Techno Recommendations Best of 2017

Review: Following the release of his acclaimed debut album, In Waves, on ESP Institute, Lord of the Isles man Neil McDonald returns home to Firecracker Recordings. With six tracks to choose from, Parabolas of Neon is almost a mini-album. It boasts a quartet of sublime, mind-soothing ambient cuts, topped and tailed by two more rhythmic moments. Opener "Sunrise 89", a shameless dose of nostalgia built around heavy, bleep techno style sub bass and electronic motifs, offers a perfect balance between dancefloor heaviness and dreamy, saucer-eyed intent. Then there's the small matter of the title track, which is the kind of ultra-deep, ultra-dreamy chugger that you just want to hug at six in the morning.

Review: Thule are on an unstoppable roll at the moment, both mining the archive and doing a great service to the next generation of techno producers in Iceland. The deep, dubby headspace most readily associated with the label continues in abundance with the emergence of Waage, who under the tutelage of Thule old guard Exos has taken to production like a natural. There's a supremely reduced air about "W1", but the rubbery bassline simply can't be argued with. The dub techno tropes are out in full force on "W2" though, with some sumptuous chords that come on like cracking ice. "W3" then pushes even further out into that heady space where minor key chords can never have enough reverb before the sinister, simmering creep of "W4".

Review: Casey Tucker has been synonymous with Boe's sister label For Those That Knoe, making a shining example of the imprint's mission to unearth music from long-serving, overlooked talents in the field of Detroit-flavoured house and techno. On this third installment, Tucker's distinctive style positively leaps out of the speakers. "Carpet Dancer" is a ragged yet effervescent twist of plush techno melodics and spirited beat manipulation, while "Juxtaposition" maintains the sparkling synth work while bringing the drums in line. "Whatever Comes To Mind" is the deeper offering on the record, bringing balance to another fine missive from a hidden gem of an artist.

Review: Following fine outings from Gazatech and Youngg P, Moscow-based Private Persons has turned to long-established producer Florian Kupfer for release number three. He kicks things off with "Post Present", a pleasingly lo-fi, analogue-sounding chunk of deep house that wraps reverb-laden vocal samples and fluttering synthesizer motifs around a tactile, old school house groove. While sturdy enough to sound good booming out of big sound systems, much of the track's power is derived from the drifting waviness of its sparse samples and melodies. Flip to the B-side for the driving but distorted drums and spacey chords of "Can't Love Life Without U", and the slowly shifting, Pete Namlook style ambient of "Lubov".

Review: Having enjoyed something of a career renaissance in recent years, Derek Carr is now releasing some of the finest futurist techno around. Here the Irish producer pops up on Subwax Excursions, following a top-notch 12" for FireScope. Those who love their techno deep, intergalactic and melodious should check impeccable opener "Standing in the Sun", where gentle acid lines weave in and out of a tactile groove and life-affirming chord sequences. Elsewhere, he turns his hand to smooth, glassy-eyed electro positivity ("An Ocean of Stars Between Us") and wraps Larry Heard style melodies around a fizzing Motor City techno groove ("Asteroids"). Throughout, he manages to balance the needs of the dancefloor with his love of far-sighted melodies and daydreaming positivity.

Review: Natan H and Owen Jay return to their inimitable Gauss monicker with this fresh, three-pronged analogue beat attack - that unmistakable stamp is back with a vengeance! The lead tune, "Numerical Coefficients", is a raw, skeletal techno track with a hypnotising sequence of melodies propelling the groove forwards and, if you're into 90s material on the likes of Irdial, then this'll no doubt please your eardrums. On the B-side, "Curvature" is a bumpier ride, charged by a fluttering bass drum and washed-out sonics, whereas "Differential" lays down some much needed 303 squelch, a bass tone that just sounds so damn right with these sorts of cold, shimmering, drum-heavy techno patterns.

Review: When Dekmantel announced Robert Hood's Paradygm Shift project, which encompassed a gaggle of 12" singles and this album, the Dutch label described it as the "older and mature brother" of his seminal 1994 double-pack Minimal Nation. It's a rather apt description. This full album edition offers a gleeful romp through the Detroiter's distinctively booming-but-stripped back style of jacking techno, where slowly morphing loops, foreboding riffs and spooky melody lines ride hypnotic, locked-in grooves. There's little thrillingly new and different here, just killer dancefloor workouts in Hood's trademark style. Given that he does this kind of loop techno better than anyone else, that's a very good thing indeed.

Review: London label Cartulis Music has struck gold with this release, turning to Swiss producer Dan Piu for a much-needed vinyl edition of his 1999 album Self Education. Renamed Living In Fear and featuring a rearranged, remastered grip of 11 tracks, it's hard to believe techno this inventive and original managed to stay as a limited CD release for so long. There's a rough and ready Midwestern techno finish to many of the tracks on offer, but between the tough impact of certain sounds there's a great deal of subtlety to enjoy throughout this album. Surefire floor workouts like "Self Education" meet with playful hip hop experiments to make for a wholly enjoyable, not to mention surprising, listening experience.

Review: Oliver Ho's Broken English Club has been a revelation of sorts since his first release appeared on Jealous God back in 2014. What's particularly impressive about this artist is how he successfully managed to align himself with all the right labels; all the right labels for his particular form of techno, including Cititrax, a label we have much love for. The man returns to Regis' and Silent Servant's Jealous God for the label's sixteenth instalment, and "Accidents & Romance" kicks the EP off with a familiarly rolling bassline that hints at the emergence of 303 tones without ever unleashing a full blockade of acid. On the B-side, "Country Life" enters the realm of nightmares thanks to sharp, bruising bass stabs and an ominous swarm of voices, leaving the foreboding elements of "Private Death" to linger in their own pool of broken drum patters and percussion shots. This is a keeper, and probably one of the best JG missiles yet!

Review: John Heckle last released an album on Tabernacle three years ago, but he's been far from quiet since then with his Head Front Panel project diverting his attention towards blistering hard techno. Tone To Voice then represents a return to more melodic pastures with a more diverse selection of tempos and moods to choose from, but still Heckle's innate gift for expressive, dynamic machine music shines through. "Sonic Spectrometer" is a joyous slice of techno-jazz, while "Potential Life" whips up stunning cascading synth lines and pattering hats. At times, there's no need for a kick, and with ample ambient excursions woven into the mix this stands as one of Heckle's most accomplished releases yet.

Review: On this expansive release, Zak "DVS1" Khutoretsky is not messing around. Over the course of two 12" records and a 10", the Minneapolis-raised producer delivers no less than eight late night techno workouts. With such a plethora of fine cuts to choose from, picking highlights is tricky. We're particularly enjoying the chiming, early morning roller that is "Decreasing", the Hoover bass-propelled madness of "Watchtower" and the bounding, rave-influenced stomp of "Coding", though the acid-fired wildness of "Rise" is also impressive. Arguably best of all, though, is "It's All About", an atmospheric, stripped-back techno shuffler full of delay-laden vocal samples and repetitive, dubbed-out electronic riffs.

Review: Ali Renault's ever on-point Vivod label welcomes UK techno stalwart Tobias Schmidt to the table for a return to a time when techno could be slamming, witty and downright fun at the same time. "Higher" is loaded with funk, riding some kind of bassy lick with tightly wound drums and off-kilter synth warbles, but then "Glass Walls" ramps up the madness with a lead line that will stop people in their tracks before making them freak out with gusto. "Pink Milk" shows no let up in the energy, although the parping trumpet lines that lead the track give everything a jaunty, upbeat feel compared to the darkness of the A side. "Play People" is a true tribute to the wonky techno scene Schmidt came up with, all skronky swing and lopsided synths for all the true techno freaks out there.

Review: The 15th release on techno titan Truncate's eponymous label contains three alternative versions of previously released gems. First up you'll find a vocal-free version of angular and metallic 2011 throb-job "Focus", where relentless cymbals and two-note loops ride a pounding kick-drum pattern. Next, he unloads a bubbling, acid-fired "V2" take on 2012 jack-track "Modify" - all layered percussion, razor-sharp electronics and wayward TB-303 lines - before dedicated all of side B to a tasty alternate riff on "Mira Mar". The original was one of his deepest and dreamiest techno tracks, so it's nice to see that he's retained the warm chords and tumbling melodies amongst the delay-laden beats and gentle acid lines.

Review: Milanese misfits UN.T.O (short for Unintelligent Trax Outsourcing, apparently) have a passion for "outrageous music". Fittingly, there's a delightfully giddy feel to the label's latest release, which comes from Rajevo Selo-based producer STP Up. His default setting is quirky, eccentric and funk-fuelled techno, usually built around thunderous drums, silly noises and thrusting basslines (see A-side cuts "Louder Than a Motherfucker" and "Golf II"). However, he's more than capable of producer deeper - if no less tongue-in-cheek - outings, as "C Crewneck" and eccentric ambient closer "Outro" both decisively prove. He loves a dash of TB-303 driven acid, too, with warped slammer "Phonies" delivering one of the EP's many highlights.

Review: When people speak of Detroit techno, which is often these days, they hardly ever mention the names of Top Jona and Mike Gerald. Primarily, it's fair to say that these two producers have purposefully remained in the shadows, but their records from the mid 90s onwards have always been going for some pretty hefty prices, coupled with the fact that a.r.t.less and Mojuba have been the only label to resurface their work. This retrospective is some of the best Motor-City industrialism that you'll come across, and that is stating this knowing perfectly well that we're competing with the likes of UR and company. This is surely why Mojuba have decided to reissue these techno beauties across three slabs of wax, giving enough space for each one of these absolute killers to work in the DJ's favour. If you're looking for that authentic Detroit sound, a blend of hardcore minimalism, funk sensibility, and glitchy, analog construction, then you cannot look anywhere else. This is without a doubt in the running for one of the best reissues of the year, people... and March has barely even started.

Review: Joachim Spieth's Affin label's still going strong after almost ten years of dedicated, tech-minded work across Europe's best dancefloors, and all of it a product of the same familiar faces that have proudly done the label some due diligence. Label veteran Reggie Van Oers hits the A-side with a tenebrous, grey-scaled bit of deep techno by the name of "Place Of Connect", which is followed by Deepbass' gorgeous "Tempest" track, a watery, dubbed-out techno chugger brimming with wild bleeps and mind-bending sonics. Label boss Joachim Spieth masters the flipside with a ridiculously skeletal 4/4 shot, driven into oblivion with the help of barren atmospherics and explorative soundscapes that stray way out into the ether.

Review: DJ Semtek's Don't Be Afraid Returns with more soulful Detroit inspired techno courtesy of one Jayson Wynters from Birmingham. Starting off with the emotive and classic hi-tech soul sounds of "Technological Enslavement" which gets a seething and bass heavy remix on the flip by Bristol favoutite Kowton, "Double Standards" has an evocative element abut it similar to early Carl Craig and the EP finishes in fine form on the deep and sublime "Sonic Boxing" with its layers of rich pads, dark strings and stylish sense of restraint.