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.