Review: Tom Carruthers returns with a fresh drop on Syncrophone Records, comprising the fresh analogue jams 'From Within', 'Zone', 'No Frequency' and 'Malfunction'. All hitting hard with an old-school, sequencer-happy flavour, one which requires no second-guessing, our faves here have to be the basal FM roller 'Zone' and the brash, trashyard B-fronter 'No Frequency', both of which make deft use of the same bassline, yet each to drastically different effec.
Review: Dookuzot is the entrancing debut from Floid & W92 aka Woody92, and it's released on their own Omen Wapta imprint. Across eight tracks, they craft a labyrinthine soundscape full of shadowy textures, tribal rhythms and eerie, dissonant tones that feels both ancient and futuristic-an ambient-techno blend that channels family history into sonic myth-making. Standout 'Maushe' hints at dancefloor tension, while 'Veriyou' is seriously deep and heady as part of what is a haunting, high-definition journey through imagined realms and moody post-human worlds.
Review: Last year Joe Baker took his Forest Drive West project to legendary Dutch label Delsin for the very first time, in the process offering up one of his deepest and most picturesque to date. There's a similarly hazy and hypnotic feel about his latest EP, Dualism, which sees the East Londoner return to Livity Sound for the first time in the three years. He sets the tone via the EP-opening title track, a typical on-point combination of broken techno drums and drowsy dub techno style textures, before opting for more energetic Afro-tech beats and spacey, almost ambient chords on the equally brilliant 'New Day'. He further explores his love of polyrhythmic techno on feverish and mind-altering flipside opener 'Ritual', before joining forces with Lucky Pereira on cumbia-influenced, sub-heavy workout 'Scorpion'.
Review: Funk Assault is the duo of Chlar and Alarico and they make their debut here at the same time as inaugurating the brand new Primal Instinct Rec label with music that they say perfectly embodies its sonic vision going forwards. Their take on techno is a synth-heavy one with dynamic designs and slamming drums overlaid with some quirky hooks. The pace is irresistibly high on opener 'Signing Your Own Post' while 'Screenshots Of Compliments' is a more textured and elastic techno groove. 'I Am A DJ Too' is another one in a hurry with linear drums and twitchy synth details. 'Pre-Gig Selfie' closes down an EP full of superb track titles with some excellent drum funk.
Review: There is a great selection of reissues of Future Sound of London's back catalogue going on right now. It goes all the way back to 1988 when they first started chaining the game with their forward facing electronics and mix of rave, breaks, hardcore and ambient into something utterly fresh. It still resonates today, hence these reissues, and this one is a 25th Anniversary edition of Accelerator. This one was, at the time, seen as the group's most "commercially-minded" album but that takes nothing way from its visionary sonics and immersive sonic landscapes.
Review: Irish-born, Manchester-based artist Kerrie returns to James Ruskin's Blueprint label with her third outing for the label, continuing her evolution through weighty, precision-built techno. A fixture of the UK scene and now a resident at Berlin's Tresor, Kerrie draws on her background in record store culture and over a decade of hardware experimentation to forge tracks that are both rigorous and emotionally charged. 'Act Of Resistance' pairs dub-soaked atmospheres with serrated industrial textures, while 'Validation' rides a more urgent, tunnelling pulse. Flip it for the paranoid spirals of 'In Your Orbit' and the slow-burner 'Natural Order', each anchored by detail-rich production and layered groove. Rooted in classic hardware sensibilities but driven by a personal, future-facing vision, this is heady, unrelenting techno with purpose.
Review: DJ Nobu's avant-garde Bitta label looks to fellow Japanese great in Osaka-based Erik Luebs for its next trick. As always with this fine imprint, the sounds are about balancing transcendental synths with deep tech rhythms. They are masterclasses in economical arrangement and on the surface don't do much, but when you tune in properly, they are mind-melting trips, starting with the mystery of 'Granite Monolith'. 'Irradiated Body' has loopy synth sequences unfolding at great pace with pristine accuracy and 'Coming Up For Air' gets a little more extroverted with dubby kicks and the sound of overloaded AI machines getting ever more frenzied. 'Facing The Horizon' is a flickering, optimistic and mildly euphoric sound for dropping when the sun peaks through the blinds and you celebrate getting through another night of darkness.
Social Alliance Warriors (Political Greed mix) (5:53)
Review: Detroit electro investigator MICRO4CE delivers a no-compromise double pack here across two EPs packed with nine tracks of raw electronic futurism and imaging. It is all rooted in classic Detroit electro and so-called hi-tech-funk so the sound channels early 80s influences like Nucleus and Mantronix while carving out its own cyborg-driven edge. 'Bass Situation 313' gets underway with swampy low ends and far-sighted chords then the likes of 'Borg Fightz' bring unrelenting coruscated drums and 'The Greed' is a more minimal sound with zippy synths and dehumanised vocals. This is seriously high-grade electro for heads who like gritty, futuristic and fearless sounds.
Review: Orbital's debut album is classic album in the techno genre. A name that needs no introduction really, Orbital defined rave and techno through the 90s creatively and performance wise. This self-titled or as many know it by, 'The Green Album' features perhaps the most popular songs of the rave generation in 'Chime' and 'Belfast'. However, tracks like 'Midnight', 'Steel Cube Idolatry' and 'The Mobius' are the birthmarks of Orbital finding their sound that would turn them into Glastonbury legends and soundtrack pioneers. This edition is true to the original 2x12 making it desirable for those new to the album, those who want a second copy or those who want to complete their Orbital collection. Orbital's roots begin here and have them at their most raw. Do not miss out on having a part of rave history with this record!
The Boombox Affair (with Bubbles Bubblesynski) (8:51)
Nobody Watching (with Mutado Pintado) (4:19)
The Music (3:50)
Angel Of Hell (with Arthur Baker & Alan Vega) (6:17)
Drum Machine (album edit) (5:26)
Blue-Ish (album edit) (5:26)
Cult Hero (Do You Wanna Touch Me) (with Simon Topping
) (5:26)
Sly Is Watching (album edit) (5:26)
(Vi-Vi) Vicious Games (with Josh Caffe
) (7:23)
Review: When it comes to jackin' Chicago style acid house revivalism, few can hold a candle to Paranoid London. As this long-awaited second album proves, the duo is the undisputed masters of sweaty, TB-303 driven jack-tracks and - as recent single "(Vi-Vi) Vicious Games" and LP opener "Starting Fights" prove - classic-sounding vocal cuts that recall the glory years of Fingers, Inc in the mid-to-late 1980s. Interestingly, "PL" boasts far more collaborations than we've seen from Paranoid London before, including a string of ragged club cuts blessed with evocative spoken word vocals, a thrusting acid throb-job with lead vocals by Simon Topping and a suitably twisted, machine-driven hook up with Arthur Baker and Alan Vega (the raw and weighty "Angel Of Hell").
Review: New York City's underground stalwart Sweater On Polo returns with the debut release on Signal Route. His Mechanical Confusion EP draws inspiration from early 90s Chicago techno and basement house so it echoes the gritty, raw style of labels that dealt in that sort of stuff, like Dance Mania and Relief Records. Across the six cuts there is an intergenerational dialogue between past and present with acid house, techno and synth punk all capturing a familiar old-school angst and texture but with a fresh twist. 'Land of Code' is one of our favourites with its rising percussive tension, deeply buried bass pulse and dusty analogue drums.
Review: Colombian producer JP Lopez aka Verraco delivers full-throttle techno gritted up with grime influences on his new 'Basic Maneuvers' EP for Tra Tra Trax, the label he co-founded. His offbeat, chrome-plated and heavy style has been heard on Blawan's Voam and Batu's Tiemdance before now and here Verraco blends Latin club energy with signature rhythmic invention. The title track drives with mind-melting techno and ragga-infused bass, while 'Total' fuses gqom and dubstep with holographic vocals inspired by Arca. The grime-tinged 'Sobe Sobe' features Ugandan MC Yallah over Orbital-like pads and gritty, Coki-style midrange. Verraco's genre-blurring mastery knows no bounds.
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