Electric Ballroom Germany Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Michael Gross is currently spearheading a new generation of techno producers for his own German label Electric Ballroom, charting a lesser-trodden sound for the Berlin scene, 90s rave. Still inflected with the mega-drops and hoover-risers endemic to much of EDM, there's a refreshing dryness to ADHS' sound, not normally traversed in much big room techno. 'Dancin' Forever' as a title nails it well; both the A track and 'Raveline', with their FM basses and tense string buildups, seem to continue on forever, ebbing upwards and downwards in flow.

Review: WestBam and Klaus Jankuhn conceived Members Of Mayday as a production team to produce the official anthems for each edition of the Mayday rave events in Germany. While that project disbanded in 2014 after more than 20 years, now the definitive of all the Mayday anthems is being revisited on Electric Ballroom. The original 'Mayday Anthem' came out in 1992, and it's absolutely redolent of the times with its killer rave stabs and proto-trance atmosphere, but there's still a welcome roughness to the tune which would soon be lost once production values and budgets started soaring. Offering something a little different on the A-side, Thomas Schumacher goes in hard with a romping arpeggio which sounds like Giorgio Moroder on steroids, strapping it under the track's classic elements to brilliant effect.

Review: Thomas Schumacher has been on the scene for decades and somewhat harks back to his early days with this raw 90s techno offering on Germany's Electric Ballroom. The trance vibes are heavy on opener 'Come Closer,' which has synths fired from a laser, wailing female vocals and euphoria chords up top all designed for maximum peak time impact. On the flip is the wall-rattling warehouse techno cut 'Renegade' (feat Maketech) with its shimmering chords hanging in the air above the stomping, forceful techno drums.

Review: German techno veteran Thomas Schumacher is in no mood to take it easy on this new drop for Electric Ballroom, which turns the rave intensity up to 11. The acid lines coursing through the centre of 'Off World' are gnarly and distorted, while the breakdowns and build-ups are expertly engineered for explosive results on the dancefloor, sirens wailing and kicks thundering. It's a sound which neatly folds old-skool 90s motifs into a sleek modern framework, sure to go off with the harder end of the techno spectrum. 'Hustle' is no slouch either, threading breaks into a thumping 4/4 drive for maximum peak time energy.