Back catalogue: Techno

Review: Minimal house legend Thomas Melchior and Montreal's Flabbergast duo bring their skills to remix Calcio Club's cool System Check EP. Melchior is one of our favs when it comes to silky, deep, minimal house and here delivers a remix that retains the original's groove while smoothly transitioning into lush synth vibes. Flabbergast's Guillaume Coutu Dumont and Vincent Lemieux have a sound just as distinctive and offer two remixes that push micro-house's limits. Their tracks feature mind-bending effects, Moog-style synth hooks and a burst of percussion that all lead the remixes to a new level of dance floor ecstasy.

Review: Tom Carruthers returns with a fresh drop on Syncrophone Records, comprising the fresh analogue jams 'From Within', 'Zone', 'No Frequency' and 'Malfunction'. All hitting hard with an old-school, sequencer-happy flavour, one which requires no second-guessing, our faves here have to be the basal FM roller 'Zone' and the brash, trashyard B-fronter 'No Frequency', both of which make deft use of the same bassline, yet each to drastically different effec.

Review: Furthur Electronix's first two Furthur Journeys Into compilations tune plenty of heads and shift plenty of copies. The third one keeps the quality levels high with more explorations around the periphery of underground electronics. Chris Coco opens with a soothing synth sound before Jake Slazenger brings crystalline synths and abstract modulations to the mid-tempo '168B.' There is more pace and twisted acid energy to Global Goon's untitled contribution and then old school jungle comes to the fore on the super stylish and atmospheric Gavin Masih cut. Monika Subrtova's 'Alata' is a serene and widescreen ambient synthscape that brings things to a suitably poignant close.

Review: On Synchrophone Records comes Conforce for with second edition in the Commuting series, bringing stygian control room techno to already chapped ears. Sometimes, to feel good on the floor, warmth isn't what you need; and these further four fan-greasers are perfect complements for said latter kind of mood, the cold and unattached unjamming of inner vibes. With coolly bureaucratic track titles like 'Recuperation' , 'Self Assessment' and 'Stable Velocity', Conforce's series has succeeded in portraying the secret joys of humanity's greyer modern face; the tracks here of course continue to fit us in sleek uniform, now deploying such neo-futuristic cyphered titles as 'SCC-ML' and 'RTM-Zuid', the meanings of whose acronyms you'll just have to deduce from the zapping, emissive sound design yourself.

Review: Synchrophone proudly present the latest Gerard Hanson aka. Convextion release; a head-turner moment, since the last proper EP by the 2845 artist was over seven years ago, with Vectorvision for the EP 'Zy Clone'. Since then, Convextion has been hard at work, eschewing all concavities for a purely thermal, fluid sonic exercise. 'Torc' and 'Andas' are unsettling, looming techno visions, confecting a hypothetical world in which the hard sciences have taken total precedent over the human, resulting in a rapid dissipation of heat. The only energy that remains is that which is fed through the machine, as further evidenced on the sinister murk-movements on ERP's version, its two-tone Reese stab suggesting utter indefatigability when begged for mercy.

Review: Swiss label Introspection Audio Limited hist 12" number five with some exceptional techno workouts from producers based in Switzerland, Finland and Japan. Each track delivers a distinct atmosphere and emotion, perfectly crafted for the dance floor. Alessandro Crimi's 'Always' keeps it deep, dubby and minimalist, Needless layers up delightfully smooth drums and dub chords and a Tm Shuffle Myotatuuli dub remix is frosted with icy static and chilly winds. Celestial Sphere Aka Hirotaka shuts down with a more textured and snappy dub tech vibe.

Review: If you ask us, Kalahari Oyster Cult is a label as unique in sound as it is in name. You can never quite be sure what they might serve up next, but you can be sure it is worth dialling into. Alfred Czital & Ayu step up for this one, which starts at high speed and has drums and hits skating along the surface at compelling pace as warped vocal fragments loop to trippy effect. 'Talk To Me' is another groove with real urgency but plenty of inventive sound designs and clipped, underlapping bass. It's hyper modern and dead good. The Sleep D remix is more zoned out and smooth for the afters and Roza Terenzi brings a signature sense of wonkiness.

Review: Jooice, yet another sublabel of London-based proggy dance and electro label Lirica Archives, drop a swell new dark acid trance release collectively smithed by five sound-stokers: J6, Christian Sarde, Aline Umber, Krol and Otis. Each titans in their respective scenes (between which there is much crossover on this release), the overarching mood is one of renegade sci-fi escapism and revolution, with glitching, quivering robo-vocals and technic, sciencey sound-tunnellings aplenty.

Review: The Valley of Tears series has been a key part of the success of the Soil Records' journey. The next edition is another doozy that features Parand, who is the newest member of the crew. His 'Missed Connection' is a warped and darkly futuristic techno-come-electro offering with fizzing synths. NX1's 'SL2' is a tightly, loopy metallic sound with bass that is full of unsettling tension and Crystal Geometry's 'Haute Tension' ups the ante with more unrelenting loops and percussive patterns. E-Bony closes this fresh techno 12" with the metallic clatter of 'Zero Point Echo.'

Review: Two electrifying tracks that are tailor-made for the main stage, combining powerful rhythms and high-energy techno set to ignite pretty much any dancefloor. The title track, 'Deeplight', sets the wheels in motion with its tribal-driven percussion, gradually building intensity to become a relentless, attention-grabbing force, the hypnotic elements and steady groove making it a standout piece. On Side-2,'Black Dog' takes things further, fusing an exciting blend of house and disco influences with big, pounding techno. The track's floor-filling energy is enhanced by the clever mix of classic genres, resulting in a track that not only keeps the momentum high but introduces a refreshing depth with its dynamic progression. Produced by veteran New York-born Jerome Sydenham in collaboration with the German collective Cosmic Soldier, 'Deeplight' effortlessly blends different techno styles with its own distinctive flair. Both tracks are finely tuned for high-impact performances.

Review: Premade heavyweight Obscure Shape and classically trained musician Conrad team up; Berg Audio proudly welcome them as a new duo addition to their roster, together under the name Urban CC. Throwing back to real-deal minimal-ambient techno of a steezy kind, something between Maurizio, Move D and Ghost, 'Pegasus' and 'Marly' cycle through fluttering dub techno and 1-2-step garage respectively, the latter bringing an eyebrow raising combo of yearnsome garge vocal science and pulsewidth techno shots, post-drop. 'Hadban' sneaks a cheeky drum & bass bullet train onto an otherwise techno-centric platform, marking Sleepnet-style vocal etherics and sold-on-us liquid. 'Shagya' finally restricts the mix, with a dubtech-house full of beeping, filtered vocal shouts; a Strictly Rhythm-meets-Chain Reaction contraction.

Review: With a name like Global Underground, we're left starry-eyed at a fanciful idea: a vast, interconnected network of tunnels, reticulating every nightclub in the world. Who wouldn't want that? While the possibility of such a thing is most likely inexistent in our human lifetimes, the eponymous international record label at least aim to make a "global underground" real in spirit with their City Series of mixes. Their latest full-length from Montreal native Joseph Capriati captures this fervent mood: with the initiate DJ repping the jubilant Canadian city, the mix segues between Ame, Len Faki, Deetron and Louie Vega highlights, and is a modern house and techno showstopper.