De:tuned Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The seemingly unstoppable rise of De:tuned continues, as they take a break from serving up sci-fi techno, IDM and ambient techno to deliver something a lot more intense: a surprise EP from original House of God Birmingham resident DJ Paul 'Damage' Bailey. Channeling the spirit of his friend Surgeon while offering up something fresh, the two original tracks on show are undeniably inspired. 'Hadal Zone' adds weirdo noises, bleeps and mind-mangling electronic pulses to a slipped Afro-techno groove, while 'Decompression' is a wonky, triple-time workout full of Ket-addled electronics and wayward loops. Makaton re-imagines that track as a locked-in late-night techno throb-job, while James Ruskin turns 'Hadal Zone' into a buzzing, industrial-influenced electro-bleep number.

Review: With its' 15th birthday imminent, De:tuned delivers another must-check release: a brand-new instalment in Future Sound of London's legendary, rave-era Pulse series of EPs. Created using music recorded, but never released, by the duo - under a variety of aliases - during the late 80s and early 90s, Pulse 5 represents a significant addition to the vast FSOL catalogue. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the crunchy, fuzzy hip-hop beats and ghostly electronics of FSOL's 'Dialects' and the sub-heavy, bleep-infuenced brilliance of Yage's 'Sun Risen', to the intergalactic breakbeat hardcore hedonism of Smart Systems' 'The New Generation', the deep space proto-d&b of Ingo Tribe's 'Obstinta' and the glassy-eyed ambient techno of FSOL's 'Reasonable Acquiries'.

Review: Trickstery braindancer Luke Vibert lays down his next album via De:tuned Records, following prior releases on the imprint such as 'Arcadia'. Refusing to opt for hypey trends, Vibert stays true to his craft on 'Machine Funk', sticking to cute electro, winding melodies and a light-hearted sense of humour. Packed with playful puns for track titles and music spanning everything from electronic reimaginings of helter skelters to funny spoonerisms, the 808 and 303 ring most true here. Whirly FM synthesis pokes through on tracks like 'Juxtafication' and 'Moderneers Modernize', while even a rare Vibert footwork bit shows up on 'Taming Of The View'.

Review: Aside from the founding fathers of acid house - DJ Pierre in particular - few producers can make a Roland TB-303 sing quite like Luke Vibert. That much has been obvious for decades but should further proof of Vibert's '303' mastery be needed, 'Machine Funk' provides it. An exemplary exploration of 'acid' as an art-form that puts the distinctively twisted, mind-altering sounds of the legendary bass synthesiser front and centre, the 11-track set skips between breathless, sub-heavy, bongo-laced monsters ('Taming of the View'), slo-mo IDM ('Lucon Acid'), dreamy mid-tempo house ('Nonce Tarter'), acid-disco of the sort associated with Vibert's Kerrier District project ('Juxtafication'), and plenty of punchy, suitably psychedelic electro jams.

Review: Returning with his signature sound drawn from the early UK techno scene he helped pioneer, Kirk Degiorgio's new album lands on De:tuned, a label dedicated to upholding that very sound and the continued creativity of its originators. Of Degiorgio's various aliases, AsOne is the one which has endured, and existing fans will find themselves more than satisfied with the approach taken on this new long player. Of course part of that satisfaction requires a sense of progression, given this has always been music concerned with the future, and Degiorgio manages to keep his sound moving forwards, drawing on ever-richer production and luxurious melodic sensibilities to deliver a mature and immersive kind of techno as suited to armchair escapism as dancefloor immersion.