Oscar Mulero

Review: Spanish techno titan Oscar Mulero leads from the front with his new label Warm Up, which deals in anything but early hours techno. Here he offers up four powerful tracks of heavy drum grooves that are designed to generate maximum destruction on the dance floor. "Transparent Ray" is a rooted groove with freewheeling synths riding up and down through the mix to hypnotic effect, while "Solarized" is all about punishing drum programming and expertly linear techno. "Opposite" offers something different - a more stripped back and reserved deep techno exploration with shady corners and suspenseful synths. Quite the start.

Review: Spanish techno stalwart Oscar Mulero trailed this fourth album in as many years with Dualistic Concept, a set of typically dark, hypnotic and ghostly remixes. That can be found on the second disc, and ties in neatly with the robust, forthright and atmospheric sound of the album itself. Muscle & Mind has moments of beauty, of course - see the blissful ambience of "Mental Causation" and enveloping chords and found sounds of "Unconscious" - but for the most part it's concerned with the power of rhythm. Few are better at wringing maximum intensity from loop-heavy jams, and Mulero's love of dusty white noise, trippy melodies and skittering percussion guarantees variety in the grooves throughout.