Back catalogue: Electro

Review: On the A1 Chekov follows up their moves on Peach Discs and Timedance with a proper peak timer, they've been described by Ben UFO as 'king of the build up' and that's evident on this one. At the A2 London's Doppelate makes their Cong Burn debut with an elegant tech-house roller. Fresh from Russia's underground is Camin, on this, his debut 12" release he drops a useful tool which squeezes between electro and techno. Cong Burn founder Howes closes the B side with some warm hypnosis that could have landed in the golden era of Workshop.

Review: Mr Bongo take this next one back to 1984 and 1985 with a tasty little split release from The Egyptian Lover and Jamie Jupitor. Both tunes offer unique takes on the famous electro funk sound and cult Los Angeles-based producer, vocalist and DJ The Egyptian Lover goes first with seminal track 'Computer Love (Sweet Dreams). It's a deep space exploration with melodic bass and slake drum work. The Lovers's disciple Jamie Jupitor heads up the reverse with the more high speed and edgy style and angular beats of 'Computer Power.' Both tunes make for irresistible body music.

Review: There is some serious electro talent on this new EP from Fanzine, starting with now US-based, UK-favourite Carl Finlow. His machines are in fine fettle once more as crisp, kicking electro rhythms are overlaid with bright, silvery, pixelated melodic fireworks on the sublime 'Organoiods'. Hoax Believers get more gritty with the sheet metal snares and in-your-face arps of 'Short Circuit' while Sound Synthesis offers something moody and unsettling on their 'Vertex43'. Univac will make your eyes water with the abrasive textures of 'H Beat.'

Review: Annie Hall has been on a blinding run of late, appearing on the likes of 20:20 Vision, CPU and many other bastions of quality modern electro. Now she's landing on Orson with another four track which spell out why she's one of the most essential talents in the contemporary scene, laying down a captivating MO on 'Kellner' in which the kinetic rhythmic elements are offset by some frankly staggering synth sweeps. 'Nagler' keeps the drums tightly packed while exploring a parallel universe of atmospheric textures, and 'Erfle' dips into a pool of nervy lead blips with an almost jazzy quality. 'Plossi' rounds things off with some of the most expressive synthesis on the whole record, confirming Hall's distinctive qualities as an artist bringing something fresh to the well-worn electro template.

Review: Some three years after making her first appearance on Central Processing Unit, storied electro star Annie Hall (real name Ana Artalejo Moreno) returns to the Sheffield-based label with another fabulous four-track missive. It's a pleasingly varied affair, with the sometime Semantica contributor confidently striding between deep, melodious, laidback, IDM-influenced fare (the undeniably emotive, occasionally bittersweet 'Memories That Never Happened'), shimmering and sparkling, sci-fi-seeped 21st century electrofunk ('Problematic Tape Recorder'), Autechre-influenced glacial IDM excellence ('Subsequent Experiments') and warm and dreamy downtempo electro bliss (the sustained chords, gentle melodies and slipped hip-hop beats of 'Unparalleled Comfort').

Review: Yaleesa Hall's track record over nearly 10 years is nigh-on flawless, evolving to form an integral part of the Dutch techno and electro stable Will & Ink with release upon release of inspired edginess from the dark and sticky shadows of machine music. That's as true as it ever was on this latest Will & Ink drop, which follows four variations on an excursion into pneumatic, taut electro loaded with weapons-grade bass throb and bolstered by iron cladding. There's detail and dynamic sound design fizzing in and out of every bar, and that's where the magic lies on this latest transmission from one of the best doing it right now.

Review: Elusive techno silhouette Yaleesa Hall drops three new ones for their very own co-run Dutch label Will & Ink (alongside fellow artist Malin Genie). High-tempo techno and electro with the occasional sprinkling of EBM essence, this trio of tunes are as jackhammery as they are dreamy, with 'Newman' providing the gloomy foretaste; 'Shanks' the dreamy, electrified meat-on-the-bone; and 'Williams' the rapturous coda.

Review: "Way back in the 1990s, Mark Hand, Neil Iceton & Jez Nicholl channelled their love of sci-fi-fired Motor City techno into a string of inspired releases under the alias Cubic Space Collective.

After reuniting for a memorable machine jam at Freerotation festival in 2016, Hand & Iceton headed back into the studio for a one-off session and recorded 'Holiday in Beta Centauri', a musical love letter to Mad Mike and the rest of Detroit's most militant futurist techno crew.

Sending us surging skywards via 'Binary System', where lilting lead lines, fizzing electronics and enveloping chords dance atop a snappy, cymbal-heavy drum machine rhythm, before 'Arps in Hyperspace' sees them step things up a notch via layered waves of synths, sparkling melodies and a driving, hyper-speed groove.

The North-East-based twosome then attempt to warm us to the core in the shape of 'Rigil': restless organ stabs, undulating Michigan bass, alien electronics, psychedelic acid lines and Galaxy 2 Galaxy style chords catching the ear. Bringing us gently back down to earth, they complete their deep space mission with 'Beyond The Nebula (Holiday in Beta Centauri)', a bustling electro number full of stabbing analogue bass, star-burst electronics, meditative ambient chords that shimmer full of night-sky melodies.

A fine return to action for this Teesside UR-loving techno twosome... 3,167 miles away in Detroit, their achievement will be noted."

Review: Berg Audio brings together a mix of various artists for this tasteful new trip into tech house paradise. Each one features Havantepe, firstly with two solos. 'Dendrite' is first up and rides on a slick electro rhythm with silky arps bringing cosmic vibes over the more textured bass. 'Calcite' then takes a deeper path with rubbery house kick and dubby chords making for a molten backroom vibe. On the flip side, Christopher Ledger steps up to collaborate on 'Silica' which is another super persuasive deep house groove with stylish drums and irresistible swing. Cristi Cons remixes 'Calcite' into a balmy and diffuse cosmic house cruiser.

Review: Weird balearic acid electro and downtempo from the group known as Hektisch Sprengen DJs (known as the heads of the label Terra Magica). Their efforts until now have been to release oddball music from their contemporaries, but never before have we heard anything from the heads themselves. Drawing on Latin music styles such Cumbia, there are all manner of phoned-in vocal samples thrown in, such as Dr. Alban's refrain from the 1990s hit 'No Hash Hash, No Cocaine'. A low-end-centric, soft-edged effort to induce trance states in the listener.

Review: Following on from last year's impressive Redlight debut, Scott Hess is back on his Adeen label with another selection of warm and inventive house cuts splashed with colour and analogue wobbles precision-engineered to catch your ear. Lead track 'Sirius City' leans on a harmonically rich lead line and plenty of off-kilter wriggles to appeal to those who want some cheekiness in their tunes. 'UFO' sports a tasteful acid tweak running in between plush pads and snappy drums, while 'Call Me, Acid' plays around with telephone tropes to make a bleepy jam that will have the ID requests flying in. 'Stars' offers something sweeter to complete the set, spacing out the beats to leave the synths plenty of room to cavort around a celestial name-checking session for deep house dreamers.

Review: Although he rarely speaks about the project in public, His Master's Voice is the itechno alias of underground deep house producer (and sometime Raw Soul label contributor) Jaines Bomt. Carry On In My name sees the shadowy German producer return to Delsin for the first time in nearly three years. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the breathlessly up-tempo, broken techno rhythms and filthy analogue bass of 'Lotek' and the '90s ambient techno-influenced deep space wooziness of 'Lion', to the Motor City electro-futurism of 'Bassline' and the Autechre-at-their-most-melodic flex of 'Carry On In My Name'.

Review: Will Hofbauer returns to Wisdom Teeth for another addition to the label's Hessle-esque vision for the fleshing out the more playful side of 'bassy techno'. Hofbauer is a firm fixture and favourite of the sort of quasi-underground UK DJ circuit that has cut the teeth of the likes of Moxie, Rhythm Section, OK Williams and Ben UFO - and these four new ones are bound to cement that favour, with bare-essentials bits like 'Subtracing The Egg' blending with mischievous audio-hijinks like 'Hiccups' for a humorous, yet no less powerful EP.

Review: Kenny Hooper is a fresh talent from one of the true meccas of electro, Detroit. He's stated his place in the city's storied machine funk narrative with Detroit Orbiter Vol. 1, and you can absolutely hear the Cybotron and Model 500 influences coming through on strident opener 'Deeper'. This is electro drawing from the roots of the sound, working the artist's personality into the music for the perfect cybernetic hybrid with benefit of modern-day production and its undeniable impact. Fun, funky as hell and serious where it counts, this is the real deal - Hooper's destined for great things, no doubt.

Review: Swiss label Creaked has decided to give over a full 12" to remixes of HRDVISION's 'Captivated Heart' and the results are varied and impressive. It is the cultured electronica of Nathan Fake that kicks things off with some widescreen synth drones, She Spells Doom then brings some twitchy tech house and Shanx goes for something laced with alien effects, gurgling synths and swampy beats. Efemme brings some acid laced minimal funk and Sinistarr brings compelling broken rhythms and icy urban metropolis vibes. HRDVISION himself also steps up with a Hrdvsiovsiivosvsiosvin remix to close out in mad fashion.

Review: Hizou Deep Rooted Music is one of those quality-assured imprints that is always well worth checking in with. This latest platter is another on that truly matters with Huerta opening up with 'DAYL' which showcases his distinctive blend of spaced-out breaks and silky tech house. Jacksonville's 'Data Log' is ahems down and deep late-night cosmic excursion and Nlxlb's 'Gravitate' keeps you afloat on mellifluous astral lines and twinkling melodic stars. 100Hz shuts down with 'Ggg', a unique mix of floating pads and barely-there rhythm that grow in stature as your journey to the certain edges of the galaxy unfolds.

Review: Human Behind Pluto, johnfaustus and VSO all contuse to this new split red vinyl from Zodiak Communte. Human Behind Pluto goes first with a warp speed, electro-tinged techno track that has a knack-snapping beat and brilliantly mangled acid line. Johnfaustus's 'Red Sonjia' is dark and twisted electro from the underworld and VSO offers two sick jams: 'Sinking' is a bumping and coruscated bit of electro-crunk and 'Complacency' is a dense full flavour cosmic assault with fearless drum programming and plenty of suspenseful synths. This one takes no prisoners and comes with its own unique insert.

Review: Organic Analogue makes it to double figures with a sublime new split EP from HVL and Gacha Bakradze. The A-side is opened up with 'Infinitesimal', a stripped back and icy bit of minimal dub techno, then 'AgneffC01' gets more rhythmically physical with scattered beats and hits and 'Collective Genius' is tense, kinetic techno with a real sense of paranoia. 'Routes' is the first B-side joint with Gacha Bakradze bringing some direct but economical drum machine grooves under meticulous percussion and then 'Chain' layers smeared cosmic pads with twitchy details and 'Widow' ends with a heavy heart. No wonder, then, that a host of eminent DJs like Ben UFO are all over it.

Review: Curated as part of the iconic street artist's Tate exhibition this year, The World Of Keith Haring unites many of the talented souls Keith knew, or was inspired by, during his prolific rise as one of the most vital cultural spokesmen through the 70s and 80s. Soundtracking the gritty downtown NYC streets he made his first mark on, this limited collection captures the whole melting pot from b-boy culture with cuts such as "E.T Boogie" and "Bump N Grind", raw boogie and soul ("Over & Over") and pure drama ("The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us"). A powerful collection as striking and relatable as his own signature.

Review: Golden Pudel's number one DJ-turned-producer, Helena Hauff, returns to Actress's Werkdiscs with her debut LP, marking a fine start to the September release downpour! Compared to her last effort for the label and her banger of an EP on Lux, Discreet Desires spans across much vaster landscapes, and while we knew that she was heavily into Detroit electro, the album is heavily focused on fast, broken beats brimming with synths. "Spur" and "Funereal Morality", for example, are a pair of Drexcyian bombshells, while "Piece Of Pleasure" clearly takes inspiration from Kraftwerk and the resulting synth pop wave. Instead, "Silver Sands & Boxes Of Mould" showcases her more experimental side thanks to its cinematic soundscapes and sparse beats, along with the beatless sway of "Dreams In Color". A fine debut LP that cements Hauff's position at the vanguard of current electronics.

Review: In the post-minimal years, and after the deep house revival, dark techno and electro became the most fertile ground for new producers. Hamburg-born Helena Hauff was one of those who brought through such sounds and she has since become a global tastemaker who has perfected the art of dark and hard-hitting soundscapes. She shows that off once more here with her selections for the mighty Fabric presents series. It is raw, fierce and rough yet seamlessly moves through breakbeat, electro and the still magical charms of Autechre's remix of D-Breeze's 'Crazy For Love' from 1999 which closes the mix in style.

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Review: This archival release on Organic Analogue digs back into the prolific '90s period of Swedish techno maverick Jean-Louis Huhta, aka Dungeon Acid. These days he releases on iDEAL, Fit Sound, Borft and Klasse Wrecks, but he cut his techno teeth on labels like Hybrid, Svek and H. Productions. Clad in artwork details by Swedish graffiti legend Nug, Wormhole Of Time comprises unreleased cuts and long out-of-print jams spanning many of Huhta's aliases. The release also comes with a zine featuring photographs and an interview reflecting on Huhta's multifarious life in music.