Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: Nick Viola's new record marks a shift from his previous powernoise and industrial work with Fractured Transmission to a more techno-focused sound. in all there are seven tracks including remixes which bring field recordings, machinery sounds and personal travels to create a dystopian, uneasy atmosphere. The opening track 'A Ghost in Your World' sets a haunting tone followed by the pulsating 'It's Still Real.' Remixes from Kenny Campbell and Substencia add dynamic layers, while 'Negative Nancy' delivers an aggressive industrial techno assault. The album oscillates between discomfort and release and reflects a dystopian sonic journey fitting for today's uncertain world.

Review: Dutch imprint Voy operate extensibly out of the much more capacious Ukrainian outfit Mulen Records, whose propriety can ultimately be traced back to towering Kiev artist iO (Aleksandr Voznichenko). With no mission statement to its name, it's hard to know what the Voy sublabel is up to, save for the intrinsic end-in-itself that is ninja-starring heads-down, motile minimal our way. Bleak textures (both visual on the inner labels and audial between the beats) predominate on Voy, and this 15th totter is no exception to this rule. Expanding out from the imprint's establishing minimalia, however, we now hear another unknown artist lock down a glistering Italo-esque array of neon burbles, in a two-track manoeuvre of fell insatiableness.

Review: One of the most dynamic producers in techno brings a fusion of dub techno, atmospheric sound design and poetic experimentation. Now based in Lisbon, the Hanover-born producer crafts a deeply introspective journey that balances weighty rhythms with hypnotic textures. Opening with 'Crystal Cell Energy'. Vril sets a cavernous moodidubby, atmospheric and steadily unfolding, with a slow-burning intro that gives way to a powerful, heavy beat. 'Bruch Im Nullpunkt' follows, a quintessential dub techno cut with deep, resonant chords and a unique rhythmic structure. The first half of the record closes with 'Secondary Devices', where Edward George's spoken-word delivery floats over swelling, sci-fi-infused ambience, creating a thought-provoking and cinematic experience. Side-B plunges deeper with 'Tasche Voller Regen', an otherworldly soundscape draped in deep textures. The mood shifts with the Steve Rachmad's Parallel 9 remix of 'Bruch Im Nullpunkt', injecting a sense of momentum with his signature melodic dub chords and precise, pulsating techno framework. Closing the record, 'Shifting' introduces another poetic collaboration, this time with Riddim Writer, layering evocative spoken-word over an ethereal, ambient arrangement. Vril demonstrates exceptional range, seamlessly bridging techno's club functionality with conceptual depth. This is a record that not only moves bodies but also stimulates the mind, another example to Vril's refined artistry.

Review: One Eye Witness rounds up another four acts for their periodic V/A series, spewing forth four breaks-driven whooshers crossing into progressive techno territory. The Hague duo Young Adults nod to a 1997 Loveparade anthem with 'It's Only Temporary', while breaks and kick implants converge on Christopher Ledger's 'Change That', a track which sounds like the starting firings of an interplanetary expedition pod after years of disuse. Joely brings cosmic chug on the cocooning B1 'Transitional', while the Samesame closer 'Novel End' is just that, traversing a noxious atmosphere with a flexoskeletal electro beat.

Review: Eddie Santini and Matthieu-F are have poured years of dedication into Resilient Recordings. Now their second addition to the catalogue appears as a split side shared between Zero Days and Acerbic, two newcomers to the scene, but freshly cut and spruced by their patrons nonetheless. 'War On Drugs' with Casey Hardison hears an expansive likening of the USA's war on drugs to a "war on mental states", suggesting an illiberal attitude which sows a repressive, anti-revelrous hell. Hardcore techno reaches its apotheosis on 'Neurotypical Consciousness', meanwhile, whose stuttering sixteenths and mega-compressed mix brings a decisive ploughing forth.

Review: Z.I.P.P.O's return to Setaoc Mass's Berlin-based SK11 imprint hears the Italian producer break out from biostasis, stretching his/its tendrils out across four world-devouring tracks. 'Eleven' trades formula for feeling, its pseudopodial tempos binding to high-suction mechanics. Mournful synth phrases grate against a heavyweight pulse, as 'Hypernova' submerges into swung drum programming and murky mellifluous atmospheres. Flip it over and 'Kaus' introduces tribal momentum and swelling chords that slowly tilt the record into trance-adjacent territory; closer 'Replication' tightens the screws, bringing the most propulsive moment of the set with its warped detailing and hard-edged groove.

Review: Z.I.P.P.O is an Italian born producer now based in Berlin but who brings plenty of Motor City influences to this EP on Mistress Recordings. It is one that holds emotion high up the list of things to get right while colliding both nostalgic and futuristic designs. 'We Need One Another' is an ice-cold and minimal opener and 'Last Hope' is steeped in melancholy thanks to wispy, lingering pads. 'We Need One Another' then comes in three forms with crisp as you like snares and kinetic kicks making for a busy rhythm.

Review: After 2024's 'The Stranger', a new, impressionistic techno-electronica record from Oscar Mulero betrays in the Madrid artist an honest naivete, as titular techno cosmic impressions contrast a homespun, motion-blurred front cover. Can we hear the wood for the trees? 'New Horizons' and 'Invisible Star' would certainly seem to suggest not. We're always in the thick of it, even as intergalactic wow-signal comms traverse repetitive aeons, light-year, and as we travel further and further 'Outside The Time Zone', further and 'Further Away'. A cool, armrest-clenching continuation from the Spanish fave.

Review: Bonafide and veteran Japanese house legend Satoshi Tommie is back with a second taste of his upcoming new album Magic Hour alongside a selection of fine remixes. First is a Freund der Familie Reshape of 'N01' which is deep, atmospheric and mid tempo techno, while the album's title cut then becomes a swamp, deep, menacing rework from Andrey Pushkarev. Freund der Familie Rewire Fix of 'Phase Space' makes it into a deft, loopy, stuttering workout for the mind and the Satoshi Tommie's Alternate Cut of 'Fast Track' is a killer slow track steeped in dub dynamics.