Figure Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: Len Faki, the Germanic driving-force behind the label Figure, makes a succinct, steely return with four lean weapons built for peak-time deployment. 'Zig Zag' is pure propulsionicrisp, heads-down techno with enough groove to keep things supple. 'Loop 10', a triple collaboration with Jeroen Search and UBX127, loops harder, tightening into a hypnotic grip that shifts subtly with each passitrace elements of each producer flicker beneath the surface. 'Morgana', co-produced with Jancen, pulls deeper, its dubby drift slowly gathering mass until it bursts with smoked-out grandeur. 'Zig Zag (Version)' offers a warped mirror of the opener, splintering the original's focus into ghostly voices, broken percussion, and a woozy, ominous undertow.

Review: Pensive, hangs-in-the-balance techno from Netherlands producer Jansen, whose control over mixes, from source material to final sound, is impressively granular. The second instalment in his 'Inner Labyrinth' series for Figure, the record is indeed a maze of complexity, albeit not one that is impossible to work out; the artist's reticulated brain terrain, redrawn in sonic form, is mapped out well. On 'Dub Dissonance', a central chord crystal resounds from inside a machinic nucleus, as various filters and harmonicisers seem to change the sound's valency after every bar or so. 'F Track' brings a similar balance through muted, dancing leads, while the record's overall uptick reaches its peak by the time of 'Sassafras', a buzzing zenith of apprehension.

Review: Len Faki's Figure label kicks on with more on-point and no-frills tech this time with Jancen at the helm. This 'Inner Labyrinth' EP is the first of a two-parter and it opens up with 'Quintessence' which races out of the blocks on sweeping synths and dusty, driving drums. It's stripped back but high impact for heady 'floors. 'Elusive' then ups the ante with some manic synth flashes that dart about the mix at high speed like headlights on a motorway in the dead of night. 'Diminished (dub)' is indeed more dubby, with grainy chords grinding away over clipped but funky techno drums. 'Unattributed' is the eerie closer.