Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: OMEN Recordings's next release is a big one that unites Axkan and Duellist on the same slab of wax. They take care of one side each and we're told the inspiration for their sounds was making a "shared response to the turmoil of global conflicts." Duellist kicks off and suggests with his offerings that he is anxious, unsettled and in fight mode because 'Oxidative Stress' is front-foot techno with monstrous bass energy. 'Stains Of Time' is another one with brash drums and perc and plenty of tension, then Axkan offers the hypotonic loops of 'Warfare' and broken beat menace of 'Thermobaric.

Review: Dajusch brings the rave to CROWD here with some feral techno beaters that will get floors going mental. 'No Mas' is lit up with euphoric vocals and trance-y pads that are impossible to ignore. 'Ambition' has barreling beats that fizz with texture and are topped by nimble chords that dance about the mix. 'Split' is another one overflowing with energy and dusty analogue edges while '36G' shuts down with a tunnelling lead and bouncy low end. This is full fat techno with real machine soul.

Review: Two underground artists with many years in the scene behind them in Darwin Chamber and DJ Spun come together for the second in their Episode series on Rong Music. Once again they dig into the sounds of their formative years while also looking to the future as they blend dub, trance and techno into lithe new forms. 'The Revolution' is a mid-tempo and atmospheric roller with hypnotic vocals, while 'The Playa' is a deft bit of electronic minimalism with a deep space feel and ticking 808 sounds. Things get more loose with the warped synths and dusty tech beats of 'Dysfunction' while 'Acid Tounge' closes with trippy designs, a skeletal rhythm and a sense of late-night melodic and afterparty mischief.

Review: Seb Taylor is a veteran of the UK's coastal psychedelic and goa trance circuit, operating under many a name but none doing so much justice to the sound as that which came out as Digitalis. Madrid's Organic Signs know this, and have set about paying tribute to Taylor's influence with a sequel release to 1998's The Third State LP. Its psycho-spiritual successor, The Fourth State now makes up a pair, both of which are ascendant trance trouncers, aural aids for the psychonaut music fan's life's work of escaping systems of global social control.

Review: More funk for your trunk! Brussels most provocative player DJ Elephant Power stampedes back into the mix with more subversive, fully uncategorisable gold. Pick a genre, any genre and we guarantee you won't be thinking of what's here as we gently melt from the nifty ravey breaks the opening title track to the sleepy, woozy tension of the finale cut 'Infinity'. In between we have bumping bewitching house ('I Got You') and strange slow-mo electro ('Shades'). Thinking of sleeping on this? Tusk tusk tusk on you.

Review: Belgian techno bossman Insider has unveiled a masterful remix of the equally iconic Belgian classic by Dr Phibes, aka Bruno Sanchioni from Age Of Love, on the esteemed Diki Records Classics label. This exclusive 12" showcases two distinct versions on nice white vinyl: a high-energy, pulsating techno mix and a deeper, UK-inspired interpretation. Both capture the era's essence and have been crafted akin to the way that producers from techno's golden age wild, but with a contemporary edge. First class tackle to get modern floors in a big old state.

Review: Dsum's latest outing Double Distance on Back Door comes on clear vinyl and is another celestial electro voyage. Opener 'Protons' has all the energy of the particles it is named after while 'Running Around' is a deft blend of melancholic chords and silky electro drums. The title cut is an introspective one with pristine electro soundscapes imbued with plenty of thoughtful pads and a touch of acid. 'Nebula' takes off a little more of a pace but never forgoes gorgeous ambient melodies and closer 'Silent Spreaders' is a suspensory bit of interplanetary ambient with synth sequences riding up and down the scale to beautiful effect.

Review: The House Of Web is a new project that brings together music with a range of international origins across two EPs. They feature material originally by Takuya Sogimoto on this label in 2020 and 2022 as well as some unreleased cuts from 1994 and 1995. Dynamo Dreesen & Robotron go first as Dynatron ahead of a debut solo EP on SUED that is due soon. Then comes Dresvn aka Dynamo Dreesen & SVN, YPY aka Koshiro Hino from Osaka and a member of the Japanese band Goat, plus the next level beat maker A Made Up Sound. All four of these cuts offer superbly fresh takes on techno.

Review: Shout out to Greek powerhouse Kinesthetik Recordings for making it all the way to a half a century of releases there. They celebrate in the best way they know - with more tranced-out sounds from artists in their orbit. Giorgio & Andreas open things up with 'Nice One' and its thudding tech drums and cosmic synth lines. Diskinesia gets much more raw and moody with the edgy drums of 'Back & Forth' and Interphase then drops a pair of industrial tech thumpers. Giorgio & Andreas reappear with a raw, roughshod and deep groove and Marcelino Sanchez's 'Motive One' offers dub techno to close.

Review: Minimal wave pioneer Das Ding aka Danny Bosten is back after ten years on Electronic Emergencies with a nicely curated collection of archival tracks sourced from early 80s tape recordings. Working with friends in a bedroom studio in the Dutch countryside, Das Ding crafted raw, experimental music with cheap analogue equipment that drew on new wave, early EBM and proto-techno. Listening back now these sounds are unmistakably Das Ding and this clear vinyl pressing preserves the original lo-fi atmosphere with meticulous remastering by Ruud Lekx. A real triumph of the DIY spirit of the era.

Review: Some 24 years into his career, we know exactly what to expect from Scott Monteith AKA Deadbeat - namely trippy, off-kilter techno heavily informed by dub, underpinned by rhythms that frequently eschew the obvious. Inspired dually by the "five stages of grief" and "the act of speaking one's thoughts aloud alone by oneself", Kubler-Ross Soliloquies - his first solo set in five years - has a defined structure and purpose, within which Monteith giddily goes in all manner of different but loosely connected directions. Compare and contrast, for example, the moody, twisted steppers-techno of 'With Grand Trepidation (Acceptance I)', the hypnotic, spoken word-sporting deep dub techno of 'Huey Lewis Voters Dub (Negotiation)', the skittish headiness of 'Tough Love (Anger I)', and the polyrhythmic, Livity Sound-esque 'The Double Bong Cloud (Denial I)'.

Review: M>O>S Recordings are no strangers to the long player format, having previously issued impressive long players from D'Marc Cantu and Morphosis, but with the label surpassing ten years of activity it feels the right time for founder Aroy Dee to grace us with his own debut album. If you've read up on Dee you'll know he's also an architect with a specific interest in the sprawling structures of Asian cities and this has bled into the aesthetic of MOS as a whole; it's certainly present on Sketches with his own city based illustrations adorning the cover art and an urban sensibility running through his productions here. A doleful serenity is present throughout much of Sketches, though tracks such as "City of Others" and "Ashes To Ashes" fit snugly into the canon of great MOS floor burners.

Review: After a slew of teasers out earlier this year, Deepchord (Rod Modell) eases ever deeper into his overarching chordal masterscape, continuing the 'Functional' theme expressed in his music in recent years. Functional Designs is first full-length LP from the producer in five years, and the teaser 'Strangers' promises more musical development than ever before heard from the enigmatic Detroit producer. It might be best describable as 'progressive dub techno'; airier and more breathable than his early, more subdued works, we're thoroughly impressed by the movement from percussive resonances ('Strangers') to fully ambient finites ('Drassanes').

Review: Swiss-born Deetron (aka Sam Geiser) unveils his debut album 'Twisted' on Belgium's esteemed Music Man imprint. As proven by his constantly expanding catalogue of productions, Deetron is capable of creating tracks that sit happily within the context of a DJ set (something he understands very well), whilst avoiding landing in the often throwaway category of 'DJ tools'. As with many of the more dynamic turntablist-styled techno and house DJs, Deetron took his early cues from hip-hop, before being won-over by the early sounds of Chicago and Detroit. His DJing - then still in its infancy - followed this influence, steering his 'career' in a more 4/4 direction - eventually landing him a resident spot at reputed Zurich club, Trax. Deetron's production career developed in tandem, as is often the case. Early work for labels such as Phont and Intec through the late nineties and 2000, saw Deetron finding his audience (including a string of International club jocks) and developing his own sound. In the last few years, Sam's production touch has graced labels including Cosmic (as Karakter), Ongaku (the 'Lorraine EP'), SLS and the classic Detroit styled 'Miss Suave' on Intec which has become a dancefloor anthem all over the world. Born in Bern, Switzerland, music was a constant in the Geiser family home. Sam's father's activities as a jazz musician ensured that he was surrounded by music from a very early age, sewing the seeds of his own musical interests. But it was hip-hop that encouraged this to flourish into an active involvement in music, during his teens. Sam soaked-up the music of Gangstarr, A Tribe Called Quest and Prince Paul like a sponge and was quick to realise the role of the turntable within this context, taking up DJing in 1992. Early hip-house producers, such as Todd Terry, also captured his attention and Sam began to make the transition to more 4/4 orientated sounds - picking up on the now classic output of Chicago and Detroit based electronic musicians and introducing this into the sets he was, by now, playing around his home town, and further a field in Switzerland. A meeting with Stefan Riesen, head of the fledgling Phont music, led to the release of Deetron's first single - as Soulmate, in 1997 but possibly the most fruitful partnership of his career so far is that with Belgium's Music Man label. Beginning with the 'Dolls For a Diva' 12" in 2001, and including several more 12"s and a superb mix CD that acts as ample testament to Sam's skills behind the turntables, Deetron now releases his first artist full length album. Combining Sam's love of house, classic techno, electro, Latin and jazz influences, 'Twisted' is a beautiful journey through an electronic landscape littered with orchestral sweeps, delicate pads, sublime Robert Owens-esque vocals, dancefloor beats and heart tugging strings. Featuring guest appearances from Subject Detroit's DJ Bone, LA based singer Ovasoul 7, vocalist and guitarist Justin Chapman, who is also one-half of the Atlanta-based DJ/production duo KemeticJust and the one and only Paris The Black Fu from the Detroit Grand Pubahs 'Twisted' is a dancefloor journey from beginning to end. From the opening bass rumble of 'Twisted Memories' to the old school Chicago vox stylings of 'Life Soundtrack' and the Drexciyan wiggle of 'Isotope' to the demented refrains of 'The Afterlife', Deetron shows us that techno can still conjure moments of beauty whilst still keeping us on the dancefloor.

Review: Die Sexual exist in the world of Adult, of Gary Numan on a night out at Kit Kat Club, Cabaret hedonism, phallic and yonic electronic beats, rhythms and other noises. Elektro Body Musique, the title a play on electronic body music, or EBM to the cool kids, takes the bull by the horn with savage, hyper-lascivious futurist club music that makes you feel like the voyeur and objectifier in equal measure. 11 tracks owe as much to dystopian cold wave as electroclash and synth pop, basslines warbling and bouncing beneath blunt instrument kick drums and savage key stabs, all topped with the kind of energy-inducing snares we often worry were left in the glory days of these sounds. Immediately dark, alluring, and suggestive, it's a strong case for giving in to temptation.

Review: Digregorius is back on the My Own Jupiter label with an adventurous double album that features plenty of rather epic electro workouts. Many of them even have adventurous track titles such as opener 'Morfogenesis Incluye Yachay & Monada Y Pleuroma', which is a dark and broody scene setter that drops you deep into outer space. 'Vegetal' has intriguing melodies and busy rhythms flecked with Latin percussive flair and soundtrack motifs. 'Invierno Mesmerizing Incluye Nocturnalia Y Session De Espiritismo' is a mind warping mix of talk box vocals, chattery drums, busted kick and wonky synths. The hard to define madness continues across a land more wild and wonderful electro experiments.

Review: Back in the autumn of 2023, Bedrock co-founder John Digweed delivered Futuro, a four-disc mix made up entirely of new and unreleased music. On this two-disc sequel, 20 of those tunes get the remix treatment, with Digweed presenting them via a pair of typically smooth, evolving journey style DJ mixes. It's typical Digweed/Bedrock fare all told - think deep, immersive and gently melodic blends of 21st century progressive house, tech-house, deep house and (whisper it quietly) colourful neo-trance. There are some surprises though, such as the dub-flecked, tops-off techno hyonotism of Digweed and Nick Muir's rework of David Morales' 'Diridim', Spencer Brown's gorgeous and tactile revision of 'Alraegadir' by Rodriguez Jr, and Loz Goddard's progressive breaks re-build of Digweed and Muir's 'Futurascent'.

Review: If you like acid, and you like it deep, then keep reading. Dircsen has put together an album of just that for Gated across four sublime sides of wax. Helical Structures operates at the intersection of those sounds and more, with a range of different tempos explored from the unhurried 'Fragments' which spits out random hits and has a nice lo-fi edge to the more high pressure acid of 'Helical Structures' with its undertone of bass lead menace. 'Jack In The Head' is a more classic acid cut with nods to the Chicago pioneers and 'Synthetic Rhythm' (Know Where mix) is perfect for both body and head.

Review: Although instalments are few and far between (the last one dropped eight years ago), Terrence Parker's From The Far Future album series contains some of the Detroit veteran's finest work. The latest volume - Part 3, fact fans - continues this trend, mixing weightless, deep space ambient with a wealth of Afro-futurist techno and tech-house works that make great use of impeccably programmed, loose-limbed rhythms, twisted synth lines, and aural textures that are genuinely cinematic in sound and vision. The plentiful highlights include warehouse-ready club cuts 'Unconditional Love', 'Spectrum of Light' and 'Out of Darkness', and the ambient sprawl of 'Remarkable Wanderer'. Sci-fi techno at its finest.

Review: DJ Bone is a Detroit titan. He plays on the decks with high energy and next-level skill that few can match - which is why they call him the Terminator. He pulls no punches in the studio either, crafting all killer no-filler club weaponry as exemplified here by his new album Further. This is top-level techno on his own Subject Detroit label with lashings of machine soul, futuristic ideals and evocative atmospheres. Some cuts sink into deep inner grooves and take you on a mindful trip and some are more wildly expressive, but all of them bang in the club.

Review: DJ Sotofett is one of those producers who operates on his own plane. His sounds are like no other, his ideas are weird and wonderful and his execution is always exceptional. He is a producer who does things in his own playful way and that bears out on this new 12-track album. It's couched in electro with 80s Nintendo console vibes and a fusion of analogue and digital synthesis that makes for a jubilant celebration. Along the way, things shift from acid-infected beats and catchy electronic pop to avant-garde electro cuts. Vital stuff.

Review: Dark Entries welcome back the inimitable Doc Sleep aka Melissa Maristuen for a superb new album of ghostly and ethereal house and techno. This is a welcome follow-up to last year's ambient and IDM exploration, Birds, and shows another side that draws on Maristuen's years of queer clubbing. It fuses aspects of New York house, Berlin techno and West-coast breakbeats and is "a love letter to the West Coast's magnificent natural landscape, the light of the Pacific sunrise." That is reflected in the sublime synths and silky rhythms which manage to both move your body but also captivate your mind. It's another cracking album from the Doc.

Review: Having previously mined Drexciya's back catalogue for four superb compilations (the Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller series), Clone has decided to reissue the Detroit electro legends' final studio album, 2002's Grava 4. It remains a superb set, moving between deep space explorations (the superbly atmospheric ambience of "Cascading Celestial Giants"), rolling, intergalactic electro ("Drexcyen Star Chamber"), intense dancefloor work outs ("Drexcyen R.E.S.T Principle"), glistening IDM ("Hightech Nomads"), and fusions of Sheffield bleep aesthetics and Cybotron style rhythms ("Gravity Waves"). In other words, you'll struggle to find a better electro album. If you don't own an original copy, you should grab this reissue sharpish.

Review: This is the one that kicked it all off for Mr Dynarec. By far his best work to date and already a classic electro album. Really cool stuff which wasn't available for a couple of years after the initial press. Sure shot for the Drexciya/Dopplereffekt heads.

Review: Released on lovely transparent blue vinyl, the fourth volume of Figure's Hardspace series offers six fresh reinterpretations of Len Faki's favourite tracks under his staunchly underground Hardspace alias. Josh Wink's 'Sixth Sense' gets a powerful low-end rework while Aoki Takamasa's minimalist dub transforms into a high-energy and peak-time slammer. DJ Yoav B's iconic 'Energize' reaches new rave heights with its relentless groove and Huxley's dark take on 'Weapon 3' comes on with explosive force. Tuttle's 'Function' ups the intensity with Faki's signature claps and sirens while Mike Parker's '90s classic 'Shakuhachi Two' gains extra drive with Hardspace's propulsive percussion for a dynamic techno workout.