All Abandon All vinyl

Sheffield's devious Central Processing Unit has been quietly churning out release after release over the last four or five years. They know what they want and they know how to get it; electro and smart-sounding techno are their specialities, and their recruiting policy is simply spot on. Here we have the B12 moniker, a collaborative project of 'intelligent' tech veterans, Michael Golding and Steven Rutter, who together paved the way for the birth of short-lived movements like IDM, into the 2000s. Of course, this EP is pure class; "Untold" is a slow, eel-tanned sort of tune that would go well in a balearic set, and "Play With Me" picks up the tempo but continues that same sort of placid, sensual sound. On the B-side, "Step Inside" offers bubbly synth sounds and a faded, washed-out kind of glow with its sonics, whereas "Conektion" very much steps into the realm of artists like Autechre. Recommended.

Owain Kimber (Owain K), John Shima