Search dance music

Review: Brum As Fuck is a massive compilation of techno bits from the legendary House Of God label, which is now celebrating its 30th anniversary. The comp contains tunes from some of the most influential and respected names in the niche 'Birmingham sound' enclave of techno, namely Surgeon, Regis, Makaton, Paul Damage, Jerome Hill, Neil Landstrumm and more. Classic HOG anthems sit side-by-side with unreleased gems, showing off the colossal sublimity of a grating yet riveting sound. The coyly named Lentil Hugger Edition is a limited and eco-friendly version of the set, featuring six vinyl records in repurposed boxes from other releases, and of course decorated with HOG stickers.

Review: You can always rely on the Cocoon compilations to bring you a high level of quality control and an authoritative overview of the state of techno around the time of release. This mammoth six-LP set will give you a lot of music to work with, and it's featuring a dizzying cast of high-end operators starting with the mighty Stephen Brown. Each track gets a side of vinyl to itself, serving as a kind of statement for how much faith the label put in each of these 12 tracks. Amongst the best on this top-drawer comp are Daniel Avery's metallic, spellbinding 'Your Future Looks Different In The Light' and Carl Finlow's lithe electro workout 'Surface Control', but as you might well expect each track is one you'll turn to again and again to give your mix some spice.

Review: Dave Clarke's Red Series remains a vital benchmark in the evolution of UK techno. Released between 1993 and 1996, the three-volume run even managed to brush the UK top 40 back in the good old days when anything felt possible. Tracks like 'Wisdom To The Wise' will forever be etched in the make up of techno, and for very good reason. Now the whole series is being given a lavish reissue treatment which takes in all the original releases along with additional discs of rare, archival tracks and remixes, all bundled up in a box with a booklet and autographed by the Baron himself.