Review: Emerald's 25th outing takes the form of another superb compilation with four artists who have already released on the label and plenty of new names making an equally good impression. ANNE kicks off with the deep, thudding kicks of 'Coral Reefs' complete with lush hits to smooth the groove. There is more weight and intensity to the oversized hi-hats ringlets on Mike Konstantinidis's 'Apocalypse', DJ Plant Texture layers in plenty of gritty and grime to his gritty 'Swingers' and Jarrod Yeates goes for a twisted after-party vibe on his intense and unrelenting 'Sesh Gremlin', with many more highlights besides.
The Sixteen Steps - "Signals From The South" (6:28)
The Sixteen Steps - "Promises On The Run" (7:17)
Review: Rampant and 'up for it' as usual, the Cititrax label is back with a new set of wayward technoid experiments for the more trained ears on the dancefloors. This time it's Romania's Borusiade and newcomer The Sixteen Steps who share two sides of a wax plate and, of course, proceed to annihilate any idea of a quiet night in. The former sets off with the mechanical acid bumps of "Infatuation", guided by an eerie set of vocal blurs, and that's followed by the comparatively more beat-centric techno of the apocalyptic "Confutation". On the flip, The Sixteen Steps first lands on "Signals From The South", a house banger with noxious levels of mutant bass at its core, followed by the single-minded industrialism and sheer techno brutality of "Promises On The Run". WOWZAH!
Review: Transmigration return with more brilliantly psychedelic techno sounds which have been carefully dug out from the rich archives of cult UK label Hollistic Recordings. As always, those originals have been remastered and restored and this one features a devastating a-side from Iestyn Polson and Steve Dungey of Projective Vision. Their mind melting and 13 plus minute 'Elevate' is a brilliantly involving mental trip and then on the flip side comes the gurgling and acid laced widescreen prog techno trip of 'Golden Eyed' by Thunderhead aka Polson joining forces with Jason Meherin. Plenty of retro future magic to tap into here.
Review: Berlin's Exit Strategy began their 12"s game releasing EPs in browned sleeves, shortly before branching out into digital-vinyl combo releases with original artwork in the 2020s. Now with over ten years of experience under their belts, they welcome five new artists for a playful bricolage in deep and minimal techno, privileging elite, razor-sharp additive sound design and future-soulful vocal tasters. Ivory's opener 'Rain' epitomises this, while Jimi Jules squelchifies the same formula, and Aera's 'Future Holdings' rolls out the same logic to its ultimate conclusion, veering towards complex, 3D-graphic melodic techno composed entirely of climbing saws.
Pearl River Sound & The Horn - "Modular Grime" (3:35)
Pearl River Sound - "Funeral Acid" (4:21)
The Horn - "The Hunt" (4:36)
The Horn - "Commander Klutz" (4:35)
The Horn - "Commander Klutz" (Pearl River Sound Mad version) (5:56)
Pearl River Sound - "MPC Groovy" (4:46)
Review: The second release from Alex Egan's Utter sub label Quoth finds a link-up between Pearl River Sound and The Horn - two outlier operators with plenty to say when their machines collide. Pearl River Sound has been scattering outstanding releases on Further, Seagrave and Further Electronix amongst others, while The Horn comes from serious Devon techno heritage having cut his teeth on Evolution back in t'day. This is all about upfront material though, with a tendency towards microtonal braindance that veers from the self-explanatory collaboration 'Modular Grime' to solo forays into off-kilter, acidic electro funk. Nowhere near as derivative as a lot of current braindance, this is real freaked-out electronics for those with discerning taste.
Review: Rave Or Die recently minted a new series called Raverbreakerz and now it squeezes out another one just in time for the silly season. Again featuring five electrifying tracks, this one is all about powerful rave, techno, breakbeat, and dark, doomy hard sounds crafted by skilled artists Mental Fear Productions brings some savage synth textures to 'Final Bastion', Tripped builds wall-rattling drum foundations on 'Spank' and Nite Fleit's 'Disillusion' is a writing blend of slamming kicks and tortured leads. Whether you're a seasoned raver or a newcomer, these bangers promise to ignite any set with musical menace.
Review: Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain, the masterminds behind Future Sound of London, return with The Pulse EP Vol 3, a reissue of their classic work under various aliases on the Jumpin' & Pumpin' label. This highly anticipated 12" features tracks that showcase their 90s techno brilliance. Side-1 opens with Smart Systems' 'Tingler' (Four By Four mix), a dark, sinister track that channels Beltram's 'hover' sound into a hardcore rave anthem. Indo Tribe's 'Owl' (I Can See You mix) follows, hailed by fans as one of the greatest breakbeat hardcore tracks ever made, a retro-classic loaded with chunky, energetic beats and an unforgettable sample. Side-2 kicks off with Indo Tribe's 'Bite The Bullet Baby' (Jacques Reynoix mix), another gem that blends early 90s rave energy with a unique edge. The real highlight, however, is Yage's 'Calcium' (Elementary mix), which first appeared on Future Sound of London's Accelerator album. Even today, it sounds transcendental and timeless, its melodic piano lines and otherworldly ambiance continuing to win over listeners. This EP is a vital piece of underground rave history and an essential listen for fans of early techno and breakbeat hardcore.
Review: Talk about keeping things on a knife edge. The first, and title track on this powerhouse EP is pretty much destined to whip any venue into a storm of expectation, not-so-much building but rather opening with this full-sounding, heavily atmospheric, space-y, proggy, could be techno, could be electro, could be trance arrangement. The kind of thing where there might as well be flairs firing into the sky warning you how much stomping a floor can take.
Similar vibes on 'Medusa', only on a deeper, darker, more menacing tip, a tune that sucks ears into another world entirely, one that's a little unsettling, and certainly difficult to find your way back out of. Elsewhere, things embrace a high-NRG ethic, with both 'Plasma' and 'Onda Sotto' taking things up to almost-gabber tempos, but without actually committing to the pounding fours.
Review: While she's been making moves as a club DJ in recent times, Paula Tape has not released a record since 2021. This EP, whose title doffs a cap to her Chilean roots, is therefore well overdue. It's rather good too, as proven by opener 'Acid Latino (Sonido Real)', where distinctively South American melodies, TB-303 tweaks and echo-laden spoken word snippets rise above a bold acid house bassline, tough beats and layered percussion. 'Feel 2 Real' sees our hero reach for sparkling house pianos, deep bass, sharper acid lines and spacey synths, while 'De2 Locura' is warmer, heavier and more melodically complex. To round off a fine EP, she joins forces with Caravan for the sax-laden South American house excellence of 'Ibis', a track as percussively intense as it is sonically seductive and sub-heavy.
Review: This is the first full-length LP from DJ and producer Tripped, known for his hard, fast, raw experimental techno style. Despite having released his own music since 2004 - mainly on labels such as Industrial Strength, Motormouth Recordz, and PRSPCT - Tripped may never have worked himself this hard. On 'A Thing About Something', he stretches the foundation of genres like hardcore techno, breakcore, gabber and schranz into entirely new reconstitutions. Strange hardstyle kick armaggedons, serene breakbeat floaters turned creepy and pressurized chambers of claustrophobic doom ensue in an overall whirlwind of pure mayhem.
Review: TWR72 is a Dutch techno mainstay who here debuts on the Spanish label Room. His Narrow EP is a powerful dance floor sucker punch with a remix from the up-and-coming Mathys Lenne that shows he is an artist with a textural take on tunneling techno. The original tunes include 'Narrow' which is all hulking great kicks and bleeping synth pulses. 'Generous' then ups the ante with quick and slick Mills style minimalism and 'Exact' rounds out with a hunched-over groove that leans into a stiff wind as howling synths swirl around and the tension continues to grow. Classy and timeless tackle for sure.
Review: Cititrax's first Tracks 12" sampler did a good job in showcasing material from some of the Brooklyn-based label's favourite contemporary producers. This follow-up, arriving only a few short months after the first, aims to do the same. Returning for his second appearance, Tsuzing kicks things off with the razor-sharp shuffle of "Nonlinear War", whose intoxicating electronics and wild synth lines recall Brown Album-era Orbital, before London-based L/F/D/M takes a trip into bleak techno territory with the acid-laden "Mouth Holes". Flip for Silent Servant's deliciously grandiose, muscular electro-disco workout "The Touch", and the clanking industrial percussion, EBM attitude and humming electro beats of Maelstrom's "Lithium".
Review: Missile Vintage deploys a sixth sizzling techno weapon here and it comes from the studio of Damon Wild and Tim Taylor who combine in electric fashion. 'Band The Acid' really does that. It is cantering, hi-octane techno with lashings of wet 303 lines that flash about the mix like an untethered hose. Add in some slamming analogue drums and eye-watering percussion and you have pure club dynamite. The DJ Dextro remix does nothing to offer you respite and is just as much of a caustic and timeless acid techno classic.
Mike Parker - "Shakuhachi Two" (Hardspace mix) (4:50)
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.
Review: Legendary German experimental label Mille Plateaux is back this week, with a fascinating album by Melody Tomb which is a collaboration between Tokyo artist Teruyuki Kurihara and London drone pop band The Leaf Library. Story has it that back in March 2020, The Leaf Library sent Kurihara some material to play with, in the hope that a collaboration would be born. He was indeed receptive, resulting firstly in the track 'Kite Beach' which was featured on the band's Objects Forever compilation in 2021, with the rest of the album slowly appearing over the next year that takes in drone, soundscapes, minimal techno and industrial noise throughout its eight tracks. The artists hope to continue the collaboration with another album in the near future.
Review: As one of the iconic partnerships from the electroclash era, Miss Kittin & The Hacker helped define seedy synth tackle at the turn of the century. Given the prevalence of minimal wave in this day and age, it feels like the perfect time for them to come back with a new album. Teetering between pop nous and the darkest of deviant nighttime dreams, this is everything you would want from a return of the Grenoble greats. Listening to 'Purist' and they could easily be taking on the charts, while a trip into 'La Cave' is like donning your finest leathers and sliding into the dungeon.
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Get Up (Ripley Sucks)" (5:26)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Pu Sh T" (0:51)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Inside" (3:00)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Bloody Beach" (4:00)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "King Of Pain" (4:06)
The Swamp - "Driver" (live) (5:33)
The Swamp - "Hard Core Bodys" (live) (7:14)
The Swamp - "Ground" (live - II) (2:54)
The Swamp - "My Body Rip Up" (live) (5:37)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Days Of Tears" (3:51)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Sex & Wars" (6:03)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Creepshow" (3:41)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Show Me The Pain" (4:07)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Rosa Bernet" (3:49)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Kranzo Roses" (1:18)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Ende" (5:25)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Devil" (4:13)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Maid To Be Laid" (4:12)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Example Of BBC" (4:03)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Leaving Risk" (2:35)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "The Electric Chair For Atomic Spies" (2:45)
Review: Born and raised in Bern, Switzerland, Michael Antener spent most of the 1980s concerned with interpreting the subconsciously and overtly apocalyptic discourse of that time through the medium of industrial-edged, dark feeling music. "I found a niche where I could express myself, along with other people who were not afraid of dark themes," he's quoted as saying in retrospect, before going on to explain that singing about love would have been more difficult than using "cries of pain taken from horror movies". This triple vinyl collector's item celebrates that fertile, if angry and dystopian period in Antener's life. Bringing together work from two of his formative projects, The Stranger of the Swamp and Bande Berne Crematoire, what's here is captivating. Electroclash with groove, distressed collages of noise, a certain sense of sonic expressionism - all brooding shadows, menacing arrangements and deeply unsettling moods.
Review: Four Tet's iconic label, Text Records, rarely releases much beyond the artist's own, less album-based output and collaborations with friends. So it's a revelation that a new artist is coming to release on the imprint too - Hagop Tchaparian's 'Bolts' is a uniquely trans-Armenian take on folktronic dance, blending the found sound house tropes Mr. Tet is all too used to with field recordings from the Mediterranean. An auditory homage to skateboarding, coastal tat shops, and post-punk through the lens of emotive dance music.
Review: Following a couple of decent but arguably overlooked 12" singles, Tecwaa has decided the time is right to drop his debut album. The Swedish artist proceeds to languidly shuffle through evocative, occasionally icy tracks that variously draw influence from deep house, 1980s wave music, spiritual jazz, leftfield synth-pop, trippy electronica and chugging psychedelic disco. It's an interesting and entertaining set, with each success delay-laden track delivering a new twist on his hard-to-pigeonhole late night/early morning sound. By the time the bubbly, acid flecked "Those Cosmic Plains" rounds the album off, you'll be ready to listen to it all over again.
Review: Five years on from his debut album, Portuguese techno stalwart Temuto is back with another longform demonstration of his formidable production style. Shapeless kicks off in no uncertain terms with the title track, which despite the name locks into a watertight formation of thundering rhythm section and pointed shards of dub techno. The precision sculpting and immersive atmospheres continue unabated across all four sides of this album, exploring different levels of textural intensity but never losing the fierce functionality you expect from a modern techno release.
Harrison Crump - "Deep Down Inside" (Michel Cleis remix) (9:52)
Jay Lumen - "The One" (10:06)
VSK - "Echinopsis" (7:16)
Kevin Yost - "Defence Mechanism" (7:10)
Tenzella - "Hi 79" (5:25)
Uncertain - "Cure" (5:19)
Juri Heidemann - "Haras" (6:23)
Steve Robinson - "No Space, No Time" (6:54)
Uncertain - "Clash" (5:08)
Taster Peter - "Body Call" (6:18)
D Leria - "Invisible" (6:19)
Filterheadz & Horatio - "Bells Of Brightones" (6:41)
Uto Karem - "Your Voice" (feat Biba) (6:33)
George Vidal - "Out From Obscurity" (6:48)
D Unity - "More Drums Please" (5:29)
Review: Global Underground is one of the longest-running DJ mix series and it has always been one of the best. Plenty of big-names over the years have made their mark, often more than once, and now it is the turn of the famously long-playing New York titan Danny Tenaglia to show us what he's made of. He brings his signature grooves and a hint of Latin flavour to proceedings on this, a third and final installment of his trilogy for the series. It is mostly contemporary names serving up new school sounds but all delivered with Danny's cultured and old school DJ mentality.
Review: When you look back at the first PlayStation several landmark releases spring to mind - Resident Evil, Tekken 2, Crash Bandicoot - the list could go on much longer and should definitely include Wipeout and Wipeout 2097. Both were renowned for combining high pace, futuristic visuals with contemporary electronic club music from some of the biggest producers and acts at the time. Less remembered, in Europe at least, is the Ape Escape series, an intense party-platform title which arguably has the greatest dance music game score of all time. Comprising six tracks from that saga, this compilation of Soichi Terada's soundtracks emphasises that bold point. Opening on the crisp, punchy techno drive of 'Specters Factory', we find ourselves in suitably spooky jungle ('Haunted House'), rumbling dnb ('Spectors Castle') and roughneck hardcore bass ('Coasters'), among other made up genres. A collection which resembles Terada's amazing 1996 album, Sumo Jungle and makes a case for the Japanese enigma as one of dance music's most underrated geniuses.
Review: Theo Parrish's venerated Sound Signature label hits the notable milestone of 100 releases with this new double album, Skin Breaker, from Howard Thomas. It is one inspired by the artist's formative years spent watching sci-fi films and soaking up 80s beat tracks. Both of those aspects are folded into the record which is a hugely original take on house and techno. Tracks collide dusty drums with gurgling synths, deep space pads with caustic basslines and otherworldly energy that very much comes back from the future to keep you on your toes. In true Sound Signature style, this is an album that sounds like little else so is the perfect way to mark 100 releases.
Ascending Into The Clouds (feat Elisabeth Troy) (6:13)
LMZNIN (2:39)
Winter Crush (5:40)
In Order 2 (4:52)
Review: HudMo is on rampant form at the moment, firing off collaborations left, right and centre and, as usual, never missing. That said, this project feels like something very special indeed, as he doubles down on kinship with Canadian techno legend Tiga to make an album in thrall to the surge of feelings that hit us when we submit to the possibilities of the night. It's a romantic kind of techno that comes on like early B12 or Artificial Intelligence-era techno in places, but there's also some crafty hooks and flamboyance as you would rightly expect from such a heavyweight studio pairing.
Review: This eight-track release plunges listeners into a world of sci-fi techno, where melodic interludes meet deep, atmospheric edges. Side-1 opens with 'Fukaeri', a track defined by its broken deep beats and ambient drift, evoking a sense of floating through a distant galaxy. 'The Increasing Past' follows with gentle IDM beats, rich colo, and masterful productioniperfect for deep, immersive listening.'Tela' delivers a serene ambient experience, holding the quiet beauty of a rising sun with its delicate textures and evolving warmth. 'Gyeon' shifts into a slow breakbeat with a gentler, deeper approach that feels both introspective and expansive. 'We Are Not Alone' closes the side with cloud-like ambient soundscapes, hazy and airy, as rising vocal arcs add to its otherworldly aura. Lush, cosmic soundscapes and intricate beats create a masterful blend of ambient and techno elements, perfect for those seeking both depth and escapism.
Review: Immortal Ventures is a magnificently well-rounded new album from Torn on the mighty Samurai Music. All 13 of the cuts are fantastically well crafted and mix up a range of moods from broody and mediative to deep and hypnotic. 'Knowledge' kicks off with dark and unsettling ambience and 'Reckless' then melts the mind with deft percussive loops over groaning sounds of a depraved underworld. There is more cinematic atmosphere to 'Invisible Turmoil' with its creepy sense of open space and 'Inner Battle' is a kinetic jungle cut with thunderous energy and dystopian eeriness. This is the sort of music that works as well away from the club as it does in it.
White Point (Robert Armani & Van Czar remix) (4:51)
White Line (7:13)
White Line (Samuel L Session remix) (5:50)
White God (3:54)
White God (Waffensupermarkt remix) (5:11)
White Space (6:35)
White Space (Waffensupermarkt remix) (3:25)
Gray God (5:19)
Gray Space (4:53)
Gray Line (6:15)
Gray Point (7:18)
Review: After an incredible inauguration by legend Robert Armani, the second release on Techno Parade Vinyl comes from rising Chinese techno producer TPMP. The Chengdu-based arranger, mixer, mastering engineer and Eurorack modular designer presents eight original tracks on his debut vinyl album, with an extensive selection of remixes by some of the scene's biggest names such as the aforementioned Armani, Samuel L. Session and Waffensupermarkt. Style wise, TPMP goes for that greyscale dub techno sound, counting the likes of Basic Channel and Echospace as influences. Whether it's the locomotive minimalism of 'White Point', the cavernous and glacial body bash of "Gray Point" or the deconstructed EBM of "White Line" - Hardester High Frequency proves that TPMP is one to watch!
Review: Of all the many Drexciya-related projects, Transllusion is surely one of the finest. Coming in the twilight years of James Stinson's life, there's a bittersweet quality to Opening Of The Cerebral Gate but it doesn't hold the force of the music back. From 'Transmission Of Life's searing arps to the nasty machine funk of 'Negative Flash', this is Stinson running at full clip, speaking that innate Drexciyan language through the machines in a manner which has been oft imitated but never even remotely matched. Reissued by Tresor in 2014 with a bonus 12", now it's presented with a fresh sleeve design which evokes the cyberpunk mood of the music in fine style.
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