Juno Recommends Techno: March 2023

Review: A hard to find sci-fi Detroit techno classic - it's featured everywhere from Marcel Dettmann to Zip's SW sets.- gets a timely reissue complete with a new, super solid Delano Smith remix. It's hard not to love the original in all its futuristic glory, led by a sturdy four-to-the-floor pummelling but boasting a throbbing neo-disco bassline - imagine a lost Gorgio Moroder classic being remade by Jeff Mills in PurposeMaker mode. But the Delano Smith remix updates it for modern palates, ironically by delving back even further, to the early 70s model Kraftwerk from whom he borrows some very austere but classy synth sounds and a touch of electro syncopation. Take your pick according to mood, they both do the job admirably.

Review: The latest from Steve O'Sullivan and Mosaic's archive-raiding series sees the first ever airing of an unreleased extended mix of the soft and soul-drenched 'Composure', plus two choice selections on the flip - the sleek sub-bass powered 'She Don't Do Chicks' and a dub mix of the equally streamlined 'Bumper Car'. If the A-side is a luxurious period piece of sorts - it could be related to Underground Resistance's 'Galaxy 2 Galaxy' for instance - then two on the other side could have been made yesterday they're so relevant and playable, coasting along with the kind of subtly jacking framework and dubby basslines that G Man made his own. All lovingly re-mastered at The Exchange too.

Review: Derek Carr is a cult underground producer who has been knocking it out of the park in the last few years, but has been making music going way back. He has a stylish take on stripped-back and deep house and techno favoured by many DJs and dancers. Now, two of his most acclaimed cuts get remastered edits by Yossi Amoyal as a taster ahead of Carr's upcoming Archive compilation on the Pariter label. All three of these bring some subtle tweaks and fresh deep techno perspective with far sighted chords futuristic designs and grooves that make you want to move.

Review: De:tuned is the perfect home for Kirk Degiorgio's As One project, where his steeped history in deep, emotive techno and affinity for jazz melds into some of the most stunning machine soul out there. If you're familiar with the sound you'll be instantly sold on these tracks - they don't just ape a bygone sound like so many are doing with that early 90s UK techno vibe. These pieces take that approach and elevate it - the production soars and the expression comes through in startling high-definition, and that goes for the stellar remixes from Ian O'Brien and Luke Slater in The 7th Plain mode as well.

Review: Orbital are national treasures when it comes to electronic acts. The duo hasn't dropped a properly new album since 2018 but have of course been at the forefront of electronic music for decades. Optical Delusion is their tenth long player and it finds them collaborating with Midlands pair Sleaford Mods on the single 'Dirty Rat' which has already done plenty of damage. The rest of the record has something of a retro Cabaret Voltaire vibe with elements of punk rock, loud beats and edgy synths. Other collaborators throughout the record include Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage and The Mediaeval Baebes and the whole hating was recorded in the pair's Brighton studio.

Review: Some 20 years on from its initial release, it's amazing how fresh and current 'Praise' by Leigh Dickson sounds, every bit as reinvigorating as a swim in an icy mountain stream. Sushitech imprint Pariter have opted to remaster the lush original mix in its full glory, adding the already well known and much loved Baby Ford Heavenly Circuit remix alongside a new, unreleased 'alternative remix' and new mixes by Pariter's own Ogerman and Derek Carr. All four sides are eminently playable in the deep house/techno framework, as you'd imagine, with varying levels of the original's bewitching instrumentation retained.

Review: R&S is a cult label that has been at the sharp end now for 40 years. While Joey Beltran is an American producer, his work was often released in Europe via this label and so it makes sense that he remains a core part of what it does today. His Beltram Vol. 1 EP first came all the way back in 1990 here and includes his most iconic tune 'EnergY Flash', which still tears up any dancefloor on which it is dropped. Next to that rave classic come 'Jazz 3033' which makes an acid line do a busy dance over splashy breakbeats. On the flip are the uplifting chords of 'Subsonic Trance' with its prying bass and still future-sounding rhythms. 'Psycho Bass' slows things down to a dark, dread-fuelled swagger. This is the definition of a timeless EP.

Review: Some 14 years after he unleashed the original version of 'The Medium Is The Message' - an attractively deep and melancholic chunk of hypnotic, dub-tinged early morning techno hypnotism - Levon Vincent has decided to revisit and re-make the track on a surprise sequel. On the A-side 'Long Mix', his full vision for the track is materialised, with the original's familiar riffs re-played in hazier, harder form atop a raw, stabbing bassline, more subtly forthright beats and effects-laden percussive fills. It's a brilliant revision all told, which maintains some of the original's sonic poignancy whilst adding a little extra weight and energy. The flip side 'Short Mix' naturally compresses the action, emphasising his breathless percussion builds and the mind-mangling sonic stabs.

Review: 'Beltram Vol. 1' is arguably R&S Records' biggest release, thanks to its inclusion of the timeless track 'Energy Flash', which through various unexplainable forces has become instantly recognizable as the defining track of Netherlands rave. Revered for its reversed strings, low-murmuring voices (that infamous "ecstasy" sample) and crisp-clear acid lines, the track is backed up by three further bangers: the resonant sonic alkali Jazz 303, the gated-piano'ed Subsonic Trance and the early downtempo / big beat cut Psycho Bass. Here it is again, as timeless and essential as ever.

Review: Deep techno's many darlings will be treasured for a good long time, and Dorisburg is among the most renowned out today. While the Swedish artist is known for their leanings into dreamy future garage, the new EP 'Voices' - the first of three new EPs for fellow label Aniara - hears a more unswung, nuance-heavy pair of minimal shufflers. A shimmering, shivering mood is emitted from the fray of the A-track 'Voices', with its Tin Man-style melodic acid happily dancing front and centre, while the B 'Skulptur 7' routinely asks "what?" as ricocheting knocks pan from left to right, hat-tickling us into a textural state of oblivion.

Review: DJ Shufflemaster (real name Tatsuya Kanamori) first saw fame with Tresor's release of the 'EXP' album all the way back in 2001, at a time when the Berlin clubbing institution was already aiming to shine a light on techno scenes beyond its own walls. Vastly ahead of its time, the tracks on the album (now once more called to our attention via this reissue) are what we'd have considered ourselves more liable to encounter in the UK in the mid-2010s; tracks like 'Onto The Body' have a broken beat feel to them, and many tracks verge quite readily off the edge of 4x4 kick drum orthodoxy. A compressed and washy techno album drawing on every influence from dub to Brummy sound.

Review: Electrifying techno chops from Dave Angel, a noble peer to one of Brixton's many beloved pirate radio stations, Phase One, amongst other titles such as Underworld remixer and all-round music production connoisseur. 'Glide' pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin; the two-track 12" effortlessly swerves through mirror-image takes on serene yet energetic UK techno, with lush chords and creamy, sss-ing hats conveying a trancelike, uniquely British mood. It's as if we could only hear this music while bowling down the M25 and/or flicking through various pirate stations on the FM dial.

Review: Here comes Eli Brown, a Bristol-based techno and tech house producer who knows how to make his tracks sound absolutely massive. He's dropped on Toolroom, Of Unsound Mind, Moon Harbour, Relief and Repopulate Mars amongst many others, and now he's hit the big one, Drumcode. Brown's more than ready for Adam Beyer's label, bringing the high-pressure goods on the likes of 'Deep Down' and 'Nazareth', using that essential low-end boom and plenty of nervy acid up top, keeping the drums piling on hard and teasing the drama in his gargantuan productions. If you like it big, which you should do if you're checking Drumcode, then this EP has everything you need.

Review: A special, limited edition purple vinyl version of the new Pulsor EP from Orlando Voorn, with the undipsuted classic 'Flash' - utilising his Fix alias - up front, big, bouncy techno with wigged-out synths and plenty of playful energy. There's also the brand new title track 'Pulsor' a heady deep cut and two remixes making their debuts on vinyl here, namely Orlando's chunky techno reworking of 'Boucle To The Beat', one of Toddy Terry's most recognisable early tracks, and then the colourful house sound of Ken Ishii's remix of 'Dope Computer'.

Review: Norwegian online magazine Monument presents its second release titled The Scandinavian Forest. As expected, they've tapped some of the hypnotic techno genre's seasoned experts to deliver their take on deep and atmospheric dancefloor sounds. Highlights come from Dutch dub engineer Roger Gerressen with the heady greyscale minimalism of 'Angsalvor', the ever reliable Sebastian Mullaert will cast a spell on you with the arcane trance induction of 'Unwind' and rising Bavarian talent Polygonia hands in the strobe-lit frenzy of 'Stellar Rain' which will push you into mental overdrive.

Review: The latest instalment in Planet Rhythm's series of limited-edition EPs arrives with no information whatsoever, meaning that the artist behind it has decided (for now, at least) to remain anonymous. What we can tell you, though, is that the four tracks on offer deliver breathlessly heavy, raw, and no-holds-barred techno of the sort that may have emerged from the Netherlands and Belgium in the early 90s. Check first opener 'Attitude Era', where UK rave style breakbeats and hip-hop samples usher in a pounding beat, doom-laden bassline and razor-sharp acid tweakery, before admiring the locked-in acid techno hypnotism of 'Rampage'. Over on side B, 'Berlin Platz' sees the mystery producer add melancholic melodic motifs to another blistering beat, while 'Blade Core' is a twisted, rap-sampling stomper smothered in trippy electronics.

Review: Through releases on labels like Cartullis, Prince De Takicardie is becoming one of the most intriguing producers in the realm of stripped down, playful techno. You can hear the whispers of a multitude of different scenes and sounds in his productions, from early bleep to wiggy acid and proto trance, but everything is handled with care and injected with a distinctive personality which is all the Prince's own. This drop on the burgeoning Sticky Plastik label won't let you down, twitching and freaking as it does across a range of snappy club workouts adorned with all the tweaked out synth lines you could wish for.

Review: Fear-E is Scott McKay, a Glasgow based DJ and producer who has represented hometown heroes Dixon Avenue Basement Jams on a few standout EPs, as well as Dundee's Hilltown Disco among others. He returns to Super Rhythm Trax for the first time in nearly four years with this new four-tracker titled Pigs Do Fly, packed full of retro techno jams that you've come to know him for. The strobed-out dancefloor madness of opening cut 'KRS' calls to mind classic Nu Groove, while the old school acid jack of 'Colonel' will also to have you reaching for the lasers and the moody string arrangements on 'Off the Bat' are underpinned by some mad 909 drum patterns to continue the dance well into the morning,

Review: Dutch producer Eversines brings dreamy heat to the label Twig with the four-track EP 'Blurred Vision'. Like desperately scrambling around for your glasses after having them nudged off by a boorish raver in the dance, this EP perfectly captures the sensation of smudged vision and drug-fuelled wonkiness via the neighboring modes of acid, trance and house. Choice cuts include 'Distant', with its dreamy synth washes, and 'Blurry Vision', a mid-set mood-locker.

Review: There's something pleasingly primal and no-nonsense about Amelie Lens' brand of nostalgia-soaked big room techno. As ypu'll no doubt be aware, Lens specialises in banging, rave-igniting workouts which combine nods to the glassy-eyed, early-90s Belgian club sound with blisteringly big, booming 21st century techno beats. 'In My Mind', the title track from her latest EP, is another breathlessly excitable variation on this energy-packed formula, with atmospheric spoken word snippets, jumpy electronic riffs and twisted 'Hoover' noises riding a bowel-bothering bassline and insanely heavy drums. Lens opts for deeper, spacey-sounding chords and psychedelic acid motifs on the similarly breathless 'First Light', before opting for an even more hallucinatory, brain-melting distorted techno sound on 'Trippin'.

Review: After the 30 Something retrospective that landed during 2022, comes a new Orbital album proper, Optical Delusion, set to be accompanied by a busy summer of gig and festival dates by the looks of it. The album's taster single 'Dirty Rat' was a corker, too, full of post-Brexit/Boris bile and a biting vocal from Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson, not to mention some striking Orbital musical trademarks. It could well point the way forward for more interesting collaborations - perhaps taking a leaf out of Leftfield's book - on the album, though only time will tell. Either way, a serious portion of new material from one of the dance world's most enduring and best loved acts will be feverishly anticipated.