Back catalogue: Techno (すべて)

Review: Utter wildness ensues, and the dancefloor is left tarnished. After the success of their last release together, 'Mirazh', Thomas Schumacher and A.D.H.S. reunite for a potent follow-up, both bottling and jarring the essence of Berlin techno. Simplicity abounds on 'Ex Machina' - perhaps alluding to the portentous Alex Garland film of the same name whose artificially intelligent omens will never leave us - as repetitious carnival drums blend madly with a semaphoric, high-octave melody. 'Umbra' and 'Morbida' are of course wicked techno accompaniments to boot, but in our view, it's really the A that risks most for the biscuit; we're sure you'll love it.

Review: Amorphic and Tensal hook back in to the machine to dialyse their crafts once more, with 'Highland Frequencies' offering up four, machine-numbered atoning lambs to our mech overlords, following up the equally arrayed 'Distant Landscapes' EP (2024) on Blueprint. Now bringing their distinctive cataloguing system to the discographic vanitas Mord, four more 'AT' tracks make for an irresistibly well-layered, synthetically one-of-a-kind release. Only 'AT4' gets a subtitle, 'The Sleepwalker', where a sandman's slumbrous, lollygaggling beats somehow, at the same time, betray a subconscious, paradoxical restlessness.

Review: Three South American artists - SV3, Trajano, Sebastian - converge alongside French maestro TC-80 on a new, gung-ho vinyl release from Coqueto. Reflecting a para-militant mood, from 'Armament Belico' to 'Hipnosis Global', hi-tech metanoia is balanced with a crude militancy here, reflecting an aggressive permutation of trance. Closer 'Desapariciones' (from Spanish, "disappearances"), we round out on a scathing but ghostly judgment call, with gasping transitions and tanky poundings.

Review: Netherlands techno titan Planet Rhythm goes full percussive gas giant on their latest V/A, 'Friction', a motorsport motivator full of accelerometric elan - one of several V/As to grace their revving catalogue in recent times. Ramon Tapia leads the motorcade with 'Friction', a stabbing aerator full of overtop claps and rims, while Louis Lp's 'Radioactivity' unsettles with its seething high ringing and affectively isolated chord-stab-melody. Deas' 'Hard Dreams' nods to the real, unshakeably material core of dreams, with its rancorous full-tone acids, while Ramon Topia closes with 'Fear', a restless, chord-throttling, hard trancey, speed demonic rally racer.

Review: Shut Off Notice welcomes Teakup - a local Columbus, Ohio DJ and producer born Lauri Reponen and known for his stylish techno - for a second outing on the label. 'Forest Bed Moss' kicks off with dusty mid-tempo breaks and deep basslines full of soul, while 'Mhm' is a mechanical groove with dubby undertones and nice chopped vocals. 'Rain Groove Revisit' is a deep, percolating and stumbling rhythm with a smattering of percussion and bubbly feel infused with cooing female vocals. Finally, Teakup remixes Rew's 'Fragile Abundance' into a deft and lithe minimal dub for the small hours. Sophisticated stuff once more from Teakup.

Review: The rather enigmatic Tonearm is back with a new transmission that is clearly inspired by the ambient innovations of AFX. Innocent synth modulations, naive keys and thinking patterns all bring futuristic AI visions of peaceful utopia to life on 'Minerva', which is a beatless delight. 'Luminance' has a deeply buried rhythm and sustained chords that hum up top, then 'Isko' has cascading melodic rain and hurried rhythm suggestions way off in the distance. 'Ilthat' allows a moment of hope and joy with its brighter synth colours deftly looped and ever shape shifting. A quiet, impressive future sound full of nostalgia.

Review: This four-track compilation draws a tight line between warehouse muscle and emotional lift, delivering techno that's as moving as it is functional. Each cut brings a distinct perspective, yet they all share a sense of cinematic build and focused production. Gregor Tresher starts with 'Bonegrinder', a slow-burn builder that creeps forward before erupting into a peak-time workout. The groove is tight, the progression deliberate and when it hits full stride, it lands with impact. 'Cascade Rips', a collaboration between Works Of Intent and Voltaire, brings a different mood entirely. Its rolling bassline sits beneath a futuristic synth lead that feels both suspenseful and strangely touching. There's emotion under the surface and it simmers just right. On the Side-B, Marco Bailey drops 'Arcane', built around raw drum machine sequences and electro pulses. It grooves hard with a throwback vibe, nodding to early rave with metallic melodies and vocodered snippets that recall Kraftwerk without mimicking. The closer, 'Perditae' by Tom Hades and Soren Aalberg, floats into a more euphoric space. Its rising melody and ghostly vocals feel like they're beamed down from the heavens. A smartly curated collection of peak and soul.

Review: Passing Currents aims to stand out from the predictable by offering a deeply human touch in its music. This five-tracker backs that up by melding academic expertise with dancefloor intuition and the A-side features txted by Phil Moffa remixed by Yamaha DSP coder okpk after they met during doctoral studies, they flip technical mastery into bass-driven energy while Atrevido' fuses California warmth with analogue electro, Josh Dahlberg's rediscovered 2009 electro gem, 'Ass On The Floor', still bangs and Detroit's Kevin Reynolds delivers hypnotic grooves before Hazmat Live pushes boundaries with a sound rooted in soulful, experimental innovation.