Back catalogue: Techno (Alles)

Review: In celebration of their tenth birthday, Selador marks the occasion in style with a four-track collaborative EP, featuring tracks from 3D, Robert Owens, Olivier Giacomotto, Quivver, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo, Argia, and Jepe. The opening track, 'Known Love', is a deep, pulasting house tune that feels like an instant classic, perhaps thanks to the soulful, pop-tinged vocals - think LCD soundsystem meets Four Tet. 'Snailblazer', the second track on the EP, takes a much darker turn, with a chugging, EBM-esque feel. Full-bodied and complete with obscured vocals, this is the kind of track to pull out your bag when it's time to really get stuck in. On the B-side, 'Napkin Knowledge' draws on the glistening synths of eurodance, yet still securing the melodies to a grounded bassline and rhythm section. 'Salitre' is the perfect closing track, rising up in a gleaming, ecstatic melody, before delicately returning to ground level. A varied yet firmly cohesive collaborative release - the perfect way for Selador to kick off their 2023 catalogue.

Review: This new collection offers up a quartet of tracks that are all tailored for slightly different moments on the dance floor. On side A, Dani Casarano kicks off with deep, hypnotic grooves that make for an immersive atmosphere before transitioning to punchy, bass-driven energy with other cuts. Side B introduces a new alter ego from Felian and Bruno Schmidt and the pair explore a robotic, looping groove with incidental breaks and nostalgic synths in the euphoric third track. Closing the release in style, Omar Akrhif & Lucretio present a minimalist masterpiece that is aimed at heady after-hours sessions.

Review: O! Kult was a post-punk and industrial band from Yugoslavia that was active in the 1980s. Like many of their peers at the time, they were censored by the communist party that was in charge but that didn't stop them from making music and gaining a cult following. Their cut 'Zvestoba' has been found in old Radio student archives and brought back to life here and then remixed by modern luminaries Silent Servant, Christian Kroupa (who is one half of Black Dot) and 198319831983. They add weighty tech, EBM and moody electro vibes to make for a strong package.

Review: FXHE has been brimming with activity in recent times, with a steadfast flurry of singles refusing to let the quality drop, and now the big bossman delivers another two slices of finely cured business in his inimitable style. The lead track is an arresting piece with just a kick to drive proceedings, leaving ample room for a haunting array of bleeps and a 'speak & spell' vocal until the track slowly ramps up with some more prominent drum programming. "Mayall II" on the flip is a less tense affair, with a cheery string refrain and old school jack-in-the-box beats disseminated in a plain and simple fashion.

Review: No-one embodies the sound of Detroit quite like Omar S. The badman beatmaker has been touring out his idiosyncratic jams for more than two decades and rarely ever misses. Right now we've got a bunch of restocks of his earlier works landing and this one is from right back in the early days of his FXHE label. It opens with the wonky acid and whistle madness of 'Polynesia' then take sin the clunking, mechanical house of 'Churchill', scratchy sounds and wispy synths of the experimental 'Micronesia', low slung house sleaze of 'Frontwardsflip' and phased and drunken bassline madness of 'Nikademas'. Superb.

Review: Detroit heavyweights Omar S and Theo Parrish link up for a one-track release that lives up to its bold title. 'The Grand Son Of Detroit Techno!' stretches over ten minutes of raw, hypnotic movementidusty drum programming, looped keys and a low-slung groove that simmers with intent. Omar S keeps the arrangement locked and heads-down, while Theo's unmistakable fingerprints surface in the swung percussion and deep jazz-inflected textures that evolve across the track's longform structure. It's a meeting of minds that feels completely unforced, rooted in lineage but defiantly forward-facing a release that speaks in fluent Motor City dialect without ever turning nostalgic. Unapologetically stripped, functional and soulful.

Review: Rich Jones is the man behind Operator and he's been making increasingly potent waves with his own label Gnosis Records as well as outings on Singular Records. This outing on Munich's Ilian Tape is a great example of his sound: 'Mall To Beach '80' is vamping chords and hammering hits over hunched up drums, 'Deliberate' cuts more loose but is still a brilliantly loopy workout and 'Wanderer' brings thrilling, high-speed tech that skates on daddy drums and is wired up with electricity. 'Sector Seven' shuts down with more airy and floating rhythms. Sublime.

Review: Optic Nerve's - or Keith Tucker's if you prefer - Fragments EP is the last of the year from the Puzzlebox label and is a lush and futuristic techno offering that lands on limited white vinyl. 'Linear Motion' is powered by a sleek and propulsive deep techno bassline with solid stabs and majestic arp sequences. 'Echoes' is just as dreamy in its melody but then becomes a hefty techno stomper and 'Metallics' brings rich bell sounds, peak time drums and real class to any DJ set. 'Sequence in Time' is the closer with its hyper speed, icy melodies and twisted synths all making for a scintillating sound.

Review: Minimal murkery wrapped up in untitled mystery, 'A/B' sees French experimentalist Orree lay down two beguiling pieces of stripped-back bass brutalism. 'A' hits like a twisted instrumental grime cut that's been through the washing machine too many times. Rippled, clean and totally out of shape. 'B' has also been through the same process but then also marinated in high levels of diesel for a sleazier, oily and intoxicating experience. Limited so don't sleep.

Review: The fourth chapter in Childhood Intelligence's alternate sub-division, Sunrise Inc, features five neo-braindance artifacts from Outer Order of the Planetary Instinct Alliance. These tracks feature mystic analogue rhythms and vintage sounds that blend haunted synth landscapes with Latin grooves and heavy SH101 low-end frequencies. Intimate and hypnotic melodies and voices create a homage to the past and a prophetic vision for the future and betray a producer with a great musical heritage. Ad in hints of early, dark but soulful Chicago house and some deep and heady moods and wet acid lines and you have a real pearler of an EP.

Review: Outlander is a bona-fide techno great no matter what your particular preference so it is great they are back after a rather protracted time away. In the past he has served up over ten EPs for the cult R&S label but now lands on Sonic Groove Records with'a timeless EP of thought-provoking modern techno. The title cut 'I Am I Was' is percussive and stripped back to its bones, 'Where Is The Exit' gets more spaced out and spooky with searching synth lines and 'Isolated' has an elastic bassline that soon locks you in before closer 'Tuesday Vibes' is another eerie and sparse soundscape.

Review: Ovatow is one of several aliases from the DJ, producer, graphic designer and Frustrated Funk label head also known as Klen. It is one he saves for dubbed out solo experiments and this EP first dropped back in 2007. It stands up now though as a tasteful Collins of electro, dub and techno. 'Flame' kicks off with wobbly synth hooks and ice-cold analogue beats. 'Visitation Dub III' then sinks down into a moody, grainy and lo-fi world of deepest dub and 'A Thought' flips the vibe again with a bright and busy electro workout. It pairs the coldness of machine hits with the liquid soul of some lush synth melodies. Classy stuff, for sure.

Review: The unique thing about Omar S's music is that no matter how much later you listen to it after its initial release, it still sounds mad futuristic. His dusty grooves and otherworldly synth sounds take on many different forms and atmospheres and for this one back in 2010 it was all about occult cosmic worlds. 'Kosmos 1402' has rickety kicks and hits that spit and fizz with grit and grime, while 'Plesetsk Cosmodrome' then sinks into deep astral worlds with rubbery bass bouncing beneath warped pads and 'Skynet 2 B' has a more playful feel with cute chords and a nice skipping rhythm.

Review: The Vuo label comes correct with another heavyweight vinyl 12" that features a trio of techno talents. Ohm & Kvadrant join forces first up for the mighty 'Under Krystallen' which is a brilliantly textured and enthralling dub techno cut with brilliantly loopy bass swinging down low and rattling chords melting off to an infinite horizon. On the flip is Trackmaster Shuffle with 'Under Strobe' which is a more amped-up and techno-leaning cut with pent-up energy and darker bass rumbles. Two tasteful and timeless cuts for heady crowds only

Review: For well over a decade, Italian producer, electronic musician and sound designer Ocralab (real name Rocco Biscione) has been serving up immersive and enveloping ambient soundscapes, most of which tend towards the meditative and subtly sun-kissed. That's the trademark sound that he explores on gorgeous new full-length Locus Impervio, a set whose gently rising and falling melodic motifs, calming soundscapes and spacey sounds recall the halcyon days of ambient music in the mid-to-late 1990s. It's a genuinely gorgeous, soul-enriching set all told - the kind of thing we might have expected Pete Namlook, Jonah Sharp, Move D and Mixmaster Morris to put out circa 1994 (albeit with subtle nods to more contemporary, sound design-driven academic ambient releases).