DJs: Most Charted - Techno - Most Charted In 2011

Review: ** Repress For The Hood Fans ** This much anticipated EP on his own M Plant label sees Detroit legend Robert Hood continue to develop to his Floorplan alias after the recent Living It Up single. The A-Side explores euphoric 90s house tropes in "We Magnify His Name", a peak time piano driven anthem which is as religious an experience to listen to as its name suggests, complete with uplifting gospel vocals. On the flip, Hood explores his darker techno tendencies over two tracks. "Baby Baby" relies more on a cut up vocal sample and a slightly wobbling Motor City leaning bassline and a Model 500 style funk swing to it, provided in no small part by a particularly great guitar lick, while tension and release is offered in spades by a well placed horn sample. "Basic Priciple" meanwhile is a druggier affair propelled by its murky sub bass and techno stabs, the only melody coming from a particularly sinister two note organ line.

Review: After the brief dalliance on Planet E that was Night Lights, The Oliverwho Factory turn in some equally splendid dusty techno meets lunar electro for Rush Hour. "Galactic Transit" starts in rattling Theo Parrish style fashion, little more than spinal syncopation and booming bass hits before setting off for the stars via Shonie C's cooing refrain. The point where her vocals float over a surfeit of glistening pads is a blissful moment that continues to build and builds before somehow twisting into a futuristic electro jam as the end nears. The flipside version removes the vocals, which only serves to highlight the hypnotic effect of the track. Big tip!

Review: Round three of Skudge remixes and it's the most impressive line-up to date with Underground Resistance don Rolando and Dutchman 2562 sharing space. Rolando steps up first, going deep into the core of "Ontic", adding his own 'not everyone understands' vocal refrain which twists brilliantly around the slightly more urgent throb that grows into a thrilling rattle as the track progresses. Flipping the sonic script 2562 moulds "Convolution" aka THE THEME FROM SKUDGE into his own distinct template, retaining the fractured diva utterings but carving out a jagged metallic rhythm that's driven by shards of evil bass insurgency. This third volume of Skudge remixes is essentially a dual exercise in the art of the perfect remix; retaining what makes the original so special but stamping your own sonic identity to deliver something new!

Review: At this point it seems that nothing will stop the Skudge juggernaut, as they drop the first release on their own imprint a mere six months after their album, Phantom. This 12" doesn't throw any huge curveballs, but these tracks display a lightness and simplicity that has been largely unseen in their previously weightier productions. Of course their sense of rhythm is still as on point as ever; "June" is characterised by its beefy toms which drive the track forwards, but most surprising it the simple chord sequence which ebbs and flows throughout, allowing only a simple whistle as its only excess. "Man On Wire" is built around a simple bassline and slowly intensifying synth stab, but again, with a gravity defying breeziness that feels ever so subtly different from their previous productions. The 12" concludes on this note, with a short, bright, arpeggio tool that is an interesting diversion from their usual warehouse sound, and intriguing look at possible things to come.

Review: As far as Basic Channel-inspired techno goes, it sounds like Mike Dehnert has a new rival. Lindau may have a smaller catalogue, but like his other releases, Lot De Deux hits the target with unerring accuracy. "Avide" is subtler than is Fachwerk's wont, its pulsing rhythms and razor sharp percussion supported by swinging drums and a drunken vocal sample. "Sub Suggestion" is tougher and more toolish thanks to its relentless drums and firing percussion, but whatever inherent aggression features is offset by the hypnotic chord stabbing.

Review: A bulging 4x12" release from Styrax to round off their In Loving Memory series. Featuring venerable and fledgling talent alike from both sides of the Atlantic - including Ian Pooley, Laurent Garnier, Morphosis, John Daly, John Beltran and Sven Weisemann to name just a few - In Loving Memory 4:4 is a frankly essential purchase for lovers of the more cerebral strains of house music. Picking a favourite out of this lot is an unenviable task, but we'll plump for the dusty beatdown of Morphosis' "They Just Don't Care".

Review: Two of the UK's biggest techno gurus team up for three slices of no-nonsense, perfectly produced club tackle. The intriguingly titled "Erotic Misery" opens proceedings, with a granite hard techno thump complimented by frenetic hi-hats which perpetually build and build, while piercing synths arise slowly from deep inside the track's bowels. Flip over for the improbably deep "The Future That Was" and the raw, snappy "Black Lines". Fans of serious, heads down techno in the vein of Surgeon, Horizontal Ground, Ben Klock and Regis will be all over this.

Review: On What Have We Learned, Lebanese producer Rabih Beaini is presented with the same dilemma that every other electronic music artist with lofty intentions faces - namely how his music can make the successful transition to a long-player format. Unlike most of his peers however, Beaini manages to imbue What Have We Learned with a common narrative, despite flirting with a range of tempos and arrangements. That unifying bond is a sombre, atmospheric mood. It's tempting to posit that Beaini was influenced by his residency in Venice - but many of his previous releases have also had a similarly somnambulant quality. Irrespective of its origins, this gloominess is audible on the opener, "Silent Screamer", where a resonating bassline underpins an arrangement that skirts loosely around the edges of conventional house music. It also plays a central role on "Too Far". Featuring freaked out Gothic vocals and tumbling keys, its grungy, primal rhythm makes the connection between modern techno grime and industrial gloom. Yet What Have We Learned isn't a depressing or demanding listen and although his music is pitched at the outer limits of dancefloor centric electronic music, its ethereal tendencies will draw listeners in rather than repelling them.

Review: Clone and Conforce seem like such a perfect fit and the latter's debut on the former's Basement Series does not disappoint, delivering some of his darkest sweatbox rattlers to date! "Spoiled" drips with jerky acid menace, with heavy strains of synthesized horror filling the spaces between dizzying bouts of percussive rain. It's this staccato approach to rhythmic execution that proves utterly thrilling. "Vulcan" twists itself inside out, beginning in stripped down fashion with rasping hi-hats providing the rhythmic thrust which is gradually strangled by the death grip of the raw emotive machine funk narcosis that steadily rises to the fore. On the flip XDB comes through with two variants on "Spoiled" with the relentless percussive shower of the first remix a nice contrast with the more guttural acid poise of the second.