Techno Recommendations August 2015

Review: Amsterdam's heroes of the underground return on their on their own beloved imprint for some more of what this dynamite duo have become renown for; epic, cyclical peak time techno! On the A side "Reprise 01" is unashamedly Millsian with its film score style strings persisting alongside a bell melody and the hiss of a 909 hi-hat. "Reprise 02" hammers the message home some more with its kick that tears through the speaker and its entrancing, minimalist melody.. But just wait until those laser zaps come in. On the flip "Reprise 03" and those resonated dub chords loop you into submission but not before "Reprise 04" and its pounding reductionist style proves why these two of the top techno producers of the moment. Tip!

Review: Later in the year, Jeff Mills will release the long-awaited follow-up to his legendary Exhibition mix CD. Details are relatively scarce at present, though according to its creator the CD/DVD package "explains a lot about the mindset, and the concepts, and the procedure of how a DJ does what he does". In a bid to raise interest in the project - not that the Detroit legend needs much help in that regard - he's put together this 12" of previously unheard studio material. It's typical of Mills' floor-friendly exploits, with all four tracks fusing intergalactic, outer-space electronics (see opener "Signals To Atomix One") with rolling Motor City grooves (complete with the usual relentless cymbals) and bubbling basslines.

Review: Under his Bookworms name, Nik Dawson was responsible for one of THE label defining LIES records in 2012's Love Triangles and it's nice to see his weird streak been channelled good and proper on this new 12" for Ron Morelli's outfit. Clearly inspired by his ongoing musical experiments with Steve Summers at Confused House HQ, these four Bookworms cuts bristle with odd energy, coaxing you into experiment different notches on the pitch adjust. For example "Touchless Automatic" sounds all the more hypnotic and druggy with the tempo pitched right down, whilst "Coaxial Electric Slide" feels like an Acido track done Brooklyn style. There is a dank feel to the modular strains throughout "Exotic Auto Boutique" that you can almost touch whilst "Control That" perversely sounds like Dawson is barely making a faltering drum machine work. Wonderful chaos in other words.

Review: Anthony Child graces us with some exclusive unreleased material for one of the most seminal periods, not just within his career but for techno in general. From the same era that spawned classics such as "Badger Bite" and "Magneze" come six more finely executed scenes of sheer naked aggression. Undoubtedly influenced by the second wave of the Motor City at the time, namely Jeff Mills and Robert Hood; these tracks are still undoubtedly Child's own. Still, credit where credit's due; "Spider", "Lash Lite" and "IT-2" wear the M-Plant influence firmly on their sleeve with their entrancing synth stabs and claps on the kick. "Hard" and "Zilla" follow the instruction book for relentlessly hard grooves heard on Mill's Waveform Transmissions series. Essential listening.

Review: Woof! Let It Be (Acid) marks the second release on Andreas Gehm's low key Cologne Underground Records and lives up to its billing as an "international acid affair". And then some!!! Gehm himself features, closing out proceedings with "Was Soll Ich Sagen", a collaboration with Marco Bendig with tumbling drums, billowing acid lines and strange delayed vocals which sounds like it was a whole heap of fun to make. Before that Jared Wilson, The Exaltics and Ekman all contribute to the Roland butchery with the latter Bunker and Berceuse Heroique affiliate stealing the show thanks to his rather deranged Fight Club-referencing production "Richard Poulson".

Review: Oh yes! Belgium's supreme techno warlords Token are back with their very own Indigo Kennedy, and he's brought along a squadron of remixers to transform his recent "Requiem" tune. First up is Dial's Efdemin, who quickly adds his signature brand of freeform deep house - sinister pads all around - followed by Kangding Ray and his slo-mo version, a truly chuggy affair in all sense of the word. The flip sees Downwards master and UK techno legend Regis inject his deep and menacing style onto the framework, and Full Panda's Dasha Rush takes the straight-ahead techno approach but proceeds to surround the beats with gorgeous swirls of instrumentation.

Review: Welsh purveyors of deep and mysterious subterranean grooves UntilMyHeartStops return with a lovely second release by Duckett. He keeps on with the consistent quality and aesthetic that these label has become renowned for. The sombre, tripped out repetition of the groove to "Ewlowe Drive" is quite original "Cobwebs And Waiters" meanders about with its rolling bass, broken beat and lush Rhodes piano and mysterious bells jangling away subtlety in the background. On the flip; "Nervous In Regard To Waking Up" gets more on the techno tip with its razor sharp arpeggio and haunting pads and "Are Things OK At Home" almost like a version of "Cobwebs and Waiters" again but more upbeat with its bleeps and shuffling rhythm. Tip!

Review: Trevino's Birdie label flies onto our shelves with its third outing, this time by George Levings AKA Endian, a man who's put out gold wherever he's landed on - check the Nonplus catalogue for his finest moments. However, while his output for Boddika's label was comparatively broken and glitchy, "People" is a rocking house stomper with heavy-loaded percussion stabs, sparse melodies and diluted samples. "Exotica" sees Levings team up with bossman Trevino, where the pair make a break-ridden deep house bomb with a UK edge, while the flip features the bouncy, bumping house wobbles of "Juno Arps", and the funkier, jazzier beats of "122 Groover". A sweet number 3 for the label!

Review: Scenery White is as you'd expect, a white label offshoot of Stuart 'ASOK' Robinson's Scenery label, a Liverpool operation that has really developed over the past 12 months thanks to material from Mark Forshaw, Versalife, and John Heckle. Robinson himself features on this debut 12", going toe to toe with UK legend Neville Watson. Two sides, two tracks each: ASOK calls shotgun and delivers the grainy house textures of "The Future", and the driving, deep space squelches of "Perspective". Watson marks the B-side with "Idolatrous", a percussion-heavy bit of tribalism, followed by the dense and meaty arrangement of "Big Unit".

Review: Undoubtedly one of the most prolific Dutch artists currently working in electronic music, Boris Bunnik has put out a staggering amount of records in the eight years since he first surfaced. Presentism is his fourth full length under the familiar Conforce name and flips the script a little. Recorded following his recent move to Rotterdam, it sees the veteran Dutch artist blending glacial electronics, crystal clear melodies and spacey chords with elements of ambient, classic IDM and Detroit techno. As a result, it's a far more picturesque and set than his three previous albums, with an emphasis on mood and melody previously buried beneath industrial textures and razor-sharp rhythms. It could well be his best set to date, and that's saying something.

Review: Man of the moment Florian Kupfer is back, so look out! After highly lauded releases on L.I.E.S. and WT Records, Kupfer aligns with Fotomachine's prospering Technicolour label and delivers four cuts that should be filed under 'all killer, no filler'. First up "Explora (Slave)" gets all up in your face with its retro techno stomp but the chugging minimalist epic that is "Headpiece" is grinding, beatless affair. On the flip we have "Brute Force" which trances you out with its sinister analogue synth arpeggio; so simple but utterly effective. Finally there's "Schpel" another experimental and atmospheric cut that is haunting as much as it is riveting. Tip!

Review: Although Cliff Lothar's music has been in demand ever since his first EP on Viewlexx back in 2013, the producer hasn't been outing out tonnes of music. Instead, he's opted to stick close to home and has only released on a handful of labels including Skudge White and the present Riverette out of Spain. The Old Jams Die Hard EP is the first volume of a likely series and its classic Lothar, where the grooves of "Tugeda" are tightly packed and hard-hitting. There's also some funkier moments in "Don't Need Nobody, raw and jacking drum machines oddities on "Going Dutch", and a deeper, meaner kinda vibe on "The Snow Is Falling". Killer.

Review: London-based Michigan exile Karen Gwyer has been going about her business since 2012, delivering a range of experimental albums, 12"s and tapes for No Pain In Pop, Opal Tapes and Kaleidoscope. On this 12", she transfers to Nous, predictably delivering more robust, floor-friendly fare. A-side "Keisa Kizzy Kinite" is undeniably impressive, and combines loose, repetitive, alien-sounding synthesizer lines with ragged acid lines and the kind of oddball groove that sits somewhere between leftfield analogue house and mid tempo industrial techno. The Acrtress-ish "Brunch Music" is more overtly abrasive in a techno sense, while closer "Shit List With Kid" (a fantastic title, without doubt) tips a sly wink to Underground Resistance, Drexciya and early '90s British ambient house.

Review: One Detroit legend takes on another here with Carl Craig tackling some classics from Kevin Saunderson's legendary KMS imprint. First up is his revision of the classic ''Ahnonnghay'' by Inner City with its epic, soaring strings and superb synth lead that just reeks of the Motor City. The relentless handclap workout of his take on Esser'ay's "Forces" and an honourable mention to the classic that is ''Till We Meet Again'' with its razor sharp arpeggio, soulful diva strings and strings arrangement that builds and builds with the Carl Craig touch.

Review: More of uncompromising abrasiveness from the L.I.E.S. camp, this time courtesy of Brooklyn's Danny Moore who makes his debut on the White label series under the Pvre Matrix name. Exciting things are happening in the NYC district on the basis of these three cuts from Moore; first up title track "Burning Sulfur" channels Jeff Mills circa Waveform Transmissions Vol. 1 with its industrial strength brutality. "Refusal" brings down the tempo considerably with its unashamedly rusty analogue drum groove workout and "Hyper Object" gets into the entrancing, tunnelling vibe with its hypnotic claves and droning atmosphere. A most promising record from this newcomer!

Review: Never a label to be afraid of bucking expectations, the 20th Acido releases sees founder Dynamo Dreesen collaborating with regular colluder SVN and, surprisingly, Dave 'A Made Up Sound' Huismans. Of the three untitled tracks, it's the A side where the production touch of A Made Up Sound is most discernible, thanks to the skipping, stripped back rhythmic kicks that propel the cut forwards. You can totally see Ben UFO getting plenty of mileage out of this one. It is the B side where the abstract inclinations of SVN and Dreesen come to the fore, with "Track 2" sinking meandering drums in a thick, foggy soup of sonics and delayed modular bleeps whilst the final track is jittering, minimal electronics at its most paranoid.

Review: Dutch techno luminary Orland Voorn receives the makeover treatment on this latest juggernaut from the blooming Out Er imprint, who have out together quite the line-up on this one! The track in question is "Gain Upwards" and the first to rewire its structure is Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins, and the producer is in no mood to fool around thanks to his injection of heavy percussion stabs and molecular sonics - a truly fantastic return to form by the man! Atkins is swiftly followed by Berliner ROD and his moodier, swamped-out reinterpretation; on the flip we have Dial's Efdemin with a chuggy house and bouncy house version, and finally Haiku's cerebral take on the original...a ride into the darkest quarters of techno. What a pack!

Review: Since 1984, Laurent Prot has been putting out music as In Aeternam Vale, a project which has given us some of the best experimental beat music, the finest in darkwave and paved the way for many contemporary artists to do their thing. Although Prot had long periods of hiatus, the last five years have seen renewed interest in his work thanks to the efforts of Veronica Vasicka whose Minimal Wave label has issued several outstanding In Aeternam Vale retrospectives. Following his excellent Jealous God release, Prot now appears on the newly formed Linda Records with a devilish 10" containing three tracks that sounds as fresh and captivating as any of the music made by twenty-something year-olds now. "Self-Destruct" is an electrifying techno driver riding at a slow pace; "Non" ups the speed and drops in a heavy layer of pseudo-acid to the equation; "Inside" ties things off with a cavernous swarm of drones, sounding like the inside of a jet engine. DO NOT SLEEP.

Review: Underground Enigmatic Techno, or simply known as Urgent, is Odd Music's sub-label and its second outing involved ODD teaming up with newcomer Deego Fresh on the shadowy white label series. Fresh himself drops some killer quasi breakbeat action on "Output This", and those rickety beats surrounded by delayed chords remind us of Shed on his Power House series, while "The Balance" heads further into deep house territories thanks to its mild keys and laid-back approach. ODD comes through on "Accompong", a minimal techno number with plenty of subdued FX trickery and an altogether dubwise mood. Top stuff, this!

Review: Having previously used their dnuoS ytiviL offshoot to release material from their nearest and dearest (think Batu, Bruce, Hodge and Alex Coulton), Bristol's Livity Sound crew turns to unknown French producer Simo Cell. The two tracks showcased here are a rather fine introduction to this newcomer, with opener "Piste Jaune" offering a clandestine blend of stuttering electro bass, discordant analogue percussion hits and spooky electronics. The mystery man goes for the jugular on "Cellar Door", with pitched-down, bleep style melodies and liquid electronics riding an off-kilter, broken techno groove. Another fine Livity release.

Review: Following the excellent Civil Duty LP, surely one of this year's best techno albums, The Corner's next release comes from its tough-talking founder Anthony Parasole. Point God finds Parasole in typically combative mood, delivering a pair of techno tracks that sound like the result of several angry studio sessions. A-side "Percutere" is satisfyingly pounding, with a looped, punk-funk style bassline and brutal kick-drums being joined by clandestine textures and restless shaker percussion. "Point God-03" has a decidedly tipsy feel, with a mind-altering melody line and spooky electronics providing a focal point. While it's just as heavy as its' predecessor, the beats shuffle, rather than bang.

Review: Italy's Ruhig, otherwise known as Luigi Cicchella, put out his first EP last year via his own Midgar imprint, an offshoot of parent label Natch Records. The Lost In The Instability EP featured five cuts of raw, sparse and forward-looking techno for the off-piste moments, a release which sees a good makeover by four remixes herein. First up is the might Edit Select (Prologue, Ostgut Ton), who rewires the title track into a bleeping, off-the-wall piledriver with plenty of grizzly ambience and squelching bottom ends, followed by Natch Records casual Synthek and his dreamy rework of "Nibelheim". The B-side contains a remix of "Alba" by the young Luigi Tozzi, another fine slice of techno hypnotics for the floor, and Japan's Wata Igarashi's dubby take on "Pulse Width". All in all, a quality episode of ethereal club music.

Review: Aside from dealing with distribution matters, Germany's Diamonds and Pearls also puts out killer house and techno music on its own self-titled imprint. The past has seen releases by the likes of Dettmann, Efdemin, and Kassem Mosse, among others, and this time they've brought together house deviant XDB and the younger Even Drones onto one slab of wax. XDB drops some of his familiar blend of minimal funk on "Mitos", which is expertly rewired by Even Drones into a sparser, more broken cut. The flipside contains another original from XDB, "Enpii", which is moodier and more molecular than its predecessor; and once again, ED features on rewiring duties, moulding the original into a deep-space belter with a driving groove and one hell of a hook.