Review: Re:discovery has got a superbly illusive reissue eon its hands here with 1993's Clouds Over Europe EP from Aquarian Atmosphere, 39626 and Unit 2. It is a cosmic deep tendon voyage that tingles all of your sense as you ride on the gloriously serene synths of opener 'White Clouds'. It is one of the three tunes from Aquarian Atmosphere, the others being 'Floating On Boyne' a dreamy downtempo number that leaves you gazing at the stars and also 'Rhiannon', a thinking melodic masterpiece. 39626' 'Elixir Of Life' is an intense mix of synth modulations and minimal rhythm and Unit 21s' 'Clubtraxx' (Movement 1 - unreleased version) is pure Detroit techno goodness.
Review: The well regarded Umwelt introduced Raverbreakerz as a dynamic new series on his label Rave Or Die earlier in summer. This massive compilation shows what it is all about with four hard-hitting tracks from genre specialists Blame The Mono, Jadzia, Ghost In The Machine and Umwelt himself, Seamlessly blending techno, breakbeat and dark, intense sounds design to captivate and energise the floor in equal measure, each artists contributes to what is a versatile arsenal for DJs seeking powerful sounds with a distinct style. On this evidence, Raverbreakerz is going to be a crucial new series.
Review: There is plenty of experimental work at play int his new various artists' collection on Flash. Cloned Existence sets that tone with the brief synth exploration that is 'Wave 1' when Gael & Jolly take off with the much more punchy and thudding techno of 'Paradigm Shock' which is weird up with all sorts of synth designs, effects and layers of reverb. Under Black Helmet ups the ante further with one of those bulky techno grooves that locks you in the moment and Stigmata then brings big room 90s vibes with layers of tangled synth melting the mind. Florian Meindl brings things to a close with gritty, scraping bass, reverb-heavy kicks and pure warehouse techno heaviness.
Review: Illegal Alien continues its 16th anniversary celebrations here with another volume, the fifth, of its limited edition Illegal Alien XVI series. Across all eight volumes once they are out there will be a total of 44 exclusive tracks and 46 great artists all tracing the evolution of techno over the last decade and a half. This edition is a superb one that fins plenty of innovation in techno, from the paranoid and warped synth energy of DJ Shufflemaster's 'Bizarre' to the tightly woven and intricate synth layers of Urban Groove's 'Aftertouch' via Unkle Fon's dry, stepped back techno funker 'Violet.'
Review: Analog Concept Vol. 3 delivers a striking collection of forward-thinking deep techno, blending electro, acid, and sci-fi elements to push boundaries across its four tracks. Fasme opens with 'Crying Robot', a standout acid electro monster that's both raw and energetic, setting the tone with its sharp, robotic intensity. CCO's 'Solar Sail' follows, bringing a darker, sci-fi edge to the mix. Its blend of EBM and new beat creates a timeless, futuristic trip that feels immersive and cinematic. Side-2 kicks off with Unwonted's 'Frontier', a high-energy electro track laced with trance elements, adding a hypnotic, rave-ready vibe. Serge Geyzel closes the compilation with 'Flash', a heavy-hitting deep electro cut that dives into darker, alien soundscapes. Its deep techno undercurrents enhance the track's sense of foreboding and mystery. Overall, Analog Concept Vol. 3 captures a thrilling array of deep, futuristic sounds. Take a journey through techno's more experimental and atmospheric realms with this Russian label. Each track stands strong on its own while contributing to the cohesive, forward-thinking vision of the compilation.
Five Times Of Dust - "Computer Bank" (The Floor mix) (7:12)
Five Times Of Dust - "Armoured Car" (6:57)
Unovidual & Tara Cross - "Like I Am, Comme Je Suis" (The Floor mix) (7:11)
Unovidual & Tara Cross - "Imponative" (3:28)
Review: Thanks to the eternally revered Minimal Wave imprint, out of NYC, Mark Phillips and Robert Lawrence's Five Times Of Dust project is going through a bit of a revival. The duo had first released some post-punk cassettes back in the 80s, and they clearly have not been forgotten. On this new remix EP, "Computer Bank" is given a makeover in the form of a The Floor remix, who proceeds to add all sorts of quirkiness over the tune's tough, heavy bass and driving rhythm; "Armoured Car" breaks the 4/4 in favour of something much closer to the band's original drum machine style. Once again, on the flip, we have a remix of "Like I Am, Comme Je Suis" by The Floor, who throws up a gnarly electro bass onto shady, neo-romantic vocals, and the whole things is finished off by "Imponative" from Unovodual and Tara Cross, who produce a slow, heady industrial groove for the dancefloor.
Review: The most sought-after release from the entire Sounds catalogue, Gemini and Unit T's 1995 release, 'Sideburns', finally gets a much-needed reissue. A1 track, 'Trip', is a prime example of deep house if there ever was one. An infectious, encircling melody meets the deep groove of the bassline to create a finished product that is in equal measure sun-soaked and cosmic. 'B Trip', the A2 track, is a gloriously shifted, off-beat reimagining of A1, pummeling percussion reverberates across the track, left alone to enjoy moments where everything is stripped back, before the body of the track returns. On the B-side, 'Mystery Tones' arrives with the kind of groove that instantly makes its way across dancefloors - a unifying track that feels precise in its simplicity, whilst still retaining exactly the right degree of looseness to get a crowd moving. This is a must-have record for any deep house aficionados, and you can now save yourself the hefty Discogs price tag!
Review: Grown-up techno label Kompkat has always served up its most dancefloor ready sounds as part of the Speicher series and it is now up to an impressive 129 installments. This one kicks off with Hunter/Game & U S H N U's collaboration 'Reload' which is an electric cut with bright synth lines shimmering about the mix next to thunderous claps and dark future vocals. On the flip, Bawrut cuts loose with rave stabs over dense percussive grooves with vocal snatches adding to the unsettling and boisterous mood of 'Clapa', which does indeed also have plenty of claps.
Lord Pusswhip - "Sveigth" (Bielefeld Murder Boys remix) (6:16)
Unwucht - "Back Da Fuck Up" (4:40)
Crouds - "Splinters" (4:50)
LAU - "Hangover" (5:01)
Review: Berlin party crew Aller Ende Anfang presents their debut release, featuring five diverse and energetic tracks. The first side begins with the bass-heavy computer funk of 'Hyperdrive' by Icelandic producer Jadzia, followed by Bielefeld Murder Boys' peak time techno remix of Lord Pusswhip's 'Sveigth' and Unwucht's 'Back Da Fuck Up' - and catchy mixture of donk and ghetto house tropes. Over on the flip, Crouds goes for a bass-heavy and off-kilter UK sound on 'Splinters' and one more sci-fi beat programme courtesy of Hungary's LAU om 'Hangover'.
Review: San Francisco, Bay Area and Seattle-based label From 0-1 shows us that those regions are about more than hip hop, Dirtybird-house and grunge with this new various artists collection. Operator kicks off with the dubby techno rhythms of 'Enceladus Outpost' which has freaky synths squirming about in its midst. Sone's 'Accretion' is just as heavy and stripped back, with synths peeling off the bulky drums and A Thousand Details's 'Treyarch Sentient' bring some Detroit-style synth orchestrations. It's all out intergalactic industrial warfare on U SRD's 'Not Everything You See Is Real' to shut down with a bang.
Review: Kulture Galerie is back with more wax and the third time proves a charm here with Doc Sleep, Rambal Cochet, The Jaffa Kid, Mesmerist, Jack Bags and Undsidedly all coming correct under the stewardship of label head Filippo MSM of Metropolitan Soul Museum. Cochet kicks off with some trance-infused prog techno, Doc Sleep offers jacked-up and analogue house, there is lithe cosmic tech from The Jaffa Kid and twisted machine sounds from Jack Bags, while Undsidedly's dreamy electro and The Mesmerist's peak time synth techno close down in style.
Review: Rave Or Die recently minted a new series called Raverbreakerz and now it squeezes out another one just in time for the silly season. Again featuring five electrifying tracks, this one is all about powerful rave, techno, breakbeat, and dark, doomy hard sounds crafted by skilled artists Mental Fear Productions brings some savage synth textures to 'Final Bastion', Tripped builds wall-rattling drum foundations on 'Spank' and Nite Fleit's 'Disillusion' is a writing blend of slamming kicks and tortured leads. Whether you're a seasoned raver or a newcomer, these bangers promise to ignite any set with musical menace.
Review: Adam Beyer's Drumcode remains out in front of the pack when it comes to big room techno. Whether going to new school artists or old school legends the results are always the same - epic and explosive. This time out we get both on one EP with Teenage Mutants going first with 'Dark Clouds (feat Heerhorst & Peter Pahn). It has synths fired from a hadron collider as they shoot over the face of the acid and bass-laced drums. On the flip side is the mighty Slovakian Umek with 'Footmachine,' a dark and heavy banger with flat-footed drums and all sorts of cosmic synth turbulence. Potent stuff for sure.
Review: Uberkeine's flair for textured techno is there for all to hear with this new EP which delivers four club-ready tracks designed to disrupt the dancefloor. 'Aggressive Starter' sets a bold tone and explores the interplay of broken beats and techno with layers of kicks and distorted synths that offer an intense emotional release. 'Piggyback Ride' plunges into a chaotic yet danceable realm divided into two sections that resolve with raw energy. On the B-side, ['Radical Jazz' brings fierce, unbound techno and is driven by a powerful bassline while last but not least, 'Atomic Moog' offers a deep, spacious track, perfect for after-hours and blending dubby grooves with a refreshing, refined touch.
Review: The highly politicised Los Angeles collective Ultra Red re-released their superb A16/A17 12" last year. Both tunes were produced entirely from field recordings made during street protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington April 16 and 17, 2000 and became secret weapons of DJs like Ricardo Villalobos & Craig Richards. Now, 'A16' gets remixed by underground titans Losoul and The Mole into two club-ready groovers. Losoul goes first with a dry and minimal take that is textured and deep with plenty of absorbing atmosphere. Next up, The Mole goes for a more propulsive sound with glistening tech house drums and icy pads. Both are artful reworks that take you on a mental trip.
Review: Beyond the visible spectrum, there lies infrared and UV, after which... well, we're not quite sure, because we're not photonics engineers! But it sure sounds as though French producer Umwelt (real name Frederic Poncet) has lifted the optic veil, and can only begin to relay it to us not by using his words, but in a next-best kind of speechless semiosis: hard trance. What sounds like an entire gamut and more is spanned on this relentless tunnel-borer of an EP, whose light-trailed front cover easily matches the record's breakneck trance mobility. 'Bodyhost' is like a future motorist-rhapsodist's madness, redlining the limiter with no relent. 'Holographic Existence', meanwhile, is an incredible, drumless monsoon, and an impending modern classic for trance DJs, going heavy on the G-force SFX and tactile synthesis to produce a terrific transcendence of the speed limit, even without the kick of the drum.
Review: A quick piping of ultrafast space-techno comes as a six-track aural electro-techno drip, courtesy of Berlin's Mechatronica Music. The second in their 'Constellations' series of V/A EPs, this is an exodic exultation, charting top farings from the likes of Umwelt, Ben Pest and Viikatory. Umwelt's opening charge 'Stellar Oscillations' is a warpsped drive back to the retrofuture, with punctured stabs and fractal chord efferents propelling a lengthy trance crissing 'cross the milky way. Pest's 'Shodan' takes a detour, recharging at an interstellar traction substation specialising in sputtery, kilowatted electro. And 'Be Scared Of Clowns' is the titular highlight by Prz & Ori bringing a different spaceship to the same docking bay; it is the comparative Borg cube to the A3's Romulan craft, lessening any residual humanity for a shocking laserdesign B cut.
Ancient Methods - "The Clock Hands' Endless Mantra" (5:14)
Phase Fatale - "Corporate Graft" (4:49)
Review: This compilation marks a decade of relentless techno energy, celebrating the underground legacy of Lanna Club with four powerhouse producers. This isn't just a compilationiit's a snapshot to a decade of raw, uncompromising sound. Umwelt kicks things off with 'Alchemy', an intense, hard-hitting track where pounding beats merge with traces of trance, electroclash and EBM. It's a high-energy, mind-bending opener that sets the tone for the record's deep journey ahead. Silex92's 'Blades & Pillows' follows with a slower, yet equally heavy approachiits trudging rhythm and sci-fi-infused melodies create an ominous and hypnotic atmosphere. On Side-2, Ancient Methods delivers 'The Clock Hands' Endless Mantra', a percussive, looping techno storm laced with tribal and alien textures. It's the kind of track that transforms a dancefloor into a ritualistic experience. Phase Fatale closes things out with 'Corporate Graft', a showcase of strong production and dystopian energy, where industrial undertones meet body-shaking rhythms. What you get is, four powerful examples of current style in techno.
Review: Southern Italian DJ/producer Uncrat follows up great releases on Moral Standards, Subsist and his own Proper Line label with this riveting new effort which signals that he's really hit the big time now - it's for Ellen Allien's mighty Bpitch Control. 'Xilo' is an adventurous main room workout that sets the scene perfectly before the direct execution of 'Efien' a slamming tribal techno tool mixed with gnarly acid squelch. Over on the flip, the dystopian electro beats of 'Gemini Leaks' mix it up a bit more, and closing it out is the strobe lit frenzy of 'SIT' with its Detroit style chord progression that will have you reaching for the lasers.
Review: Under Black Helmet is a Lithuanian artist with an intense take on techno that has helped him to establish a respected position in the modern electronic landscape. His latest outing on Tempio Omega kicks off with 'Breakage' which is built on solid, linear drums and tripped out with some rising synth scales that bring extra movement. 'Naughty Control' fizzes with static and flashes of acid then 'Grit' pairs things back to a more deep and dubby soundworld. 'Chatterbox' shuts down with more dystopian vibes and deep, supple techno rhythms.
Review: Undercurrent is an artist based in LA and a New Palm resident who shows his studio skills across a trio of new cuts here. 'Beliefs' is a loopy breakbeat roller with jittery rhythms that lock you into their loops and keep you there. 'No Data' is similar but more punchy, with real edge and drive in the breaks while fat bass stabs power things along from below. The same track then gets a remix from Charlie Edward that is more spaced out with searching synths and a more rubbery bassline. Last of all is a floating ambient cut that eventually has a jungle breakbeat rise up through the mix to take you into the next dimension.
Review: It has been three full years since we last heard from Unknown Assailant. Their debut EP came in September 2020 and offered four different techno cuts aimed at the club. The mysterious producer is now back on their own outlet with another four stylish offerings. 'Ancient Beauty' is all jacked up drums and mysterious chords. 'Isolated Mechanics' then keeps up the pressure with more raw percussive patterns and analogue drum sounds and 'Rude Awakening' layers in vast icy hi hats to dramatic and hypnotic effect. Last of all is 'How Has It Come To This', a dark and dubby, moody and minimal techno piece for 5am.
Review: Welcome back to Planet Rhythm, the most groovy of all the astral bodies and one that deals only in seriously high-spec techno. Unknown Code is the one cooking up the goodness here and does so with a real focus on weighty low ends. 'Jede Dunkle Nacht' has just that as well as starry synths flashing across the face of the tune. 'Paranoid' is a darker cut with more grainy texture and scraping hits then 'Vision' thumps out a linear groove embellished with panel beaten loops and 'U-bahn' gets edgy with more strobe-lit synths. These are tools, but tools of the highest quality.
Review: Gale-force sonic apneas from Planet Rhythm, the label and unstoppable phonic force from Rotterdam. The imprint's latest V/A release in the Dubwars series this time takes on its own name, 'Minerals', and welcomes rambunctious techno troilers from the likes of Unknown Code, OFF / GRID, and Luca Accardi. Rhythmically dragged, diminished stab-chords define the A1 and A2 against metal girdered kick patterns, with 'Moment' especially nailing that ever-sought-after sweet spot of energy and anhedonia, a mixed feeling perhaps only achievable within techno's ambit. Dub techno inflections turn to infarctions, as Accardi's 'Minerals' sucks the sonic substrate dry with ballistic echoes, giving way to Gockel's minimal mountaintop NDE, 'Meditation In Tibet'.
Review: The Unknown-Untitled gang is back with an eighth mysterious outing from the self-titled production outfit behind the label, whoever that may be. Again this is a limited edition 12" and again it is pure fire. 'rack 1' sounds like techno from a distinctly UK perspective, if you ask us - the bass drills deep, the synths fizz like static and chopped up vocal fragments bring the hype. The rest of the EP is a varied one that takes in clanging loop pieces, industrial tinged workouts like 'Track 3' and futuristic rhythmic explorations such as the tense, textured sounds of 'Track 5'.
Review: Back in 2012, Glasgow operation put their reissue hats on to present a new edition of Multi Ordinal Tracking Unit, "a secret weapon and personal favourite" from late 90s UK techno types Unspecified Enemies that the label's founders all experienced in their formative years at Club 69. Some two years on and with Numbers now a globally recognised label, unreleased material from Unspecified Enemies pair Louis Digital and CiM features as the label's final release of 2014. Lead cuts "Ms.45" and "Chip Mode" have been sourced from a tape CiM and Digital sent to Rubadub back in '99 with DJ Chip's Dancemania classic Imported Booty Music the apparent influence here. It's quite evident too in the frenzied and furious tempo Unspecified Enemies implement throughout the record with the final superbly titled "Lifestyles Of The MiniDisc Era" a real fckn highlight.
As It May Seem (feat Paul Brenning - Beat version) (6:26)
As It May Seem (feat Paul Brenning) (3:11)
Cult (6:07)
Blau Cel (8:11)
Review: microCastle's second release of 2024 sees Upercent return to the label with another great new EP. Since his debut in 2011, the Valencia-based artist has developed a unique style of electronic futurism with an experimental approach and often fresh creative vision. As such he has become one of the standout artists of the past decade and his first microCastle release, 2018's Vuit, marked the label's second vinyl project and featured contemporary club tracks and innovative sound explorations. Persevere continues with his signature aesthetic with tracks like 'Oracle', 'As It May See', 'Cult', and 'Blau Cel' offering immersive grooves and imaginative soundscapes.
Review: First released back in 2007, UR's 'Hi Tech Dreams' is widely regarded as one of 'Mad' Mike Banks' most perfectly formed EPs - in part because its blend of optimistic techno futurism with dancefloor darkness offers a neat summary of the 'dreaming of utopia, living in a dystopia' message at the heart of Underground Resistance's militant ethos. But analysis aside, it's simply a terrific record - as this timely reissue proves. A-side 'Hi Tech Dreams' lives up to its promise, with far-sighted melodies, tactile riffs and soulful vocal samples rising above a loose-limbed Motor City techno beat. In contrast, 'Lo Tech Reality' is a moodier and more melancholic chunk of breakbeat-driven techno, while 'Hold My Own' is a murky, hip-hop influenced downtempo head-nodder.
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