Back catalogue: Techno (すべて)

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: 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: Premade heavyweight Obscure Shape and classically trained musician Conrad team up; Berg Audio proudly welcome them as a new duo addition to their roster, together under the name Urban CC. Throwing back to real-deal minimal-ambient techno of a steezy kind, something between Maurizio, Move D and Ghost, 'Pegasus' and 'Marly' cycle through fluttering dub techno and 1-2-step garage respectively, the latter bringing an eyebrow raising combo of yearnsome garge vocal science and pulsewidth techno shots, post-drop. 'Hadban' sneaks a cheeky drum & bass bullet train onto an otherwise techno-centric platform, marking Sleepnet-style vocal etherics and sold-on-us liquid. 'Shagya' finally restricts the mix, with a dubtech-house full of beeping, filtered vocal shouts; a Strictly Rhythm-meets-Chain Reaction contraction.

Review: The Clergy label celebrates ten years in the game by serving up another of its vital techno sermons. This one comes with the sub-head 'Charlie' and sure is a charged-up various artists affair that kicks off with the anxious synth designs and nimble drum funk of USAW's 'Kokedama'. Red Rooms coats his beats in dusty and scruffy hi-hats on 'Imaginary Pleasures' while Bidoben gets more deep and eerie with the melodic howls of 'Mimic.' SLV's 'Ohne Sonne' keeps the tension levels high with paranoid synths peeling off an unrelenting groove and two further offerings explore more paired back sounds that tunnel deep into the future.

Review: Unspecified Enemies were much-loved electro-techno innovators back at the turn of the millennium. Some quarter of a century on, they finally get around to putting out a debut album, but it is one that reworks a bunch of earlier material into new forms of machine funk. Originally a duo, Louis Moreno and Simon Walley crafted a cult following inter heyday and this album blends the optimism of the millennium's dawn with caution about technology's future. The music here captures the energetic spirit of the era while reflecting on urban decay and power systems with tracks like 'Glass Skin' and 'Bonaventure Effect' colliding upbeat, glitchy electro with a gritty yet nostalgic edge. It's potent stuff.