Back catalogue: Techno (すべて)

Review: The debut album from Ukrainian collective Noneside unites musicians and visual artists under the inspiring words of poet Taras Shevchenko, who said 'Make love, o dark-browed ones.' Framed by a painting from contemporary artist Iryna Maksymova, the music explores the trance and tech house that is destined to bring souls together on the dancefloor this summer and beyond. Shjva opens with fresh and mashed bass and sleek trance pads that are subtle but effective. Lostlojic layer sup deep, bubbly techno drums and bass with an angelic vocal tone and Saturated Color's 'Trancia' is a speedy, scuffed-up tech groove for late-night cruising. Peshka and Yevhenii Loi offer two more future-facing trance-techno fusions packed with feels.

Review: Six dance tracks skillfully blending old-school vibes with contemporary sounds, spanning acid, breakbeat, electro and house, inviting listeners to dream of underground raves and enigmatic gatherings where ethereal battles against soulless algorithms unfold amid nocturnal dance. Highlights include Trabuco's 'Happy Spliff, a vibrant mix of New York house and early 90s-inspired techno, setting a nostalgic yet fresh tone. Trabuco's 'Signals' follows, delivering a spacey techno experience that feels both futuristic and retro. Yepecc's 'UFO Camp' seamlessly combines electro and acid for a sci-fi romp that transports listeners to otherworldly dimensions. Kevin Kendall's 'Volca Three' stands out with its rich analogue bass, adding depth and warmth to the compilation. The album closes with Victor Reyes' 'Inspired By Nature,' which offers a cool, bouncy finale that leaves a lasting impression. Overall, The Sciences of the Artificial is a refreshing take on retro styled techno and it is perfect for those seeking a blend of nostalgic and fun.

Review: Clommunity is a label from the good people of Kyiv club Closer, which is one of the most revered and respected in Europe right now. This third outing deals in the sort of deep and intimate sounds you can expect to hear in the club on any given night and it comes from Closer resident Yone-ko, who is a techno maestro from Japan but currently based in Berlin. There is a melancholy to thee tunes, with their wispy pads and dreamy chords, while the rolling, scuffed up drums lock you into a state of trance. Minimal in design yet maximal in impact, this is high-grade stuff.

Review: One Eye Witness rounds up another four acts for their periodic V/A series, spewing forth four breaks-driven whooshers crossing into progressive techno territory. The Hague duo Young Adults nod to a 1997 Loveparade anthem with 'It's Only Temporary', while breaks and kick implants converge on Christopher Ledger's 'Change That', a track which sounds like the starting firings of an interplanetary expedition pod after years of disuse. Joely brings cosmic chug on the cocooning B1 'Transitional', while the Samesame closer 'Novel End' is just that, traversing a noxious atmosphere with a flexoskeletal electro beat.

Review: Since 2016, Italian producer Younger Than Me has been a rising force with an ever-growing fan base after releasing on top labels like Bordello a Parigi, Tusk Wax and Dischi Autunno. He is someone who blends trance, breakbeat, techno, and progressive house in his own unique way and that has earned him widespread recognition alongside sets at venues like Berghain and Hor Berlin. His latest EP comes on Skylax and features six tracks including collaborations with Kiara Scuro on 'Ghost in the Rave' and remixes by Mahkina and G?eg. This is another great window into his genre-defying sounds.

Review: Lo Fidelity Music is back with more high-quality tuneage. This time it is the Rave Invaders series helmed by Lennard Ypma that gets us dancing with a bonkers mix of brilliance including a remix from the unique mind of Legowelt. His take on 'Wolf Men' is spaced-out house music with a midpoint morph that brings on utter carnage. It's a heavy weapon to keep up your sleeve, for sure. Elsewhere there is serrated acid madness on '818313', caustic cosmic stompers like 'Matig Modern' and electro acid vibes on 'Wolf Men.' A fierce collection of fresh electro, for sure.

Review: Susumu Yokota's venerated 1994 classic Acid Mt. Fuji is reissued in expanded, deluxe fashion, as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the label that originally released it. Japan's Musicmine - specifically its electronic subsidiary Sublime - released the album on June 29, 1994, simultaneously with Ken Ishii's Reference To Difference, as their inaugural joint offering. Tantamount to a fusion of ambient acid/rave - then still nascent in Japan - with new age music, Susumo Yokota was likely the best man for the job at the time. With his first album, The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection, he'd not yet established his electro-pastoralist style, yet it was Acid Mt. Fuji that divined the latter-day emotes of Sakura, a new age so adroitly fused with electronica yet emulable by few. Though the later years of Yokota's life have been couched in a good deal of privacy and mystery, Acid Mt. Fuji certainly betrays a fittingly shrewd and introspective character on the part of the artist, one that served him well. Its long, drawn-out nature soundscapes - tempered by the piquant sounds of modern synths like the TB-303, which animistically, pseudohallucinogenically blend with the animal sounds themselves - recall something like an alpine augur's waking dream.