Back catalogue: Techno

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing on outer sleeve, also the record has very light surface marks, but otherwise in excellent working condition ***


Man of many aliases Rene Pawlowitz has recorded under many pseudonyms over the years, though it's his Shed and Head High monikers that tend to get the most interest. Here he delivers a rare outing as Wax, a nom-de-plume he first used 11 years ago. A-side "No. 70007 (Part 1)" is a bona-fide techno club cut built around a rubbery rhythm track that boasts far more swing than your average Berlin production, with Pawlowitz's selected musical elements - drowsy, almost ghostly chords and slowly rising strings - only coming to the fore as the track progresses. The flipside "Part 2" version expertly re-arranges the same elements, breaking up the beats further while adding a druggy, almost metallic stab to add a frisson of intensity.

Review: Man of many aliases Rene Pawlowitz has recorded under many pseudonyms over the years, though it's his Shed and Head High monikers that tend to get the most interest. Here he delivers a rare outing as Wax, a nom-de-plume he first used 11 years ago. A-side "No. 70007 (Part 1)" is a bona-fide techno club cut built around a rubbery rhythm track that boasts far more swing than your average Berlin production, with Pawlowitz's selected musical elements - drowsy, almost ghostly chords and slowly rising strings - only coming to the fore as the track progresses. The flipside "Part 2" version expertly re-arranges the same elements, breaking up the beats further while adding a druggy, almost metallic stab to add a frisson of intensity.

Review: Look out - Hardwax heat alert! Our friends in Berlin come through with the goods yet again. Shed's brilliantly visceral Wax series gets two heads down, bass up remixes from Pinch and Elemental. Tectonic Recordings boss Pinch turns in a typically moody revision of the original which chops up the rolling 4/4 of the original and utilises hollow percussion and occasional horror piano stabs, while North London based producer Elemental incorporates some brilliant synth work over on the flip.

Review: The latest installment in Hard Wax stalwart Rene Pawlovitz's seminal Wax series has arrived, showcasing once again the esteemed producer's style of purist Berlin techno, that's often imitated but never matched. On this one (80008) we have two dub versions; the A side is an icy excursion into the deep complete with meandering dub chords, long echo trails and clipped rhythms, followed by a minimal redux on the flip.

Review: A hugely exciting addition to the decades-spanning Wax alias by Rene Pawlowitz, best known by his techno alias Shed. The eponymous Wax imprint brings, yes, Wax to wax, espousing an ostensibly utilitarian metatext, but still finding much to emote, pour over and find joy in between the beats. With the last addition to the series coming out in 2022 - notably, there are spaces of several years in between each release - the form matches the sparing approach also preferred by the likes of Objekt and Ejeca in recent years: give 'em not much, keep 'em keen, and make it seem like you've poured years of effort into each track. Whether this is actually the case, the space of time between each release does produce the assumption of more time spent on polishing and finessing; a supposition we could believe re: '90009'. Track one spouts reflectively cold melodies and well-staged analog drums, while track two steps out the beats and shuffles out the rhythm to make for a more curious mood; both are balanced gestalts, effortless in their ability to demand of us that we both dance and cry.