dark back rooms, while 'Noma' then picks up the pace with a more weighted bottom end dragging its heels through an industrial wasteland. 'Noma' (A Strange Wedding remix) is more ready for club deployment thanks to its chugging groove and a final Odopt remix layer sin more melody, rickety drums and cosmic energy.
Sanderson Dear - "A Place For Totems" (extended version) (6:10)
Review: Sanderson Dear's Stasis Recordings released the original Time Capsule compilation in 2020 - a 20-track exploration of ten different ambient techno artists exploring two ideas each in compact form for a box set of 7"s. Now the label has revisited some of the project's standout moments and offered a chance to enjoy extended versions gathered on a single 12". From Maps Of Hyperspace shaping out atmospheric halls of synth work on 'Beta' to Glo Phase offering some gorgeous, sparkling grooves on 'Fire Flies', there's plenty of ground covered on this release. Of course the mighty John Beltran is a big drawer too, and his typically stellar 'The Descendent' doesn't disappoint in its full extended version.
Review: Having built his reputation via a trio of must-check EPs on Bokeh Versions, Mars89 transfers to Alex Hall's "mutant electronics" imprint Natural Sciences. The producer is a neat fit on the imprint, with "2020" containing a quartet of creepy, hard-wired, industrial-tinged cuts that seem eerily fitting for these troubled times. He begins with the bone-rattling beats, machine-gun percussion hits, ricocheting metallic clonks and gut-punching bass of "GoodThing", before successfully fusing mutilated industrial sounds and paranoid rhythms on "JoyCamp". Over on side B, "DayOrder" is a strangely swung slab of mind-altering electronica that defies easy description, while "MiniLuv" is a thumping stomp through lo-fi techno territory in the company of a steroid-fired monster.
Review: German artist Martin Matiske's musical journey began under the mentorship of DJ Hell, who introduced him to the decks at Gigolo label nights in Munich in 1999. Inspired by pioneers like Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre, Matiske started producing for International Deejay Gigolo Records and later for Frustrated Funk, Bordello A Parigi, and the Central Processing Unit. His new EP has already had support from Dave Clarke and Helena Hauff, including for the standout track 'Moments', which blends ice-cold snares with celestial pads and retro-future synths. Legowelt's remix of 'Moments' adds an astral electro vibe, while 'Dimensional Space Travel' and 'Analogue Being' explore cinematic electro with nostalgic, playful tones.
Review: Matthias closes out 2024 with 'Life Among Nightmares', a three-track EP that dives deep into the techno-synth wave spectrum. Kicking things off is Global Thunder, a mind-bending track that crescendos into an epic blend of nostalgic synths and cinematic tension. On the B-side, Living Nightmare delivers a moody fusion of eccentric analog sounds, acid sequences, and swinging percussion, creating a dark yet hypnotic atmosphere. Finally, Sunfall rounds out the EP, where sinister synths and shadowy pads pull listeners into a haunting, techno-wave journey.
Review: It's been some six years since Caroline "Miss Kittin" Herve and Michel "The Hacker" Amato last delivered fresh material together. While we await further news of their long-mooted comeback, there's this tasty EP of previously unheard archive material to enjoy. Made up of tracks recorded between 1997 and '99 - when their production partnership was in its' infancy - The Lost Tracks Volume 1 contains a number of fuzzy, stylish, floor-friendly bangers, from the S&M-themed madness of opener "Leather Forever" and stripped-back electro gem "Nightlife" (a tribute to Berlin clubs of the period, apparently), to the high-tempo acid-loaded freakishness of "Loving The Alien". Top-notch sleaze.
Review: New York-based minimal electronica artist Brendon Moeller takes cues from drum & bass and lowercase on his latest record for ESP Institute. Like a sonic Hockney painting, just six generous tracks span a curtly two sides on 12", as classy deluges marry with designer percs, conspiring to make a large but radially controlled splash. Every experiential stylistic base Moeller has passed so far, such as IDM or ambient dub, is revisited and checked off, and combined to form a wet emulsion here. 'Vibrations', the highlight of ours, pays special attention to fricative, stimulant audio-exploits in the sound design, with its synthetic mid-claves and potent rubber basses sounding like the reflex responses it predicts and expects from us. No wonder ESP liken the entire record to one big tingling sensation.
Review: Keynote launches its debut with Keynote01 by the talented MOYA81, whose unique retro-synth style finds new life in a powerful industrial techno format. Known for his robotic vocals and experimental touches, MOYA81 brings a blend of gritty, machine-driven sounds and offbeat, playful elements to this 12" vinyl-only release. Rooted in a deep appreciation for both nostalgic and forward-thinking electronic music, this record showcases his unmistakable sound and is packed with character. It's a release as fitting for the dancefloor as it is for enthusiasts of industrial techno's distinct energy.
Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen - "Tonight In Belfast" (feat Mike Garry) (11:58)
Orbital - "Belfast" (David Holmes remix) (12:03)
Review: Poet, librarian, Mancunian, father, husband, uncle, brother. Mike Garry is many things to many people, but tonight, Matthew, his voices guides our eyes upwards, inviting us to stargaze to one of Orbital's most emotionally resonant and timeless pieces of rave noise. Belfast Revisited would be one way to describe it, taking some of the classic and unmistakable elements of that anthem and turning it into something new. First and foremost freshness comes with the spoken word addition - a thoroughly positive, passionate and amorous declaration of unending love that could feel jarring depending on whether you always felt 'Belfast' was reflective and slightly melancholy, or not. Gone too are the breaks, replaced now by stadium-sized four-to-the-floor turning what was once the end of the night walking home at dawn into something that sounds way more 11PM at the concert.
Review: Lost In Translation's debut release, Anthroposcene, is a vital coming together of various artists each with their own take on ambient. It is all airy soundscapes and lo-fi pads to start with from Saphileaum's 'Prologue' while Alfred Czital & Moon Patrol bring in some silky broken beats and warped electronics on 'Act I.' Human Space Machines's 'Act II' is deep rolling techno bliss and on the flip, we get everything from cavernous underwater soundscapes to Orca Silent's edgy dub 'Act IV' and Martinou's soothing closer 'Epilogue.'
Review: Past Inside The Present welcomes back accomplished and prolific ambient master zake, this time alongside Oss and Fax who released the original featured track, 'Polymorph' on Module. Here it gets revisited by a top contemporary team after the hazy and absorbing extended mix kicks things off. ASC then goes dark with his mood rework and Zake himself remixes with a more optimistic sense of crepuscular synth lushness. Aural Imbalance layers in some fizzing and malfunctioning electronic sounds, Ossa suspends you amongst his heavenly rays and Influx brings gently broken beats. Fax shuts down this varied offering with a more edgy ambient sound.
Review: Berlin Atonal returned two years ago from a long hiatus, 23 years to be exact. After three tremendous festivals this decade, they now present us with their first recordings since 1984. These particular ones from the 2014 edition. Cabaret Voltaire (in this incarnation featuring only Richard H Kirk) was a true highlight and contributes "Microscopic Flesh Fragment" and "Universal Energy". One half of Demdike Stare Miles Whitaker went solo, presenting his truly unique take on techno, and the slow burning attitude of "Vagabond No. 7" is evidence of this. New Zealand's Fis also appears; rather uncategorisable as always on "Dist CL (Atonal Version)." On the third disc we have Northern Electronics main man and modern auteur Abdulla Rashim presenting two commissions from his captivating atmospheric set that year. Limited to 700 copies.
Review: Maelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for his fourth outing, and this time he's dropping his longest release yet. French electro mainstay Joan-Mael Peneau, known to many as Maelstrom, has been a fixture on the scene since the early 2000s, and he brings every ounce of that experience to his new LP, The FM Tapes. Spanning 11 tracks, this album is a masterclass in precision, confidence, and control. From the opening moments of 'Ondes Courtes', Maelstrom makes it clear that he's not here to mess around. The track offers a dark, brooding take on electro, with tight, shuffling beats and expertly layered synth work that sets the tone for what's to come. Tracks like 'Alt50ser' follow, pushing forward with mechanical rhythms and a frenetic energy that could only come from an artist with such a seasoned hand. 'La Vie Sociale Des Sons' showcases his knack for combining complex soundscapes with raw, dancefloor-ready energy, blending heavy basslines with shimmering top-end details. The album's centrepiece, 'Res 06 (feat. Fasme)', serves as a standout, bringing in an almost cinematic quality. The beats remain hard and driving, but there's a subtle elegance in the way Maelstrom weaves textures around them, creating something that feels both intense and intricate. Yet, despite all the technical wizardry, The FM Tapes never feels cold or clinical. There's a warmth to tracks like 'My Digitone', where the rhythms are precise but still leave room for playfulness and experimentation. It's this balance of meticulous craftsmanship and spontaneous energy that defines the LP and makes it feel so vital.
Review: Italian-born, Berlin-based. These details alone are enough to mark Velvet May out as a product of location. Italy has long-been obsessed with a distorted futurism, musically at least, with a slew of hugely respected noise pioneers calling the country home, particularly in northern areas around Torino. Meanwhile, Germany's capital is all about those dystopian aesthetics and technophile attitude. Fusing together industrial, rock, and electronic in a visceral, mechanical, human-trapped-in-machine amalgamation of sound, the grit of production lines meets the unbridled raw energy of punk, the sex droid seduction of electroclash steaming headfirst into the forward momentum of techno. It's angry, frustrated, perhaps even desperate, voices calling out from behind wires and controllers. Yet, in other moments ('Haven of Thrill', for example) it's positively life-affirming and, dare it be said, owes something to the euphoria of rave.
Review: It is now 23 years since Jeff Mills dropped his seminal Metropolis album, which was a shortened version of his electronic soundtrack for Fritz Lang's Metropolis movie from 1927. Mills is a famous futurist but his sounds work perfectly on this project which is a symbiotic mix of compositions that makes for a nuanced representation of the plot and storyline. It's a testament to his skill that his album is utterly timeless and wholly absorbing, and likely always will be.
B-STOCK: Missing obi-strip, product in working order
Entering The Black Hole
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (feat Jun Togawa - Silent Shadow mix)
Beyond The Event Horizon
Time In The Abstract
Hole (feat Jun Togawa)
When Time Stops
No Escape
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (feat Jun Togawa - long radio mix)
Time Reflective
Wandering
Hole (feat Jun Togawa - White Hole mix)
Infinite Redshift
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (bonus track - feat Jun Togawa - radio edit)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Missing obi-strip, product in working order***
Jeff Mills' The Trip is an audacious exploration of musical landscapes that marries the unexpected with the familiar, creating a sonic journey that is as unpredictable as it is moving. The album, which evolved from a concept first introduced in 2009, comes alive with its 2023 live performance in Tokyo, showcasing Mills' skill in weaving together elements from different musical eras and styles. In tracks like 'Contradiction (Silent Shadow Mix),' snippets of a pad burst through the mix, underscoring the tension and release that characterize the album. Jun Togawa's vocals add a raw emotional layer, enhancing the dramatic interplay between fast-paced drumming and evocative melodies. Unsettling yet serene, The Trip encapsulates a dynamic range of emotions, from the unnerving rush of 'When Time Stops' to the robust rock guitar in 'Long Radio.' This album is not just a collection of tracks but a narrative of perpetual motion and change, reflecting the thrilling unpredictability of life itself and the wonder of experiencing moments anew.
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (feat Jun Togawa - Silent Shadow mix)
Beyond The Event Horizon
Time In The Abstract
Hole (feat Jun Togawa)
When Time Stops
No Escape
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (feat Jun Togawa - long radio mix)
Time Reflective
Wandering
Hole (feat Jun Togawa - White Hole mix)
Infinite Redshift
Contradiction - The Atman In Brahman (bonus track - feat Jun Togawa - radio edit)
Review: Jeff Mills' The Trip is an audacious exploration of musical landscapes that marries the unexpected with the familiar, creating a sonic journey that is as unpredictable as it is moving. The album, which evolved from a concept first introduced in 2009, comes alive with its 2023 live performance in Tokyo, showcasing Mills' skill in weaving together elements from different musical eras and styles. In tracks like 'Contradiction (Silent Shadow Mix),' snippets of a pad burst through the mix, underscoring the tension and release that characterize the album. Jun Togawa's vocals add a raw emotional layer, enhancing the dramatic interplay between fast-paced drumming and evocative melodies. Unsettling yet serene, The Trip encapsulates a dynamic range of emotions, from the unnerving rush of 'When Time Stops' to the robust rock guitar in 'Long Radio.' This album is not just a collection of tracks but a narrative of perpetual motion and change, reflecting the thrilling unpredictability of life itself and the wonder of experiencing moments anew.
Review: Berlin-based artist Pavel Milyakov collaborates with Yana Pavlova, Martyna Basta, Richie Culver and Torus on Enthropic Vision, an album-length collection of tracks spanning diverse genres. The A-side starts with the melancholic ambience of 'Moon Chant', featuring the ethereal vocals of Krakow experimental music scene veteran Martyna Basta, before 'Tesco' brings bleak trancey loops blended with British contemporary artist Richie Culver's spoken word poetry. 'Eternal Break', with Netherlands-based artist Torus, is all low subs, ecstatic pads and abrasive breaks, then the B-side kicks in with 'Gabba 17' - not a 170bpm gabba anthem, but rather a ghostly techno workout with an admittedly urgent 4/4 kick - and continues with another tune featuring Richie Culver's spoken word fused with breaks. The album closes with the grim beauty of 'The Thrill', recorded in collaboration with Ukrainian singer Yana Pavlova and transports more wised up listeners back to the hypnagogic universe of the duo's 2021 Blue LP.
Review: As one of the iconic partnerships from the electroclash era, Miss Kittin & The Hacker helped define seedy synth tackle at the turn of the century. Given the prevalence of minimal wave in this day and age, it feels like the perfect time for them to come back with a new album. Teetering between pop nous and the darkest of deviant nighttime dreams, this is everything you would want from a return of the Grenoble greats. Listening to 'Purist' and they could easily be taking on the charts, while a trip into 'La Cave' is like donning your finest leathers and sliding into the dungeon.
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
Triangulation
Reiki
ITO
Riga
Jade
Tracer
Scrawler
Qurra
Air-Port
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
Since opting to release more music under his given name, DeepChord man Rod Modell has largely stuck to dubbed-out ambience and heady drone soundscapes. His latest full-length is a little different, though, offering up club-focused cuts that mix his usual fuzzy aural textures and dub-fired motifs with up-tempo techno rhythms. By his standards, it's a very forthright set, with highlights including the noise-soaked stomp of "Reiki", the thrusting heaviness of "ITO", the hypnotic slam of "Jade" - where breezy, early morning electronics flutter away above tough drums and a mind-altering bassline - and the boisterous peak-time techno anthem "Scrawler".
Review: Monolake's defining third LP Gravity was the second album to be released through the artist's own Imbalance Computer Music, as well as the first to feature Robert Henke predominately, as his former partner Gerhard Behles became increasingly consumed by the foundations of what become the Abelton Live empire. Tense, percussive digital minimal techno ensues, setting steady beats against rattling, materially modelled sound design - the record's resonant overtones sound like sprockets undergoing tidal to-and-fros of suspension and release - this record sought thematic refuge in a universal force of natural law: gravity itself. After a recent reissue of Monolake's first album Hongkong, this turn-of-the-century affair - appearing on vinyl for the very first time - offers a shattered, breathy brand of minimalism, perfect for shrunken heads and demanding DJs alike.
Review: Back in 1997 Monolake was still a project in its earliest development, as Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles were experimenting with the possibilities of computer music while most people were still very much in the analogue era. There had however been some major drops on the seminal Chain Reaction label, and then they released Hongkong as a compilation of these early singles. It made sense, given the way the early Monolake sound trod the line between dancefloor techno and home-listening head trips, and so they presented the likes of 'Cyan' and 'Lantau' on CD, embellished with a little field recording magic from a trip to a computer music conference in Hong Kong, hence the title. Now Field Records have reissued this seminal compilation and given it a first vinyl pressing, remastering the music in the process and ensuring it sounds the best it possibly could.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.