Review: Valerie Ace solidifies her rising status in techno with her third vinyl EP, 'Givers & Takers', on her Hardwon imprint. The title track sets an ominous tone with a slow breakbeat and interlocking percussion, building tension before a heavy bass climax. 'Eat Dirt' lives up to its name, switching between breaks and straight sections to pound the floor with relentless intensity. 'A Moment Lost' wastes no time, charging out of the gates with rapidly evolving snares and filtered bass punches driving the track over atmospheric background sounds. The afternoon or afterhours vibe of '3PM' is enhanced by seasick synth layers contrasting against malignant drums, creating a sense of uncertainty. Each of the four tracks offers a hard-hitting techno experience, showcasing Valerie Ace's skill in crafting intense workouts. Givers & Takers confirms her premier place in contemporary techno and this EP is a great example to her ability to push boundaries and keep the energy high on the dancefloor.
Review: This new solo outing from Aussie talent Ad Nauseaum has it all - acid, rave, techno, hardcore and more. 'Omega System' sets a pretty brutal tone to get things underway with filtered synths and blazing acid lines searing about the mix over raw, hard, flat drums. 'Alpha System' is even quicker and brings serrated synth madness to video game motifs and slamming kicks. Last of all is 'Always Acid,' a track that was made back in 2004 but doesn't sound in any way out of date. It's another one to blow the roof off any party.
Review: Following up last year's Time And Nothingness on Charlotte De Witte's KNTXT, Francesco Pierfelici aka Alignment returns to the imprint for an absolutely riveting new EP. Power is a fitting title for this massive four tracker, where the Berlin-based Italian wastes no time in an attempt to fire the synapses. Pure elevation is to be experienced on the euphoric rave energy of the title track which opens up in a big way, followed by 'Disconnection' which will pummel you into submission - peak time style - with its assortment of classic dance music motifs throughout. Over on the flip, the EP's highlight exists in the form of the euphoric modern trance reconstruction titled 'Frequency'.
Review: It doesn't seem like the hard techno revolution is going anywhere any time soon. AnD (techno) is a label making sure of that and its sixth missive from the boss is another one to make the eyes water and the heart race. The white knuckle slammer that is 'I Got So Much' kicks off and then 'Screeching' does just that with a terrifying sense of anxiety and menace. 'Your Energy' is all glitchy sounds, squealing textures, hard techno drums and twisted sirens and the final part of this techno equivalent of a Monster energy drink overload is the rip-snorting 'On A Mission.'
Review: Purposeful and fad-free techno troubadours Planet Rhythm welcome aboard Antic Soul here for a quartet of sleek, minimal, effective cuts. 'Utapau' is super fast and layers up pulsing synths with wavy pads and driving drums. 'Asukara is even more urgent but this time feels anxious in its raw percussion and for the way the drums are almost stacked on top of one another. 'Transmutation' brings plenty of dub synth work and far-sighted Detroit melodies and 'Just A Dream' rides on shimmering synths and gliding hits that pack a punch both spiritually and emotionally.
Review: Pasquale Ascione and Davide Carbone are veterans of the techno scene. Not only do they run Repitch Recordings and 3TH Records but also of course, produce music. Repitch Fast Forward outlines that each producer has a side of the record to themselves. Ascion opens with 'Hurry', a killer hard and melodic burner that features vocals from the iconic rave track C'hantal's 'The Realm'. 'Himmerbone' reminds us of Johannes Heil track that we won't give any clue too. For the second side, hard techno is on the menu. They are relentless, mechanical and industrial, these are designed with one mission in mind: to destroy the dancefloor as you raise your techno fist. They should have some warning signs before these are played like 'Helmet Only Area!'. Wicked hard!
Review: OMEN Recordings's next release is a big one that unites Axkan and Duellist on the same slab of wax. They take care of one side each and we're told the inspiration for their sounds was making a "shared response to the turmoil of global conflicts." Duellist kicks off and suggests with his offerings that he is anxious, unsettled and in fight mode because 'Oxidative Stress' is front-foot techno with monstrous bass energy. 'Stains Of Time' is another one with brash drums and perc and plenty of tension, then Axkan offers the hypotonic loops of 'Warfare' and broken beat menace of 'Thermobaric.
Review: Ascendant Berlin duo Blame The Mono return with their latest outing on French label Molekul titled 'Riot Toys'. There's no holds barred on this hard techno onslaught: the adrenalised energy of opening cut 'Gazellehorden' (feat HerrClem) fires up the engine in style, followed by the hyperaware energy of 'Switch The Pilot' and its jacked-up big-beat influence which also lunges straight for the jugular. Over on the flip, 'Funk Herald' will keep you tripping out under the strobelight, plus one more peak time banger to hammer the message home in the form of 'Bad Disco' which will keep the heads down on the dancefloor.
Review: Techno troubadour Yan Cook has a fine discography on some of the most respected labels out there. Now he heads to Ukraine's Cooked, a young but perfectly formed imprint, and kicks off his EP with 'Blades,' which is all melon twisted synths and driving techno kicks. 'Whistleblower' then slips into a deeply atmospheric groove with gurgling bass and watery effects and 'Grom' is all about the swing in the drums. Gritty textures and insistent claps add to the thrill of it all and 'Skyhigh' is a more frosty dub techno cut that leaves out breathless.
Review: Nantes-based Willy Taconne is Creeds, a producer having an absolute blast operating in the crossover between psy-trance and hard dance. Rave Alert are the latest label to carry his work, and those craving the nastiest slammers for their bosh-off are going to be very pleased indeed. First up, 'Push Up' bursts with playful inventiveness, chopping between ear-snagging hi-jinks from acid licks to disco cuts, plenty of hyphy trance synths and loads more besides. 'Slap The Bassline' is a much dirtier affair with an absolute juggernaut of an acid bassline which will absolutely level the place. 'Stolen Memories' has a hard trance leaning, teasing the tension between peaks and troughs for everyone to lose their marbles good and proper, leaving it to 'Get Your Mom Down' to clean up the mess with some arch anthem material to trigger the ravers of yesteryear.
Review: It is 30 years since Curley and R-Zac joined forces to cook up their Sahara Tekniq EP way back in 1994. Surely, the legendary Dutch free party scene hero is sadly no longer with us, but with R-Zac he very much laid down a definitive blueprint for this type of textural, dense techno. It is the first of a big series of newly remastered reissues from the Network23 label and it offers up four visceral, high-impact, live-sounding techno workouts that are packed with anxious synths and whirring machine sounds, unrelenting drums and more which is sure to bring real chaos to the clubs.
DJ Ali from Melbourne is up next on Berlin-based Blue Hour Music with the Regeneration EP, a collection of high-energy tribal techno tracks reminiscent of the late 90s. The EP opens with the bruising 'Interceptor', followed by the pummelling peak time track 'Paradox Cell' which maintains the tension. Over on the flip, 'Nightwatch' is more of a heads down affair that's optimised for losing yourself to under the strobe lights, and the title track goes out all guns blazing with its mesmerising tones underpinned by the most furious of rhythms.
Review: DJ Disrespect again shows no regard for the rules of electronic music on this new and visceral outing on 777. It is a 12" he dedicates to "some of the feelings associated with the tribulations of mental issues" and that's reflected in the sounds which are dense and full of duality - drums going one way, coarse synth textures and percussion puling in another direction. On 'Energy Rush' screeching synths tear through the middle of the high tempo techno drums and 'Focus' is a compelling and parboil linear banger. If his mission is to unite people and offer comfort and community with his music, DJ Disrespect has succeeded here.
Review: "A record planned for almost 30 years is finally happening!" say the only notes with this new, one-sided and limited edition hand-stamped 12". It finds DJ Heartchore offering up two versions of the same track. 'In Love' is a classic hard techno banger with more energy than a classroom full of nine-year-olds after a crate of Monster energy drinks. It issuer rave fodder for main room deployment and also included is a 1994 Tool with a more old school feel but no less of an impact.
Review: The DJ Producer goes in hard here with a special one-sided 12" that uses all of its almost 11-minute lay time to pack in as many hardcore references, sounds and motifs as possible. It is a head-spinning, ear-tickling medley of legendary status that comes as a massive tribute to DJ Hellfish and the 100th release of his Deathchant label.
It's an absolute bomb of a tune, packed with energy and intensity, rave sirens, caustic pads, distorted bass and chopped-up shout-outs. Brilliantly mad.
Review: Strap in for a bracing and exhilarating ride just before Christmas with this new and fierce outing from DJ Speedsick. It's hard techno in its most pure form right from the first beat, with 'A Sort Of Schizophrenic Feeling' blazing a raw, textured trail. 'Execution Style' is another dark one with a crisp broken beat and reverb-heavy bass, 'History Of Overreacting' is a moody late-night menacer and 'Death Reversed' is train-track techno with smart filters. 'God Willing' shuts down with a bang and pure dance floor power.
Review: As the title suggests, Some Other Place Volume 2 is the second installment of a triptych of releases from The Exaltics for The Clone West Coast series. As with previous music from the Solar One boss, the four tracks here see The Exaltics look to both American and Dutch schools of electro but the results are nonetheless distinguished by his own unique signifiers. The title track sets the tone nicely as waves of sumptuous blurred noise ride a supple skeletal rhythm, whilst "Waves Of Fear" lives up to it's paranoid title with a marauding low end bass line the dominating element on a classic slab of darkside electro. "The Way Out" is perhaps the most conventional track here, with Witschakowski laying down an atmospheric but club ready 808 workout which is still a cut above thanks to the German's arrangement skills. Which leaves room for the slower, weirder and mushy excellence of "Different Ways".
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