Back in stock: Techno (Alles)

Review: It's time to tune into those weird and wonderful frequencies from Alien FM once again. This time the intergalactic space travelers serve up their Monochromatic Images, a five track transmission from outer space that leaves you breathless. The titular track is a busy and bumping electro cut with organic pianos draped over squelchy and synthetic bass. "Recordman" is a much crunchier and more dystopian affair complete with freaky vocals, then "Out There" is a stripped back, sublime electro rhythm that is perfectly mysterious. Two further mixes close out a super tight EP.

Review: One of the genre's funkiest groups, continuing where Cybotron, Model 500 and Drexciya left off and heading to a style all of their own, Aux 88 aka Tom Tom (Tommy Hamilton) and Keith Tucker (DJ name DJ K1) give two tracks from their classic 2009 album Mad Scientist an inaugural outing on vinyl, getting electro fans everywhere dribbling with instant Pavlovian desire in the process, no doubt. 'Voice Modulation' is slower, heavier and steadier, built around a shuddering b-line that anyone with a pulse will find hard to resist. 'Mad Scientist' the track, meanwhile, is faster and, with its vocoder-ed vocal delivery from Tucker, gives a good flavour of what makes the Michigan pair a vital live act as well as a legendary studio prospect.

Review: Detroit duo Aux88 always danced to a different drum than their Motor City peers, developing a ludicrously weighty trademark sound that put massive, mind-mangling analogue bass and gut-punching electro beats at the heart of the action. "Direct Drive", a 1995 release that has long been hard to find (hence this much-needed reissue), is one of the best examples of their distinctive sound. The title track (side A on this edition) is little more than a raw, thrusting bassline, snappy machine beats, spacey pads and occasional Kraftwerk samples, but it's brilliantly floor-friendly and brilliantly executed - Detroit body music for those who like their club cuts sub-heavy. Elsewhere, "Aux Express (DJ K1 Mix)" is a bouncy electro jam and the short "Bytes" tracks are wonky vocal samples for creative DJs.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Minimal house legend Thomas Melchior and Montreal's Flabbergast duo bring their skills to remix Calcio Club's cool System Check EP. Melchior is one of our favs when it comes to silky, deep, minimal house and here delivers a remix that retains the original's groove while smoothly transitioning into lush synth vibes. Flabbergast's Guillaume Coutu Dumont and Vincent Lemieux have a sound just as distinctive and offer two remixes that push micro-house's limits. Their tracks feature mind-bending effects, Moog-style synth hooks and a burst of percussion that all lead the remixes to a new level of dance floor ecstasy.

Review: DJ K-1's (Keith Tucker - AUX88) re-release for modern electro heads on the Direct Beat Classics label (including unreleased track from 95).

Review: Releasing techno that's built for both deep listening and the cavernous expanse of a warehouse dancefloor is something Tresor has prided itself on for over three decades now. The latest release delivers a powerhouse of raw, underground energy with 'Life' by DJ Plant Texture from Bari, Italy, a release that feels perfectly at home on the label. Side-1 opens with 'Ripetitivo' (Stretch Mix), a frantic, sci-fi-infused cut driven by intricate percussion and a relentless tribal groove. 'Seq21' follows with hypnotic, heavy underground techno, pulling the listener into its deep, looping vortex. Closing the side, 'Cycles' introduces a rolling bassline and ravey intensity, demanding attention while maintaining a deep, driving rhythm. On Side-2, 'WTT' (Dub Mix) stands out as a massive bangerideep, tribal and hedonistic with an incessant pulse that locks dancers into its grip. Finally, the title track Life delivers a pounding finish, embodying the raw, uncompromising energy that defines this release. An intense experience that balances hypnotic depth with peak-time firepowerianother essential entry in Tresor's legacy of underground techno.

Review: Set your radars to the cosmos and prepare for intergalactic take-off at the hands of this new one from K1 and Marty Bonds on Puzzlebox. It's timeless and cinematic electro from the off, with 'Cosmic Flight' (K-1 Navigational mix) layering up neck-snapping drums and bass and squelchy acid lines for you to ride on. Add in some smart spoken words and you have dance floor fire of the highest order. The track also comes as a bass-paella on the flip, while 'To Fly' (Marty Bonds Interdimensional mix) is a more minimal electro cut with lush digital synthesis and smeared astral melodies.

Review: Classic Detroit for those that know: a repress on Puzzlebox here by the one-and-only Keith Tucker under the lesser known Optic Nerve alias. The third and final installment in 1995's Wave trilogy features the brooding Motor City futurism of "The Gateway" on the A side, which treads a similarly ghostly trail as fellow scene veteran Suburban Knight. Over on the flip, there's some majestic strings on the evocative deep cut "Light Span" followed by the funked-up hi-tech soul of "Nebula 7". Trilogy - Wave 3 was originally released on the seminal, 430 West affiliated label Direct Beat. Tip!!!

Review: Soft Traffic is an alias for a well-known digi-dub producer who recently turned heads with an outing on Made Mecum. Now they land on the mighty Sushitech with a super limited, hand-stamped 12" featuring Prince Morella. It opens up with the silky smooth 'Meltem I', a liquid dub techno roller with chords rippling out to an infinite horizon as vocal muttering up top heighten the immersive trip. Part II is more icy and underwater, with rhythmic synth undulations and smooth-as-silk drum rotations locking you into a meditative state. Last of all is part III, an ambient sounds scape with subtly suggestive rhythms as you float in an underwater cavern. Classy stuff.

Review: First released in 1999, Swayzak's 'Floyd/Doobie' shook the British duo's catalogue. Though it wasn't 'Bueno' or 'Fukumachi', this deep house cut was the next best choice for followers of the then burgeoning tech house circuit. Swayzak were already favourites on this and the deep house scene, and had clawed in acclaim for their involvement in both as early as 1993. One particularly prolix bio deems them the incipients of "1st wave 2000-era progressive deep minimal", which is too analytic even for us manic categorisers. No, we prefer to take these two big-hitters as they are: brimming with enthusiasm for a gadget-packed future, 'Floyd' fizzes and twitches with the pulsing blurts of a saw synth, as if to suggest constant magnetic stimulation from above. 'Doobie', meanwhile, hears our protagonist disrobe the techno utility belt, returning to a wireless home, so to gaze out over a subtly detuned chord landscape set to munching percs.

Review: After putting it on hiatus three years ago, Detroit electro legend Keith Tucker has decided to bring back the Puzzlebox label he launched with Anthony 'Shake' Shakir way back in 1995. He's at the controls for this comeback release, which astonishingly is also the sometime Aux88 member's first solo single since 2015. He kicks things off with "Modular World", a creepy but funk-fuelled slab of intergalactic electro that boasts whispered vocals, spacey sounds and the same up-tempo energy levels as Aux88's 1990s output. Over on the flip it's all about "Schematixs", a bleeping and unearthly affair that sits somewhere between Kraftwerk and Egyptian Lover.

Review: Greek producer Stelios Vassiloudid has been making techno moves since the turn of the millennium under a range of different aliases. Here he appears as himself with four supercharged dub techno cuts for Dubwax. 'Lie In Wait' is a really tight, taught affair with pinging kicks and icy hi-hat ringlets. 'MIA' is more warm and vibes with a soulful core and underlapping bass waves. There is a more minimal and abstract sound to the curious dub bumps of 'Reverse Engineer' that encourage you to be at your most fluid. 'Grains' shuts down with grainy lo-fi pads, vinyl crackle and sparse kick that soundtrack an underwater jaunt. There is plenty of subtle variation to these rhythms which makes it a dead handy dub EP.

Review: This dynamic UK born producer returns with the third release on Moving Pressure Records, delivering a deeply hypnotic and percussive techno experience. Known for his precise, minimal yet groove-heavy sound, Wise crafts four cuts that are both functional and grooving. On Side-A, 'Relax' is a tribal-tinged stomper, driven by rolling percussion and a stripped-back, looping groove that feels built for the late-night hours. 'Chomp Chomp' follows with a subterranean pulse, where deep basslines and eerie, alien atmospheres create a mesmerising, heady effect. Side-B continues the journey with 'Cave', a pumping, evolving builder that slowly unfolds, layering subtle textures over a locked-in minimal grooveithe kind of track that sneaks up on you. Finally, 'Deep Under' lives up to its name, offering subliminal, well-crafted techno with clean, rolling momentum, perfect for deep dancefloor moments. Rene Wise once again proves why he's one of the most exciting names in stripped-down, groove-oriented techno, delivering a tightly produced, hypnotic collection that will satisfy both DJs and discerning listeners.