Juno Recommends Techno: June 2024

Review: Rawax's Motor City Edition series is back with more tech from Detroit and this time it is Los Hermanos at the buttons. Gerald Mitchell opens up the 12" with 'Two Feet Up' which brings warm and soul-infused techno vibes and some lush strong stabs. 'Remember Detroit' is a just as deep cut with slick drums and sci-fi melodies rippling throughout the arrangement and then the flipside ups the energy levels with the more twitchy and synapse-firing 'Central Nervous Systems' complete with plenty of busy melodies. Things chill out a little for the closer, 'Path Of Tranquility', which showcases some lush melodies and serene synth strings.

Review: ZamZam is hurtling towards its milestone 100th release but first it turns to enigmatic French producer Hiss Is Bliss. Both sides of this new 12" aim squarely at the dancefloor. 'Nope' opens up as a perfect dub techno exploration with driving 808 kicks and synth swirls that paint cosmic colours in the space above. Ras Lys' vocal adds a hint of dread while the B-side cut 'Abbadia' is stripped right back to the bare bones and still makes a mark. The pads are distorted as the shimmer above the rhythm and lock you into a mindful state. This one has been limited to just 800 copies so do not sleep.

Review: FOXBAM INC is back to build on the momentum of their first EP with a second one that packs a mighty punch. This one kicks off with EBY, who this year has been cooking up acid for 40 years and here offers the warped low ends and garage-techno power of 'Goldtooth'. Foxtrot vs Ma Bla then mashes up old school samples with earth-shattering bass on 'Deep Down Inside' and bRz vs Stije is a double-time hard techno stomper with warped synths and twisted bass that is inspired by and named after ISCO, a concept from Einstein's general theory of relativity that makes predictions about the dynamics of black holes.

Review: The influential 90s IDM and techno act Future Sound of London continues to delve into their early career with the reissue of The Pulse EP Vol 2, originally released in 1991. This EP exemplifies the early techno sound, blending rave elements with the more intelligent and linear side of electronic dance music. Side-1 kicks off with 'Stolen Documents' (Jazz dub) by The Future Sound of London, a track that perfectly melds jazzy undertones with dub influences, creating a sophisticated and immersive experience. Following this is Smart Systems' 'Zip Code' (Stress Ball mix), a piece that balances high-energy beats with a stress-relieving ambiance. Side-2 begins with 'Innate' (W O W mix) by The Future Sound of London, a track that delves into deeper, more atmospheric realms, showcasing the group's innovative approach to soundscaping. Indo Tribe's 'I've Become What You Were' (Insider mix) closes the EP, with a pulsating techno rhythm that encapsulates the essence of the early '90s rave scene. Before their signature chill out sound was made, FSOL his some of their highest notes here with these early EPs.

Review: The next level beat maker and sound designer that is Skee Mask returns to long-time home label Ilian Tape with another bold and brilliant album, Resort. It's an album that expands on the artist's usual sound with fusions of celestial ambient, IDM sound design and lithe, rhythmic techno drums. There are breakbeats on 'Reminiscrmx' backlit by heavenly pads, 'Schneiders Paradox' is marbled with zippy pads and raw drum hits, 'BB Care' glistens with a futuristic glow and 'Holzl Was A Dancer' slips into a shuffling, UKG tinged dub house pumper. It's a wild, wonderful ride that reaches all new levels for this already accomplished producer.

Review: Azu Tiwaline and Forest Drive West team up for the first time on 'Fluids In Motion', a sonic communicative movement transmitted over the long terrestrial range between the UK and Tunisia. Having exchanged ideas over the long course of three years, this is a match made in heaven that nonetheless presents only the best in its arsenal. Balancing ambiance and soundsystem weight, opener 'The Pitch' lands the interview with its naturalistically cavernous lows, rattling chains and photo-heavenly sounds left agape, while 'Fluids In Motion I' sets the pace with a proper acousmatic techno shellout, albeit with its bursting highs still left in the mix; and by the time of its third movement, 'III' - which is made up of sticky auto-panned snaps and juddering texture-bass undergirds - the ending is well and truly stuck.

Review: Hyperdrive's label debut was a biggie that brought together old and new-school techno on one fizzing EP. The follow-up comes soon after and this time makes no bones about being a Rave Revival. Anthrophia's 'The Voice' kicks off with what is a hefty breakbeat cut with edgy rave stabs and slamming bass. Dimension 23 - 'Fascination' (Seb G mix) then takes a more stripped-back approach with turbocharged synths layered up over silky drums. Centuras brings plenty of bright, euphoric prog energy to the urgent drum funk of 'Jizz' and last of all Dimension 23's 'The Eagle' then kicks out more dusty old-school breaks with machine gun synth fire. A potent EP, make no mistake.

Review: The Sindh label head returns to his own excellent label here with a new project called the Komudo Series which we are told "will focus on mind and body movement". The music will still come with his trademark infusion of tribalism and rituals and the first volume features four brand new cuts that "merge subtle darkness and evolving alien textures with strong grooves." 'Akureh' kicks off its menacing low ends and warped bass that never lets up, 'Quake' suspends you amongst fluttering snares and drawn out whistles over linear beats and 'Liquefaction then gets more gritty with dirty loops and plenty of tension before 'Swarms' shuts down with a more thumping deep techno sound.

Review: Continuing the research project started last year, Sound Metaphors, Transmigration, and historian Ray Castle present an in-depth analysis of the dancefloor scene in Goa during the 80s and early 90s, before trance became a mainstream genre. This tropical underground haven thrived on unique aesthetics, with dedicated collectors and DJs curating the finest "special goa music" from the era's emerging electronic tracks. This compilation features impactful new beat, proto-techno, early progressive, trance, industrial, EBM and house music tracks, accompanied by event photographs in a double LP gatefold with a poster and liner notes by Ray Castle. Re-mastered in Berlin, it's an essential addition to any record collection.

Review: Acid Avengers mark their 30th release with a celebration of the electro duo. Here they invite three to-die-for dyads - Posthuman, Queer On Acid and Hard Ton - for a five-track set of crunching electro, techno and acid house, all gathered together under the visual banner of a smiley-faced retake of the twins from Kubrick's The Shining. Erring on the more explosive and least restrained, most guttural effusions ejectable from the acid faucet, all three artists' contributions convey a hedonistic set and setting, with kitsch 'acid' robot voices and globular low-end movements coalescing across each mix like huge droplets of lysergic sweat.

Review: Gunjack indents a lasting impression with the 'Detroit Tango' EP for Planet Rhythm, taking after the distinct Motor Citied techno style whilst also bringing a supremely balanced and original slant. The producer shows off a clinical, precise, nigh surgical approach to texture, gain staging and mixing, building on a genre that otherwise prides itself on 'rawness' (i.e. gritty street-realist unpolish) and moving further into a direction of serenity and clarity. Take the low end movements of 'Rocket Surgery', on which the track's coltish hook and subnautical kick do not sound separate, but rather one sounds to 'emerge' from the other; and 'The Drumz', which evidently takes after Millsart's 'The Bells' for a more enlivened jamboree, albeit one that still somehow fits in with the softer subtleties of the EP's obverse trax.

Review: Netherlands outfit Planet Rhythm continues to fulfil their stated mission to explore the boundaries of dance music, and to 'design the future', with releases from talents whose music testifies the idea that techno is too big of a concept to be limited to a single idea. Yan Cook is one such talent in their eyes; his latest for PR's limited black labels series hears four laconic, calculative and dark techno numbers play back in cold step, like a one-track space probe feeling its way through a planetary ring of ice. Cook's sci-fi theme is inhospitable, with his take on the presence of 'Antimatter' in the universe amounting to a kind of fearful metallic object grating away in an echoic chamber; and 'Exomoon', which conjures the image of said celestial anomaly via frigidly bleak pads and starkly reverberative yawps and drum machines. A chilling vision of an exodic space-faring future, perhaps once in which we've been stripped of our humanities entirely.

Review: Emmanuel Top's Attack Records epitomises the zenith of 1990s techno-acid brilliance. The French maestro sculpted a sonic landscape that remains as fresh today as it was decades ago. Tracks like 'Turkish Bazar' and the enigmatic 'Acid Phase,' with its heavy acid bleeps, stand tall among the era's techno elite, exuding a trancey, main stage allure. Now, after thirty years, these seminal tracks return to vinyl in a meticulously crafted 5 x 12" box set. Remastered with care, each track receives its own vinyl side, allowing for an immersive sonic experience that DJs and audiophiles will relish. This collection is not merely a nostalgic trip down memory lane but a testament to Emmanuel Top's enduring influence on electronic music. Tracks like the aptly named 'Climax V 13' do heavy damage on dancefloors worldwide. For fans of 90s techno and those seeking a glimpse into its pulsating heartbeat, this box set is a treasure trove. Emmanuel Top's legacy shines brightly, encapsulating the essence of a genre-defining era, while propelling it into the future for new generations to discover and appreciate.

Review: In March, COD3 QR launched a digital release featuring DJ Deep, Avision, and Deetron which they have now followed up with a first-ever vinyl outing fettering new tracks from the same artists, all curated by the great French techno icon Laurent Garnier who looks to embody the label's ethos: "music diversity is our strength." Avision, rooted in NYC's vibrant club culture, offers 'Hold No Groove' and 'Talk Is Cheap' which showcase his signature New York techno and house style. Swiss veteran Deetron presents 'Pulse' and 'Corazon', and again goes deep, while DJ Deep's 'What's Going On' and 'Transition' reflect his Parisian rave roots and sophisticated style.

Review: Inigo Kennedy returns to Token for its 126th release with The Calling, a three-track EP that exemplifies his unique production style, blending hypnotic and stomping club elements. Inigo has been making techno for a better part of 25 plus years now with over 50 plus releases to his name. Side-1 features 'Magnitude Seven,' a track marked by melodic dissonance and a stripped-down acid line supporting a saturated groove and noisy synths. Waves of unsettling intensity, driven by a powerful double kick sequence, make this an epic opener. The title track, 'The Calling,' on Side-2, elevates the intensity with a frantic four-to-the-floor rhythm and sustained notes that create a sense of pressure. Harmonic sections breathe life into this nail-biting record, showcasing Kennedy's ability to distance himself from the typical loop-based templates prevalent in techno. This track underscores the ongoing relevance of his long-standing career in club music. The EP concludes with 'Out of the Woods,' a fitting electronica closer that shifts focus to introspection. Drifting notes and shuffled percussion lines evoke Kennedy's UK roots, providing an ethereal epilogue to the preceding techno tracks. The Calling is another masterclass from Inigo Kennedy, highlighting his innovative production techniques and soulful approach to electronic music.

Review: No-nonsense fast techno jank from the Netherlands' Jsprv35. 'Tar V35' could take its name from anything from a newly discovered exoplanet to an industrial strength vacuum cleaner at the design and prototyping stage; clearly, it's not the nominal content but the sonic form that this record takes that makes it so beguiling. 'Pacific', 'Pimp', 'Prolix' and 'Retry' are like murderous factor-colossi gone rogue; their many-limbed, many-belted extensions firing off in all directions as they slowly, but repetitiously and surely gain sentience. Only the tricksy final track is any let-up, although even it functions as a worthy underfloor-heater in its own right.

Review: On fresh 2xLP heavyweight vinyl comes this unprecedented new compilation from the Ranges label, who here celebrate the tenth anniversary of their launch back in 2014. The name of the game: wompy tech meets permafrosty encasements of dub and muted trance, evoking a muted listenership, as if the perceiver is no less than the same amniotic spheroid trapped between abstract filaments depicted on the front cover. Pressurised but still headroomy contributions from the likes of Merv, JS Zeiter, Gradient, Ohm, El Choop, Federsen, and Submoon make for increasingly confident spelunkings of the ice cave, aiding the discovery of the fabled glistening audio-ores and invisible walkways found inside.

Review: Fireground's Love Letter EP on the legendary techno label Tresor delivers a dynamic journey through the realms of early 90s techno and house fusion. On Side-1, 'The Element' ignites the dancefloor with its big, rave-inspired sounds and UK rave influences, while 'Riva' seamlessly blends high-energy house and techno, punctuated by catchy melodic moments. On Side-2, 'Love Letter' takes the listener on a deeper voyage with its mid-90s warehouse vibe, exuding a late-night atmosphere with subtle disco undertones. Closing the EP, 'Etereo' serves as a perfect end-of-the-night track, enveloping the listener in its atmospheric soundscape. Firegrounds' talented ability to mix nostalgic elements with contemporary production techniques shines throughout Love Letter, making it a peak time record that will go over great at the disco.

Review: Giacomo Pellegrino presents an intriguing fusion of deep dub techno and knocky garage-house-techno on his latest EP, 'Lost In Berlin'. This one cleverly evokes the feeling of traversing the outskirts of B-Town after dark, which is - assuming one is aware of what going to a warehouse rave in Weberwiese or Moritzplatz is like - a truly distinct emotion. From the opening shuffles and coy deep-stabs of 'Dub 004', across which a multiplicity of radio-transmitted voices dance around our heads in unison, to the original and Delano Smith versions of 'Dub 007', a track whose sudden electrical janks and widescreen impacts seem to add up to a sonic gestalt, seeming to transcend the mere mix; we find ourselves lucky to be in possession of this EP.

Review: Techno legend Marc Romboy is back to kick out more of his electrifying jams on his own Systematic label, this time with Blake Baxter as his collaborator-in-chief. Their jam 'Freakin' is a playful cut with a rugged, coruscated low end and vocal chops that keep pumping the vibe. It comes alive with some bright, sharp acid liens and then gets a more experimental and distorted SID version. Last of all, German mainstay Robert Babicz remixes and turns everything up to 11 with his intense and irresistible rework.

Review: Global Underground present the next release from the nextmost DJ to grace their City Series. ANNA's dynamic sound encompasses multiple styles and genres, from ambient through house to techno, and encapsulates the effortless chic and vibrant nightlife of one of the coolest cities in Europe - Lisbon. This modish Portuguese metropolis has always enjoyed a certain notoriety, but this has perhaps not been felt so intently more than in the last five years or so. ANNA now fleshes out Lisbon's essence, capturing its descending narrow streets, castellated jetties and glorious sunsets with a progressive house, trance and techno mix that satisfies all possible ends of a newfangled tourist's dream.

Review: Compelling, melodic and dreamatic new techno from Italian duo Boston 168, who transcend the rest with their intelligent and contextually grounded take on the genre. Drawing inspiration from the transformation of industrial settings into rave venues, Sergio Pace and Vincenzo Ferramosca deliver the latest iteration of their arpy analog sound here for leading experimental techno pushers, Arts. Their opener 'Acid Arcane' instantly recalls the feeling of leafing through forbidden codexes and grimoires, in desperate but vain search of the gab-giving essence of Faustian techno knowledge; then there's the cryptic, smoke-blocked weights of 'Codebreakers', which equally conjures a kind of impossible-to-track techno scytale or puzzlebox, in its various moody pad chord movements and piquing acid plucks. The B-side errs more horrific and driving, 'Depth Perception' serving as the worthy culmination of a throng of heaters.

Review: Future Romance's Collector II release is a futuristic trek into through the realms of melodic trance and techno, featuring four melodic tracks by different distinct artists. Solee's 'Euphoria' takes trance into the future with a smoother, more reserved approach, toning down the over-the-top elements for a refined experience. Paul Angelo & Don Argento's 'Harpe' delves into a deeper style of trance, characterised by snappy percussion and growling basslines, with influences from goa trance. On the flip side, Drumcomplex & Frank Sonic's 'Ultra Hex' offers celestial-sounding techno that builds euphorically. Closing the EP, Off Night's 'Definition' presents the most peak-time trance track, with epic and big-sounding elements. If you are looking for the future of the trance and neo-trance, check this out this EP from the birthplace of the genre.