FOREST DRIVE WEST Vinyl & CDs

Review: Forest Drive West makes the most intricate sounds in techno if you ask us. There is a meticulous craft in everything he does, but never at the expense of an underlying groove and alluring mood. Masking is his latest EP and the title cut opens with dirty, swampy bass and percolating drum funk. 'Ziggurat' slows down but has real creepiness in the gurgling low end and insistent loops up top. 'Ruins' is a steppy broken beat with more ghoulish sounds swarming around the mix and 'Mobius' shuts down with deft loops that float above sustained chords and keep you on edge.

Review: Joe Baker's productions as Forest Drive West frequently take techno in interesting new directions, though he's not averse to dropping ultra-deep exercises in dancefloor immersion from time to time. That's exactly what's on offer on Baker's first EP for Echochord in three years. A-side '100m' is paranoid, intoxicating and softly spoken, with foreboding, echoing electronic riffs rising above moody aural textures and shuffling, minimalistic, polyrhythmic beats. Title track 'Recursion' is more ghostly, opaque and hypnotic - a future after-hours classic, perhaps - while closing cut 'Anchor' is a deliciously dubbed-out, sunrise-ready affair that sits somewhere between ambient dub, IDM and ultra-deep broken techno. In other words, it's another terrific EP from techno's man of the moment.

Review: Last year Joe Baker took his Forest Drive West project to legendary Dutch label Delsin for the very first time, in the process offering up one of his deepest and most picturesque to date. There's a similarly hazy and hypnotic feel about his latest EP, Dualism, which sees the East Londoner return to Livity Sound for the first time in the three years. He sets the tone via the EP-opening title track, a typical on-point combination of broken techno drums and drowsy dub techno style textures, before opting for more energetic Afro-tech beats and spacey, almost ambient chords on the equally brilliant 'New Day'. He further explores his love of polyrhythmic techno on feverish and mind-altering flipside opener 'Ritual', before joining forces with Lucky Pereira on cumbia-influenced, sub-heavy workout 'Scorpion'.