Juno Recommends Techno July 2019

Review: Since opting to release more music under his given name, DeepChord man Rod Modell has largely stuck to dubbed-out ambience and heady drone soundscapes. His latest full-length is a little different, though, offering up club-focused cuts that mix his usual fuzzy aural textures and dub-fired motifs with up-tempo techno rhythms. By his standards, it's a very forthright set, with highlights including the noise-soaked stomp of "Reiki", the thrusting heaviness of "ITO", the hypnotic slam of "Jade" - where breezy, early morning electronics flutter away above tough drums and a mind-altering bassline - and the boisterous peak-time techno anthem "Scrawler".

Review: Fresh from delivering the "Dance Music" trilogy of 12" singles, NYC native Levon Vincent returns to action with an EP of untitled tracks. It's an impressively melodious and ear-pleasing affair, with the Berlin-based producer's no-nonsense house and techno drums being smothered in a variety of tuneful synthesizer lines, fuzzy but futuristic electronics and warm basslines. Picking highlights is tough, but we'd suggest starting with the bubbly analogue bliss of "Track 1" before moving on to the chunky goodness of "Track 3", where cheery lead lines dance above non-stop bass and crispy machine drums. Elsewhere, "Track 4" sounds like a tribute to the soundtrack to forgotten early '90s Commodore Amiga game "Fire and Ice" and "Track 2" is a heartwarming rush of luscious lo-fi lead lines and unfussy drums.

Review: Platform 23's celebration of Exquisite Corpse wraps up with this fourth installment of visionary proto trance bubblers from the dream team of Robbert Henyen, Debbie Jones and Tim Freeman. As with the previous installments, they've picked choice tracks from across the spectrum of the PWOG-affiliated project's output, kicking off with a transmission from the debut release, "Honeymoon". Throughout the mood is loose and wigged-out, with a pleasant stew of New Beat, acid, house, trance and dub among the core ingredients flavouring this thoroughly early 90s dish. This is psychedelic dance music crafted before the genre boundaries were established to ruin everyone's fun - savour the vibe as we return to more freewheeling times once more.

Review: (180g Axis Audiophile Series / color label/ black generic jacket) Including audio commentary by Jeff Mills himself. "Looking back in hindsight to the activity and accomplishments of Axis is with much pride - to witness the relationship between the music and listener evolving to this point. The Director's Cut reissue project is about manicuring detail. It's about a rare opportunity to enhance what we've done so that the relationship strengthens for the long term" - Jeff Mills

Review: The consistently great Olympos series reaches its fifth installment with none other than Aphrodite on the credits. The goddess of love is a marquee booking in this celestial scene, so expectations for the beats she yields are high. "Aligenis" makes for a strong opening statement as lysergic layers of effects processing and sound design writhe around a snaking techno backbone. "Enalia" nudges down into a more subterranean sound without losing that attention to detail, before "Morpho" swerves towards electro-flavoured beats without breaking the shroud of mystery and studio proficiency at work elsewhere on the EP. "Pitho" possibly saves the best til last - a simmering, subliminal ride through atmospheric percussion for the Dozzy-devotee crowd to get lost in.

Review: The release of any new Gerard Hanson record is a cause for celebration, but we have to admit to being doubly excited about this one. It marks the long-serving producer's first solo Convextion release since 2016 and contains two killer cuts. The un-titled A-side is particularly impressive, with Hanson wrapping immersive, delay-laden electronics and sumptuous deep space chords around a bustling, dub-fired Motor City techno groove. Even by his standards, it's superb. Over on side B, he's back in atmospheric deep techno mode, offering up a poignant and melancholic affair that's as deep, spacey and emotional as anything he's ever done before. Given his track record, that's some accolade.

Review: Despite the matter-or-fact title, there's little ordinary or mediocre about the three tracks that make up Levon Vincent's first EP of 2019. Check, for example, the untitled A-side cut, where glassy-eyed, old school style piano riffs and fluid solos ride a chunky, thickset retro-futurist groove. It's quite deep in tone, despite the loved-up musical elements on show, but also feels like an underground anthem in the making. Over on side B, Vincent first combines Steve Reich style cyclical marimba loops with wonky club beats and warm deep house chords, before peppering a locked-in rhythm track with intergalactic synthesizer melodies and ultra-deep atmospherics.

Review: Smoke Machine returns with a new split ep featuring two artists from the Organik festival stable: Agonis and Valentino Mora. This will be Agonis' second outing on the Taiwanese based label anda first for Valentino. Now 9 years in the running with a successful podcast and parties, this will be Smoke Machine's second release on their newly established label with many more to come.

Review: When a white label launches from an artist called MPX with single letters for track titles, you know there's some serious techno incoming. This four track EP is brimming with rugged, street-tough energy; from the slapping drum jack and throbbing b-line pulse of opener "G" to the crunchy strut of "J." There's plenty of psychoactive flair to match the classic drum machine flourishes though - "L" has a wicked arp coursing through its veins, while "K" takes the same rhythm section and boils it down to a hypnotising whirl of techno perfection.

Review: Crimean label Krym Mryk returns with its sophomore release: a Various Artists collection putting the spotlight on several top musicians from Russia and Ukraine as well as a few newcomers to the scene. Highlights come fast and thick throughout; we're particularly loving the grinding cyclicality of Rim Menko's "Illusion", beatless yet hypnotic arpeggio workouts ("Amb Day Out" and "November Bad") by Pavel Milyakov (Buttechno), man of the hour Stanislav Tolkachev with slow-mo entrancer "While You Are Drawing A Butterfly" and Hoavi's "Aya Horizon", which closes the LP with its sublime ambience.