Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Spanish tastemakers Microm Records celebrates a decade of innovation in electro sound by bringing unreleased tracks from the past to vinyl alongside a selection of fresh current works. This project aims to honour the label's achievements while bridging the gap between its past and present and does so in style while also resurrecting hidden gems and encapsulating the evolution of its sound. From the dark, corrugated funk of Dark Vektor's 'Des Control' via MEKA's enthralling, vocal-laced workout 'If Electro' via Negocius Man's 'The Launcher', this is a superb electro collection.

Review: The second release from Alex Egan's Utter sub label Quoth finds a link-up between Pearl River Sound and The Horn - two outlier operators with plenty to say when their machines collide. Pearl River Sound has been scattering outstanding releases on Further, Seagrave and Further Electronix amongst others, while The Horn comes from serious Devon techno heritage having cut his teeth on Evolution back in t'day. This is all about upfront material though, with a tendency towards microtonal braindance that veers from the self-explanatory collaboration 'Modular Grime' to solo forays into off-kilter, acidic electro funk. Nowhere near as derivative as a lot of current braindance, this is real freaked-out electronics for those with discerning taste.

Review: Six months after their first collaborative outing 'Die Zeit' in May - also on thyme Systematic label - two bonafide German techno titans have been busy in the studio once more. This time they offer up 'Der Rhythmus' on limited edition splattered vinyl and it is another timeless, terrific and peak time cut. The drums and snares are snappy as you like with distorted bass down low and suspensory arps keeping you on edge as a libidinous female vocal adds the final touches. UK duo Dense & Pika remix with a more stripped-back but not less slamming sound.

Review: Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain, the masterminds behind Future Sound of London, return with The Pulse EP Vol 3, a reissue of their classic work under various aliases on the Jumpin' & Pumpin' label. This highly anticipated 12" features tracks that showcase their 90s techno brilliance. Side-1 opens with Smart Systems' 'Tingler' (Four By Four mix), a dark, sinister track that channels Beltram's 'hover' sound into a hardcore rave anthem. Indo Tribe's 'Owl' (I Can See You mix) follows, hailed by fans as one of the greatest breakbeat hardcore tracks ever made, a retro-classic loaded with chunky, energetic beats and an unforgettable sample. Side-2 kicks off with Indo Tribe's 'Bite The Bullet Baby' (Jacques Reynoix mix), another gem that blends early 90s rave energy with a unique edge. The real highlight, however, is Yage's 'Calcium' (Elementary mix), which first appeared on Future Sound of London's Accelerator album. Even today, it sounds transcendental and timeless, its melodic piano lines and otherworldly ambiance continuing to win over listeners. This EP is a vital piece of underground rave history and an essential listen for fans of early techno and breakbeat hardcore.

Review: Talk about keeping things on a knife edge. The first, and title track on this powerhouse EP is pretty much destined to whip any venue into a storm of expectation, not-so-much building but rather opening with this full-sounding, heavily atmospheric, space-y, proggy, could be techno, could be electro, could be trance arrangement. The kind of thing where there might as well be flairs firing into the sky warning you how much stomping a floor can take.

Similar vibes on 'Medusa', only on a deeper, darker, more menacing tip, a tune that sucks ears into another world entirely, one that's a little unsettling, and certainly difficult to find your way back out of. Elsewhere, things embrace a high-NRG ethic, with both 'Plasma' and 'Onda Sotto' taking things up to almost-gabber tempos, but without actually committing to the pounding fours.

Review: Erik Travis is a cult legend from the Detroit electro underground, doing things his own way via his F.A.C.T label and keeping the vibe raw and nasty throughout. After dropping the Legends album in 2020, he's taken a trip back to revisit the track 'Techno Drivers' and given it an overhaul for 2023. It's a brittle, jittery slice of ghettotech which is primed to make you jit, and it also comes in an original instrumental form as well. On the flip, 'Signal Base' features more of those jerky drum machine beats locked into a tracky, but funky as hell, groove. 'Space Circus' heads into freakier territory, slamming down an oddly accented beat and doing some freestyle key jamming over the top.

Review: Uruguay's Two Phase U have been crafting electro rhythms since the 90s and are early pioneers of their national scene as a result. They have since made their make on the wider underground and once again bring some class here for System Terror. 'Teru' kicks off with lithe rhythms and the sound of seagulls adding an organic edge to the crisp drums. 'Comprando' pairs a poppy, playful sense of melody with glitchy perc and acid stabs for something effective yet fun, then 'Single Phase Flow gets a little more serious with acid stabs and crispy electro before 'Direxion' is a dubby, dynamic electronic sound that is sprinkled with cosmic detail.

Review: Cititrax's first Tracks 12" sampler did a good job in showcasing material from some of the Brooklyn-based label's favourite contemporary producers. This follow-up, arriving only a few short months after the first, aims to do the same. Returning for his second appearance, Tsuzing kicks things off with the razor-sharp shuffle of "Nonlinear War", whose intoxicating electronics and wild synth lines recall Brown Album-era Orbital, before London-based L/F/D/M takes a trip into bleak techno territory with the acid-laden "Mouth Holes". Flip for Silent Servant's deliciously grandiose, muscular electro-disco workout "The Touch", and the clanking industrial percussion, EBM attitude and humming electro beats of Maelstrom's "Lithium".

Review: Miss Kittin and The Hacker go together like cheese and biscuits. They have a long history of crafted always edgy electro and electrical sounds and this latest album is the latest chapter in their on going story. It is the second release on Nobody's Business and bristles with attitude. 'The Womb' is all warped bass and caustic textures with Kittin's sleazy vocals. '1000 Dreams' is more elastic and driven by rubbery bass and 'Suspicious Mind' explores a bright, cosmic and melodic world of throwback 80s sounds with Kittin in a more pop vocal mould as she covers the iconic track of the same name.

Review: As one of the iconic partnerships from the electroclash era, Miss Kittin & The Hacker helped define seedy synth tackle at the turn of the century. Given the prevalence of minimal wave in this day and age, it feels like the perfect time for them to come back with a new album. Teetering between pop nous and the darkest of deviant nighttime dreams, this is everything you would want from a return of the Grenoble greats. Listening to 'Purist' and they could easily be taking on the charts, while a trip into 'La Cave' is like donning your finest leathers and sliding into the dungeon.

Review: Operating in the corner of electro where dystopian dreams (or should they be nightmares?) are made, TeslaSonic haven't forgotten how to keep things fun no matter how dark the vibe gets. Gianluca Bertasi keeps the project flying with this double LP drop on Libertine which has a nod to the likes of Maggotron in the nasty funk of opening track 'Ion Drive', while also knowing how to turn up the techno dial on the stiff and driving intensity of 'Poly Verisof'. These are tuned up, rough, ready and raucous electro cuts for those who like to have fun even as things get deadly serious.

Review: HudMo is on rampant form at the moment, firing off collaborations left, right and centre and, as usual, never missing. That said, this project feels like something very special indeed, as he doubles down on kinship with Canadian techno legend Tiga to make an album in thrall to the surge of feelings that hit us when we submit to the possibilities of the night. It's a romantic kind of techno that comes on like early B12 or Artificial Intelligence-era techno in places, but there's also some crafty hooks and flamboyance as you would rightly expect from such a heavyweight studio pairing.

Review: Of all the many Drexciya-related projects, Transllusion is surely one of the finest. Coming in the twilight years of James Stinson's life, there's a bittersweet quality to Opening Of The Cerebral Gate but it doesn't hold the force of the music back. From 'Transmission Of Life's searing arps to the nasty machine funk of 'Negative Flash', this is Stinson running at full clip, speaking that innate Drexciyan language through the machines in a manner which has been oft imitated but never even remotely matched. Reissued by Tresor in 2014 with a bonus 12", now it's presented with a fresh sleeve design which evokes the cyberpunk mood of the music in fine style.

Review: Tresor home in on the happy musical 'accidents' of acclaimed techno duo Transparent Sound for this eponymous new triple retrospective album. Containing such neat audio-tools like the drill bit 'Slang City' and the spanner 'Windows To Your Sole', the originals heard here nail that sense of original, minimal, space-invadery, and melodic electro charm that many artists try to emulate, but few can properly muster up. Perhaps it can only really come from having made that kind of music at the time of its origination, which Transparent Sound luckily did.