Tags: Minimal Techno

Review: Following the skittering, syncopated arrangements and left-handed excursions of 'Aslohop' and 'Detrant' back in September, Ricardo returns to Rawax with two more broken rhythms. 'Neunachi' is a classic Villalobos wonky shuffer with off-grid kicks and a rainbow of wet, cavernous noises. Take away the demonic reverse vocals and you're in microhouse territory. 'Detrant' is a much more driven affair, up-tempo and thicker, electro kicks off-set by a far-away chant. Each cut going the full nine yards; if ever we've had time to truly lock in to Ricardo's famously enduring grooves, it's right now. Neun out of ten.

Review: Brako continues to go it alone with self-titled releases on a self-titled label, and why not? When the tunes are this good you don't need the extra boost of a big name label. There are just two of them on this punchy EP, the first being 'Bandit' which has a snaky bassline and loose-limbed groove. It is run through with spaced out pads, gurgling cosmic lines and silky hooks that are finished to perfection with a great neo-soul vocals. On the flip, 'Police' is a more dubbed-out and stripped-back tune with elastic rhythms and heady pads. Great work.

Review: Dave Clarke's Red Series remains a vital benchmark in the evolution of UK techno. Released between 1993 and 1996, the three-volume run even managed to brush the UK top 40 back in the good old days when anything felt possible. Tracks like 'Wisdom To The Wise' will forever be etched in the make up of techno, and for very good reason. Now the whole series is being given a lavish reissue treatment which takes in all the original releases along with additional discs of rare, archival tracks and remixes, all bundled up in a box with a booklet and autographed by the Baron himself.

Review: Janky five-track minimal techno from Kiev producer O'Fourtyfour, topping up a slew of releases for the likes of Pahatam and Closer, for this latest one on his own label Sequalog. Truly sounding like the magic goings-on heard from a sly wizard's enchanting table, the devilish concoctions brewed up here include the echoic 'Exalted' and the effervescent 'Topka'. The B-side charts an oddball curve, seguing into snappy dreamlectro with 'Aurora 41' and downtempo dubiousness with 'Green Abyss'.

Review: We have a mysterious pressing this week from Hcsvntdracones (however that is pronounced) with what has been best described elsewhere as 'Highly effective House DJ weaponry' and that's fairly spot on! Both sides are reworks of tracks by the legendary Romanthony (RIP). On the A side, we have a trippy minimal techno style rework of his anthem '(The) Wanderer', followed over on the flip by a 303 breakbeat rendition of his 1994 song 'In The Mix' (Acidic Tendencies Edit) most famously remixed by Tony Humphries.

Review: Back in 2021 Adam Pits heralded the start of the On Rotation label with his own debut album, A Recurring Nature. Now he's back with a follow-up which finds him stretching out as an artist ever more - a fact which is absolutely evident from the gorgeous ambient swathes of opening track 'Lost In The Ether'. Even when the drums kick in on 'Sleepless', they're more tilted towards fragmented patterns and organic tones rather than rote drum machine sounds. There's space for peppier electronica and steppy heads-down gear, but throughout Pits imbues his sound with the richest synthesis imaginable. In that sense, you can track the path of development from his earlier work while enjoying the adventurous new terrain he's exploring as an artist.

Review: Portland-based Aaron Carlson is AC$ and this is his third outing on the cult Sakskobing label. Once again he comes at house music from a unique vantage point and mixes up the rawness of Motor City hero Omar-S with the disco dalliances of Metro Area and the deep house of Berlin. His tunes are packed with character as well as funky drum patterns such as on the seductive lo-fi house of 'Patio Protocol'. 'No Jello' is a bumping Chicago house cut with nice frayed edges and 'The Big Black Slot' is cosmic tech house with soulful heart. EPs this fresh and classy don't come along often.

Review: Some breathless, energy-packed, party-starting brilliance here, as rave-loving Londoner HUD makes his Rekids label debut. In its' original mix form, 'Sugar' is a dirty, atmospheric, breakbeat-driven peak-time house bomb packed with jangling paino riffs, filthy bass and punchy beats, all topped off with a fantastically weary and emotive female lead vocal. Predictably, the accompanying remixes are pretty darn tidy too. Mark Broom delivers a storming and pumping techno version - all thunderous kick drums, breakbeat blasts, lilting lead lines and bouncy pianos - while DJ Deep gives the track a slight hip-house feel via funky breaks, cut-up, Todd Edwards style vocal cut-ups and chunky bass.

Review: Maimi troupe Imbue continue their free-spirited sonic spree, this time on Re:Face. As always, it's a very fluid affair; washing our souls with their delicate fusion of live instrumentation, analogue wizardry and hypnotic groovemanship. Over four tracks we explore their full palette. Electro feels inform the opening track 'Boy With Apple' while the title track 'Overlook' bumps with more of an essence of funky house. Meanwhile on the B it's all-out funk affair. 'Model 29' is a party waiting to happen while 'Dawn' shrouds us in a big old cosmic cloak. Bottoms up.

Review: Cult Beat enters the world of vinyl releases with this first offering from Vendi who goes deep and dark into the work of minimal tech. 'Happ' kicks off with flapping drums and airy snares fluttering around one another as ambient drones draw you into the sonic depths. A Suciu remix is textbook minimal house with dry hits and deft designs and 'No Backwards' then picks up the pace with some silvery loops and fresh broken beats making you move in a different way. 'Francua' (with Osvit) is a final reduced groove with distant vocals, static hiss and all manner of organic sounds tripping you out.

Review: Habitual heaviness... The anonymous Stamped Wax series continues with four bubblesome leftfield joints from a mysterious source. Like the inaugural edition in September 2021, the vibes range from off-kilter funk to woozy, weird microhouse as our unknown navigator re-route us through the stranger corners of the broken beat hinterland. Highlights include the Greenskeepers-style dreaminess of 'Untitled Breaks', the gritty electroid pace of 'Titoli Sospeci' and the heads-down shuffle action of 'Never Enough'.

Review: Frost and Einzelkind's Pressure Traxx captures the evolution of minimal tech house over the past ten years, as the rigour of functional 4/4 gave way to different rhythms and motifs from the wider dance music lexicon. It was a smart move which helped reinvigorate the scene, and while they didn't do it on their own they absolutely fuelled the fire. Ten years in, their label is certainly due a retrospective which stretches out over eight sides of next-level workouts for long blends and marathon sets. The cast of characters hardly needs explaining - from Tobias and Villalobos to Edward and John Dimas, the quality never lets up and in one smartly arranged box set you're going to be gifted with the finest minimal in recent circulation.

Review: It's an Irish affair for Apartment, an all-Celtic lineup for an eclectic house four-track off the beaten path. Ireland has been accumulating an unseen electronic scene, with breakcore and jungle artists like Harmful Logic and DJ Kuroneko being just an example of the counter-culture innovation that's gaining traction. Here we see a combination of breakbeat-infused house and deep tech, with a deliberate Porter Robinson-esque nostalgia imbued within. We start off with 'Sanyo Shinkansen', a groove as efficient as its namesake with rolling guitars against a wind section that imitates train signals intermittently. Swiftly following is something more forward-looking, the glitchy beat on 'Green Spot Boogie' conjuring the breeziness of the aforementioned Robinson's 'Wind Tempos' and its stuttered synths. Tracks three and four are the secret weapons, Irish producers ELLLL and Lumigraph crafting dark, moody industrial cuts and synthy, atmospheric electronica respectively (Think Machine Girl's 'Neon White' OST). It's a bold and strong four-track showcasing some extreme talent.

Review: Leraq has previously dropped a couple of solid digital-only EPs since 2020 but finally marks his debut on wax with this crispy breakbeat excursion. 'Interlinked' is ice-cold and precise rhythmic techno with fluttering snares and shimmering synths adding a little meat to the drum's bones. 'Sonic Ritual' is a more fulsome cut with broken beat loops and warped bass making for a skittish rhythm. 'Binaural Beats' is another one that shapeshifts constantly, as various different leads, basslines and percussive patterns all vie for your attention. 'Collective Memories' shuts down with deep and cavernous introspection. .

Review: Having made some waves in underground circles thanks to his classy brand of minimal tech house, IZA now makes the leap to vinyl to inaugurate the Norse Projekt label with his Bumbal EP. 'Madness' opens the record up in a classy, stripped-back blend of electro before we swerve directly into the pond courtesy of the title track's suspended drones and pin prick rhythms. 'Pardis' has a little more house-minded thrust in its drums, but IZA is someone who prioritises the less-is-more attitude in his studio concoctions. Don't sleep on the Andrei Ciubuc remix, which adds some dubby shimmers and rubbery acid to 'Pardis'.