Back in stock: Techno (All)

Review: Helena Hauff's distinctive musical vision has made her one of techno and electro's most unique and celebrated selectors, and it's this side of her work that's showcased on "Kern Volume 5: Exclusives & Rarities", a triple-vinyl set that focuses on the numerous hard-to-find and previously unreleased tracks featured on her new DJ mix for Tresor. As you'd expect the quality threshold remains thrillingly high throughout, with Hauff focusing on fuzzy and scuzzy heavyweight slabs of electro, techno, ghetto tech and industrial-strength hardcore. Amongst the unreleased highlights are tracks from Umwelt, Machino, Galaxian, L.F.T and her good self (alongside Morah), while crate diggers will note the inclusion of rarities from Esoterik, Andrea Parker and David Morley, and DJ Godfather and DJ Starkski.

Review: Opening track 'Bruise' could be HVOB's toughest and most driving, while 'The Lack of You' definitely ranks up there with their most emotionally captivating and moving. Overall, Too may be the electronic-dance-alt-pop team's finest hour to date, and that's no mean feat considering just how insanely good everything they have done up to this point has been.

While packing plenty for the dancefloor, and being built entirely from machines, Too is a human work at its core, running through the gamut of our vast emotional scope, from the joyful to the mournful, teeth-clenched determination to absolute oblivion. From arena-filling body movers like 'Kid Anthem' to the intimate euphoria of 'A Piece of Me', it's quite literally all here.

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: Techno scholars have long believed that the release of Porter Ricks' 1996 album Biokinetics was something of a watershed moment. Not quite deep techno, dub techno, ambient techno or abstract experimentalism, but something in between, the album set new standards for sound design, minimalistic percussion programming (Ricardo Villaobos being one who learned much from its use of off-kilter approach) and dancefloor experimentalism. As this remastered 25th anniversary edition proves, Biokentics still sounds fresh, inspired and wonderfully unusual. If anything, it sounds more current now than it did way back in the late 1990s - a sure sign of its timeless, ground-breaking nature.

Review: As pioneers of underground techno and co-founders of Soma Records, the Scottish duo continue to redefine the soundscape with Dark Channel, their eighth full-length album. In a world fractured by division, Slam offer a raw, uncompromising tribute to the dancefloor as a space of unity and release. Opening with the tribal pulse of 'Use It, Lose It', the album wastes no time setting a fierce, driving tone. The title track, 'Dark Channel', leans into dissonance and texture, hinting at the relentless energy that permeates the record. Tracks like 'Parametric Factor' and 'Glide' are synth-fueled voyages, the latter embracing a classic Slam percussive intensity. 'Morganatic' plunges into shadowy territory, while 'Infinit Spaces' weaves in trippy FX and lively synth hooks. 'Kuture Version provides a moment of introspection before the pounding rhythms return. 'Ghost Dancer' rides on deep sub tones and eerie modulations, creating a dense, brooding atmosphere. As the album approaches its finale, 'Beat On The Drum' delivers a full-force rhythmic assault and 'Irregular Object' closes with a hypnotic, contorted energy. Dark Channel is both a reflection of turbulent times and a powerful celebration of techno's enduring spirit, proving Slam's contribution is as vital as ever.