Juno Recommends Techno: July 2022

Review: After a stint of regarded releases on Public Possesion DJ City returns to Cocktail demote Music with Giuda Iscariota.The title might evoke images of the eternal betrayal but DJ City seems fully devoted to his crowd. Fueled by the distant memory of his regular sets at Cocktail, City touches on an array of moods and styles keeping his foot on the pedal. Giuda Iscariota emulates the selection choices of DJ City during his many sets at the party with a no nonsense focus on dance floor drivers while Nattens Tysta Timmar slathers on the queer vibe by sounding like a lost Pet Shop Boys deep cut. On the flip Sophies Theme picks up the pace again with acid laden house grooves and Archeoicae's head down hands up arp driven frenzy.

Review: Gene On Earth has been quietly slipping out some serious quality for those who like their tech house bleepy and bumping. Releasing everything himself via Limousine Dream, he's sculpted his own sound world with distinctive flair which now manifests on his second album, Time On The Vine. There's an abundance of trippy flourishes throughout the record, but first and foremost this is a selection of club-ready gear which will almost certainly appeal to DJs seeking proper heads-down fare which doesn't skimp on personality.

Review: Truncate is a master of laying down drums that are heavy and powerful but also hypnotic. They sound superb on a loud system and are the sort of things you want to roll on for days. Here he is back with another four such cuts on his own now 25-release-deep self-titled imprint. 'Basal 1' opens up with bleeping deep techno pulses and slippery synths then 'Basal 2 (Out Of Control)' melts theming with its twisted rums, bass and synths, 'Basal 3' is another heady one that goes deep into the cosmos. Last of all, the EP is rounded out by 'Basal 4', another superbly stylish and mind melting techno cut with frazzled synths and industrial hints.

Review: Changa Brighton-based producer Rene Wise is next up on the SK11-X offshoot run by Setaoc Mass. He has had a fine run of form recently with big outings on labels like Luke Slater's Mote Evolver and a recent collab with Rodhad. Here he shows off his versatility across four powerful cuts starting with 'Fuego', a fiery track that powers onwards. 'Tell Me' is up next and is a driving, linear and hypnotic workout with bubbling bass and paranoid vocals. 'Tizer' then ups the ante with more irresistibly pinging kick drums and coarse claps. The high speed sounds of 'Speeding' close out this release in entrancing techno fashion.

Review: AD 93 welcomes Luis for five superb cuts that join ambient, minimal and broken beat into an ethereal soundtrack. This is deftly designed electronic music that manages to have organic sounds next to crispy synthetics. 'We Still Or Nah' is a loose jam with melancholic chords, 'Yoonito' is a beatless ambient interlude and 'Jack Anderson' saes you to the heavens on a wave of post-rave breakbeat euphoria. All in all this is a fine outing for Luis who we are glad to have back after some early solid outings on the likes of 1080p.

Review: For years, this record remained a genuine collector's piece - an impossible-to-find, early-to-mid 1990s collaboration between AO Records founder Obi - a Japanese producer then based in London, and a member of an ambient dub act called Subsurfing - and Drum Club/Spiral Tribe sort Charlie Hall. It's fantastic that it has finally been reissued, because all three tracks are brilliantly odd, immersive and intoxicating. A-side cuts 'La Bamba' and 'House Pod' mix elements of digi-dub, ambient techno and what was once called 'worldbeat' in thrilling, hard-to-describe ways, while flipside 'Dreamtech' is an epic slab of psychedelic ambient dub techno that expertly incorporates elements of tribal house. An original copy would cost you hundreds of pounds, so don't sleep on this 2022 edition.

Review: A limited edition 12" vinyl with two extension cuts of Obergman's new album on Pariter! Vinyl only - No repress! Dreamy synths wash over the listener, analogue bubbles heading for the surface - imagine Drexciya in 'Wavejumper' or 'Sea Snake' mode, only with its restless electro foundations replaced by something more regular and reassuringly solid in the beats department. All in all, oozing melodic techno class.

Review: Levon Vincent continues to serve up high-grade techno workouts on his own Novel Sound imprint, with releases appearing with little or no fanfare or fuss. Concrete Jungle, his latest two-tracker, is deliciously raw, fuzzy, weighty and sleazy, with Vincent's choise of sounds and arrangements conjuring mental images of late-night walks through high-rise housing projects. A-side 'Track 1' sees him build up a dense, sub-heavy, cymbal-rich techno groove featuring subtle nods to British bleep techno, onto which he then adds shimmering, life-affirming pads. 'Track 2' flips the script a little, with Vincent wrapping a dubby techno groove in metallic motifs, concrete-clad electronics and spaced-out effects. He rarely pits a foot wrong, but even by Vincent's high standards both tracks are excellent.

Review: Ploy pays homage to the urban-mythical nightclub Venue MOT Unit 18 with his new EP 'Unit 18', which has seen a home to his equally legendary club night Deaf Test - named after the artist's deaf left ear. Stinky, Ninety One and Unit 18 are "three rave tracks" in the artist's own words, rushing and dragging through system-ready sonics and with undeniable influences from UK drill, to bassy techno, to dubstep.

Review: Rodolfo Abrao Wehbba is a leading light of Brazil's techno scene, although he's truly an international concern after more than 15 years in the game. He's put out a lot of music over the years, but more recently he's been aligned with labels like Hotflush and the monolithic Drumcode. It's Adam Beyer's empire he returns to for this, his first EP in three years. The sound on Dynamo is as massive as you would expect, full of that precision engineered arena-filling thump and sky-scraping synth lines, but all shot through with the seductive darkness which makes the Drumcode sound so appealing to such huge crowds of people.

Review: For "Spectres", a 6-track split release, Buttechno teams up with DJ Speedsick, a Chicago-based artist, famous for his raw and uncompromising approach to sound. Together they explore sonic and textural possibilities of the extreme forms of dancefloor music employing distinct ways of sound manipulation. Buttechno's side features highly saturated textures being torn out, dissected and sewed back together with a wicked use of spectral processing. On the other side, Dj Speedsick, known for reamping his material with guitar amplifiers and cabinets, puts out tracks that bear unique sonic qualities and transform the usual sense of space and distance. The underwordly sounds and high-speed beats presented on this split go beyond the common bounds of dancefloor music, exposing the spectres that dwell between the genres.

Review: Marking his first solo release on MORD records, which the Spanish DJ & producer cites as a huge inspiration, Amargura is in keeping with Dann's growing discography of power-focused techno floor movers. Expect huge thunderous bass throughout, in a conceptual and aggressive take on the powerful techno of the Spanish and Berlin scenes (the latter of which he stayed in for 3 years, taking in the sophisticated and boundary-pushing sounds that the city had to offer). The opening track 'Seven Notes' sets the tone from the word 'go', and the rumbling hypnotic synths against gritty ambient bass feels like you are surrounded by static electricity, with dark clouds rolling overhead. Side B of the record takes the sound straight to the dancefloor, homing in on the rave dance culture that Dann spent years studying from.

Review: Brazil has a new techno vanguard, and it centres on a few new key names, one of them being ANNA. Her newest EP 'Journey To The Underworld' focuses on the melodic techno sound that has of late exploded throughout Europe and beyond, although Brazil has breathed into it new life, and it shows; the titular track occasionally lets up its rhythm into absolute rhythmic freefall, while 'Surrender' and 'Dissolution' similarly give in to complete deep trancey abandon, either via their clacking 808s or drumless aural vistas.

Review: Belgian label Nightflight Records continues its so far so tasteful mission with a new missive from Rekab. This is an EP of timeless techno, house and breaks with a hi-tech sense of funk from the man born James Baker. First up, 'Locked On Dodge' has a strong Detroit connection with its warm machine soul and 'We Need To Care' is as beautiful as it is deep thinking with its distant horizons and dreamy grooves. 'In The Search Of Deep Sea Dweller' explores electro in a nod to Drexciya and this versatile offering closes with the twitchy acid and roomy techno of 'Too Much Time.'

Review: Watery and washy techno tracks from Vernon Felicity aka. Borris Bunnik aka. Versalife, conjuring an array of sci-fi vistas on this four-track fantasy. 'Contemplation' hears synth organ and detuned saw-synth imagine a heady stew of soniquatics, while 'Alternate' rounds things off with a light and breezy kaleidoscope of kicks, claps and breath sounds.

Review: Usually, RX-101 unabashedly follows in the footsteps of early IDM stalwarts like AFX and Skam, and brings fresh Dutch takes on the style with every new release. Coming once again to Suction Records, 'New Discoveries' sidesteps into the realm of dreamy Detroit-style techno, framing acid braindance through the lens of this important midwestern US dance genre. Recalling the recent sounds of Bochum Welt or Roy Of The Ravers - and more classic ideas from UK-Detroit producers like B12 and Kirk DiGiorgio - this is a fantastically astral acid release.

Review: Veteran but still vital Dutch techno label Delsin welcomes Tammo Hesselink for some precison tooled cuts that mix dance floor heft with real minimalistic design. 'Danaba' is brilliantly rhythmic as it undulates invitingly with bold bass notes and a sprinkling of icy perc. It's techno and dub and ambient all at once. 'Fixed Distance' is a more textured and sub-aquatic cut with ticking motifs and smeared lead synths. 'Lifted' then gets to work exploring the depths of the ocean on pulsing drums with echoing hits ricocheting about the mix. 'Now Attempt' closes with a half time rhythm that is devilishly inviting as sparse electronics ring out above

Review: Drumcode affiliate DJ and producer Thomas Schumacher returns to Electric Ballroom for a depth charge through stinking, misty techno. The two tracks that make up this EP - 'Interlinked' and 'Moxie' - adorned with a photo of the very rave that inspired his return to music-making. The A is a farting, anxious build to big-room rave elysium (FJAAK would be proud), while the designed drones of 'Moxie' hold up the foundations with resonance-upped acid and rapid snares propelling the release along.

Review: While Floorplan's line-up now also contains his daughter, Lyric Hood, for years the project was a solo alias of Detroit techno maestro Robert Hood. This two-tracker dates from that period, with both cuts originally appearing on M-Plant sub-label Duet way back in 2002. Two decades on, both still sound fresh and are excellent examples of Hood's full-bodied but minimalistic approach to Motor City techno. 'Shop' sees him layer looped organ notes, freestyle, high-register synth solos and angular electronics over a driving, locked-in techno beat, while 'Learn' is deeper and more hypnotic with plenty of energy-building TR-909 drum machine fills, psychedelic acid tweaks and faintly foreboding electronic riffs.

Review: Dutch techno legend Steve Rachmad is the man behind STERAC and is someone who always brings the classy to whatever he does. His sounds join the dost between the Detroit and European schools of thought and that is the case once more here on this EP for legendary Belgian label Token. 'Mangled' is all punchy drum funk and frazzled synth intensity then 'Light In The Darkness' layers up more soothing and zoned out synths over a deep, rubbery bassline. Add in the textured, hammering techno of 'SO' and mind melting synth laden warren of sounds that is 'Solidify' and you have a standout EP.

Review: The latest installment in Hard Wax stalwart Rene Pawlovitz's seminal Wax series has arrived, showcasing once again the esteemed producer's style of purist Berlin techno, that's often imitated but never matched. On this one (80008) we have two dub versions; the A side is an icy excursion into the deep complete with meandering dub chords, long echo trails and clipped rhythms, followed by a minimal redux on the flip.

Review: Berlin by-way-of Vancouver duo Minimal Violence are up next on the mighty Berlin institution Tresor, which as both a label and club is back with a vengeance. On Phase 3 we've got four stern and austere techno cuts with serious attitude; whether it's the pitch black TBM punishment of opener 'Flatline' featuring Mad Johnny's screaming vocals, the old-school rave mish-mash of 'Cold' (Sex) incorporating classic motifs like Menstasms, breakbeats, whistles and warehouse techno aesthetics, or the extreme noise terror of 'Focus On That Form' on the B-side that veers violently between jungle and gabber. Fierce!

Review: Obergman is back on the Brokntoys label with a new EP that follows up his widely acclaimed first. The Swedish artist offers up six killer tracks of icy machine sounds and snaking groove hypnosis, starting with the nice and eerie 'Aperture Synthesis' before heading on to 'Seemingly Coincidental' with its mystic pads and tightly coiled drums. 'Cassiopeia' closes out side one with a downtempo and moody crawl, then the flip picks up again with more prickly electro-tech from the future. For us, the highlight might just be the loose melodic workout but crispy electro drum work of closer 'End Of An Era.'