Ostgut Ton Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: Ostgut Ton reach the midway, or Funf, point of their programme of 12" issues from last year's mammoth Zehn boxset which draws for the contributions from DVS1, Answer Code Request and the Dutch connection Doms & Deykers. DVS1 is up first with "Ecks", a blinding little DJ tool rife with skittering drums and trademark touches of psychedelia, whilst Answer Code Request's "Zeitspielraum" has a touch of the Underworld classic "Rez" to it. Plenty of broken drums too, naturally! Martyn and Steffi have the keys to the B-side and they use the space to lay down their own breakbeat house epic "Whirling" which bodes well for the mooted Doms & Deykers album that is supposed to be out this year.

Review: Nobody could accuse Spanish producer JASSS of being backwards and coming forwards on this, her Ostgut Ton debut. The Berlin-based label, Berghain's recorded outlet, usually conjures sonic images in line with the stereotypical soundtrack of the club's main hall, but anyone who has spent a reasonable amount of time in the imprint's back catalogue will know that's a reductive assumption. The crew regularly veer into all kinds of leftfield electronic avenues.

Even so, JASSS' arrival marks one of the wildest rides this platform has ever offered listeners. From the resoundingly emotional and joyous opening wide bands of synth, 'Birds You Can Name', to the euphoric industrialism of 'Busto' and the operatic, neo-tropical pop of 'A World of Service', this is benchmark-setting curveball stuff we cannot get enough of.

Review: Berghain young gun Max Kobosil gives us his debut album. We Grow They Decline is surprisingly more restrained than you'd expect from Kobosil given his reputation as a DJ and of course those pretty fierce EPs he released previously on MDR and Unterton. Most tracks on here are slower, deeper and reflective takes on the techno sound and show a sense of maturity in this emerging talent's studio prowess. Highlights include the sombre and vertigo inducing slow-groove of "Reflection", the avant garde tribalism of "The Exploring Mountain" and the throbbing EBM crossover of "The Living Ritual".

Review: German powerhouse label Ostgut Ton turns 16 with another of its big and mighty compilations. Ostgut Ton Funfzehn Plus 1 spans 20 tracks and features a number of top draw collabs from artists who work closely with the label. Some come together for the first time such as Martyn and Duval Timothy, or Len Faki and Honey Dijon, and all were due for release last year originally. They say "the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets." We say, get it bought.