Ternesc Vinilo y CD

Review: You can always rely on Blawan to deliver the brutalist techno goods and that's exactly what he does here. This new double 12" on Ternesc opens with UK funky drums and wild percussive patterns as well as some signature mangled voices. There is also hyper speed industrial minimalism on 'The Sithe' that captures the sound of a factory in meltdown, spangled synths and eerie dub atmospheres on 'Silver' and unrelenting rave techno on 'Fizz City.' Add in two more hard to define fusions of mutant sound design, busted rhythms and dystopian moods and you have a spell binding EP indeed.

Review: Having devoted much time of late to the release of fresh material from his Karenn project with Pariah, this solo single from Jamie Roberts AKA Blawan is long overdue. Roberts opens with the thumping intensity of "40 Spiral", where cut-up, nightmarish vocal samples buzz around a ten-ton techno beat, before skipping his way through the loose-limbed, lof-fi techno-funk of "Immulsion (Come To Me In Full Electric Mix)". You'll find an alternate version of that track - the "That Kind Of Kink Mix"- at the end of the EP, and it's worth a listen thanks to a quirkier rhythm, stranger noises and discordant riffs. B-side opener "Rain", a kind of production-line clang-fest underpinned with formidably redlined beats, is also well worth a listen.

Review: After keeping his counsel for the best part of 12 months, Blawan follows up last year's decidedly robust and forthright "Wet Will Always Dry" album with another suitably searing, all-action EP. Title track and opener "Many Many Pings" adds wild, Aphex Twin style electronics to a driving, dense and deranged techno rhythm, before "Lox" delivers a similarly intense study in charcoal-coloured lo-fi techno insanity. "Gadget" sounds like a Surgeon record with razor-sharp claws - all thumping beats and scuzzy electronic loops - while "Hapexil Rotator" cleverly combines bittersweet and otherworldly electronic flourishes with another mind-mangling distorted techno drum track.

Review: Some eight years on from his Hessle Audio debut, Blawan has finally got round to releasing his debut album. Predictably, it's rather good, offering an eight-track assault on the senses built around his now familiar clanking, industrial-tinged polyrhythmic techno rhythms, foreboding electronics and paranoid, claustrophobic aural textures. Most of the sounds - including the percussion hits - were created using modular synthesis, which gives Wet Will Always Dry a particularly atmospheric and otherworldly feel. There are nods towards the likes of Surgeon and Livity Sound, as well as Rhythm & Sound/Basic Channel style dub techno, but the album's greatest strength is that it never sounds like anything other than a fine set of Blawan club tracks.

Review: Given that he's been active since the dawn of the decade and released countless singles on a wide variety of labels, it's something of a surprise to find that Nutrition is Jamie Roberts' debut album. Pleasingly, he's not altered his style to fit the format, instead opting to showcase six tough techno tracks in his usual fearless, club-ready style. Of course, there's still a certain amount of variety present - compare, for example, the end-of-days industrial motifs, foreboding textures and clattering drums of "Calcium Read" and the metallic, early morning tribal thrust of "Mayhem" - it's just that Roberts has no intention of compromising his principles. For that, he should be applauded.

Review: Blawan's back: look out! The Communicat 1022 is on his own Ternesc imprint: its third release to date. The title track is testament to his modus operandi: hard as nails, all-modular stompers that somehow find the soul in the machines. The brooding and dystopian "Rubber Industry" shows more restraint but still grinds and scuffles away in fine vintage glory. On the flip "Lit Up Communicat" is atmospheric and faintly melodic amongst all the industrial metallic textures and tape hiss while "Marga" hammers the message home in peak time hypnotic fashion: the melody on this one sounds like a hammer dulcimer dragged through a delay, absolutely mental! He's come a long way since bangers like "Scarborough Harbour" and "Peaches", finding a seasoned maturity in his sound, but this shows he still has all the energy and devotion to his art and possibly more than ever.

Review: Warm Tonal Touch marks a new chapter in Jamie 'Blawan' Roberts career, as the producer launches his Ternesc label. Set to offer a home to most of his solo material, he kick-starts the imprint with a quartet of modular techno workouts. Undeniably rhythmic and floor-friendly throughout, there's a surprisingly tactile feel about the rolling grooves of "Talatone" and "Roll Mick", despite the presence of clanking, metallic percussion. Interestingly, it's when he tries to do things differently -such as on the intense, clicking grooves and dislocated horn samples of "Blue Bottle", or the intense, cacophonous, unsettling throb of "Fentanyl", that the EP really excels.

Review: After flitting between labels for the first four years of his career, Blawan has decided to become master of his own destiny. Last month's Warm Tonal Touch EP marked the debut of his Ternesc imprint. This speedy follow-up continues on a similar theme, delivering a range of ragging, dark and often intense modular techno workouts. All four tracks prioritize percussion and rhythm, with any melodic elements - usually short, nightmarish loops, or horror-influenced textures - playing second fiddle to his impressive drum programming. It's a formula that works well, from the left-of-centre bounce of "Hanging Out With The Birds" and throbbing 4/4 pulse of "Mine Oh Mine", to the sludgy, industrial fuzziness of closer "Diatonic Valves".