Back catalogue: Techno (すべて)

Review: Upstairs Asylum is kicking off the year in some style with a couple of killer new EPs. This one is the first in what is presumably a new series to showcase the talents of the Motor City. Mike Clark & Marcus Harris get things underway with 'Hey' which has a subtly uplifting feel thanks to the bright, sustained chords and cuddly drums. Santonio Echols's 'Piano In The Light' (DJ Emanuell Echols mix) is laidback, playful deep house with magical chord work and Brian Kage brings his classy depths to the smooth grooves of 'This Saturday Night.' Ryan Sadorus brings things to a close with the smoky 'Down Below.'

Review: London label Fourier Transform welcome back Rekab (James Baker) and label debuter Mre for 'Ace High'. 'Armadillos' rolls up its chassis for a serious exercise in minimal weight, reconstituting tuned percussions as it trundles along, while Rekab's 'Always Having Fun' posits an ideal life-mode: a steady, direct current of enjoyment, set to hedonically calculated beats. 'Climbing High' rebates the percussions for a subtle lark's ascent in deep acid, while 'Ace' complementarily descends across cross-rhythmic breaks and harmonies.

Review: Gems, a new label with a nose for unearthing dusty relics of the UK tech-house scene, kicks off with a double shot of pure 90s dynamite. Label boss Paul Still, Croydon luminary and veteran crate-digger, has dusted off these two bangers, ready to reignite dancefloors. First up, Terry Francis unleashes a remix of Radical Chic's 'In Da Shadows' that'll have you reaching for the lasers and sweating buckets. This ain't no polite shuffle - it's a full-on assault of pulsating basslines, swirling synths and big energy. Francis, a master of his craft, layers textures and effects like a sonic sorcerer, conjuring a tapestry of sound that's both intricate and exhilarating. Flip the wax and Space Bunny's 'The Key' unlocks a different kind of chaos. This infectious groove, built on chunky drums and a hypnotic bassline, is pure, unadulterated dancefloor hedonism. But it's the vocal snippets and playful synth stabs that truly elevate it to legendary status. The Wax Trax remix adds a contemporary twist, injecting a fresh dose of energy while retaining the original's undeniable swagger. If you're craving the authentic sounds of early tech-house, Gems is your new dealer. These aren't just reissues; they're sonic time capsules, transporting you back to a time when the dancefloor was a sweaty, euphoric escape from reality.

Review: Rick 8 is the techno alias of Italy's Riccardo Falsini, and here he revives the pioneering spirit of his iconic Interactive Test label with this early gem, which offers an essential slice of trance, techno and progressive house history. Known for reshaping genre boundaries, the label was a beacon of innovation, as this EP shows. Each track is a potent club tool, designed for transcendental dancefloor moments and sonic ascension from the chunky tribalism of 'Hypernotes Velocity' to the standout remix of 'C'Mon' by Sound Metaphors affiliate Trent, who injects progressive firepower. 'Born To Sinthetize' is a deeper, spiritual sound with flashy synth work married to loose drum loops.

Review: In the formative years of his career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ricardo Villalobos frequently utilised a handful of alternative production aliases - first Minta Spacew (one EP way back in 1993) and then more frequently Richard Wolfsdorf. Tia, first released way back in 2000, was the Chilean minimal maestro's second outing under that alias and has become a sought-after EP in recent times - hence this Rawwax reissue. A-side 'Echt Rot' is typically Playhouse-era Villalobos, with cut-up vocalisations, odd noises and spaced-out electronic snippets riding a crunchy minimal-house beat and looped, mind-mangling TB-303 bassline. Title track 'Tia' features simmering orchestral samples clustering around a typically wonky, stripped-back beat, while 'Feurwasser' sounds like the blueprint for many of his later minimal techno workouts.