Back catalogue: Techno (Alles)

Review: London label Fourier Transform welcome back Rekab (James Baker) and label debuter Mre for 'Ace High'. 'Armadillos' rolls up its chassis for a serious exercise in minimal weight, reconstituting tuned percussions as it trundles along, while Rekab's 'Always Having Fun' posits an ideal life-mode: a steady, direct current of enjoyment, set to hedonically calculated beats. 'Climbing High' rebates the percussions for a subtle lark's ascent in deep acid, while 'Ace' complementarily descends across cross-rhythmic breaks and harmonies.

Review: Berlin's Regent returns to Mutual Rytm with a precision-crafted techno anthem backed by a trio of heavyweight remixes. 'Permean' is the kind of track built for peak-time warehouse deploymentifierce in its groove yet unusually emotional, merging surgical low-end with spiralling pads that lend it a timeless and melancholic charge. Dutch veteran Sterac pares things back with a hypnotic, tunnelling reshape that nods to classic 90s minimalism. Head High, Rene Pawlowitz's house-adjacent alias, flips it into a thudding, big-room roller with buzzing synths and tough drums primed for festival sets. Finally, Shed delivers the darkest mix of the lotihis 'Forceful Pressure' take ratchets up the intensity with distorted kicks, jagged loops and glitched-out percussion. It's a masterclass in restraint and tension, channelling the relentless energy of proper machine music. For a four-tracker, this covers a serious spectrum of club pressureifrom introspective to incendiaryiwith Regent's original anchoring the release as something both forceful and strangely beautiful.

Review: Riccardo's a master of dance floor grooves that blend minimal, techno and electro into always fresh sounding new worlds. This latest release arrives on El Milagro Records and has a distinct edge and introspective moods that adds up to a reflective journey of depth and drive. 'H Dimension' is a speedy space-tech sound with nostalgic synth work and evocative mid-to-high frequencies echoing the spirit of '80s melodies. 'Hologram' is wrapped in a mysterious, emotive atmosphere with smart synth sequences and snappy low ends and 'Die Ritme Vertel' is a mechanical rhythm with blurts of synth, neon colours and freeform drums. 'Cosmodanza' shuts down with soft acid lines lacing up a more dreamy groove.

Review: Rick 8 is the techno alias of Italy's Riccardo Falsini, and here he revives the pioneering spirit of his iconic Interactive Test label with this early gem, which offers an essential slice of trance, techno and progressive house history. Known for reshaping genre boundaries, the label was a beacon of innovation, as this EP shows. Each track is a potent club tool, designed for transcendental dancefloor moments and sonic ascension from the chunky tribalism of 'Hypernotes Velocity' to the standout remix of 'C'Mon' by Sound Metaphors affiliate Trent, who injects progressive firepower. 'Born To Sinthetize' is a deeper, spiritual sound with flashy synth work married to loose drum loops.

Review: This new one from Stefan Ringer on his FWM Entertainment combines two distinct releases in one: 3 tracks from his 2021 Meta Music EP and his darker alias Black Sued's 'Rogue' EP. It's a yin-yang journey of sound that shows his range and quality. 'Monotone' pairs signature deep chords and soulful vocals and distorted bass with minimal drums, while 'New Plan' is a driving, rhythmic workout of persistence and groove. 'YIA' offers meditative chords and affirmations set against a thunderstorm backdrop and the flip, the title cut explores shadowy jazz textures with a mysterious groove, 'Maze' marches forward with urgency and layered rhythm, while 'Deep Dirt' closes with gritty, broken-machine chaos. Together, these EPs make for a powerful emotional and sonic contrast.

Review: In the formative years of his career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ricardo Villalobos frequently utilised a handful of alternative production aliases - first Minta Spacew (one EP way back in 1993) and then more frequently Richard Wolfsdorf. Tia, first released way back in 2000, was the Chilean minimal maestro's second outing under that alias and has become a sought-after EP in recent times - hence this Rawwax reissue. A-side 'Echt Rot' is typically Playhouse-era Villalobos, with cut-up vocalisations, odd noises and spaced-out electronic snippets riding a crunchy minimal-house beat and looped, mind-mangling TB-303 bassline. Title track 'Tia' features simmering orchestral samples clustering around a typically wonky, stripped-back beat, while 'Feurwasser' sounds like the blueprint for many of his later minimal techno workouts.