New releases last two weeks: Techno

Review: To mark 15 years since its original release, DJ Hell's landmark Teufelswerk long player returns as a very collectable limited edition triple vinyl set that also includes a poster of the original cover and a special hype sticker. When it was released in 2009, Teufelswerk made an immediate impact and over time has remained a pivotal work thanks to its brash and inventive collision of techno, ambient and experimental sounds. It features collaborations with artists like Bryan Ferry and explores the contrast between Day and Night so looks to, and does, balance euphoric dancefloor highs with immersive, cinematic atmospheres that make a longer-lasting impression. It's proven to be a timeless, genre-defying classic.

Review: J Trystero's Cantor's Paradis on Fergus Jones' FELT label is a 45-minute drift through ambient dub terrain that leaves you mesmerised. It draws on the spacious design of artists like Huerco S. and Civilistjavel!, and unfolds in a dreamlike haze of blurred melodies, submerged textures and subtle, ever-shifting rhythms. Trystero filters the DNA of '90s dub techno into soft, iridescent tones here to craft soundscapes that feel both ancient and futuristic. Tracks like 'Untitled 6' briefly emerge with dubby definition but the album thrives in ambiguity. It's a deeply immersive record that's hypnotic, calming and subtly emotive so perfect for late-night solitude or introspective mental wandering.

Review: Jakarta-based Ecilo returns to Voyager Recordings with a new album that taps into a familiar style - sci-fi atmospheres with dancefloor-ready techno - but he does it with rare skill. He's been honing this style since 2008 on labels like AXIS, ARTS and Planet Rhythm and these latest tunes have had early plays from dons such as Luke Slater, Ben Sims and Svreca. 'Taken' sets the seen and launches you into deep space, and the rest of the EP powers on with the singing circuit boards of 'Fractal Mesh' quick to mesmerise, the purposeful low end throb of 'Something We Don't Understand' impossible to escape from and 'Ready The Armada' channeling archetype Jee Mills style comic techno minimalism.

Review: Multiple Angle Distortions (M.A.D) is the second of two EPs previewing The Future Sound of London's upcoming 2025 album. It dives into darker, more percussive terrain than before and blends acidic 303 textures with brooding orchestral layers as the cult FSOL continue to expand their sonic palette. Grammy-nominated Daniel Pemberton guests on the striking 'Improvisations,' which is a live recording from a London fashion show, while closing track 'Northern Point' showcases FSOL's own custom-built synths. The result is a heady fusion of house, electronica and techno with an experimental edge that is both cerebral and immersive. M.A.D affirms this outfit's legacy while still pushing boundaries decades into their career.

Review: Ma?h is based in Berlin but makes occult techno inspired by Tikal, which is the ruin of an ancient Mayan city in Guatemala. He creates a sense of ancient ritual, tribalism, primaeval drums and otherworldly atmosphere across five fantastically evocative and escapist cuts here. They all go deep, with rubbery rhythms marbled with wordless vocals, chanting, eerie FX and absorbing mysticism that is all expertly done and hugely authentic. 'Acat' is a standout with its lolloping bass and tom-peppered beats, while 'Exorcismo' is more intense and heady. 'Caiman Ritual' is a humid and intense dub techno bumper, and it rounds out one of the most original EPs we've heard in ages.

Review: Detroit electro investigator MICRO4CE delivers a no-compromise double pack here across two EPs packed with nine tracks of raw electronic futurism and imaging. It is all rooted in classic Detroit electro and so-called hi-tech-funk so the sound channels early 80s influences like Nucleus and Mantronix while carving out its own cyborg-driven edge. 'Bass Situation 313' gets underway with swampy low ends and far-sighted chords then the likes of 'Borg Fightz' bring unrelenting coruscated drums and 'The Greed' is a more minimal sound with zippy synths and dehumanised vocals. This is seriously high-grade electro for heads who like gritty, futuristic and fearless sounds.

Review: Shed's Towards East was originally made for Berlin's Dussmann store back in 2022. It's a very personal project that now gets reissued by The Final Experiment and it sounds superb. The Polish producer weaves in plenty of foggy and lo-fi ambient pads into these tracks, whether they are beatless vignettes or more low-end driven soundscapes such as 'Absolute.' On 'In Between (Fur Geli), yearning strings and a lonely motif amongst walls of melancholic synth done and 'September 5th' is another hazy memory with nostalgic overtones and loads of frayed edges and buried melodic wisps. It's techno, but not as we know it.

Review: Techno is a misunderstood thing. Big stages and even bigger drums pounding out relentless and often unthoughtful loops really isn't where the genre is as a whole. One of the most varied sounds in the dance spectrum, defining the canon has always been pretty hard and zeitgeist counts for more than strict rules of arrangement, tempo and composition. Sixty is just the reassurance heads will need then. While some might argue we're closer to electro than anything, for the most part anyway, perhaps no more so than in the detailed and glitchy warmth of 'Micfrk' by Gherat, let's not get pedantic. Largely broken and off-centre beats of the deep, emotive and patient kind from innovators like Patricia and Fasme, frenetic and intense staccato snares via Oh Mr Jones, rave-y, hardcore infused emotive bombs via Novel 23 and James Shinra.

Review: Adam Winchester and Laurie Osborne (probably still best known as Appleblim) are Wrecked Lightship and they have an inventive approach to dub, breaks and bass. Their work creates an immersive world full of rich, atmospheric textures and the latest example of that is Drained Strands, a new album for Peak Oil full of fragmented, genre-blurring sounds. The six-tracker is full of experimentation and new ideas from the off. 'Delinquent Spirits' for example is a jumble of jungle breaks and vast basslines with minimal percussion, 'Reeling Mist' is warm, blissed out dub and 'Somnium Sands' is an eerie and evocative world of synth designs and industrial decay.