Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: Utter wildness ensues, and the dancefloor is left tarnished. After the success of their last release together, 'Mirazh', Thomas Schumacher and A.D.H.S. reunite for a potent follow-up, both bottling and jarring the essence of Berlin techno. Simplicity abounds on 'Ex Machina' - perhaps alluding to the portentous Alex Garland film of the same name whose artificially intelligent omens will never leave us - as repetitious carnival drums blend madly with a semaphoric, high-octave melody. 'Umbra' and 'Morbida' are of course wicked techno accompaniments to boot, but in our view, it's really the A that risks most for the biscuit; we're sure you'll love it.

Review: AgainstMe makes a powerful debut on 47 with four tracks of deep, spiralling techno rooted in Berlin's famous underground energy. The Greek producer showcases his signature multi-dimensional sound design well here as he fuses dynamic rhythms and immersive atmospheres with great precision. Each track builds on a foundation of undulating basslines and intricate textures, which takes you on a trip through shifting sonic terrain. From hypnotic momentum to cavernous depth, there is a balance between raw propulsion and detailed production that makes for a bold, immersive statement that positions AgainstMe as a key rising voice in forward-thinking techno.

Review: Leeds is a city that has always primarily been known for its house scene, but Nathan Alexander is an ever more vital talent who is delving deep into futuristic techno. After a fine outing on Drum Workouts late last year, he's now back on NIX with a shadowy, body-moving three-tracker. Opener 'Language' sets the tone with sharp stabs and a moody tension that gets the space-trip underway. 'Pulsewidth' raises the energy with heavy low-end and warped textures, glitchy stabs and funny, swinging drums. The title track 'Skin' stretches into tribal rhythms, hypnotic vocal snippets, and deep filter sweeps and taps into that liminal space where reality slips. All in all, these are seriously punchy but sensual and immersive late-night weapons.

Review: Amorphic and Tensal hook back in to the machine to dialyse their crafts once more, with 'Highland Frequencies' offering up four, machine-numbered atoning lambs to our mech overlords, following up the equally arrayed 'Distant Landscapes' EP (2024) on Blueprint. Now bringing their distinctive cataloguing system to the discographic vanitas Mord, four more 'AT' tracks make for an irresistibly well-layered, synthetically one-of-a-kind release. Only 'AT4' gets a subtitle, 'The Sleepwalker', where a sandman's slumbrous, lollygaggling beats somehow, at the same time, betray a subconscious, paradoxical restlessness.

Review: ANAZANAUT is a time-bending audio artefact stitched together from decades of disparate sonic moments. With recordings spanning from 1984 to 2024, the techno project feels like a cosmic scrapbook-fragmented memories reborn through meticulous remixing and remastering. From the icy atmospherics of 'Voice on the Air' to the vintage grit of 'Poacher Path (Extended Mix),' these tracks vibrate with echoes of past lives stitched together by a logic only time understands. ANAZANAUT doesn't follow a linear path; it loops, folds, and bends with compelling grooves and myriad occult sounds adding character and curiosity.

Review: Smiling Phases returns with its second outing and hands it over to Parisian producer Arve, who clearly has a deep understanding of many different genres as the two tunes he serves up go way beyond the predictable. Opener 'Pyroclast' is a fast and physical one that blends radiant house grooves with deep, disruptive rhythms and myriad cosmic synth lines that swirl around the mix. 'Tephra' is another busy workout with pumping drums and an array of different synth textures spraying around the groove. On the B-side, 'Pyroclast' gets a remix by Belgian producer DC Salas, who takes it into retro-future 90s trance-techno territory and Italy's Paolo Mosca, who injects warmth and depth as well as a little cosmic mystery.

Review: Polish label FOMO_ debuts with the first in its news Spectral series, and who better to kick off with than the ever innovative ASC. He is a master of musical tension and abstraction and shows that with four tracks that build up the pressure and never let it go. 'Calm Under Pressure' is soothing up top with its smeared, spectral pads, but there's pent-up tension in the low end that keeps you on edge. 'Dark Arches' soundtracks an underground cavern with haunting pads and icy, watery droplets and 'Maelstrom' gets more direct with jostling broken beats, hissing trails and unsettling deep space mystery. 'Torsion' is the most maximal of the lot - an in-your-face collage of loopy, snappy drums and sordid synth sludge.

Review: This new 12" from Glaswegian producer Harvey McKay sees him reworking Daniel Avery's 'Drone Logic' into a driving, big-room missile i and it absolutely slaps. Upping the tempo and leaning into a more percussive framework, McKay doesn't just touch up the original's swirling psychedelia, he rebuilds it for peak-time pressure. The acid line is still there, twisted and stretched, but now it rides atop galloping drums, shimmering hi-hats and the kind of pneumatic swing that's become McKay's signature. It's a brand new release on Phantasy, pressed in a limited run of 500 and already a fixture in the sets of Avery, McKay and Erol Alkan. The sound is somewhere between soulful techno and heads-down warehouse hypnosis i powerful without being punishing. What's clever is how it stays true to the hazy mood of the source, but flips it into something entirely more immediate. As a one-sided 12" it's a bold statement, but one that's easy to understand: it only needs one track when it hits this hard. Built for high ceilings, smoke machines and stretched-out moments mid-set, this is an edit that earns its hype. A slow-burn classic reborn as a proper dancefloor weapon.

Review: This is a four-track sampler taken from parts one and two of the One Hundred and Fifty Steps VEP series which is all about exploring the rise of 150 bpm dubstep, a sound that characterised by fast basslines, broken rhythms and heavy halftime pulses. From VEP pt. 1, L.A.'s Carre delivers pacey wobblers and then Berlin's Formella debuts with playful breaks and more wobbly bass on 'Dripstep'. VEP pt. 2 features Leipzig's Old Man Crane with their intricate, syncopated style shinning through on 'Grey' and Valencia's Andrae Durden then shows class with a Kryptic Minds-inspired low-end powerhouse.

Review: Techno titans Charlotte de Witte and Amelie Lens unite for One Mind, a powerhouse EP that comes hot on the heels of their back-to-back sets at Ghent's 20,000-capacity Flanders Expo. Both Belgian artists have defined the sound of modern techno in the last decade with dark, fast sounds and elements of soft ambient, rave, dance and hard house all folded in. His one opens with the thunderous title track which pairs acid lines with strobe-lit synths, while 'Where Do We Go' delivers trance-infused techno at breakneck speed. To go with the unified concept of the EP, both Amelie and Charlotte's voices are layered into the music in subtle fashion.

Review: Passing Currents aims to stand out from the predictable by offering a deeply human touch in its music. This five-tracker backs that up by melding academic expertise with dancefloor intuition and the A-side features txted by Phil Moffa remixed by Yamaha DSP coder okpk after they met during doctoral studies, they flip technical mastery into bass-driven energy while Atrevido' fuses California warmth with analogue electro, Josh Dahlberg's rediscovered 2009 electro gem, 'Ass On The Floor', still bangs and Detroit's Kevin Reynolds delivers hypnotic grooves before Hazmat Live pushes boundaries with a sound rooted in soulful, experimental innovation.

Review: Bristol genre-blurrer A Sagittariun reemerges with 'The 23 Enigma', a three-track implied "conceptechno" EP, and his first new material since 2022's 'Strange Brew' on Rekids. Having already conquered Hypercolour, Running Back, Craigie Knowes and Secretsundaze, he's now spent close to fifteen years weaving strands of techno, ambient dub, breakbeat, and deeper electronics, lacing each with a heavy psychedelic dosage just shy of overdose. The latest hears 'Fountainhead' and 'Mind Games' offer a percussive jolt through rugged high-impact tools, set aside for dirtier floor works. The title track is the only one to trade the club's rough pulse for a subtler, high crown cognition, riding warped, muscular electronics till we reach an unbidden cavernous zone. A Sagittariun continues to operate outside the grid, where cosmic intent meets merciless studio power.

Review: Ma?h is based in Berlin but makes occult techno inspired by Tikal, which is the ruin of an ancient Mayan city in Guatemala. He creates a sense of ancient ritual, tribalism, primaeval drums and otherworldly atmosphere across five fantastically evocative and escapist cuts here. They all go deep, with rubbery rhythms marbled with wordless vocals, chanting, eerie FX and absorbing mysticism that is all expertly done and hugely authentic. 'Acat' is a standout with its lolloping bass and tom-peppered beats, while 'Exorcismo' is more intense and heady. 'Caiman Ritual' is a humid and intense dub techno bumper, and it rounds out one of the most original EPs we've heard in ages.