Back catalogue: Electro

Review: Despite the dystopian and post-apocalyptic aesthetics, some electro music stuanchly refuses to let up on the fun. Acidulant, Dima Gastroler, Pozek and Johnfaustus' new collab V/A for Zodiak Kommune is one such firelighter: 'The Electro Guilde III' seems to say, "you'll have fun on the floor, or else us mecha-cops will come for you!" Acidulant's 'Collateral Funk' leads the charge with a persistent drive to "identify" some lost subject of misdemeanour and/or truancy, as rapidfire snare snaps and licking bass stabs scour the lower terrain for a heat-sought outline of the perp. Dima Gastroler's 'We Will Survive' depicts an unstoppable robotic invincibility, the track's searing robo-voices seeming to portray the last stragglers of a cyborg race battling their way through fire thanks to a bioengineered, adaptively fireproof armour. B-siders 'Ept' and 'Oberon' from producers Pozek and Johnfaustus let up on the voicework for two melodic, yet corruptingly authoritarian air-raiders.

Review: Yay Recordings closes out another solid 12 months with a various artists' EP that showcases right where the label is at. Heavy Mental kicks off with 'Dabro', a colourful and loopy house jaunt for sunny days. Twowi's 'Metaverse' takes off to the cosmos on lithe electro rhythms with ice-cold beats and widescreen pads. Parchi Pubblici & Lucretio's 'Aladdin Sane' brings some wonky deep tech vibes with of-balance drums and muffled spoken words and Rinaldo Makaj closes down with a fresh party sound perfect for cosy floors. There's plenty of variety here, which makes this a great addition to your bag.

Review: Kumquat returns with their second release, his time a various artists' EP packed with sleek tracks perfect for all sorts of movers and shakers. Four standout artists from the legendary French party scene deliver an irresistible blend of wonk and bounce across four groovy cuts. Noiro keeps it slinky and minimal on 'Yougoslash' then Belic & Mani get more stark and twisted with their tech sounds on 'The Flow.' Rancel's sound is laden with a libidinous sax line over clipped and crisp beats and Paradise City Breakers close down with the future tech of 'Mentalist.'

Review: Under the PDQB alias, Sascha Dornhofer has deliberately crafted an enigmatic persona - a move that has allowed him to explore different underground electronic styles while building an audience of curious followers. On his latest EP, he continues this trend, first serving up an analogue-rich, mind-mangling slab of '80s horror soundtrack-infused 'Giallo' disco rich in loose-sounding machine drums, throbbing sequenced bass and spiralling melodies ('Cychochloride'), before opting for a weirder, darker and more angular proto-techno sound on the even more inspired 'Thromboembambino'. Legowelt handles remix duties in his usual confident and eccentric manner. 'Cychochloride' is re-imagined as a cheery and decidedly intergalactic electro workout, while 'Thromboembambinio' becomes a raw, acid-speckled shuffle through sprightly synth sounds and urgent post-electro beats.

Review: Extramusical hugeness from Texas's best experimental electro outing, Science Cult. A name like 'Commuting Observables', when lent to a V/A mini-album, is abstract enough to immerse us in the implied concept; it conjures a mental image of a glaucous laboratory of sorts, in which a cadre of sonic mad scientists toil tirelessly to yield the batch of effervescent sense-smushers you hear here. Be warned, this isn't your bog-standard, one-or-two-part acid-analog jam EP; no, every track and alias here plays out like a different iteration of some carefully spliced yet still egregious biogenetic experiment; monster faunamechs bursting free from their respective vitreal nutri-vats, and embarking on respective misanthropic rampages, all leaving trails of mimetic polyalloy gunge behind them. Were we to choose one of said bio-beasts as our fighter, it'd have to be Syrte's 'I'm A T-Shirt', shortly run up by a tie between Fleck Esc' 'Unrefined Intentions' and Ben Pest's 'From AU'. But we have to say, none of this music is standard fare techno: all of it is really quite wild.

Review: Two distinctive tracks that balance industrial and techno grit and dancefloor energy. Side-1's 'Territorial Discrepancy' kicks things off with a driving beat layered over EBM influences and rave-inspired keyboard stabs. Its catchy rhythm and raw energy make it a surefire crowd-pleaser for peak-time sets. On Side-2, 'Notions Of Ceremony' takes a more experimental turn, blending techno grooves with a danceable, vocal-infused vibe. The track's unique character evokes comparisons to early Severed Heads and Underworld, combining fun, depth and innovation into a seamless whole. With its sharp production and bold creativity, this ia memorable addition to the techno landscape.

Review: The first release on this label came - as far we can tell, anyway - all the way back in 2022. Three years on, the second is another effective club weapon, this time with an electro twist. Pop Panic's 'Your Body' has mad heavy drums and maximal synth lines perfect for nice loud plays. Aut Zebel's 'Flipped Smile' takes off on a jacked up acid groove for peak time plays and DJ GLC lays in some high speed retro-future synth euphoria on 'Trance Dance' for emotional plays. G Punx shuts down with the gritted-teeth grooves and slamming bass of 'Electro Baked' for menacing plays.

Review: A captivating blend of electro, IDM, and braindance influences, showcasing the artists' ability to merge melodic richness with experimental sounds. 'Critical' opens the EP with driving rhythms and a punchy bassline, while 'Rewind' brings a smoother, more atmospheric vibe, featuring lush pads and steady percussion. 'Shadow Phase' introduces a darker tone, layering glitchy textures with hypnotic beats. The final track, 'The Bike Ride,' offers a complex arrangement that ties the EP together, featuring intricate rhythms and emotive melodies that evoke both energy and introspection. This EP highlights their skill in balancing cerebral soundscapes with dynamic rhythms, making it a standout release for fans of forward-thinking electronic music.

Review: Parchi Pubblici is an Italian hardware specialist who usually makes music by doing one-take recordings. This is his debut vinyl EP and it features four original tracks with the first three designed as peak-time club anthems, all powered by roaring analogue machines. These tracks are built to make dancefloors sweat and they surely will. The title, 'Pressed Trouble', perfectly encapsulates the EP's energy. 'Clogged Key' is all bleeping synths and rugged low ends, 'Cautela (feat Delia Derbyshire)' is more funky and bouncy, 'Error504' is acid laced and dirty and 'HTSG' is lit up by superb synth arps and cosmic adventuring.

Review: Oyster Ass return with their Italian brothers for a third round of mind-bending techno. This EP is a retreat into altered worldsirigidly organised, timeless and often inescapable trance-like states. Public Request and WAS take charge of the correction, guiding listeners through a sonic landscape of hypnotic rhythms and disorienting soundscapes. 'C'MON' by Public Request sets the tone with its pulsating energy and infectious groove, while WAS's 'Spoon My' dives deep into a hypnotic abyss. 'Ego' and 'Tunnel' further explore the depths of this sonic odyssey, each track offering a unique perspective on the theme of mind-body dislocation. This is one for those who like their techno with a touch of the surreal and a healthy dose of sonic exploration.

Review: Rico Puestel is a life-long techno veteran but the freshness of his sound wouldn't give that away. He rarely repeats himself but always manages to nail his grooves as this EP shows. 'The Mystery Is Alive' is first up and blends analogue drum programming with dusty and distant synth work that adds in colour and funk. On the flipside, 'The Love Acid' has a more heady feel with some lush chords allowed time and space to really ring out and get your heart fluttering while the cold drums roll below, then the squiggling acid comes in and flips the vibe entirely.

Review: Banging electrobass from Spain's Masa Series, mooting six of their roster artists for an incendiary exercise in grit and vibrancy. Having already invited a slew of artists for individual releases, the Cluster series here aims more at collectivity. All the tracks here nail the label's signature smushing of heavily heat-glued sound, moving between everything from electro to breaks, landing somewhere in the synaesthetic register of an earthen sonic purply-brown. The highlight here, though, has to be Anna Kost's 'Conjunction', which breaks this general rule through a fast dubstep-ish 150BPM exploration in nervous respiratory pad design and glance-off percs, making for a bracing potential set intro.

Review: A quick piping of ultrafast space-techno comes as a six-track aural electro-techno drip, courtesy of Berlin's Mechatronica Music. The second in their 'Constellations' series of V/A EPs, this is an exodic exultation, charting top farings from the likes of Umwelt, Ben Pest and Viikatory. Umwelt's opening charge 'Stellar Oscillations' is a warpsped drive back to the retrofuture, with punctured stabs and fractal chord efferents propelling a lengthy trance crissing 'cross the milky way. Pest's 'Shodan' takes a detour, recharging at an interstellar traction substation specialising in sputtery, kilowatted electro. And 'Be Scared Of Clowns' is the titular highlight by Prz & Ori bringing a different spaceship to the same docking bay; it is the comparative Borg cube to the A3's Romulan craft, lessening any residual humanity for a shocking laserdesign B cut.

Review: The cultured tech house auteur that is Julian Perez returns with another cultured new EP that pushes boundaries while staying rooted in the sonic ethos of Girada Unlimited. More than just a collection of tracks, these sounds explore energy, emotion and movement with Perez's evolving artistry at their core. His take on deep grooves with hypnotic textures stands him apart once more from the zippy synth kinetics of 'Pressurah' to the drum funk of 'Es Un Disparate' via two different, equally fresh versions of 'Alpha R'.