Techno (Alles) charts

Review: Australian artist and Moonshoe founder Cousin looks to the rich local surrounds of their neighbourhood for inspiration in this new techno two tracker. It comes hot on the heels of the well-received recent outing on NAFF and kicks off with the deep, dubby and supple rhythmic sounds of 'Rosie' which is detailed with wispy melodies and distant twangs, watery droplets and alien life forms. Flip it over for another aqueous and deliciously deep dub sound in 'On2'. The hotly tipped Cousin once again pours more heat on their name with this innovative EP of superbly sophisticated dub sounds.

Review: Neil Landstrumm is one of the UK's most underrated but high-achieving artists if you ask us. He's done it all over the years and has been pivotal to a number of different in-between sounds flourishing into scenes. Here he lands on a fellow UK institution in Swamp 81, once a home to cutting-edge bass and now offering an outlet for Landstrumm to explore the cosmos. He does so with his usual mix of quirky sound designs and heavy grooves on 'Minimoo' which is both serious body music but also playful and charming. 'Aintgotnojob' is a twisted juke-inspired B-side with reverberating low ends and tightly looped vocal phrasings that melt the mind.

Review: If you've not heard 'Skyscrapers' yet, where have you been? First released digitally last year and accompanied by more remixes than we can count, the track is arguably Nina Kraviz's most accessible, radio-friendly release to date - a potential crossover anthem that's as cool as it is catchy. Now finally available on vinyl via this single-sided seven-inch, 'Skyscrapers' is a prime piece of what Kraftwerk would have called 'techno-pop', with the much-loved Russian producer's sweet vocals rising above a bed of ultra-crunchy, snare-heavy machine drums, dreamy Chris Lowe chords, gaseous pads and ear-catching lead lines. It's basically synth-pop, but it's classy and sonically deep enough to please all but the angriest underground techno purists.

Review: Underground Resistance likely owe much of their mythology to the Interstellar Fugitives series; a classic series telling the tale of the UR clique fighting oppression and music-industry corruption on a cosmic scale. It's certainly an experimental delight for most newcomers to the techno genre and/or those who want to trace the history of the sound. DJ S2 (aka. Suburban Knight) and Von Floyd (aka. Gerald Mitchell) are infamous members of the UR gang; both of them have enjoyed success in the genre, and as part of the clique, since at least the late 1980s. 'Post Emancipation Psychosis' is a classic slab of UR's anarchic, ironic militancy. With its orderly drum machine march, the eponymous track by S2 describes the paranoia and loss of mental clarity one might after having been freed from the coercive clutches of a former master; meanwhile, Floyd's 'Geiger Counter' is a super-early electro classic, channelling a bursting, radioactive soundbank even few producers today could replicate.

Review: Dez Andres must have had a busy year in the studio because he has a few new joints dropping at the moment. Beretta Music has his latest and it comes in the form of a 7"to follow up his 'Back in My Space' from back in Spring. Once again here the Motor City native, former Slum Village DJ and house maestro dips into his more soulful side with some fresh breakbeat tunes that are sure to get the floor popping. Yelping vocals and some signature Andres basslines finish it in a fiery fashion. Fellow Detroit talent Brian Kage steps up with a booty-shaking remix that gets even heavier on the drums to make for another fine 7".

Review: Techno doesn't often come on 7" but do not let that put you off this superb new drop from Bump'n'Grind. It features dub techno legend Deadbeat in fine form across two devastating cuts. A-side 'Ark Welders Dub' is a menacing and prowling track with a picked bassline and smeared chords to add real depth and weight. It's one to foster a heads down mood on the dancefloor, while emotional release comes in the form of the flip side. 'This Bitter Dub' is a more sparse sounds with hissing hi-hats skating over the drums while bittersweet synths and an aching blues vocal ring out up top.