Review: BeAvantGarde Records have been away for a while but now makes an always-welcome return with the underground favourite that is Riccardo. He does his usual do of serving up four tracks of spaced-out invention. 'In Space' opens up with nice warped bass and insistent synth stabs with jacked-up drums and perc. 'Frequency' then has a more bright and cosmic sense of mood as the drums slow down and lull you into their hypnotic patterns. There is plenty of snap and crispy bass to 'Timeout' with its searching lead synths and gritty baseline while last of all is 'Kalapas' which cuts are loose and has ragged rhythms and textures for a more arresting vibe.
Review: Rick 8 is the techno alias of Italy's Riccardo Falsini, and here he revives the pioneering spirit of his iconic Interactive Test label with this early gem, which offers an essential slice of trance, techno and progressive house history. Known for reshaping genre boundaries, the label was a beacon of innovation, as this EP shows. Each track is a potent club tool, designed for transcendental dancefloor moments and sonic ascension from the chunky tribalism of 'Hypernotes Velocity' to the standout remix of 'C'Mon' by Sound Metaphors affiliate Trent, who injects progressive firepower. 'Born To Sinthetize' is a deeper, spiritual sound with flashy synth work married to loose drum loops.
Review: Ukraine has been a hotbed of house and techno innovation going back a good few years now. Nechto is a label that has more than played its part in that and now kicks on with a new EP as it hurtles towards 30 releases in all. RMK is behind this one and opens up with some impassioned vocal cries over sleek linear beats. 'Vessel' is a tightly woven deep techno tapestry with soulful synth warmth lighting things up. There is no let up on 'Factory Streets' with its driving drums and pulling synths adding meat to the bones and last of all is 'Keys', another triumphant example of how both form and function can happily co-exist in the techno world.
Review: Over a career stretching back almost two decades, Robag Wruhme has proved to be one of minimal house and techno's most unique producers, with a trademark sound that's become a byword for mind-altering, late-night quality. Fans of the Wruhme sound will love his latest outing on Kompakt extra. Our pick of the pair is driving A-side 'No', where mystical sounds, exotic percussion and sustained chords rise above a thrusting bassline and a rock-solid drum machine rhythm. By his standards it's quite "big", though that's not a criticism - 'No' genuinely sounds like a proper peak-time banger. B-side 'Frontex Freppant' is more in-keeping with his hazy, hypnotic sound of old, with stabbing electronics, looped aural textures and wonky electronics clustered around another tough, weighty techno groove.
Review: Arthur Robert breaks new ground with Particle Accelerator, the latest EP from The Third Room, a label known for its innovative techno releases and events. This four-track release marks the label's first full EP by a guest artist and showcases Robert's unique ability to blend deep, dynamic techno with crisp sound design and powerful drum arrangements. This EP pays tribute to the interaction of minute particles that unleash vast power, drawing inspiration from quantum mechanics. Robert's style is defined by fast-paced, hard-hitting club sounds that weave melodic elements and disruptive beeps into a foundation of compressed and, at times, distorted rhythms. His ability to craft intricate, sound-rich environments while maintaining relentless energy is on full display here. Describing the release as a sonic exploration of the universe's elemental forces, Robert channels minimal techno with nods to Detroit and a fascination with the cosmos. All and all, a powerful techno record that is as futuristic as it comes.
Drivetrain - "This Is Detroit" (Rolando remix) (6:40)
Zadig - "Maniac Manson" (Rolando remix) (6:33)
Malvito - "Origin" (Rolando remix) (6:51)
Review: Pumping new Syncrophone remixes from producer Rolando, who helps the label celebrate its 60th outing with a fresh crock of remixes of star releases from its back catalogue. Including versions of Derrick Thompson, Zadig and Malvito, this collection brings a powerful Detroit-inspired sound to a cutting-edge modern feel, not getting too bogged down in tradition and yet keeping quite true to the raw and unvarnished finish incipient of the early motorised sound. Best here has to be the B2, which heads in a broken direction, splitting rhythmic hairs with auto-somatic woodblock strikes and deep pads.
Review: Ron & Roland was a mid-90s collaboration between Matt Hodgson (7th Voyage) and Laurant Webb (Housey Doingz) and at their peak they made some untouchable records that perfectly straddled the house and techno divide. This new reissue on Pariter is one of them and it features a trio of cuts laced with visceral acid energy. 'Nassaur Bassed Party' kicks off with crispy drums and snares that cut through the rich bass. 'Acidless Party' gets wilder with extra 303 energy and 'Track Ball Treck' balances dynamic drive with sonic detail for a dubby, elastic groove that was initially recorded at Swag Studios Croydon in 1996 and, with these other cuts, was initially released on Surreal. It's been a cult favourite ever since and still sounds magnificent.
Review: Mote Eovler has only ever dealt in serious techno and that's what we get here from Roogunit. Across four fierce tracks various different moods and grooves are offered up. It is the brutal drum patterns and brushed metal textures of 'Bash Box' which open up with urgent siren sounds up top, then 'Don't Let Go' is more fulsome and freaky, with funky drums and dark vocals looping up top. 'Koox' then layers in glassy melodies and silky synths that unravel in linear fashion and 'Sanity Regard' is the eerier and edgy closer. This is some serious techno for those who like it proper.
Review: Rosati's debut release on his new imprint, Global Pulse, heralds a bold venture into the future of techno. The Automatic Response EP is a four-track exploration of sonic innovation, blending powerful dynamics with intricate textures. From the hypnotic energy of Automatic Response to the atmospheric depths of Ufo Memory, each track pulls you in with the futuristic landscape of sound. 'Feeling' pays homage to the late 90s era with its percussive loops and funky bass lines. Global Pulse promises to be a platform dedicated to sustainability and authenticity in Electronic Music, setting the stage for a series of releases that push the boundaries of the genre.
Review: Roy Of The Ravers may be best known for his lysergic rave pelters, but there's always been a hint of grandiose melancholy in his synth work that suggested there was more to the machine botherer than tear-out acid beats. Emotional Response worked with the artist in trawling through a vast archive of material recorded between 1997 and 2017, rescued from hard drives once thought lost, and now gathered as a compelling ambient release with the full fat hardware veneer of Roy's work to date, but coming from a more reflective angle. From cathedral-quaking drones to deeply submerged aquatic excursions, this album has plenty to draw you into the inner world of an acid hero.
Review: Roy Of The Ravers takes a break from his mischievious outings on Acid Waxa et al to lay down some of his braindance tackle on Emotional Response. White Line Sunrise II.I (Le Roy Soleil) can rightly be considered a follow-up to White Line Sunrise II and indeed it represents a similar kind of spectrum of electronica. Roy's sound is edging further into the kind of 'artist' territory where slower, softer tracks, odd vocal diversions and some pop sensibilities merge with the acid, electro, breakbeat and other well-established tropes of his sound. It's the kind of record which could easily broach this quirky fringe operator of UK electronics to a broader fan base, and there's no doubt he's got the melodic, emotional heft on tracks like 'Versace 101624' to get everyone on board.
Review: Four new motoric Hardgrooves from the eponymous label, riffing off the back of a mountain of DJ support in recent months to bring three of the best formerly digital-only tracks to grace the label's catalogue, plus a brand new, previously unreleased cut from Ben Sims and Mark Broom under their infamous Roku guise. Sims and Broom whack up the velocity thruster to eleven on the As 1 and 2 respectively, with 'Snapshot '99' and 'WWWWWWWWork' providing little opportunity for exhalation or ease. The odometer hand is well and truly straining, nigh broken by the time we reach Mark Williams' 'Next 21s', with its hypey falsetto rave shouts, while the diminutive duo Roku round things off on a salacious acid smoke bomb, 'Acid Amnesia'.
Review: Way back in 2002, in the midst of his rise to global recognition, Ricardo Villalobos delivered a one-off EP for Linear as Termiten - though at the time his involvement was not widely known. It has become something of a sought-after minimal techno classic, with copies of the original 12-inch changing hands for serious sums - hence this Rawax reissue. It remains a fine record. A-side 'Why Did I Love My Wife' is Villalobos at his most propulsive - the kick-drum is pretty sturdy - while still reliably trippy, out-there and intoxicated. 'Nordhorn', a deeper affair in which melancholic melodies seemingly hang in the air over a typically wonky and loose-limbed drum track, is also superb, while 'Frank & Hennes' is a lolloping dab of downtempo psychedelia featuring samples from a heady old folk-rock jam.
Pig & Dan vs Gregor Tresher - "Granular" (Update 2022 mix) (6:37)
Wehbba - "The Next Step" (6:10)
Nicole Moudaber - "Come To My Beat" (feat Romina) (6:50)
Review: The all powerful Drumcode label still does a fine line in big room techno after countless years and even more releases of the stuff. This third part of the A Sides collection brings together a towering selection of names from that scene including Tiger Stripes with the smooth cruise that is 'Altar'. Veterans Pig & Dan vs Gregor Tresher get more intense with frosty loops and dubby hits building a vibe and Wehbba ups the ante with acid daubs and fizzing drums on 'The Next Step.' Nicole Moudaber's 'Come To My Beat' (feat Romina) then hammer home a hefty techno groove.
Review: The sixth album from Radioactive Man aka former Weatherall collaborator Keith Tenniswood, written amid a whirlwind of international touring,. 'Under The Counter' sets the tone with its soft, gleaming textures and deep bass. From there, the album dives into a vibrant mix of styles, from the slap bass funk of 'See Above' to the dense techno of 'Colourful Language'. But there's more than bangers. 'Sinkhole', for example, a collaboration with Suade Bergemann featuring vocals from Ali Love and Chloe Raunet, provides a poignant counterpoint with its melancholic melody. This triple 12" package, released on Tenniswood's own label, is a journey through UK rave, breakbeat and Detroit techno, all filtered through the lens of a master electro craftsman.
Review: The Dalmata Daniel label welcomes Rapha for Midnight Dancer, a bold new album of journey electro and electronics. 'U Win I Win' gets things underway with glistening and innocent melodies over steely analogue drums. The CT Kidobo remix) makes it more raw and elsewhere the artist plays with slower tempos for chugging cuts like 'Midnight Dancer' that still shine with bright, pixel-thin pads. Add in gems like 'Lost Star' and 'Galactico' and you have a tastefully intergalactic trip from which you won't want to return.
Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: A New Year Carol (part 2) (3:00)
Challengers: Match Point (3:21)
Compress/Repress (2:25)
Review: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, known for their remarkable work with Nine Inch Nails and film scores like The Social Network, deliver a techno-charged soundtrack for Luca Guadagnino's tennis-themed love triangle drama Challengers. The score is a pulsating mix of electroclash, synth-pop, and driving techno, expertly weaving traditional instruments with electronic beats. Reznor and Ross take Guadagnino's vision to heart, crafting a soundtrack that not only drives the narrative but also challenges expectations with its bold, rhythmic energy. Tracks like 'Compress/Repress', co-written with Guadagnino and featuring Reznor's vocals, showcase their ability to blend artistic expression with the film's themes of control and power. Overall, this is a excellent soundtrack that works well to support the visual or just listening to it without having seen the movie.
Review: Lukid & Tapes combine their scuzzy sounds once more as Rezzett for this new and sonically fucked up outing on The Trilogy tapes. It's lo-fi music full of perfect imperfections and dusty sound sources, cruddy rhythms and distant cosmic noise that sounds both as if dug up from under many layers of ancient soil but also somehow sent back from the future. It is now a decade since this pair made their first outing but their sound remains fascinatingly original. For loose genre references, imagine breakbeat hardcore, 90s jungle, granular Detroit techno and raw Chicago house all chucked into a blender.
Review: 2020 marks the 30th birthday of Network Records, a label that did arguably more than any other in the early 90s to champion both US and UK techno. As part of their celebrations they'll be reissuing some key singles and albums from their catalogue, starting with this 1991 compilation of key Derrick May productions. Now stretched across two slabs of wax rather than one to guarantee a louder cut, "Innovator" contains a wealth of vital early Motor City techno classics, from the acid-powered insanity of "Nude Photo" and the rushing, piano-heavy rush of "Strings of Life", to the thrilling sci-fi futurism of "Wiggin" and the deep techno warmth of "Hand Over Hand".
Review: Rivet's newest album for Editions Mego blends optimism and negation, emerging sanguinely from a period of personal tragedy and disillusionment undergone by the artist. Mika Hallback, a key figure in the Swedish underground, first gained attention with industrial techno as Grovskopa before shifting to experimental work, including On Feather and Wire (2020). After the loss of fellow musician Peter Rehberg and his dog Lilo, Hallback created the somber L+P-2 (2023), and now Peck Glamour marks his return, coming reinfused with hope and exploration. Drawing on punk, industrial, techno, and trauma, the album combines synthetic and organic elements, with 'Orbiting Empty Cocoon', with its tugging, metal ballistic sound-rooms sounding like an Au-technic, cybernetic ritual, a dance anthem 'Patitur Butcher' and 'We Left Before We Came' concluding on comparatively layered zoonotic notes; posthuman synthesis backed by birdsong.
Review: Roy Of The Ravers returns to his Acid Waxa stomping ground with a much needed vinyl pressing of last year's insanely good "Who Are Ya??" album. Keeping tracks these potent trapped on cassette would have been a crime, but fear not as they've been cut in all their squelchy, 303-baiting glory. There's a particular snappy appeal to Roy's style that makes it some of the most refreshing acid we've heard in some time, whether it's the proper naughty "Roy Shat Over Ref" or the slow-creeping acid of "All Aboard !!!" The vibe is raw and nasty throughout, just like how proper acid should be.
Review: Multidisciplinary artist Seth Horvitz aka Rrose returns to their own EAUX label here with a new album, Please Touch, which comes after their Lotus Eater collaboration with Lucy and a number of influential EPs on the likes of Sandwell District and Stroboscopic Artefacts over the years. These potent, stripped back and synth-laden techno cuts explore new vistas while building on what has come before. Rose has studied with West Coast avant-garde trailblazers at Mills College and feeds their sounds through "elaborate webs of interrelated audio processing" which means a change in every element of the music has a knock-on effect on all the others. It means this is music in constant mutation.
Review: Mysterious techno artist Rrose presents their first ever CD release, and their second full-length project to date. Following 2019's Hymn to Moisture, Please Touch features 11 slippery slinkers, flaunting Rrose's penchant for hypnotics and minimalisms; the likes of 'Spores' and 'Spines' refuse to indulge too many novel sounds, preferring to allow their more immersive textures to rattle and ricochet over each mix, producing a delugey wash. Thematically, the LP deals with themes of touch, intimacy and embodiment, doing some of the work to bridge the schizophonic gap that's remained open since the dawn of recorded music.
Review: Tresor dig deep into the vaults for a reissue of one of Robert Hood's many seminal releases. This one comes under his The Vision alias and is an impressive 30 years old in 2023. It came originally in the year he left his Detroit hometown and the safety of the Underground Resistance label and head to New York with Jeff Mills. The music is fast and furious and funky as you would expect, with funky techno drum foundations and mind melting details up top. It set a ridiculously high standard and hasn't aged one single bit. All hail Hood.
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