Techno (すべて) charts

Review: The first anyone heard from Robert Fleck was an early drop on Well Street back in 2018, and it's been quiet since then. Anyone following Well Street knows it's a hot tip for upfront artists in the fractured fissures of the UK underground, and Fleck makes a welcome return to prove the point. There's a lot of different touchstones you could point to on this release, from nimble-footed broken beat and a whiff of nu jazz orchestration, not to mention a bass music sensibility and an appreciation for deeper strains of UK techno. But more than all that, Fleck merges his unique spread of influences into something fresh and unique, comfortably slipping between conventional genre markings with the kind of flair we've come to expect from Well Street.

Review: The Future Sound of London keep their fans busy with a steady dispatch of music via the fsoldigital.com label, but it feels like there's a sense of occasion around this new album. Rituals E7.001 is purportedly the first part in a trilogy, and it already highly prized by the devoted followers of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain's music. It's not hard to hear why on listening to the gorgeous strains of 'Hopiate', which harks back to some of the duo's most iconic music (we'll let you guess which one we mean). FSOL have always had a particular touch in their exploration of electronica, ambient and outernational sounds, and it sounds rich with inspiration on this new, expansive album.

Review: Bristol label-turned-blog Innate launches a new sub-label, Innate Editions, which it says is dedicated to timeless UK techno, IDM, electro and ambient music, and it'll all come on heavyweight vinyl to boot. The first release revives Connective Zone's Palm Palm, a millennium-era cult classic and Ben UFO favourite that first came out on Mark Broom and Dave Hill's Unexplored Beats in 2001. Now, this long-out-of-print, expensive and hard to find gem has been remastered by Jamie Anderson and so sounds superb with many lavish electronic layers, richly emotive melodies and dynamic drums that lean on UK techno, IDM, and deep electro. Sounds as good now as it ever did.

Review: The seminal musicians who have graced King Biscuit Time on US radio are too many to count, but who's complaining when so much gold material can be dusted down and given a fresh pressing. They surely don't come more momentous than this - German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk captured in 1975 as they were in the midst of progressing from their warm, organic kosmische roots towards the game-changing synthesis they're eternally treasured for. 'Autobahn' is of course the big hit here, stretching out over the A side as it should, but don't overlook the wonderful 'Kometenmelodie' and two-part 'Morgenspaziergang', all demonstrating Schneider, Hutter et al as the extraordinary visionaries they were.

Review: Everyone's favourite robotic pioneers have embraced the art of the remix plenty over their lengthy career. As well as taking fresh approaches to their own material, they've invited others to mess with the legacy of one of the most important electronic acts of all time. It's no mean feat to remix a Kraftwerk track, but as such the roll call on this compilation is reliably heavyweight. As well as their own 'Kling Klang' remixes of tracks like 'Robotnik' and 'Expo 2000', you can find legends like DJ Rolando, Orbital, Francois K and Hot Chip tackling classic and some lesser known tracks across three slabs of wax.

Review: The fledgling Detach label continues to show it means business with a new 12" in a lovely screen-printed sleeve. Romanian artist Dyl is the one in charge and has been serving up consistently excellent and innovative sounds now for serval years. All of these cuts mix up great sound design with languid rhythms - the first is eerie, with watery droplets and glassy tinkles hanging in the air, while 'Glasshouse 2' has a percolating rhythm down low. 'Glasshouse 3' gets a little more dynamic with a shimmering low end and freaky abstract life forms and 'Glasshouse 4' layers in more intense and ever-shifting synth lines while the closer sounds like it's roaming through a deserted factory long after it shut down.

Review: After launching last year via an arguably overlooked EP from Obsidian, Parallel Connection has made us wait a little while for the London label's second release. It comes courtesy of Sela, a 25-year-old French producer who apparently honed his soon to be trademark sound while living in the UK. There's much to enjoy across the four track missive, from the alien electronics, loose-limbed broken electro beats and chiming lead lines of '2020 Connection' and sub-heavy, acid-flecked stomp of 'Animal Kingdom', to the pitched-down electronica eccentricity of 'Really Get Fucked' and the psychedelic late-night tech-house hedonism of 'Mr Rabbit', which boasts bleeping melodies reminiscent of both mod-90s ambient techno and Yorkshire bleep and bass.

Review: Second time around for Jean-Michel Jarre's 2022 album Oxymore, a loving tribute to French composer and 'music concrete' pioneer Pierre Henry. As the title suggests, this version features new remixes of album tracks (all of which feature sounds originally created by Henry) by a disparate group of musical talents. That makes for an interesting mix of interpretations, with armin Van Buuren's sizable trance translation of 'Epica' rubbing shoulders with a trippy, off-kilter electro take on 'Sex In The Machine' by Nina Kraviz, a moody Martin Gore interpretation of 'Brutalism', Irene Dresel's raw techno revision of 'Zeitgeist Botanica', and ambient pioneer Brian Eno putting his spin on 'Epica'.

Review: Third part of the compilation celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Milanese record shop. This collection is entirely composed of previously unreleased music, exclusively produced for the occasion by many artists of great relevance in the worldwide music scene, who supported the store over the last ten years. The artists who produced the music for this compilation are Egyptian Lover, Ellen Allien, Thomas Brinkmann, Neil Landstrumm, JD Twitch, Matias Aguayo, San Proper, Tolouse Low Trax, Jay Glass Dubs, Dj Marcelle, Jorge Velez, Tamburi Neri, Fabrizio Mammarella, Heith, Itinerant Dubs, Timeslip89, Kreggo and Intersezioni Ensemble. The entire work is composed of 4 x 12", plus a bonus EP.

Review: Following up two volumes in the Sextant various artist EP series, the enigmatic Tachyon makes their full proper EP debut here on Swiss imprint Unruh. 'Fried' is very much an advanced take on the minimal techno sound and will effectively warp minds at the afterhour, followed by the mutant electro textures of 'PCM' (dub). Over on the flip, the icy and spatial 'Traffic' takes its cues as much from 2-step as dub techno, followed by the eerie twilight beats of 'Late Chatter'. Tip!

Review: London producer Leeway has cooked up a brilliant album here that suggests he is obsessive about detail and magical about rhythm and groove. His tracks are super tight takes on techno and grime with elements of trance and plenty of bits for the 160 heads to get stuck into. It's one for the heart of the dancefloor or headphones alike - stoner rave for strobe lit settings, paranoid ideas fleshed out into fever dreams and alien lifeforms. It's got a hyper feel, AI feel to it but also plenty of ritualistic dance DNA that has got us mightily impressed. One of the most original albums you'll hear this year.