SILENT SERVANT Vinyl & CDs

Review: Juan Mendez took his Silent Servant project to another level when he released Negative Fascination on Hospital Productions in 2012. His EBM-informed, brooding slant on techno had already made its mark on Sandwell District and other such influential labels, but his debut album afforded the space to really shape out his seductive sonic dystopia. More than ten years on, it stands tall as a masterpiece in the space it occupies, seething with hard-boiled urban malaise but equally adept at using subtlety alongside intensity. This expanded edition incorporates the Extended Mixes 12" as well as additional demo versions for those who like the tracks a little rawer.

Review: Cititrax's first Tracks 12" sampler did a good job in showcasing material from some of the Brooklyn-based label's favourite contemporary producers. This follow-up, arriving only a few short months after the first, aims to do the same. Returning for his second appearance, Tsuzing kicks things off with the razor-sharp shuffle of "Nonlinear War", whose intoxicating electronics and wild synth lines recall Brown Album-era Orbital, before London-based L/F/D/M takes a trip into bleak techno territory with the acid-laden "Mouth Holes". Flip for Silent Servant's deliciously grandiose, muscular electro-disco workout "The Touch", and the clanking industrial percussion, EBM attitude and humming electro beats of Maelstrom's "Lithium".