Techno Recommendations April 2012

Review: Hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed Whalesong EP for Trelik, OCH returns with another equally crucial deep club orientated two tracker. The A Side cut, "Sophisticated Animated", contains a level of funk and energy that is often lost in today's house music. Being constantly inspired by the US pioneers of the genre, OCH presents stripped back Chicago grooves alongside heavy analogue bass and jacking percussion, teasing with a sprinkling of 303 acid and a sparse yet deadly piano solo. Up next, "Moonlight Sonata" is OCH's deepest work to date, incorporating dubstep inspired drums and ambience with lush old-school synth chords which build and modulate before the track climaxes into a thundering four to the floor workout. Shrink-wrapped clear vinyl pressing.

Review: ** Repress for the dons ** Thankyou based Bankhead for this much needed repress of the mini LP from Leipzig power duo Kassem Mosse and Mix Mup aimed at fending off scrilla hungry Discogs sharks but also offers some a chance to replace their battered copies from the first pressing. KM MM breezes through a dizzying and highly experimental range of tracks, happily placing genuinely thrilling moments of sonic bombast next to arrangements that came across like three different tracks mangled together. In the midst of all this, "Birds Flying In The Sun Like U Know How" is calming and unashamedly odd, the ghost of Nina Simone plunged deep into the plucked, malfunctioning house groove.

Review: Germany's Fachwerk stable drops a second collaborative EP from label heads Mike Dehnert, Roman Lindau and Sascha Rydell. Entitled, quite simply, Fachwerk EP 2, it follows last year's Fachwerk EP which included tracks from each of the three producers at the centre of the label's quite singular techno vision, which combines crunchy, swung mechanical rhythms with warm, rolling, dubby tones. It's one of several releases which will culminate in the release of the label's 25th release, which we imagine will be something quite special indeed. The EP is as brilliant as you'd expect, with the muscularity of Dehnert's "M10? augmented with vocals that sound like snatches of Arthur Russell, the metallic strings of Lindau's "Grow" and the manic piano groove of Rydell's "When You Play It" all offering solid entries into the label's formidable catalogue. This label is simply on fire at the moment - don't sleep.

Review: Sick twelve of explorative dub techno textures from Canadian label Silent Season, pairing the ever inventive sounds of STL with Belgian producer Djorvin Clain either side of clear red wax housed in a recycled sleeve. Picture Boards Of Canada's "Happy Cycling" stripped of its melodic niceties and dragged unwillingly through the dystopian recesses and you might grasp how the trudging dubscape "Beats Of Spirit" sounds - with STL filling the lower expanses with rich field recorded textures, over which a cavernous clomping beat caked in sonic gristle traverses lopsidedly towards infinity. The B Side has two cuts from Clain's album Pattern Of Thought, with "The Untitled One" a superb exercise in contrast as spring time recordings contrast with the deep rumbling textures and clicking rhythms. "Kajimeara" is more industrially minded, with distant metallic intonations gradually teasing out a thick bass drum thud evoking at times the sounds of Dehnert, Demdike Stare and indeed STL as the track creaks and steams ominously towards its finale.

Review: After a barn-storming 2011, the dense, bristling techno of Xhin returns to toy with your senses. This four track EP for Token delivers just what fans of his recent LP will be looking for; dark- primal rhythm tracks with enough vitality to keep from getting dull. The unforgiving broken stomp of "The Realm" is enough on its own, let alone when it has great rips of tone and melody pulsing over the top. There's deeper moments offered too, in the spacious sound bath that is "Elliptic", but really it's the smack down of the other three tracks that will deliver the goods for existing fans.

Review: Dekmantel's 5th Anniversary Series has so far been as finely curated and presented as you'd expect from the Dutch label, and this penultimate entry is no different with Skudge and San Proper introducing some dark techno business to proceedings. Swedish duo Skudge are on fine form with "Silent Running" delivering one of their subtly melodic productions that revolves grainily around one repeated and tweaked refrain. Given San Proper's dedication to the label (he sports a Dekmantel tattoo after all) it's little surprise the hirsute Amsterdam icon was asked to contribute and "Rattle (Station 2 Station)" is one of the best tracks on the series so far. A grinding, industrial beat mixes with dense vocals, synths, speech samples and plenty more. The end result is a perfect example of the kind of steamy, sweaty haze of late night damage that Mr Proper has made his own.

Review: 2012 saw Berlin kings, Ostgut Ton create their considerably more housey, Unterton sub-label, giving the opportunity to some of Berlin's less pounding tracks to surface and emanate from those cavernous Berghain walls. For their first release, Berliner Tobias is remixed by two inarguably charismatic artists. "Leaning Over Backwards" is given a re-touch by none other than Efdemin, who has shaped the original into a deeper, leftfield excursion - raw as hell percussion glides freely among a whirlpool of strange bleeps and enchanting effects. For the B-side we have Meister Villalobos and Max Loderbauer giving some of their peerless organic beats and subtle harmonics. Great stuff as always from the German capital!

Review: Szare has been releasing records since 2010, and has continued his upward trajectory into dark electronic music. "Black Floodwaters" is a fantastically fluid representation of underwater bliss; each sound is placed within the mix to create a dark underwater scene while the rhythm propels you deeper into the blackness. "Geral" features some organic drum sounds, dragging the listener along to a beat that barely holds itself together. "Edi"'s creeping pads seem to shuffle and click in the background, complimenting the muted bass-tone and reverberated rim-shots nicely. The track features a whole array of fantastic sounds that delve in and out of this deep piece of techno music.

Review: Clearly Magical Voyage, The Hacker's recent Italo indebted EP for Tigersushi has piqued the legendary French producer's interest in revivalist material away from his familiar electro heavy sound. Whilst trace elements of The Hacker's sound are still more than apparent on "Shockwave", the track is an obvious homage to the 90s acid techno sound pioneered by R&S Records (when J Beltram and not J Blake was the figurehead). Gesaffelstein, a compatriot heavily indebted by The Hacker's electroclash era output, is a wise choice to remix the track given his continuing popularity and Different should also be commended for enlisting Altern8's Mark Archer to flip the track into a potent rave ready concoction of original break beats and acid house motifs.

Review: For those who had assumed Sims was merely a loop techno producer, 0401 provides a pleasant surprise. The UK producer's love of slamming beats and dense, claustrophobic rhythms is present and correct, but on this occasion it sounds like there is a more fluid, dynamic approach at play. This is due to the use of rasping percussion and a malevolent filter that rises through the track. Former UR operative Rolando shows that he hasn't lost his magic touch on the remix of "New Blood". Coruscating drums and a wild acid line make for a thrilling combination, but Rolando hasn't forgotten his house leanings and the swinging rhythm also features a repetitive vocal sample.