Arts Vinyl & CDs

Review: Introversion comes correct with more of his artful techno weapons on the correctly named ARTS label. It is three years since he debuted on the label and shows a real evolution in his sound across the four cuts which make a deep dive into his consciousness. The opener is a hard hitting banger with overdriven drums and a wall of silvery percussion. 'Lucid' is a dreamscape to get lost in with scintillating percussion and sombre pads, then 'Myoclonus' flips it up with a heavenly vocal layered over huge, robust breakbeats. Powerful stuff.

Review: The influence of trance on techno continues to grow throughout Europe. Introversion embraces that on the first track on his new 12" for Arts. It's build on classic techno drums but overlaid with bright chords that are subtle yet infused with euphoria. There is a similar sense of heart on sleeve emption to 'Heavy Heart' which makes an art form out of high speed melancholy. The title track brings more fizzing texture and trippy synth patterns that bring their own sense of tension and 'Error' closes down with the most paranoid melodies of the lot. It all adds up to a captivating and emotive take on techno.

Review: Emmanuel's ARTS is a Rotterdam-based indie techno label that quietly pushes at the boundaries. Introversion has released here before with his 'Hush' 12" back in 2022 and since then has landed on the likes of Fundaments and Makatoo, always adding to his reputation. This one opens with 'Laeddis', which is cantering, full-throttle techno funk with big, oversized hi-hats. 'Found Footage' is a scruffier cut with underlapping kicks and muffled trance chords up top, then 'Tesseract' gets slicke and turbocharged for a fresh future assault. 'Signs' closes with supple, mind-melting synth patterns that intertwine with wispy percussion and thudding rubber kick for pure techno perfection.

Review: Berlin-based techno devotee Julius Debler follows up on a run of releases for Artscore with his first drop for Arts' main imprint, bringing an assured, mature sound along with him. The title track on Nostalgia conjures precisely the feeling the name implies, using plaintive melodic phrasing over a solid techno thrum to create an introspective peak time weapon. 'Mania' is a more tightly-wound, pensive kind of workout, using nervy, interwoven arps to eke out the tension in the track. 'Burden' switches stance for a more sentimental, breakbeat driven approach which is closer to sad-eyed electronica than techno, until SAMA turns in a remix which locks the track down to some dungeon-ready 4/4.