ALEX COULTON Vinilo y CD

Review: As Bloc continue their newest label venture following on from the first release by Jake Chudnow, the ever-rising Alex Coulton steps up to the plate with his dynamic and distinctive version of UK floor tackle, and he sounds in the finest of fettle. "Freefall" taps into the dub techno influences in Coulton's musical make-up, snapping in some of the reverb tails to make for a finely honed midtempo workout, before "Antagonise" brings a greater sense of urgency and drama with its insistent synth work and more linear rhythmic pattern. Meanwhile for a diversion into some nervy techno filth, Function/Inland's remix of "Freefall" moves with deadly precision and a truckload of hard-processed audio muck, which is of course a wonderful thing.

Review: No Symbols boss Beneath kicks off his new Mistry imprint with a muscular two-tracker from like-minded producer Alex Coulton. "Bleep Sequence" sees Coulton pressing all the right buttons, with a detuned breakdown that provides one of his finest moments to date. The B-side presents the dubby and spatial "Tension", calling to mind the early works of Martyn and A Made Up Sound. An excellent start to what promises to be a label to keep tabs on.

Review: Founded as an outlet for Livity Sound to "release music that is in line with the Livity aesthetic but isn't produced by the trinity behind it", the fledgling Dnuos Ytivil has become a showcase for the productions of Alex Coulton. Having manned the debut Dnuos Ytivil release in excellent style, the Manchester based producer returns to the imprint here with the equally on point War Games 12". Whereas Pev contributed a remix to that debut 12", Coulton is granted the freedom of all 24" of wax with the title cut mainlining on the sort of minimalistic polyrhythms that Shackleton pioneered. "Pointe Noire" sees Coulton in brain melting mood, pairing dark DMZ inspired textures with crisp booming drums. One for the proper dancehalls.

Review: NTS affiliates 92 Points secure some Alex Coulton heat and back it with remixes from Tessela and Beneath - this is how you put together a 12" mate. With his releases for Idle Hands and Livity Sound last year, Coulton proved himself to be one of British techno's most interesting propositions, wrapping Shackleton-style atmospherics with sparing rhythmic structures. This continues with "Too Much Talk", its UKF inspired snares and deep subs sound very much like the recent work of Beneath - who himself contributes a remix which outdoes Coulton in its tense atmospherics. The most striking rework however comes from Tessela, whose break beat jungle reinterpretation has the expected amount of compression-induced grit and rhythmic swagger.

Review: The Livity Sound imprint has swiftly attained a buy on sight reputation thanks to the impeccable releases from the three Bristol lynchpins that run it - Punch Drunk boss Peverelist, the prolific Kowton and Project Squared regular Asusu. And now, four releases deep and Livity Sound expands operations with the launch of a sub label, cunningly named dnouS ytiviL, seemingly established to "release music that is in line with the Livity aesthetic but isn't produced by the trinity behind it". Manchester based Alex Coulton further cements his links with Bristol's ever bustling music scene via a quite excellent Idle Hands 12? by stepping into the breach for the debut release. "Bounce" will advance his claim to be fully accepted as one of the West Country's adopted sons. A ripe slice of broken techno with a sly nod to Skull Disco percussion, you can see why Pev and co elected to found a new label in order to secure it! The Punch Drunk boss turns in a remix on the flip which cranks up the pressure markedly.

Review: For the fourth release on their promising Wisdom Teeth imprint, founders Facta and K-Lone have turned to the combined talents of old pal Alex Coulton, Italian produer Chevel, and fast-rising studio boffin Simo Cell. Coulton kicks things off, delivering a deliciously heavy and floor-friendly concoction that sits somewhere between broken techno, contemporary bass music, and the kind of comforting deepness more associated with hazy house productions. Chevel does an excellent job of calming things down, layering up bleeping electronics and ambient textures to create something reminiscent of mid '90s IDM, before Simo Cell attempts to "Escape The Fate" on a creepy cut that combines fizzing hi-hats and wonky ambient melodies, with drum programming and musical touches borrowed from EBM and industrial

Review: Szare's "Medeleev" rides a seriously good groove with water drop sounds adding to the sense of hypnotic tension, with healthy doeses of junkyard percussion making this a truly killer oddball slice of techno. Flip over for Alex Coulton's "Baraki", which comes in on a moodier tip, sounding like an extension of Jeff Mills' stripped back Something In The Sky series.