Juno Recommends Techno: June 2023

Review: Waage is a firm favourite amongst dub techno fans. The Icelandic producer has long been turning out icy and atmospheric rollers for the heads and here he works alongside a fresh name, Quantal, who is sure to go on to big things. Here they land on Thule Records, a legendary label in its own right with roots going back to 1995. They kick off with the textured dub of 'WQ1' which has glitchy sounds paying over the rolling drums. 'WQ2' is much more smooth and streamlined, with an underwater current that sweeps you off your feet, then 'WQ3' leans into the wind with hypnotic techno drums and vamping chords that melt the mind. Last of all comes 'WQ4', a timeless dub with infinite horizons and the most frictionless drum loops.

Review: San Francisco is most often associated with the cartoon sounds of DirtyBird when it comes to electronic music but Federsen offers up some deliciously deep dub techno here. He joins the Lempuyang stable and brings with him plenty of fine Maurizio influences from the off: 'Rotation' is all grainy pads and lo-fi drum loops , 'Noir' has a more silky and minimal tech house feel and 'Expiravit' brings a classic dub sound. The closing track 'Aeon' is perfect for late night smoking sessions.

Review: For their second release, Sound Migration has taken a deep dive into the music that soundtracked the infamous Goa party scene - initially populated by exiled hippies, but later a holiday haven for British E casualties and young Israeli ravers - between 1987 and 94. The tracks were chosen by scene stalwart (and key DJ) Ray Castle, making the blend of post-industrial EBM, early trance, new beat, formative progressive house and acid techno accurate and authentic. It's a fantastic musical snapshot that surprisingly sounds fresh and contemporary, with our picks of a very strong bunch including the bustling brilliance of FUSE's 'FU (2) (Re-Edit)', the glassy-eyed Euro synth-pop chug of Psyche's 'The Saint Became A Lush', the dreamy-but-acidic colour of Man With No Name's 'From Within', and the foreboding new beat shuffle of Public Relation's 'Eighty Eight (Instrumental)'.

Review: Back in 1997 Monolake was still a project in its earliest development, as Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles were experimenting with the possibilities of computer music while most people were still very much in the analogue era. There had however been some major drops on the seminal Chain Reaction label, and then they released Hongkong as a compilation of these early singles. It made sense, given the way the early Monolake sound trod the line between dancefloor techno and home-listening head trips, and so they presented the likes of 'Cyan' and 'Lantau' on CD, embellished with a little field recording magic from a trip to a computer music conference in Hong Kong, hence the title. Now Field Records have reissued this seminal compilation and given it a first vinyl pressing, remastering the music in the process and ensuring it sounds the best it possibly could.

Review: Past Inside the Present's 'Pulse' series is an investigation into ambient tech and beat-driven ambient sounds. Who better for the job on this second edition than master craftsmen ASC and Joachim Spieth? ASC opens up with 'Tidal Disruption Event', an understated, underwater rhythm with jittery percussive patterns and bright shards of melodic light piercing through the mix as more coarse soundwaves break over the top. Spieth's 'Subtle' is just as artful and delicate a mix of persuasive rhythm and melodic beauty. A classy Nitechord remix closes out this fascinating EP.

Review: Techno team-ups don't come bigger than this, as Drumcode's overlord of all things mega-tech Adam Beyer links up with Chicago's agent provocateur Green Velvet to give you your next stadium shaking anthem. This isn't the first time Beyer and Velvet have worked together - you could find them on the 2018 track 'Space Date' for one thing - but there's a sense 'Simulator' will become their calling card as a formidable double act. It's simply huge, catchy as hell and full of all the fireworks you could wish for from a super-sized techno workout, all guided by Velvet's unmistakable voice ducking and diving around the expertly engineered mix.

Review: Faut Section's Perception Series is back with a second sizzling installment of freshly made techno. Lewis Fautzi & Norbak pair off to open up with 'Code Of Deception', a barreling cut with icy hi hats and taught bass twangs full of dusty factory floor menace. Oscar Mulero offers one of his signature loop-techno rollers in 'Zw System' Temudo then rattles walls with the mysterious bass rumbles of 'Niiv'. Completing what is an EP that is as varied as it is vital is Kessell with the dubby broken techno beats of 'Time Domain' which has fizzing synths cracking like static on a 90s TV screen.

Review: Mark Broom's Mutated Battle Breaks series is proving to be some of the most inspired music from the UK techno stalwart in years. When you're getting a Mark Broom record you expect a certain degree of techno functionality, but here he's ladling the rock solid rhythms with serious funk and flair. The offbeat synth groove of 'Tube' feels like a nod to Robert Hood's pioneering style, but Broom does plenty to jazz the music up in his own way. 'HF2 (Bass Line Mix)' features some cheeky acid and a subtle swing to the hats which will get you locked in hard, and then 'TEST25' fires off an absolute stormer with some of the toughest finger-clicks you'll have ever heard in a peak time techno monster, laden with disco string stabs.

Review: While Vince Watson's 2002 classic 'Moments In Time' certainly stood the test, the Scottish producer and DJ has now revisited the theme with his very own sequel to the project, 'Another Moment In Time'. Though it gives modern breathability and flair to his long-established atmospheric techno oeuvre, it hardly renders the music glossy or sheeny as one might expect. Instead, the very same wondrous jazz-flavoured sound is conveyed once again, and with just as much potency, through the two awestruck burgeoners 'Rendezvous (Finale)' and 'Whispers'.

Review: Better-known in the Motor City as DJ Gusto, August Williams makes his bow on Detroit's original techno imprint, Juan Atkins' much-loved Metroplex. He first offers up 'The Hook Up', a relaxed electro workout marked out by hip-hop tempo beats, sparkling synthesiser arpeggio lines and gorgeous electronic melodies, before opting for a more hypnotic, dark, clandestine and minimalistic techno sound on superb machine jam 'Dark T'. Williams successfully blurs the boundaries between late-night deep house and sci-fi techno on 'Pushback', while 'Submission' pairs a vintage Motor City techno style groove with discordant, mind-mangling motifs.

Review: Charlotte De Witte's KNTXT label is one of new school techno's most influential and has very much helped to take techno into harder, darker, trance-tinged realms in recent times. Alignment is one of the artists who has helped with that and now serves up more blistering cuts on the Close Your Eyes EP. The title track is a monstrous opener with bright synths and serrated saw-shaped sounds cutting up the flat-footed drums. The hard techno vibes continue on 'Deep Space' and more trance energy washes over 'Dance For Me' which is decidedly 90s in vibe. 'Fight For A New World' closes down with the sort of hands-in-the-air energy of an epic festival anthem.

Review: First available digitally earlier in the year and now finally out on wax, this tidy 12" showcases a quartet of killer cuts from the studios of In Dust We Trust co-founders, Chaos in the CBD (New Zealand-born siblings Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales) and Jon Sable. The trio offer up two collaborative cuts, both of which give different spins on the fusion of dub techno and hypnotic deep house. There's opener 'Mahia Madness', a thickset, late-night number that's as dubby and hazy as any Deepchord record, and the gently picturesque, Sprinkles-esque 'To Puke Thunder'. The EP also boasts a solo track apiece, with Chaos in the CBD opting for non-stop, energy-packed deep techno hypnotism ('Coral Castle'), and Sable reaching for dreamy deep house chords and rubbery broken beats ('Ascension Island').

Review: Iconic Dutch label, Delsin, a firm favourite amongst contemporary techno lovers adds a fifth EP to the popular Steve Rachmad re-issue series - a diverse compilation of three tracks drawn together from different releases. Side A emerges into view with the highly sought after track, 'Teknitron', originally released on Black Scorpion in 1995 - this is one of those tracks that has undoubtedly aged like a fine wine - a timeless classic. 'Transpose' is an even earlier track, found on Rachman's 1994 Sterac EP. Finally 'Alastria', a delicate dream-washed track that has a sense of eternity closes the release - a track pulled from his later 1998 album Thera. All three tracks are remastered to perfection - a no-brainer addition to any techno lover's library.

Review: Lars Husimans has made himself a core part of the family at SHDW & Obscure Shape's ever more crucial Mutual Rytm label. His ongoing Sounds From The Past series is back with a third thrilling volume here and opens with the title track, a cantering cut that sweeps you off your feet and heads off to the cosmos. There is more twisted machine funk on 'Fusion' and intense, unrelenting urgency to the shimmering loops of 'Shimmer'. 'Estar Farto' is all about the underlapping bassline that never stops churning and 'Bittersweet' brings some wall-rattling synth action to light up any set.

Review: In 2021 we were treated to a new entry in Jeff Mills' venerated Millsart series via the outstanding, house-tinted Think Again 12" and now he's gracing us with more of that sublime, deep-tripping, soul-enriched magic via this frankly outstanding new record. Once again there's an emphasis on warm musicality, not least the piano coursing through 'Nocturnal Moves', but as is Mills' way the melody always teeters on the edge of discord and microtonality, crating a very special kind of spirituality which could well send shivers down the spine of the dancefloor. Demonstrating the full power of his expression as a composer as well as a programmer, Mills sounds utterly inspired on these three new tracks, which sound primed for dramatic scenes when you want to take a crowd somewhere special.

Review: Drumcode's main brain Adam Beyer hardly needs any introduction, but newcomers to the label might be surprised that his outfit has its sights set on putting out single-sided releases at the minute. 'Legend' is Beyer's kick-off for 2023, following up the completion of his own home studio with an inspired production run. An ascendant fast-build to sublime ecstasy, the track characteristically locks into a deep arpeggiated saw line at its drop; an example of Beyer flaunting his ability to juxtapose massive pre-drop space with post-drop minimality.

Review: Titanic French techno talent and famously nice bulk Laurent Garnier has announced recently that he will be stepping away from touring quite as much as he currently does in the future. He softened that blow, though, with news of his new album 33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont', via his COD3 QR label. It is his first solo long player in some eight years and finds him firmly focused on the dancefloor. His fizzing, synth-heavy techno style dominates, but there are plenty of lush vocal cuts, influences from hip-hop and broken beat, with even a drum & bass experiment appearing in the form of 'Sado Miso'. A fine return for this true legend.

Review: Now in its second reissues round, 'The B Sides' are a cornucopia of vintage techno gems from the Belgian techno maestro Frank De Wulf. Each track on this glistening record could be classed as an oldie but goldie, having graced the iconic Belgian label Music Man Records in 1990 - which evidently is still going strong. Recall delectably crude space jams and hardware ham-fists.

Review: Right after two recent drops on Steffi's Dolly imprint and the London based EYA Records, Utrecht based producer Boehm is back with his second release on MOS Recordings on which he again ventures into the deeper side of house music. The EP begins with title track 'Connected' an emotive and mesmerising journey, while over on the flip there's the energetic 'Mainstreet' capturing the feeling of Detroit style hi-tech soul, and the playful tech funk of 'Underground'.

Review: British producer and DJ Leon Vynehall kicks off his own label Studio Ooze with 'Rosebud', a single forming part of an upcoming double A-side. Electro-flecked chord stabs, formant-twisted soul vocals and futuristic lasershot breakdowns make up its sound, as if it were a track hailing from an alternate world. Vynehall's sound design is both cerebral and emotional, keeping two feet in separate camps. A welcome return to Vynehall's dance-orientism.

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.

Review: Radio Slave has really amped up his relasing game lately, and it shows on 'Wait A Minute', his latest collaborative release shared with rapper Nez. The eponymous track has been out for a while already, and actually doesn't appear in its full original form here, with the A instead occupied by a stonking remix from Dixon - which fleshes out the track in the vogueish mode of harder-hip-techno. Radio Slave also offers up 'Don't You Know' on the B, a vocal soul sample-inflected floor infector of the hypnotising variety.

Review: Buckle up for some no-nonsense techno thrills from a powerhouse collaboration, as Enrico Sangiuliano and Charlotte De Witte mint the third entry in Sangiuliano's self-styled 'transient record label' NINETOZERO. 'Reflection' has all the thunderous low end thrust a big room techno record requires, while the scattered hoover stabs and edgy vocal mantra bring the playful charm to the track - hold tight for the head-nagging acid drop. Meanwhile the 'Intro Mix' of the track gives DJs something to play with when kicking off one of those epic aircraft hangar sets. For something different on the B-side, Sangiuliano goes it alone and presents a tool of sorts featuring a stilted voice defining the titular 'Sources Of Propagation' in cold, clinical fashion - something we imagine will become fun to play through ample FX when getting creative in the mix.

Review: Ben Klock's ever-reliable techno stable welcomes back Temudo, the Portuguese star who has been in steady ascendance over the past few years dropping bombs on Synewave, Planet Rhythm, Modularz, Soma, Blueprint and scores more. His is a taught and focused sound - the kind of thing you'd expect to hear the likes of Klock dropping with glee in the middle of a marathon set. 'Scars' focuses on the subtle details around the groove, edging in kinks around the kick which take on an electro-acoustic quality guaranteed to take you deep into the wormhole. 'Minus 2' is another reduced mind-melter, using negative space to deadly effect and ensuring no sound is out of place.

Review: Dutch artist Frenk Dublin is evidently a master of minimalism and sublimation, with his new EP for Echo Ltd. here somehow managing to convey abyssal levels of depth, all while not seeming to reveal too much or indulge too many complex parts. It's this paradox that rests at the heart of dub techno; like dubstep, the trick is to emphasise weight and space, while layering things subtly enough not to betray the mystery. It's a well-deserved release for the esteemed label, following up priors on Dub Communication and Planet Rhythm. The most polished gem? 'Static Dub', which uniquely blends both high and low chord stabs, and gets them to take up wholly different rhythm- and freqspace.