Untold Future vinyl

The shady, provocative artist who goes by the name of 99Letters is back with a selection of mesmerising techno-not-techno tracks for the young and audacious Dalmata Daniel label. As with the rest of this producer's music, these jittery, improvisational outsider tunes have got the sound of the cassette hiss very much at the forefront of the mix, and you can almost hear the cogs of those reel-to-reels turning gloriously. "Neo Life" is a pallid, dreamy stratosphere of beats and pads, but the lead tune "Untold Future" is where we really begin to hear 99Letters' style, that dubby, hazy kind of techno that travels on the borders of dance music and electronica. "Cooper" is similarly washed-out, except that here the beat arrangement has got more in common with electro than tech, while "Neo Life (TRP dub)" is a solid, acid-ridden squelcher with a magnificent layer of distortion and analogue funk.