ADAM BEYER Vinyl & CDs

Review: Mighty European powerhouse Drumcode rolls out more of its techno tsunamis here with part one of the 12th volume of its A Sides collection. The boss himself, Adam Beyer, offers up one of the biggest cuts - 'Heading South' is a surging, straight-up techno weapon rippled with deft synths that ever forever on the move. Danny Avila's 'My Crew' (feat Flowdan) is built on a foundation of earth-shattering kicks and rolling bass with hellish stabs and vocal fragments making for an intense atmosphere, and Simina Grigoriu's 'Flight Tracker' is the sort of quick-moving techno sound to lock you into a trance. Add in LAAT's 'The Age Of Juno' (oi oi!) and you have a very useful and high impact EP of contemporary techno.

Review: Adam Beyer continues to refine his vision of techno with a release that melds intricate sound design with driving rhythms. The lead track layers ethereal synths and hypnotic vocal refrains, morphing into a pulsing, primal groove anchored by precise percussion. It's a masterclass in atmospheric tension, balancing futuristic elements with raw energy. The second track delves deeper, driven by metallic basslines and siren-like hoover tones, creating a dystopian soundscape that's both immersive and ominous. Beyer's ability to seamlessly fuse cutting-edge sound design with dancefloor functionality reaffirms his status as a cornerstone of modern techno.

Review: Drumcode label head and the so-called CEO of Business Techno steps up to his own mighty Drumcode with an outing which keeps him at the forefront of big room sounds, which is just where he has been for more than a quarter of a century. 'Ghost Kiss' hammers out edgy drums and ghoulish vocals bring character to the musical rhythms. On the flip is 'Pilot' with its flashy, trance-tinged synth energy and menacing basslines. 'Jack' is a hard and dark cut with motoring drums and sawtooth synths that bring plenty of on-point maximalism.

Review: Drumcode supremo Adam Beyer has become increasingly more prolific in recent years, signalling a creative renaissance that recalls the undoubted quality of his work in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His first outing of 2024, which follows a quartet of EPs last year, is predictably strong and packed to the rafters with future Drumcode anthems. Fittingly, he starts with 'Let's Begin', where mutilated vocal loops, mind-mangling rave noises and unsettling melodic motifs dance atop a typically thunderous and breathless big room techno groove, before opting for a dirtier, acid-flecked groove, metallic noises and sped-up hip-hop vocal samples on 'Computerized' (hip-techno anyone?). To round things off, he goes darker and denser still on the loopy techno power of 'Red Room', which pleasingly also boasts the same Aisha vocal sample as the Orb's 'Blue Room'.

Review: Adam Beyer seems to be in a superb run of late and this is his second vinyl outing in as many months. Desert Queen is pure Beyer, and pure Drumocde - drum-led techno for the main room with sweeping synths and grand vocals that are designed to impact crowds of thousands. The A-side actually brings a touch of trance energy and hard techno funk with its slamming, flat-footed drums, coarse synths and brightly lit arrangements. 'Soulful' then flips the script with a more funky groove that rocks back and forth and has funky basslines and a pitched up r&b vocal that works strangely well in the unusual context.

Review: You have to respect Adam Beyer for still being a real techno overlord these days. He has been on the scene almost since day one, as has his trusty Drumcode label, and they are both still winning over new generations of fans with their direct to dancefloor style. This latest missive is another monster starting with the hard and heavy drums of 'Robotic Arms' which comes with just enough detail from the sic-fi vocals and synths to get you locked, then the anthemic 'No Hate' is sure to become a big one for Beyer with its rolling drum funk and repeatable vocals. A Trippy Mix is a more wild and frankly better version.

Review: For his first outing of 2019, Adam Beyer has turned over the parts to his 2014 single "Teach Me" to Belgium's first lady of banging, acid-fuelled techno, Amelie Lens. She subsequently serves up two throbbing, peak-time ready revisions, with the A-side "Main Mix" offering a near perfect blend of booming, kick-drum driven beats, military snare fills, cut-up late night vocal samples and distorted, mind-altering riffs. As the title suggests, the flipside "Acid Remix" sees Lens indulge her love of mind-altering TB-303 acid lines, brilliantly wrapping them around a springier drum track, EBM-influenced melodic motifs and more pulsating, manipulated vocal loops.

Review: Two right legends of techno unite here for the latest release on Drumcode. Label chief Adam Beyer presents 'Restore My Soul' featuring Chicago hard techno veteran DJ Rush, their relationship stretching back nearly three decades from when they both started out in the' 90s. The title track is aimed squarely at the main room dancefloor; a seething, mental groove featuring Rush's stern vocal delivery atop, before taking the energy levels into the peak time on the adrenalised thrasher 'Control'. Over on the flip, you are treated to a rework of the title track by DJ Rush himself in his typically stomping and orotund style.

Review: Some serious peak time weapons for the main room on offer here, from the ever reliable Swedish label Drumcode. Usual heroes of the label such as Luigi Madonna, Sam Paganini and Joseph Capriati step aside for some other equally reliable staples. On the A, side label boss Adam Beyer teams up with Enrico Sangiuliano on the evocative and life affirming "Preset Heaven" which takes its cues from early trance with its amazing chord progression. It is something more typical of the label next, on the pummelling warehouse stomp of "Muzik" by Bulgaria's Timmo. On the flip, there's more trance nostalgia on offer again - this time from legends Pig & Dan on the hypnotic/melodic bliss of "La Bruja" which we could imagine melting the minds of festival crowds well into the new year. Finally they save the best for last with French peak time specialist Julian Jeweil, serving up the furious, tunneling and strobe-lit ultraviolence of "Nasa" which will have your adrenaline going from the first beat. It has been a stellar year for the powerhouse label, with great releases by Moby, Dubfire and newcomer Layton Giordani.

Review: Adam Beyer and Green Velvet are legendary names in techno music for over 30 years now. Their powerhouse track 'Simulator' receives a set of fresh remixes, extending to some producers to show off their version of this lofty new classic. First up, Mha Iri, a pivotal figure for Drumcode, delivers a scorching remix. She retains the original's fierce bass stabs, using them as formidable motifs, while injecting an abundance of intensity through electrifying builds and drops. Next, Odd Mobb, an emerging talent from Australia recognized by Fred Everything and Skrillex, infuses his four-minute rework with high energy. His remix emphasises the low-end elements and introduces vibrant new bursts of color, creating a dynamic rendition that keeps listeners engaged. Finally, Chris Avantgarde, known for his inventive productions, crafts a remix that defies genre boundaries. Combining elements of breaks, bass, electronica and techno, his interpretation spreads across all of his personal influences. Pressed on neon green 'rippled' vinyl, this record looks as dangerous as it sounds.

Review: Techno team-ups don't come bigger than this, as Drumcode's overlord of all things mega-tech Adam Beyer links up with Chicago's agent provocateur Green Velvet to give you your next stadium shaking anthem. This isn't the first time Beyer and Velvet have worked together - you could find them on the 2018 track 'Space Date' for one thing - but there's a sense 'Simulator' will become their calling card as a formidable double act. It's simply huge, catchy as hell and full of all the fireworks you could wish for from a super-sized techno workout, all guided by Velvet's unmistakable voice ducking and diving around the expertly engineered mix.

Review: Raton has grown to be a quite an integral part of Drumcode as well as the underground at large and now after previously working on the likes of Ellum Audio he finds himself in the studio with techno bigwig, Adam Beyer. The pair cook up two versions of the same cut here. 'The Signal' (Night mix) is a dramatic cut with an epic baseline and space-age synth craft over chunky drums that are constantly on the rise. 'The Signal' (Day mix) is a much more melodic and light cut but has just as much low-end heft. Both of these tunes give you an insight into how big name DJs like this see techno working in different settings.

Review: Adam Beyer shares his first collaboration with Vintage Culture, 'Lift Me Up' featuring Kyozo. A suspenseful covenant formed between three huge-room techno striators, 'Lift Me Up' was born from a fruitful back-and-forth shared on the road to Sonus Festival in Croatia. Packing a clenched sawtooth lead - one that hardly requires the development that the track nonetheless indulges by way of tuned impacts and chord transitions - this one ends up a dramatic build, as a vaunted vocal lines abjures us to "lift me up", as we listeners end up, paradoxically, the ones uplifted.