DJs: Most Charted - Techno - Most Charted In May 2012

Review: Shifted's identity has remained somewhat of a mystery in 2012, but crucially, he does not come from the small coterie that has dominated UK techno over the past twenty years. Like the signature image he uses, a grey, shadowy creature creeping through a snowy forest, his infiltration of the sound has been stealthy and understated. In many ways, his lack of connection with techno, his automatic outsider status, has allowed him to effect an entrance into a hitherto new terrain. Like his releases on Mote Evolver and his own Avian imprint, Crossed Paths tingles and fizzes with an atmospheric sensibility that monochrome techno often lacks. All of this is made possible by his distinctive sound design; intricate and subtle, yet at the same time both functional and multi-faceted, where all of these divergent paths cross, you'll find Shifted.

Review: Having firmly found his groove with UK labels such as 2nd Drop and Fourth Wave, Gerry Read's latest EP sees that further notch in his ascendancy as he gets snapped up by Dutch institution Delsin to kick off their new house-orientated series. Stylistically, the four tracks on this new EP continue the mission statement Read has already laid out; there's a claustrophobic quality to lead track "Yeh Come Dance", that finds a cacophony of wooden percussion and angular vocal loops sweating all over each other while the hi-hats leer on drunkenly. As something of a contrast, the beat in "Crawlspace" is decidedly straight by these standards, letting the sequencing of the drum machine call more of the shots before too much wayward sample placing can send the rhythm askew. It doesn't take much to see the jazzy quality in Read's music, but "Bozza" perhaps marks the first instance where this quality has been capitalised on and fully realised. In that sense it marks something of a progression for the young beatsmith, as the complex arrangement of brushed drums, piano and other sonic debris aim for a place other than that usual seedy corner of the dancefloor. "Crooked" rounds off the EP with by distilling all these feelings into one track of strung out strangeness, where the groove is borrowed from garage and then robbed of its innocence, with an underlying bed of mean-spirited audio fragments. As with all the GR output it's evocative stuff, and reminds you that this EP marks not just consistency but also progress for the plucky producer.

Review: There's some po-faced minimalism to be found on the third offering from Avian. A debut appearance from AD/S heads straight for the monochrome thud of a pounding kick, offset by very delicate cicadas of percussion and just a faint whisper of melody. Sigha gets a cheeky soca kind of snare into the mix on his version, which creates a bizarre carnival techno flavour. That leaves it to Ventress to get slightly broken on his remix, breaking up that thudding kick and sprinkling some haunting magic in the shape of distant, forlorn pads, creating the most atmospheric cut on the 12".

Review: Having welcomed the supreme talents of Hakim Murphy into the Plan B fold with last year's well received Sampled Dreams EP; label boss DJ Spider now unveils the Kaiju EP, six tracks of B movie sci fi techno. "Submerged Giant" seems a rather pertinent title for the opening track with waves of monolithic pressure deep in the swampy production, off kilter percussive textures and gurgling analogue embellishments driving the track forward regardless. The rumbling aqueous "Thermionic Emission" makes for a largely beatless interlude that sounds like it surfaced from an underwater laboratory. Those seeking straight up techno will find little on this record, though the elasticised analogue groove at the core of "Attack Lines" and the fizzing, metallic "Sector Zero" are resolute highlights of a starkly individual EP from two of the US's most idiosyncratic producers.

Review: 2012 saw Berlin kings, Ostgut Ton create their considerably more housey, Unterton sub-label, giving the opportunity to some of Berlin's less pounding tracks to surface and emanate from those cavernous Berghain walls. For their first release, Berliner Tobias is remixed by two inarguably charismatic artists. "Leaning Over Backwards" is given a re-touch by none other than Efdemin, who has shaped the original into a deeper, leftfield excursion - raw as hell percussion glides freely among a whirlpool of strange bleeps and enchanting effects. For the B-side we have Meister Villalobos and Max Loderbauer giving some of their peerless organic beats and subtle harmonics. Great stuff as always from the German capital!

Review: If there was any label right now that was somehow tapped into the collective musical tastes of the Juno review team, it would be Signals. Based in Newcastle, the label was borne out the long running and respected Road To Rimini club night and has delivered releases from John Heckle and Oppenheimer Analysis in its brief history to date. The inaugural release, a smudged out delight from the previously unheralded duo The One featured a Legowelt remix, and Mr Wolfers now makes his full Signals debut with the North Sea Spectrum EP. The four tracks here are vintage Legowelt tackle, from the humorous titles "Bergerac Professional" to saturated hues of expert Juno 106 manipulation and dextrous box jam rhythms with "What Time Is It?" a real highlight.

Review: Dekmantel's 5th Anniversary Series has so far been as finely curated and presented as you'd expect from the Dutch label, and this penultimate entry is no different with Skudge and San Proper introducing some dark techno business to proceedings. Swedish duo Skudge are on fine form with "Silent Running" delivering one of their subtly melodic productions that revolves grainily around one repeated and tweaked refrain. Given San Proper's dedication to the label (he sports a Dekmantel tattoo after all) it's little surprise the hirsute Amsterdam icon was asked to contribute and "Rattle (Station 2 Station)" is one of the best tracks on the series so far. A grinding, industrial beat mixes with dense vocals, synths, speech samples and plenty more. The end result is a perfect example of the kind of steamy, sweaty haze of late night damage that Mr Proper has made his own.