Techno Recommendations September 2012

Review: The trans-Atlantic pairing of Kyle Hall and Funkineven inaugurated their Funkinevil collaboration with the much anticipated plate Night, probably the first of many twelve inch shaped emissions to surface in the coming year. Setting the tone with the dextrously smokey "Intro", this twelve inch essentially pairs off the rugged, flatulent sounding DJ tool that is the title track against its smoother B Side counterpart and fans of either producer will need little additional persuasion to indulge here. The way that the percussion is almost spat out of the speakers at you on "Night" is just one reason why the track lives up to their new name, with the intermittent distorted chants of "evil" voiced throughout making for a neat reminder. In contrast, "Dusk" lets in more of the boogie infused swinging Eglo lightness, the moment those keys rise through and align being a mere shade short of sublime. "After Dusk" proves to be a fitting final act, all too brief but allowing Underground Resistance Timeline band leader Jon Dixon centre stage to show off his keyboard skills.

Review: There's little room for criticism when it comes to the Zooloft label overseen by messrs Giorgio Gigli and Obtane: a steady stream of refined noirish techno from themselves and the likes of Tin Man and Milton Bradley has arrived in the three years the label has been active, all complemented by some impeccable artistic direction and a firm grasp of brilliant release titles. The latest release tasks Claro Intelecto, Svreca and Brando Lupi with the intriguing task of refining some tracks from the private archives of the Zooloft bosses. Heads will mull this equation round in their dome piece momentarily and need no further persuasion, but for those unsure read on. Recent Delsin addition Claro Intelecto takes the entire A Side over to remould . "Underlying Destruction Of The Environmental Ties" into a steadily rattling drone techno delight, while Semantica boss Svreca conjures up all manner of creeping, claustrophobia inducing sonic imagery on a expertly sculpted take on "The Revolt Of The Objects". Donato Dozzy's sometime studio partner Lupi ensures the quality does not dip at all with a remix of "Complementary System" that splays all manner of malfunctioning bleepery over a dub-techno mainframe.

Review: You may or may not be familiar with Drvg Culture, but this excellent 12" for Viewlexx is the first of several forthcoming releases from the Dutch producer which should ensure you keep tabs on his upcoming schedule. The recently adopted alias of Bunker veteran and Angelmaker label owner Vincent Koreman, the Drvg Culture first appeared on via an excellent split release with Ekoplekz on Koreman's own Angelmaker offshoot Snug Life which should demonstrate his experimental intentions. Indeed, Koreman describes the project as an outlet for slow, doomy disco and experimental house, yet the superbly titled opening track "Bring Me Your Labradoodle" long with "Hermes Russia" and "Heart Beat" has more in common with the deranged techno of Gesloten Cirkel. Amidst all this, the vaguely unsettling "Monkey Man" sounds like Chicago Shags remixing Analord.

Review: Torque One provides an advance opportunity to hear how Robert Hood plans to tackle the conceptual themes at play in Motor: Nighttime World 3, the Detroit minimalist machine funk exponent's long overdue third instalment of the Nighttime World album series. Set to revolve around "the life, history and future of Detroit's motor industry and its workforce, set against a backdrop of decay, hope and re-birth" Hood might well be opting for a softer, more subtle approach than the grinding, relentless style he's refined in recent years on the basis of the two tracks here. The title track sets the shuffling rhythms deeper in the mix, allowing the brooding tone to dominate as the dubby textural qualities bubble away, while "Movement" combines bristling experimentalism with restrained orchestral strings.

Review: The Skudge Presents series has given us some of the finest doses of techno this year, and this new 12" by the enigmatic Rivet is yet more proof of their undeniable knack for associating themselves with some of the most forward-thinking artists around. Title track "Grifter" kicks off with a chunky 4/4 beat amid delays and effects but rapidly takes a turn for the unexpected and we're soon faced with a vicious electro bassline filled with crispy jungle break samples. "Sundry" also makes a clear reference to the jungle era by using smart, glitchy breakbeats and once again develops into something unpredicted. Haunting strings and dark melodies are moved along by an hypnotic, progressive beat and although deeper than the A-side it's probably the more interesting of the two. Yet more great stuff from the impeccable Swedish label.

Review: Moving between subtle alias variations, Tobias Freund has remained one of Berlin's lesser-celebrated house and techno craftsmen, beyond the inner circle of artists he advises on sound design at least. With this new two-tracker for Ostgut, you get treated to his no-nonsense approach to techno construction, not least on the wonderfully restrained "Freeze", which revolves around a looping bass synth phrase pitched at the dark heart of the night. "Perfect Sence" is a little sunnier in its disposition, with a lightly popping jack to the rhythm and cheery techno chords that lap out in a soothing contrast to the coy intensity of the flip.

Review: Now exclusively helmed by Boddika now that his Instra:mental cohort Jon Convex has moved on with his own Convex Industries imprint, Nonplus enters a new phase of its existence. Those worried that the change in management will mean a dip in quality should rest easy however, as the veteran Canadian producer Basic Soul Unit is tapped up for one of his best releases to date. There's no bells and whistles with these tracks; "Swept Up" revolves around a raw breakbeat and rugged analogue one-note bassline, giving way to a wash of pulsating filtered chords and deep melody, while "Mindstorm" utilises muffled percussion and a sludgy but frenzied acid line, but there's no denying the craftsmanship on display. Not many producers can create techno that's satisfyingly deep and has industrial rhythmic tendencies, but this release positively nails it.

Review: The Downwards label precede the intriguing release of a new album from multi disciplinarian Russell Haswell with this remix twelve inch brandishing wildly different reinterpretations of the Coventry based musician's work from William Bennett, Kevin Drumm and label boss Regis. Haswell and Downwards seem like a good fit given the former's long career of boundary pushing music across labels as varied as Editions Mego, Warp Records and Carlos Giffoni's No Fun Productions., while the latter have remained uncompromising in the direction of their release schedule. It's a rare occasion when you can identify a Regis remix as the most accessible contribution to a release, but that's certainly the case here, with the Downwards chief delivering a twitching, loopy techno workout of "Chua Rave," while Whitehouse founding member William Bennett - another former collaborator of Haswell's - has remixed "Harshing" which is quite aptly described by Downwards as a "stereo head f*cking, brain floss session". This is surpassed in the "skin crawling brutal sonics" stakes by the minute remix of the same track from the Chicago-based experimental musician Kevin Drumm.

Review: Szare never fail to surprise with each release - one minute they're making dark, stripped back techno for Horizontal Ground, the next they're making Shackleton style dubstep on Mindset. This EP for Deepmoves reveals yet another layer to the pair; "Mocao" is a Latin percussive workout that is somewhere between Comeme and jacking Detroit techno, while "Vermelho" utilises syncopated samba percussion and curiously tropical samples alongside its darker tendencies. "Bellevue" is perhaps more what we've come to expect from the duo, as shadowy textures drift across an insistent kick drum, but it's certainly no less thrilling. Rounding this off, Bleak remixes "Bellevue" to fine effect with a deep reworking full of cavernous dub delay of the Skudge variety.

Review: As any one who indulges in those M>O>S Deep releases will attest, there's something rather dashing and unique about picking up a slab of ten inch techno - and the latest release from Neapolitan imprint Etichetta Nera proves this theory once again. The label is the latest to call on the re-emergent Glaswegian producer par excellence Scott Fraser for some throbbing dancefloor business, having memorably graced the likes of Relish, World Unknown, Awkward Movements and Bird Scarer in recent times. Both tracks on the Origin & Mass release find Fraser on fine form, deftly working the textural modulations of his analogue arsenal over fully primed drum arrangements, with "Eta Carinae" just shading it in the blow your mind away stakes.