Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Here is the third and final chapter of the 'Systema Naturae' series on Berlin-based 012, with fresh deep techno visions from newcomers such as Daniel(i) from Belgium (Whispering Signals) who ventures into foreboding and murky territory on the off-kilter journey of 'Carabus', and there's the return of Greek producer Alex Tomb who gets into some hypnotic minimal techno on 'Paradisaea'. Elsewhere, Leipzig-based Kontinum pushes into full mental overdrive on the strobing cut 'Octandria' and finally you have the collaboration between Mary Yuzovskaya and label head Claudio PRC titled 'Marmor' which perfectly nails that ethereal Sound Of Rome vibe.

Review: Monika Kruse's Terminal M is the sort of label that serves up functional techno that keeps DJs with plenty of weekend weapons without ever really getting any headiness. It is Kaspar who does the basics well here with two tracks that do very different things. First up is 'Imagination' which layers up hands in the air synths over patient, slow burning beats that will cast a real spell on a crowd before things get too steamy. And then on the flip is the banger - 'Cycle Of Life' has darker energy, slamming drums, raw and pixelated leads that never stop twisting and turning.

Review: With a name like the 'Bangers' series, one can only guess what you're in for. This is the eighth installment in the series from Terminal M, the German label run by techno fiend Monika Kruse. This four-track EP compilation - and there are many more where it came from - reinforces the most hardened cores of the German underground, whether they manifest as mystic darkside trance (Zajon's 'Fierce Pain') or verging-on-hardstyle apocalypses (Kaspar's 'Since 94').

Review: GTown label head Kettama has just blown plenty of brains with his recent Booler Room set and now he's back to repeat that trick with this new EP on his own label. GTOWN004 is a radioactive EP with blistering grooves and brutalists textures at its core. 'Samba Soccer 2001' is already a firm favourite with fans with its driving, disruptive bass and 'Blitz Zuruck' then comes on with some trance-tinged synths and euphoric vocals stitched into a fulsome, punchy techno groove. The flip side has three more supersized and maximal techno anthems for super charged dancefloors, including a potent Rock Da Cliffe mix.

Review: You can't fault a label that just bangs out high quality and functional tracks deigned to do nothing more than just blow up the floor. And Mall Gabr's Stye City Discs has always done that. Next up to make his destructive entry is Kettama with Fallen Angel, a six track EP doused in rave euphoria. 'Fly Away XTC' is an old school and pills dup banger that also comes as a G-Town mix and 'Feeling Emotions' then layers up the diva vocals and all out piano joy. 'Found My Angel' ducks and dives bobs and waves through layers of chords and scratchy drums 'Fallen Angel' is another hands in the air, lost in the lasers moment.

Review: It's 10 up for TVIR and to mark the occasion they have a fantastic five-track outing from Komponente. 'Gash' is a fizzing, dense and slow-motion cut with a grinding low end and some serious bounce in the drums and bass. It's both fun and menacing all at once and has real anthem potential once the vocals come in. 'Flowers' has a brighter melodic touch but also lashings of spiky acid and 'Sanctuary' is then a deft tech house workout with suspensory and angelic vocals. 'Mind Revolt' is an unhinged mix of ghoulish laughter and bright sine waves, then 'Veronika' shuts down with a meditative broken beat.

Review: It's been a while since we've heard from Moroccan breakbeat favourite and Convergence Records founder Kosh, but he's back with a bang on none other than everybody's favourite Atlantean, underwater-breathing, acid trance house everything kru - Kalahari Oyster Cult. 'The Chopper' EP spans everything from Drexciyan kitsch-lectro to to floaty tech house trance to sillily verbatim breakbeat, ending on a hilarious high note with the timestretching, disc-scratching, stadium-ready rave rampage 'Come On'.

Review: Melody Of The Soul is focused on an emotive strain of techno which takes its cues from classical composition as much as contemporary electronic music. On this new 12", rasa Rosa takes centre stage for a debut outing which makes an instant impression thanks to the stirring fusion of youthful choral vocals and bombastic strings set to a steady 4/4 pulse. 'Kukushka' is lighter in tone, shot through with a soothing balm of pan pipes and enchanting female vocals which persist into the collaborative cut with Ranta and Miroshin, 'Kolybelnaya'. On the final track, Rosa links up with MOS for a delicate, house-oriented meditation for the most spiritual, open-hearted of dancefloor moments.

Review: Nina Kraviz is one of global techno's most recognisable names and biggest headliners by now. But many years ago, when she was still not long finished with her dentist training, she was a little-known underground artist sneaking out superbly subtle and smoky house jams on labels like Underground Quality and Rekids. It is the latter label where she served up 'Taxi Talk', which features her own vocal musings and whisperings recorded late one night on a taxi journey. It is paired with trippy synth motifs and a swaying, stripped-back groove to make for something impossibly intimate. This reissue also comes with a twisted tech remix from David Lohlein and disco-fried venison from Sterac Electronics.

Review: The Final Call finds Adam K.Roll going deep into a world where dub, techno, ambient, electronica, Jamaican dub and summer sounds from tropical islands all coexist. It is a far cry from the minimal remade back in the mid-00s and one that brings a fresh perspective to warm, heady, deep sound worlds. The long player also includes a first vinyl pressing of the previously digital-only single 'Into The Ocean' and has also had Echo Inspectors remix it. Both tunes are superb amongst a record of similarly well-designed and exapist works.

Review: KW has long been a talented producer who has operated in the shadows. He emerges from them now with another EP on Ilian Tape only six or so months after his last standout effort. Altgr is another fine one that opens with 'Midnight Run', a skittish flurry of breakbeats and snares, grumbling bass and kinetic energy that never lets up. 'Paste' is just as rhythmically inventive, this time lurching backwards and forwards but with more pensive pads and 'Copy' keeps up the leftfield inventions that make this return so welcome. 'Lastmin_Res' closes out in head-spinning fashion.

Review: Japan's Thinner Groove flesh out their distinctive aesthetic with every new release. This time around, they welcome none other than Lemmi Ash, KOOLMFL and Sonic Weapon for a collaborative three-track EP of lowercase minimal tech and textural vignettes. The aim of the game is best encapsulated in the label's commentary: "each track can add a distinctive touch to the night, as like completing your cocktail with lemon and/or lime". Each track indeed sounds to the ear akin to how a fruity garnish tastes, with Ash's 'Presence' bringing tart citrine breaks notes to a gracefully held glass vessel. KOOLMFL's 'Atonbow' is drier bitters, barely availing itself of its trembling chords and sampled vox after an ultra-snappy initiation featuring a mere bass and kick-clap. Thinner Groove know all too well that good music is like an excitation of the flavour palate, and that minimality is the thing that lets such flavours sit.

Review: Ohm and Kvadrant return to their spiritual home of Kontakt with more of that grandiose dub techno immersion they do so well, plumbing epic depths both within and beyond the functional demands of the dancefloor. 'Precious Little Diamond' kicks the record off in a steady-cruising form, guided by a smooth minimal tech house beat as the engine for some choice dub techno chords and mechanical hiccups. Deadbeat then takes the helm for a version which plunges into abstract echo chamber sonics he's spent decades perfecting before Levon Vincent completes the picture with a remix which heads into the outer limits of deep techno immersion.

Review: Ohm and Kvadrant continue to offer their services in the dub techno vein; clearly, this isn't their first Kontakt. 'Treasure Of Kings Garden' reflects a single fantasy: the muted pleasure of discovering a forbidden gem buried at the bottom of his royal majesty's grounds. We imagine Ohm and Kvadrant's king to be a tyrant; necessarily, in fact, his sadism is the exact measure against which this diamond's value can be measured. The three mixes of the sole track 'Precious Little Diamond' unfurl like different stages of bejewelled delight and respite, from the initial 4x4 discovery to Deadbeat's halfstep black market laundering, and followed shortly by Levon Vincent's impressively textural evocation of cathartic relief, on receipt of such requisitioned-then-resold royal riches.

Review: Just in time for Valentine's Day, System 108 from the Netherlands marks eight years of business with Eight Years Of Love Pt 1, a superb 12" packed with fresh house sounds from across the spectrum. Simple Symmetry & Lord Fascinator open up with 'The Search Continues', a thumping acid laced tech house cut with indie vocals while Cream Soda bring twitchy electronics and amped up drums. There's electroclash-style rawness from Kovyazin D, Lipelis & Cosmic G explore a more celestial sound that will place you amongst the heavens and Gleb Filipchenkow shuts down with slow, elastic, acid laced gurgles on his 'Mieux La' (feat Ode).

Review: Great deep techno with two respected artists bringing their favourite cuts on this collaborative split release. Goettingen's finest Kosta Athanassiadis aka XDB delves into the sublime sound of resonance on the hypnotising dub techno cut 'C.O.N.' on the A-side. Over on the flip, you've got Dresden's Stephan Schindler - better known as Kryptic Universe - with 'Cloud Riders' an emotive deep cut for the late night. Limited copies on blue wax.