Back catalogue: Techno

Review: Clergy is rightly making a big deal of arching the big one-oh with a fifth instalment of its fine Clergy 10 Years series. This various artists excursion is another blistering one that opens with Cravo's rubbery and rumbling 'Cosmic Drift' before Benza breaks up the beats into more chunky, cantering and swinging affairs on 'Mech Encounter.' Julieta Kopp drills deep into a heady cosmic minimalism on 'Nothing Feels Right', then Marcal's 'Lua' brings some grit and grime and Habgud's 'False Flag' is a pared-back and dubby sound with paranoid whispers. Last of all is the mind-melting Obscure Shape cut 'Elemental' (Cleric 5/10 remix) for a nice eerie finish.
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Review: Pounding rhythms, layered melodies and relentless energy define this high-impact techno release. Across six tracks, the sound explores raw, driving percussion, deep grooves and nods to classic Detroit and Chicago influences, creating a package built for the headstrong. Opening with 'Reborn Identity', the tone is immediately setihard-hitting tribal techno wrapped in hypnotic loops, chord stabs and a beautifully melodic undercurrent. DJ Rush takes it even further with a no-holds-barred remix, pushing the track into pure Chicago mayhem with scooping kicks and aggressive energy. 'All We Imagine As Light' follows with a deeper approach, leaning into rolling percussion and a groovier, more hypnotic flow. Flipping over, 'Broken Circle' injects raw power into the mix, designed to move crowds with its high-energy pulse. 'Instinct' shifts gears slightly, merging techno's intensity with house elements, weaving in Detroit-styled melodies and rich strings for an anthemic feel. The journey wraps with Volpe's remix of 'Instinct', stripping things back to a chord-heavy, dub-influenced sound that brings warmth and depth. Each track carries its own character, yet together they form a cohesive, floor-focused collection. Hard, deep and rhythmically relentless, this EP embraces the genre's foundational sounds.

Review: Tasteful techno crew Clergy are marking their decade in sound with a series of red hot 12"s that show exactly what they are all about. This one kicks off in menacing fashion with the scruffy, driving kicks of Obscure Shape's 'Don't Leave Me' while Hadone then gets a little more trippy with the loose synth lines and occult machine sounds of 'Empathy Under Review.' Elsewhere Bailey Ibbs rolls deep and dark on 'Break Theory' and Kameliia's 'Investigator' is a tight, pent up and funky techno sound with some dramatic synth stabs adding a classical edge.

Review: Premade heavyweight Obscure Shape and classically trained musician Conrad team up; Berg Audio proudly welcome them as a new duo addition to their roster, together under the name Urban CC. Throwing back to real-deal minimal-ambient techno of a steezy kind, something between Maurizio, Move D and Ghost, 'Pegasus' and 'Marly' cycle through fluttering dub techno and 1-2-step garage respectively, the latter bringing an eyebrow raising combo of yearnsome garge vocal science and pulsewidth techno shots, post-drop. 'Hadban' sneaks a cheeky drum & bass bullet train onto an otherwise techno-centric platform, marking Sleepnet-style vocal etherics and sold-on-us liquid. 'Shagya' finally restricts the mix, with a dubtech-house full of beeping, filtered vocal shouts; a Strictly Rhythm-meets-Chain Reaction contraction.

Review: SEXYRECS is back for round two with a selection of technoists all charged with firing up the floor. VNTM's 'May I' opens with booming kicks and unsettling tension. Jerm's 'Scar Tissue' is more in your face with ragged rhythms and lurking low ends that flow through the mix. Obscure Shape taps into his signature scintillating loop sound which is designed to suspend you just above the ground on 'What Connects Us?'. Last of all, Valentina Miceli ups the intensity with 'Fact One', which marries the urgency of early Jeff Mills with the low-end throb of Skudge. Four well-tooled weapons.