Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: Italian DJ and producer Luigi Madonna sources high-technical pressure on his latest release for Planet Rhythm. The Shinto torii on the front cover appears in stark contrast to the EP’s otherwise manic mechanics, with the sonorant ‘Red Gate’ - if it is to reflect any kind of religiosity at all - bringing meaty, dreaded kicks and a reflective lead stab, as of a doomsday techno-cult, not a decentralised polytheism. Hardly the peaceful image we’re met with on the sleeve! ‘Untuned Harmonics’ files back the A1’s textural bark for a more dynamic calculation in sound, while ‘Over The Sky’ ravels automatic growls and yaps around seething hats.

Review: Medellin producer Marck D (Charlie Escobar) is a new Planet Rhythm poster child, though his digital releasing repertoire is nonetheless colossal even without them, his many affairs including Illegal Alien, Phobiq and IAMT. Shocker it is, then, that 'Dune' is Escobar's first ever 12"; the record brings ultraphonic chord slurries ('Behind The Chord') and federated, intergalactic-dynastic codes of techno honour ('Atreides'), riding the sand-wormed thematics of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic.

Review: Rotterdam's Planet Ryhtm returns with more music in one of several sub-series it operates. This one finds David Moleon at the buttons and racing out of the blocks with 'Jessica', a big, rusty, unrelenting wall of techno noise. 'Nocontrol' is a similar wall of sound with loopy drum and percussive rotations washing over you time and time again and last of all is 'Oye Bien' which pairs things right back to a lone kick drum before rebuilding with various textural synth lines.

Review: Planet Rhythm is a far-away world where techno is always playing. The Dutch label never lets up with its release schedule but also somehow never compromises on quality either. This EP from Muzmin is a testament to that once more with opener 'Brick' soon establishing a serious groove with automated factory floor sounds adding detail. 'What Is Not There' brings a more cosmic feel with pulsing synth blips and 'Doesnit' has a little texture in the dry hits and fizzy static sounds that marbled the arrangement. 'Nknwn' is the unresolved and unsettling closer for those more warped moments.

Review: One of the most successful and enduring techno labels has been the Dutch based Planet Rhythm Records. For over 30 years now the label has helped launch and propel the careers of some of the biggest names in the genre. One such name that the label has helped grow is Muzmin and 'The Bulb' EP is his fifth release for them to date. These heavy, grooving rhythmic tracks have just the right amount of percussive elements to give the tracks some melodic moods, 'The Bulb' itself having an eerie, sci-fi mysterious feel to it giving us Purpose Maker impressions. On 'Yuklem', the loopier underlying is particularly sick. 'Kran' also does a great job of feeling aggressive yet reserved in some aspects. This gives the track an excellent laid-back sound or a very heavy one depending on what you want to hone in on listening. That is a hard balance to have in heavy techno so we give Muzmin major props for having that experience and skill to pull off. This is no nonsense techno that fits perfectly into the fabric of the sound that the label has fostered.