Is there any more obvious proof of techno’s enduring appeal than the Diamond Version series? A collaboration between Raster Noton founders Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender, it transposes their abstractions from the living room to the dance floor, and in so doing opens up a new chapter for techno music. Admittedly, there has been an awful lot of sub-standard abstract and industrial focused garbage released in the past three years, but this criticism could just as easily be levelled at all of techno and house music’s sub-genres. For example, it would not be difficult to find a swathe of poor loop techno or bland minimal house.
