MARTYN Vinyl & CDs

Review: Martyn's 'Vancouver' is back for 2024, but it's had a serious facelift. Two new remixes, released on his own label 3024, take the 2008 dubstep roller into new territory, each adding its own unique twist. Verraco, hailing from Medellin, opens with his MDE Reshape, and it's a rave-ready banger that doesn't mess about. Martyn's signature restraint is still there, but it's been turbocharged with a funky twist, skippy beats, and an otherworldly vibe that feels like you're dancing inside a spaceship with a crew of robots. Not your average club track-this one's for the late-night dancefloor when things start to get weird (in the best way). Then there's Berlin-based Rhyw, who takes things in a much darker direction with his SKG Mix. This version swaps out the skippy for the sinister, featuring a broken, ambiguous beat that keeps you on edge. The bassline hums like an angry fly circling your head, and there's a formidable sense of menace in the atmosphere. It's moody, it's unsettling, and it's exactly what you want when you're three hours deep into a night out and looking for a track to completely flip the room.
Both remixes are part of 3024's Through Lines project, and expertly mastered by Beau at Ten Eight Seven, because of course they are-these are polished, precision tools for DJs looking to mix up the vibe. Two very different remixes, but both guaranteed to get heads nodding, if not fully spinning.

Review: Dutch DJ/producer Martyn has always been one of techno and bass music's most thoughtful and diverse operators, with a trademark production style that draws on many interconnected styles and now a Substack newsletter full of interesting essays about different aspects of the music culture he's been part of for decades. Through Lines, seemingly inspired by his ongoing desire to make sense of the musical shifts he's contributed to, is his first career retrospective - a fine collection of personal favourites and hand-picked club workouts featuring tracks recorded and released at different points between 2005 and 2015. It's a terrific collection filled with tracks that variously mix and match elements of dubstep, polyrhythmic techno, UK garage, Detroit techno, broken beat, 140, drum and bass and deep techno.