New releases last four weeks: Techno (All)

Review: DJ Sotofett returns with a double 12" packed with eight hard-hitting, underground techno tracks. Featuring frequent collaborators LNS, L.A. 2000, Ronny Nyheim, and Zarate_Fix, this release is a direct nod to the no-nonsense techno nights at Berlin's iconic Tresor club, where Sotofett holds residency. Each track is crafted with pure dancefloor energy in mind, moving through dub-driven techno, acidic overtones, and percussive basslines, all delivered with a raw, uncompromising edge. WANIA mk1 is a masterclass in DJ-ready versatility, perfect for those who love their techno stripped back and potent. Standout cuts include the bombastic, percussion-heavy Preparation and the 909-vocoder-fuelled My Spirit Is In Techno Music, both of which exemplify the release's dedication to the underground essence of the genre. With alternative mixes from WANIA mk2 making an appearance, the album offers both continuity and innovation, keeping true techno fans hooked from start to finish. Sotofett's attention to detail in programming, mixing, and mastering is evident throughout, making this a must-have for DJs and clubbers who live and breathe the core of real, unfiltered techno music. WANIA mk1 isn't just an album; it's a statement for those who value authenticity in their club experience.

Review: Ehua treads into new territory with her debut full-length, Panta Rei, arriving via 3024 after an extended period of experimentation and self-reflection. Over 18 months, the London producer and DJ - originally from Italy - fused deep bass mutations with live percussion, acoustic textures, and, for the first time, her own voice. The result is a humanistic record, with glassy sonic abstractions, vocal reversions and rhythmic interruptions serving plenty space for intimacy and contrast. Ahead of a launch party scheduled in South London on April 24th, hosted by 3024 and Planet Wax, the likes of 'White', 'Bumju' and 'Albicocca' are propulsive, driving integrators of brain and body, perfect for imminent deployment in the divey New Cross establishment.

Review: Charming post-gabber connections from Fish & Rice aka Hellfish (King of Ironfist) and Akira (Ricemaster). Go Fuck Yourself goes with the epic synopsis of a sordid culinary horror: our deuteragonists Fish and Rice once again must defeat the tyrannical lord Pink Fist using stolen weapons-grade audio care packages, hacked from the data banks of Iron Prime (we can only guess what this means, exactly). Edacious in theme, this is an erratic, (sea) bass dropper of an LP, with not a single given eff in sight. 'Fish Ramen Gabba', 'Rice-Fish' and 'Do You Cook' serve poisson poisons of hardcore tok kicks and citrusy supersaw sound design, causing our faces to scrunch up in olfactory delight.

Review: Per Hammar and Berlin-based label Sushitech are a match made in heaven as both have long since proven their credential in the world of dub techno. As the label turns 20, it kicks off its year with an album that has been two years in the making and features a top-quality array of dub techno sounds. Malin Genie features on two of the more kicking and propulsive cuts, while Jannik Jivung adds an organic touch to two more. In between those sounds are percolating slow-mo jams like 'Representant Dubb' and more kinetic sounds like 'TX Files' with its fresh kicks and rolling bass.

Review: The now 20-year-strong Sushitech have been working on this one for two years and finally it drops - a new album from cultured dub techno don Per Hammar. This is a seriously deep journey into his signature sound that melds the genre's most classic side with a fresh modern twist. Cuts like 'Generation Drive' have a nice crisp sense of motion as well as lovely warped pads, while 'Juvial' brings a sense of curiousness with its undulating drums and bass. 'Defender' leans into sleek techno styles and will have you cruising in no time. An instant classic album, for sure.

Review: Detroit dub techno don Luke Hess says that this is his "most eclectic and techno-driven album to date" and that it blends together his signature subterranean sounds with his indelible Motor City touch. It again works well on cultured dance floors but is also a deeply spiritual album that will have your mind wandering to some lovely places. From the opening moments of 'Dokimion' you're sunk into widescreen soundscapes that pair painterly synths with immersive low ends. Cuts like 'Stoicheo' bring serene melodies and closer 'Hiketeria' is a misty, foggy cut that oozes late-night intimacy.

Review: Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being is one of the most fearless experimentalists in house and techno. He confronts dancefloor disillusionment head-on with Dance Music 4 Bad People, his raw, uncompromising debut for Smalltown Supersound. A veteran of Chicago's club scene, Moss channels four decades of history, highs, lows and trauma into an album that defies escapism. These are not crowd-pleasers but cathartic confrontations dense with abrasive synths, molten drum loops and uneasy textures which all crash together in chaotic, transcendent layers. There's no clean resolution anywhere, instead just tension, dissonance and moments of stark beauty. Far from a nostalgic Windy City love-in, Moss' music reflects a dance culture in crisis and provides a place to rage against it.

Review: You might say the clue is in the name, but as well as bearing a nice selection of differently cut beat action, this double album from French/Syrian producer Ahmad Qatrami aka Konalgad on New York's Dance Data label, is also a nicely cerebral affair jammed with celestial adventures for mind as well as feet. It refuses to get stuck in any stylistic rut, from the cloud-like ambience of 'REM' to the brooding bass and dubby stepping of 'Subzero Experiment' and the simmering shimmer of 'Dots To Dots', half digi-dub thump and half subtly filtered junglist trimmings, it keeps on giving something new right to the end. Konalgad apparently translates as "the universe of tomorrow" in Arabic, and this artist definitely has a bright future to match his already quite impressive track record.

Review: Dutchman Danny Wolfers aka Legowelt is one of the most prolific artists in the game. He has several aliases which all explore ambient, synth, house and techno, but this is his most well-known. Synths Below Sea Level is another singular long player packed with his signature machine-made sounds and vintage synth textures. There are intergalactic acid odysseys like 'A1200 The Valley Energy', brilliantly lo-fi deep house mediations like 'Maybe You See Them Fly' with melodies so meaningful they bring a tear to your eye and forward-thinking cosmic techno bangers like 'MKS100 CZ Reference Pod 9' which bend space and time. Another gem with artwork by the man himself.

Review: Ploy aka UK artist Sam Smith lands on tastemaking Dutch label Dekmantel with Unlit Signals, a double 12" of raw dancefloor power that reconnects him with his house roots. Known for his twisted and percussive techno on Hessle Audio and Timedance, this time he looks back over a ten-year career of crafting club-rocking sounds that mix solid house grooves with his signature percussive flair. Across eight tracks there are plenty of well-honed DJ tools with a mischievous edge that comes from his knack for off-kilter synths, weird samples and razor-sharp rhythms. It's a versatile, high-impact tackle that works for the peak of the night but also the headier times.

Review: Dublin-based artist Rustal is Peter Sweeney and he has a deep sound that he now brings to New York's renowned BlackCat label. Three of these originals are recorded in one-take performances at BlackCat HQ in the summer of 2024 and one is a dub reggae jam made in collaboration with label boss Jack Russell and Sonuga. 'Angel Of Light' is a widescreen dub techno opener with fuzzy, fizzy synths ripping out to infinity over dynamic drums. 'Flower Brick' is more intense with the oversized hi-hat ringlets and 'Ukiyo' is minimal and sparse in its drums and pads but soon locks you in. 'Burn Down Babylon' is a late-night stoner soundtrack for full mental immersion.

Review: With A Real Piece Of Work, Stillhead helps Brightest Dark Place reach into the "hazy, blurred overlap between techno and ambient", throwing a suspension chord between two bluffs over a vast sonic chasm, and letting terse rhythms monkey-swing across it, letting reverb bellow from below. This is an equally dynamic but intense listening experience, proving that vast, chasmic sound design need not chafe against dynamic buoyancy: the two can coexist. Keeping to about 170BPM, the Edinburgh DJ marks his sixth release here, and it is an impressive logical extension from 2022's comparable mission statement Restraint And Reverb: 'The Red Ball' suspends a sampled 'Funky Drummer' over an atoll of sub compulsions, while 'A Light Thump On The Head' stretches a classic future garage rhythm over a telegraphic void, with dispersive, long-decaying results.

Review: Since at least 2024, by our estimation, shells have been enjoying something of an "it moment" in electronic music. Don't ask us why. Perhaps the icky palps of nautiluses, or the helical segmentation of various fossils, would seem to predict the naturalisation of mechanical reproductions expressed in techno. Birmingham keystone Surgeon (Anthony Child) swoops in on the fervour, repurposing larked sonic opercula into filter-fed 4x4 Borg-anisms. But despite the implied theme, Child uses limited equipment - "For me, it's an interesting experience returning to old techniques again after 30 years" - and refashions a classic live-show-style approach here. All eight tracks were done in a single take, and only 'Dying' upends beats, delivering a moribund, mantric sound piece.

Review: This 2025 reissue of the British duo's 1995 breakthrough offering captures the raw energy and genre-blending brilliance that made it an instant classic. Still revered for its fusion of techno, house, and ambient with a distinctly industrial edge, the album's resonance continues to define electronic music today. Tracks like 'Dark & Long' and 'Surfboy' showcase their ability to create expansive, atmospheric soundscapes that are both tough and emotive. The low-end drive of 'Cowgirl' and the serene tones of 'River of Bass' reflect the duo's mastery in blending dancefloor-ready beats with intricate textures. Hailing from the UK, the duo pushed boundaries with their dark, melodic sensibility, crafting a sound that remains influential. Their influence on modern electronic music is undeniable, and this reissue serves as a vital reminder of how they redefined the genre back in the 90s, keeping the core of their vision intact while inspiring new generations of listeners.

Review: British heavyweights Underworld delivered one of the 90s' most enduring dance albums with their second LPivisionary, sprawling, and wired with tension. This 2025 reissue does it justice, pressed onto heavyweight vinyl with a half-speed cut that gives its deep, hypnotic sonics fresh bite. From the moment 'Juanita : Kiteless : To Dream Of Love' opens with glitchy insistence and locked grooves, it's clear how ahead of its time this was. The glitch-techno swirl of 'Banstyle/Sappy's Curry' and the growling 'Rowla' nod to Sheffield and Detroit in equal measure, while 'Pearl's Girl' pulses with breakbeat aggression and warped vocals, its grit sharpened here by the remaster. 'Confusion the Waitress' and 'Air Towel' show the band at their most meditative, layering ambience and submerged breaks into something closer to sound design than club tool. Even 'Blueski' and 'Stagger'ishorter, sketch-like piecesifeel essential to the album's industrial-sublime mood. Still fiercely modern, still haunted, still euphoric. An artefact of the past that belongs squarely in the now.

Review: Originally released in 1999 and now reissued, Beaucoup Fish captures UK techno icons Underworld at their peak popularity. Karl Hyde, Rick Smith and Darren Emerson were just coming off their Trainspotting movie fame due to their legendary track 'Born Slippy'. Following Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants, this record feels heavier and more restless, mirroring their ambivalence toward their growing profile. Where their previous albums flowed like introspective night drives, Beaucoup Fish often barrels forward with full-throttle energy. Tracks like 'Push Upstairs' and 'Kittens' tear through at blistering tempos, merging techno heft with psychedelic texture. 'Shudder / King of Snake' is the album's pounding centerpiece, a kinetic beast built on a mutated 'I Feel Love' bassline and layers of frenetic percussion. Yet it's on 'Jumbo' and 'Cups' that Underworld tap into something deeper, more elegant and melancholic for solitary moments on packed dance floors. Hyde's cryptic, associative lyricism are half preacher, half poet that add a compelling edge throughout. His stream-of-consciousness delivery turning even the most muscular tracks are very introspective. Beaucoup Fish may reflect a band conflicted about their identity, but it's also Underworld at their most refined, striking a potent balance between euphoria and alienation, bombast and subtlety. It remains a hypnotic artifact of late-90s rave culture, vivid in both its unease and its ecstasy.

Review: Underworld's sixth LP A Hundred Days Off heard them wean their sound down to a finer but still full Brit-rave sound, not to mention a readiness on their part to break the charts compared to their earlier, yet by all means more esoteric, studio projects such as Dubnobasswithmyheadman. Praised by Uncut as a "beautiful and baffling enigma", the record gave birth to such wonders as 'Two Months Off', 'Trim', 'Ess Gee' and 'Dinosaur Adventure 3D', tracks whose long-form structures and brutalist trance ballistics would continue to prove lactic boons for the stylistic milking. Sheffield art collective The Designers Republic were commissioned to design the iconic balloon-head cover by label V2, also enshrining a spectacular modern art and modern music crossover in this ingenious record.

Review: After the chart-topping A Hundred Days Off (2002), what was to come next for the albums arm of Underworld, aka Karl Hyde and Rick Smith? Clearly, it was to be a return to gritty chillout rave schematics - now tapering into ambient dub and progressive - that defined their earliest works, in stark contrast to their mid noughties crowd electrolysers. Oblivion With Bells (2007) saw mixed critical receipt, the aesthetes among us referencing to the record's pull towards directionless absurdity (mirrored in track titles like 'Cuddle Bunny vs. The Celtic Villages'), but its nurturance of highlights like 'Crocodile' and 'Ring Road', and their increasing use of flamboyant post-rock theatrics onstage, still make this moment a stellar one in our books.

Review: First released in 2016, Underworld's Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future returns in a 2025 reissue on nice heavyweight black vinyl that has been cut at half speed for optimal sound and housed in a double gatefold sleeve with added spine detailing. The album - the Essex duo's ninth - marked a creative rebirth for Karl Hyde and Rick Smith and features seven spontaneous, emotionally raw tracks born from strict studio sessions. From detuned basslines and celestial techno to lyrical monologues and off-world electronics, it's a typically expressive and genre-blending statement that stands proud alongside their celebrated classic albums and has aged well over the years.

Review: This 2025 reissue of the British electronic duo's 2010 release revisits a moment when their sound was at its most refined and expansive. Tracks like 'Bird 1' and 'Always Loved A Film' have an almost trance-like quality, drawing listeners into a rich web of pulsating rhythms and repetitive motifs that feel both hypnotic and unsettling. In contrast, songs like 'Diamond Jigsaw' and 'Moon In Water' offer moments of clarity, their crisp melodies and infectious hooks cutting through the layers of sound with a bright, shimmering energy. The duo's ability to shift between moods is strikingi'Hamburg Hotel' brings a brooding weight, while 'Between Stars' provides a lift, its airy textures pushing against the track's grounded pulse. This reissue feels less like nostalgia and more like a timely reminder of their ability to blend pop accessibility with experimental edge, marking their unique place in the electronic canon.

Review: In a smooth flying saucered descent, Solara Melfera continues the WSNWG: Back to Zero journey, adding a new dimension to the label's evolving sound. This compilation unites eight carefully selected tracks curated by German producer and DJ Rodhad, fusing nighttime prowler moods and subtle celestials. With a cover artwork bathed in golden, sunlit tones, the music has an eclipsing mood, juggling strong shades of light and dark. Kicking off with Ignez' 'Passion Overdrive', we're met with a brooding techno number with overdubbed lyrics by the artist, recounting the artist's rather libidinally charged dream from the previous night.

Review: 10 years of Amsterdam's Vault Records is celebrated on this latest edition of their Vault Sessions techno compilation. While many a label can lay claim to ownership of and control over a "vault" of music, how many of them can submit to surrender 20 such golden sonic ingots when faced with a ransom to release music, *and* still keep enough in the strongroom to keep the books balanced? While we've now the keys to many a high-profile private client's dirtiest collateral deposits - Jpsrv35's twinkling blood garnet 'Soulsearch', Quelza's illegal software 'Automated Assistance Program', Grace Dahl's precious heirloom 'The Green Room' , Stef Mendesidis' diplomatically immune 'License To Fly' - we suspect that many more such greats lay hidden behind astringent locks, impervious to the next heist. All tunes leave us Vaulting!

Review: Sonic Groove Records marks a full three decades of boundary-pushing electronic music with an uncompromising compilation of unreleased tracks from an array of techno and industrial legends. Since 1995, the New York label has stood for fearless innovation and this anniversary release is no exception as it delivers a front-to-back barrage of expertly crafted, high-impact cuts. Each artist contributes fresh material that feels vital and honed, capturing the label's ethos of dark energy, sonic precision and underground credibility. From Frankie Bones's clunking loops of acid-laced menace on 'Clip On' to Adam X's pending analogue barrage 'Change Of Gameplan' via Outlander's strangely slow and strobe-lit synth weapon 'Presence Of Absence', this is a fitting tribute to Sonic Groove's storied past.