Back catalogue: Techno (すべて)

Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.

Review: NX12X is the first in a new series of experimental records from this label and the artists given the keys for the inaugural release are Goldsmiths student and modular synth maestro Sam Hostettler and electronic innovator La Leif who tackle a pair of tracks each. Hostettler's sounds are the moody, heavy ambient atmospheres of 'Pointalims' and the more light and airy li-fi soundscapes of 'Opalescence.' La Leif offers broken beats with a skeletal feel and a burial-style synth aesthetic on 'Kyoto' and then crunchy breaks and fizzing, distorted synth malfunctions of 'Kimochi.'

Review: Lurka is back on his own label Damage which is a place for harder-edged sounds and here includes remixes from Ossia. The one original, 'Red', is a thrilling rhythmic workout with a skeletal kick drum pattern that is broken and loopy, and deft percussion layered in over the top next to wet synths and undulating bass. Ossia's first rework spins it out into a more distorted and manic cut fizzing with static electricity while the second is slightly more paired back but no less menacing. This one has been mastered at Scape in Berlin and is mad limited to just 100 copies so do not wait around.

Review: Pierre Bastien has a strong team record of interesting collaborations. He's done stuff with fashion designer and scent mogul Issey Miyake, legendary singer and composer Robert Wyatt, and the enigmatic electronic producer and reality-shifter Aphex Twin, releasing no less than three full length records on the latter's landmark label, Rephlex. "A mad musical scientist", the Guardian once quipped, and C(or)N(e)T doesn't break from that tradition. Instead, it offers some of the most abstract and strange, beguiling and fascinating sounds we've heard in a while. At least a few of which have been made on self-made, bespoke pieces of equipment. At a push, you might label this jazz, for the simple fact it's so free-form and avant-garde. Realistically, though, it sounds like the noises that might happen if someone attempted to tame a pack of rogue electronic hubbub-chatting things in a vaguely structured way. "Thank fuck for Pierre Bastien", the Quietus once said. We happily concur.

Review: London producer Leeway has cooked up a brilliant album here that suggests he is obsessive about detail and magical about rhythm and groove. His tracks are super tight takes on techno and grime with elements of trance and plenty of bits for the 160 heads to get stuck into. It's one for the heart of the dancefloor or headphones alike - stoner rave for strobe lit settings, paranoid ideas fleshed out into fever dreams and alien lifeforms. It's got a hyper feel, AI feel to it but also plenty of ritualistic dance DNA that has got us mightily impressed. One of the most original albums you'll hear this year.