Review: Batu and Nick Leon united for this surprise release late last year and it now arrives on lovely vinyl where it sounds sublime. The four-track EP blends Latin and UK club influences with a psychedelic twist on Batu's label, A Long Strange Dream which, since its 2023 launch, has gained recognition for pushing experimental club sounds of the highest order. 'Rezz' kicks off with shuffling tight percussive rhythms and 'Yiu' is more intense in its high-fidelity loops. 'Tuvan' is a minimal broken beat stepper and 'Palo' closes with some snappy Latin rhythmic invention.
Review: Blue Hour have dropped a couple of essential new 12"s this month and here is one of them. It's another of their famous various artist's collections, all with a focus on the deeper end of the techno spectrum. The eponymous Blue Hour kicks off with 'Afterglow' which has wispy neon synth trail and soft, rubbery drum and bass blends that take you into a cosmic sky. Dold's 'Warning' is more textural and raw with its percussion and synth energy and Steffi's 'Volley 5' is driving, dynamic, dubby techno for intimate basements. Newa's 'Seduction' is a psychedelic wonder to close.
Review: The Spanish Hypnotic Collective label attempts to capture its take on the Detroit Legacy with what looks like a new series of various artists' EP. There is plenty of Motor City soul in the gorgeous synths of Cignol's muted acid and deep house opener 'Distance' which is a soothing and reverential groove, but then its pure party from Barce, Alex Martin offers up 313 style tech and three further tunes on the flip explore blistering electro with high-speed funk and cosmic intent. Mission accomplished and we're already looking forward to the next one.
Review: Last year's superb Pura Lempuyang album has been pulled apart and served up on a couple of separate 12"s and this is the second one. It comes on limited turquoise vinyl and offers four cuts of stylish deep dub and techno. Fletcher's 'It's A Virtue' goes first with taught, twanging bass and grubby basslines then Mike Schommer's 'Kingmaker' offers liquid dub funk with watery pads and hissing static. Nicolas Barnes picks it up a little with a darker but still warm dub techno roller in 'Sonic Dial' and Redrop's 'Genesis' is the more driving of the lot but again exists right on the ocean floor.
Lewis Fautzi & Norbak - "Code Of Deception" (5:17)
Oscar Mulero - "Zw System" (5:20)
Temudo - "Niiv" (6:29)
Kessell - "Time Domain" (5:11)
Review: Faut Section's Perception Series is back with a second sizzling installment of freshly made techno. Lewis Fautzi & Norbak pair off to open up with 'Code Of Deception', a barreling cut with icy hi hats and taught bass twangs full of dusty factory floor menace. Oscar Mulero offers one of his signature loop-techno rollers in 'Zw System' Temudo then rattles walls with the mysterious bass rumbles of 'Niiv'. Completing what is an EP that is as varied as it is vital is Kessell with the dubby broken techno beats of 'Time Domain' which has fizzing synths cracking like static on a 90s TV screen.
Review: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.
Review: Mental health charity label Serenity keeps it sophisticated with its sixth outing and once again donates all proceeds to charity this time Young Minds. It is underground house mainstay and DiY Discs legend Nail who steps up first with a much more breezy and balmy sound than you would expect but it sure is lush. 'Pad On' slips into his more usual and driving house sound but with swirling pads up top for summery refinement. Trixie, Connor Male & Thoma Bulwer then get deep and late night with their punchy 'Impromptune' while Trixie's solo cut 'restless sculptures' is a jacked-up and percussive number that leans into techno.
Review: Following up releases by the likes of Mark Seven, Florist and Cygnus, Ari Goldman's Washington D.C-based World Building returns with this awesome varioust artist compilation. Neighborhood Watch Volume One features a wide selection of moods and grooves: NativeSun vs JamesBangura get stuck into some dark dubstep on 'Demon Mode' much like The Khan does later on the deeply meditative 'Part Of Me (Ode To DC), while Sami gets their swing on with the classic house of 'Marty & Jack', Juana's tunneling 'It's Low' gives you a dose of heroin house and over on the flip Max D gets deep down and dirty on 'No Snare'.
Review: Barcelona's 22Recordings mark a curveball with Nativo's new release, moving away from their trademark darkness and ever further into playful and melodic, if still diatonic, sounds. Patently led by the drum machine and the step sequencer, the rising producer Nativo flexes their chops across five tracks of varying speed and tenacity, all of which cross between an intuitive pastiche of dark Italo on one spectral end, and pure outsider house music on the other. The mood is gruff but clownish; it's as if your local fairground had been overtaken by vampire bats and bloodthirsty goths. Closer 'Onivia' is the only moment of respite, bringing an impressive substrate of arpeggios to an overall final-shebang feel.
Review: Vessel Recordings Group is a US label operated by Ira James and next up is Natural Rhythm aka the duo of Thomas White and Pete Williams. They have been working since the 90s on their own brand of house and as this EP shows it is stylish, rooted in tradition but full of contemporary designs. 'Jillybean' is raw, stripped back and perfect for backrooms. 'The Chase' is a slamming cut that pushes on with classic vocal samples twisted into something new, and great swing. 'Son Of Orange' is another lo-fi, high-class house sound with real weight and machine soul and 'Pocket Ops' closes out with dubby techno energy. A fantastic, no-frills EP to get this label underway.
Review: Navigare Audio proudly presents the long awaited remix-bundle of Ness' classic LP, released two years ago in 2023. Now, with a bang, comes an equally compelling atmospheric techno remix bundle from favourites and friends of the Swedish label. Five trance truncators of fantastic capability come our way from Hydrous, Dino Sabatini, Vladw, Kalumet and Mikkel Rev, all of whom revel in a sweet, Baltic-oceanic feeling, lent coldly and bracingly to Ness' already cryogenic, outdoorsy sound.
Review: The work of 1990s German electronic group Neural Network is titularly apt for the times. The mood around public-facing AI like ChatGPT and DALL-E has aroused much anxiety and curiosity of late, and they're only the tip of the iceberg. Surprisingly enough for new listeners, though, they'll find that the work of Neural Network - renowned for their contemporaneity with the likes of Biosphere and Autechre - is serene compared to the current mood of AI furore. These 'Excerpts' highlight the bulk of their work made between 1993-1995, which, unlike their former albums, didn't gain label / distributor traction at the time.
Review: Newa's latest EP, Equilibrium, presents a wicked journey through four distinct techno realms. On Side-1, 'Dtrance Love' emerges as a powerhouse, delivering strong linear techno infused with an abundance of energy. Its trance-like qualities are propelled by a persistent bassline, casting an eerie and futuristic atmosphere. Following suit, 'Electro 404' takes listeners on a robotic, sci-fi-inspired adventure, showcasing Newa's versatility within the electro genre. Flipping to Side-2, the title track 'Equilibrium' explores a fusion of electro and breaks, intertwining trance chord progressions with subtle hints of acid. The result is a great blend of genres, underpinned by a weighty bass presence that commands attention. The EP concludes with the Peachlyfe remix, which feels like a sonic experiment unfolding in a science lab. This reimagined version adds a fresh perspective, injecting the track with new life and dimension. Overall, Equilibrium EP helps push Newa's reputation as a boundary-pushing artist within the techno landscape.
Review: During their time as Nexus 21, Altern-8 pair Mark Archer and Chris Peat were given the opportunity to head to Detroit and record with some of their techno heroes, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May included. "Made In Detroit" presents these rare and significant recordings for the first time, offering a suite of tracks that fix UK-style bleep melodies (all the rage in late 1989/early 1990) to the kind of fizzing rhythms, warm bass and futuristic electronics then popular in the Motor City. There are two versions of house-tempo standout "Don't Do It Like That" (one with a whispered lead vocal by Ann Saunderson), while the clanking and metallic "Nexus" and more ghostly "No Statues" accurately fuse the best bits of both British and American techno at the time.
Review: The Hayes label is very nearly at a landmark 50th release mark but don't overlook number 49. It comes from Norbak and offers some serious techno clout. 'Malta 6am' is a pounding and loopy cut with lither percussion and sleek synths working you into a lather then 'Passo Lento' slips into a more minimal sound with groaning synth textures increasing hi hat pressure. There is no let up on the B-side as 'Lux' cuts loose on gallivanting drum funk which is underpinned by thudding kicks, and 'Gare' shuts down with a weight, dubbed out sound. Plenty of variation in this one makes it a standout 12".
Review: Queensland's DJ Whipr Snipr joins forces with Brazilian artist Norus for this superb new EP, Gravitational Attraction, on the also brilliant Nerang Recordings. Since 2016, Whipr Snipr has helmed the label and steered it through plenty of innovative sounds as he does again here, this time with Norus who brings his expertise from Gestalt Records. This collaboration marks their second EP and it is a clean and crisp blend of emotive breaks, electro, techno, and serene synth sounds. 'If I Could Fake One Emotion' is our favourite for its thrilling mix of deft jungle breakbeats and sombre piano chords.
Review: Ever reticent contemporary ambient techno artist Nthng shares 'Two People', their latest EP to hit the shelves. Building on their always wordless sound - one native to a certain "mysterious" corner of the techno world, one that implies that words are insufficient in capturing both breadth and depth of sound - 'Two People' is a minimally stirring EP, one that relies on the bare associations of just two visual indicators of theme: snow, unity. Imprinted on the planar white surface shown on the front cover is a lowercase trace of the title track, which, in sound, hears a vocal recollective of a baby's gurgle, and a lonesome pad lilt that only ever so much as teases a movement, ghosted by the absence of (and so haunted by the promise of) a beat. When beats do interpellate the scape, they do with the textural quality of stalactites, breaking and dropping to the floor in step on both 'Echo Trak' and 'In Statik'. Nthng's filtrated percussion and long-release tails serve to dust the surface snow off many ambered, glaciered memories, preserved in the unspelunked caves of an antarctic psyche. Closer 'Don't Be Scared' plods forth, steppers style, with the stridency of an epiphanic polar walkabout, its swells contrasting to the many radiophonic FX peppering the mix: they give the sense of the odd "do you read me?", grounding the far-yonder miracle pads in telecommunicated reassurances from the outpost.
Review: Romanian label Lok has described Nu Zau's first appearance on the imprint as a "cutting edge masterpiece". While that may be a touch on the hyperbolic side, it's true that the Bucharest-based producer has delivered a fine three-tracker in his distinctive "Ro-minimal" style. A-side 'Synthetic', a typically off-kilter slab of trippy minimal house marked out by surprisingly funky clavinet sounds, mind-mangling vocal snippets, locked-in drums and impeccable sound design, is our pick of the bunch. Elsewhere, 'Traumatised' sees Nu Zau make great use of mangled, warehouse-ready rave riffs, raw acid lines and crunchy drums, while 'Get Out' is deep and dubby in tone, with bursts of jazz fills, rubbery bass and woozy chords.
Dracula vs Frankenstein (Kenny Hooper remix) (6:53)
Dracula vs Frankenstein (G-Prod remix) (7:44)
Review: Swiss label Acquit Records has got a couple of superb outings lined up this month and Nate Nubia is behind this one which offers up a single and three different mixes of it. Original cut 'Dracula Vs. Frankenstein' is a warm analogue world of smeared synths and dusty drums over a crisp broken beat. It's full of machine soul and melancholic moods. The Info Remix is more edgy and driven, while the Kenny Hooper remix layers in extra light and melody. The G-Prod remix is one with its head amongst the stars and plenty of celestial synths.
Review: Nuron's latest album, Blanchimont, released on De:tuned Records, reaffirms his status as a luminary in the ambient techno realm. The title track, 'Blanchimont,' is fused with Detroit's machine soul while adding some European twist, heightened by its release on vibrant orange vinyl. 'Stavelot' on Side-1 enchants with its scenic beauty and soulful melodies, reminiscent of Detroit techno's finest moments. Meanwhile, 'Masta' on Side 2 explores ambient realms, echoing the styles of CIM, As One, or Stasis. Throughout the album, Nuron's signature blend of nostalgia and innovation shines, creating a sonic experience that resonates with both longtime fans and newcomers alike. Blanchimont stands as another jewel in Nuron's discography, another bookmark in his enduring influence and creative talents in the ambient techno genre.
Pig & Dan vs Gregor Tresher - "Granular" (Update 2022 mix) (6:37)
Wehbba - "The Next Step" (6:10)
Nicole Moudaber - "Come To My Beat" (feat Romina) (6:50)
Review: The all powerful Drumcode label still does a fine line in big room techno after countless years and even more releases of the stuff. This third part of the A Sides collection brings together a towering selection of names from that scene including Tiger Stripes with the smooth cruise that is 'Altar'. Veterans Pig & Dan vs Gregor Tresher get more intense with frosty loops and dubby hits building a vibe and Wehbba ups the ante with acid daubs and fizzing drums on 'The Next Step.' Nicole Moudaber's 'Come To My Beat' (feat Romina) then hammer home a hefty techno groove.
Review: Russian avant-garde sculptor namesakes Naum Gabo, AKA Jonnie Wilkes of Optimo and mastering engineer James Savage, drop their inaugural album, 'F. Lux.' The pair delve deep over eight tracks of cavernous ambiance, pummeling industrial techno and barren, windswept synthscapes, which are perfectly alluded to by Scottish painter Andrew Cranston's surreal artwork. In turns introspective and oppressive, the pair ditch their usual stylistic sensibilities for something altogether more longform and enveloping, allowing for full immersion in the cavernous soundworld. Highlights include opening wormhole 'Aora' and the deeply tense grindhouse resonances of the aptly named 'Hebust Cometh'. Wicked and bad.
Review: Istanbul born, Berlin and Copenhagen based artist Nene H (real name Beste Aydin) had amassed a hardcore following for her slew of early releases. She then finally came good on all her promise with a debut album that blended bass, techno and plenty of her own cultural heritage. Ali arrived in 2021 but only now lands on wax via Incienso. It's an album that processes personal grief and mourning with melancholic melodies, moody grooves and introspective soundscapes that allow for deep thought processing. At times psyched out, at others manic, and always alluring, it's a real triumph.
Everything (No Statues) (previously unreleased version) (5:03)
Don't Do It Like That, Do It Like This (feat Donna Black) (5:56)
Crazy For Your Love (previously unreleased Recording) (4:18)
Together (6:53)
Sycologic PSP (5:09)
Self Hypnosis (previously unreleased mix) (5:37)
Silicon (live At The Brain club - previously unreleased version) (4:11)
Review: The Nexus 21 'Mind Machines' album finally sees the light, bringing the shelved UK techno classic to eager fans. Originally recorded in the early 90s, these tracks capture the essence of Detroit-inspired UK techno, fusing raw energy with British flair. Standouts include 'Nexodus' and 'Everything (No Statues),' with Motor City talent Marc Kinchen and Anthony Shakir lending their touch. While only two tracks saw official release back then, this album unearths unreleased gems and alternate mixes, showcasing the duo's groundbreaking sound that influenced both Nexus 21 and their rave-alter ego, Altern 8. A long-awaited landmark.
B-STOCK: Record sleeve damaged, product in working order
Quantum Entanglement (6:45)
Fighting Gravity (7:04)
The Galaxy Next Door (6:52)
Empty Space Equals Energy (7:24)
Angular Momentum (7:01)
Sea Of Stars (6:15)
Position In Time (5:39)
Space-Time (6:57)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Record sleeve damaged, product in working order***
Broken Techno / Electronica label Theoretical Rhythms is taking it to the next level with their first vinyl release. Label boss Nickel Eye is honoured with the production duties and come up with a beautiful album which can be described as an audio Sci-Fi poem. Rich textures and pads are present in all tracks giving the album trippiness bringing the listener on a cosmic excursion. Steady broken beats keep the things on a dancier side and the listener can have a dance while watching the stars listening to the album.
Space Child is an album that would work equally well at home on an individual journey as well as on the dance floor where each party goer can take their personal trip.
Review: Astoundingly unusual broken techno experiments from LA's Nomadico. The digital version of Shards is glassy as much, cracking the otherwise unbreakable mirror that is the normative album format with over 30 mixes. The vinyl version here picks up the pieces, selecting among them the best on offer, spanning various motifs from styles such as acid to broken beat to fuzzy techno. A veritable set of dispersive sonic prisms, these broken-off vitreous vestiges recall a cybernetic fusion of the styles of FaltyDL or Legowelt; but in all frankness, these kinds of comparisons ultimately fall flat, since the aim of the record is to cultivate and encourage the act of cultural reconstitution, breaking from established signifiers. In Nomadico's own words, "culture has since been shattered into shards that must be reconstructed, reshaped, remixed and reconnected. A truly nomadic statement.
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