Mord Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The rather prolific Senoid Recordings label head Kike Pravda steps up to Dutch label Nord here with a bumper double pack of his searing techno. These are direct-to-dance floor tunes with nary an ambient interlude or synth-laden intro in sight. 'Octane' gets right to business with wonky synths and industrial darkness, 'Dark Flares' is a more fizzing wall of sound and elsewhere 'Fractals' rattles the walls with its monstrous subs. There is some pent-up synth energy to 'The Unknown' and 'Strange Forces' is a dense and intense roller full of menace and paranoia.

Review: Portugal's Norbak probably deserves more attention than it feels he gets. He has been turning out effective and interesting techno weapons for a while now, and at a fairly high rate. He is someone who pairs a thorough knowledge of classic techno with his own modern interpretations on labels such as Soma Records, Warm Up Recordings and Mord. He's back on the latter here with some tunneling techno visions that are grainy, lo-fi, shrouded in late-night fog and perfect for losing your mind to at 5am in some dank warehouse.

Review: The mighty Mord is fast approaching 100 releases and as ever, the quality remains high on the 96th outing. It is Oxygeno who steps up here with a heavily textured take on techno that is underpinned by booming drums and detailed with plenty of great sound designs. 'Flames Around' is a loopy cut that rocks back and forth and fizzes with post-industrial energy. There is more urgency to the raved-up 'Driving To Nowhere' and hefty drum menace in 'Magnetism.' On the flip side, machines are in meltdown on 'Through My Veins' and 'Unpunished' while 'Confused' is a punchy and funky full bodied techno pumper. Sublime.

Review: Quelza dropped a superb double pack in the form of their Les Malicieuses EP on More and now comes back with more deep techno brilliance. This is another bumper eight tack offering of well-crafted rhythms and deft atmospheres. 'And Suddenly, I Was Reborn' is an icy and unsettling opener with slithering synths and minimal drum sounds then 'La Rive' is quick, slick and ghostly in its vibes. There are also hi-fidelity and dubby cuts like 'Souviens Toi D'Oublier' gorgeously hypnotic pieces like 'He Didn't Say A Word' which float in space and rock back on forth on heady loops. An artful, impactful selection from Quelza.

Review: Prolific Ukrainian producer Stanislav Tolkachev returns this week with a new one for Rotterdam's MORD imprint. The How Much Do You Know EP features once again his idiosyncratic style of techno music: whether it's the multi-layered and widescreen arrangement of opening cut 'Pockets Full Of Lighters' which is truly indicative of his majestic style on the A-side, followed by the pounding, peak-time minimal assault of 'Zero Seconds Ago'. On the second side, Tolkachev presents more off-kilter offerings like on the experimental beats of 'One-Armed Leg' or the expansive electro of 'Talking Drum'. Tolkachev continues to prove himself as one of the most innovative producers in modern techno music with this release.

Review: 2023 marks a decade since Bas Mooy launched Mord, an outlet for forthright, heavyweight techno of the type that's now all the rage but was once frowned on but all but those who followed the style. We'll have to wait and see what they have - if anything - in store in way of celebration, but first Mooy has decided to offer up this collaborative EP from Dynamic Reflection regulars Viels and Pyramidal Decode. They begin with the dark, buzzing, atmospheric intensity of the Donatto Dozzy-esqye 'Privazione Individuale', before opting to pepper a more minimalistic techno groove with leaping modular pulses on 'Sintesi'. 'Entropia Variable' is a dense, locked-in chunk of noise-smothered industrial techno, while 'Moto Ondulatorio' is a surging slab of peak-time energy peppered with mind-mangling modular motifs and razor-sharp electronic riffs.