Techno Recommendations Best Of 2011

Review: ** Repress For The Hood Fans ** This much anticipated EP on his own M Plant label sees Detroit legend Robert Hood continue to develop to his Floorplan alias after the recent Living It Up single. The A-Side explores euphoric 90s house tropes in "We Magnify His Name", a peak time piano driven anthem which is as religious an experience to listen to as its name suggests, complete with uplifting gospel vocals. On the flip, Hood explores his darker techno tendencies over two tracks. "Baby Baby" relies more on a cut up vocal sample and a slightly wobbling Motor City leaning bassline and a Model 500 style funk swing to it, provided in no small part by a particularly great guitar lick, while tension and release is offered in spades by a well placed horn sample. "Basic Priciple" meanwhile is a druggier affair propelled by its murky sub bass and techno stabs, the only melody coming from a particularly sinister two note organ line.

Review: REPRESS: The Hardwax-affiliated Power House label presents its second release, now available for wider consumption following a limited run. WK7's "The Avalanche" is throbbing party techno, with a punishing kick - the centrepiece around which all other percussive elements fall - reigning blows down relentlessly: this is the sonic equivalent of sticking a firework up the dancefloors' collective backside and lighting the touch paper. Drop it down to 33 rpm on the flip for "High Power", which is just as incendiary - the key point being that these are not just dumb slices of peak time dance music - they have clearly been produced with intricate poise, with detailed nuances and obsessive attention to sound design. The Hardcore PCK mix of "Higher Power" is perhaps the pick of the bunch, with a broken beat bass drum pounding alongside off-kilter chord stabs.

Review: On this superb 12" Silent Servant returns to the Sandwell District imprint that made his name for the appropriately titled Hypnosis In The Modern Age. The A-Side is sharp, undulating techno of the highest order, comprised of a bubbling synth backbone and accented by tense cinematic sweeps of a horror movie nature. B-Side "The Self" is undoubtedly the trippiest of the two and is real 6am, darkened room stuff; built around a simple kick and echo-laden arpeggio which repeats itself ad infinitum, its trance inducing effect also likely to bring on attacks of the night terrors in those brave enough to listen alone. Special mention must also go to the attention to detail shown on the insert page, which recreates the back page of an old 50s comic book, and details a number of bizarre hypnotic devices around the track information. Essential stuff.

Review: Sandwell District enter Phase 3 - we're still not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds exciting - by debuting the sounds of the mysterious Rrose. Both cuts on here are absolutely stunning - "Secretion" opens with a reverb laden 4/4 thud offset by rasping hats - proper techno in other words - before a droning metallic loop enters the equation. The kick drops off, the machine loop builds and boom - the pummelling bass drum returns with extra gusto! Flipping over is the driving arpeggiated rhythm of "Bare Hand" which comes replete with a razor shop kick and meaty bassline. Phase 3 is already sounding pretty hot.

Review: Funkineven's ascendance to big things continues apace with the release of Roland's Jam, a dextrously rough around the edges three track insight into what we can expect from his forthcoming album. There's been a massive crank in expectation over the title track since Eglo unleashed it upon select tastemakers and it's easy to hear why, as Funkineven serves up a end of year list worthy slab of tempo shifting, tuff 303 circulations that pretty much demand the shaking of booty. The B Side elicits further acid soaked deviations with "Take It Back" unfurling heavily lysergic lines over spring rolled drums and delicious Hardcastle style vocal and synth hooks. There's a charming scattergun approach throughout, slipping between shards of forgotten 80s pop and ascendant zigzags of acid house delight. "XXX" operates on a similar plane, with the added addition of risque vocal samples throughout making it an altogether thrilling experience.

Review: Skudge return with the latest installment of their remix series, in which Berlin's Substance (aka Peter Kuschnereit) is paired up with Bristol's finest, Appleblim & October. Substance's remix of "Overture" takes the hypnotic quality of the endlessly looping original and runs with it, adding some high frequency stabs that cut through the mix. On the flipside October & Appleblim bring some Bristol influence to Skudge's much straighter approach. Isolating the ghostly 808 cowbell of the original and adding some welcome percussive swagger, it nevertheless maintains the straight groove of their recent collaboration on Schmorgasbord, complete with liquid synths which create an interesting contrast to Skudge's warehouse sound.

Review: A bulging 4x12" release from Styrax to round off their In Loving Memory series. Featuring venerable and fledgling talent alike from both sides of the Atlantic - including Ian Pooley, Laurent Garnier, Morphosis, John Daly, John Beltran and Sven Weisemann to name just a few - In Loving Memory 4:4 is a frankly essential purchase for lovers of the more cerebral strains of house music. Picking a favourite out of this lot is an unenviable task, but we'll plump for the dusty beatdown of Morphosis' "They Just Don't Care".

Review: Bob Ostertag and Rrose team up for this engrossing triple vinyl selection on the peerless Sandwell District. The latest phase of the SD story continues with Motormouth Variations, which contains all the sonic hallmarks of the label's sound - thick, muggy and brooding soundscapes - yet simultaneously pushes it in fascinating new directions. From the gloomy sonic architecture and underlying sense of unrest that pervades "Wack" to the freakish arpeggios of "Arms & Legs", this is as detailed and nuanced as anything in the label's storied back catalogue. The two versions of "Pointilism" are simply breathtaking, while the additional (and limited) 10" features some of Ostertag's earliest explorations with the famed Buchla 200E modular synth.

Review: This been a tingle of anticipation at Juno towers ever since whispers first surfaced about a techno-leaning collaboration between R&S 2.0 alumni Blawan and Pariah. Save for a remix of West Norwood Cassette Library and an appearance on Ben UFO's excellent Rinse FM mix, this 12", the debut release on their newly minted Work The Long Nights imprint, constitutes the first serious glimpse into the Karenn sound. Title track "Chaste Down" is, for lack of a better word, enormous. It positively bristles with the kind of techno-funk groove that brings to mind the work of the Fachwerk crew at their finest, all twisted metallics, piercing synths and the beefiest of kick drums underpinning the whole thing. "Auflen Whip" and "Limewash (Barrelled)" make up the flipside, with the former's hollow, industrial slaps proving a boisterous accompaniment to the latter's pervading sense of rattling menace. How far will this duo take their sound down the rabbit hole? This may be one of 2012's most exciting questions.

Review: ** Repress for the Rene P fans! ** By now it's no secret to most that the anonymous Equalized series can be attributed to Shed; their scale alone is enough to give away the identity of the series' creator. The fifth entry in the series sees the sound increase in size further still; The A-Side offers a gnarled bassline, whose acidic qualities offer one of the most intense moments of the five 12"s so far. The B-Side offers a texturally similar cut to its companion; but instead of a relatively straightforward synth backbone, a crunchy melody floats and jostles somewhere a little higher, manically panning between channels, before a huge breakdown that offers a well placed moment of soothing calm before the inevitable return to its furious warehouse stomp. These may be a fairly straightforward pair of techno tracks, but they're imbued with the kind of demented energy that characterises the best Shed productions.

Review: The only way to improve on a label named as brilliantly as Moustache Records is to launch an offshoot called Moustache Techno. The Dutch imprint launches their new initiative in impressive style with four powerful techno cuts from the elusive and mysterious Gesloten Cirkel. "Yamagic" opens on an expansive experimental Detroit tip, with the rough percussive edges a nice contrast to the crisper jacking qualities that run through the guttural acid flex of "Moustache". Proceedings change up on the flip with the scratched industrial wooziness of "Insummer" brilliantly offset by a crunching half step kick. "Slample" closes proceedings on a decidedly odd note, sounding like Moodymann remixing Neucleus at the bottom of a well.

Review: At this point it seems that nothing will stop the Skudge juggernaut, as they drop the first release on their own imprint a mere six months after their album, Phantom. This 12" doesn't throw any huge curveballs, but these tracks display a lightness and simplicity that has been largely unseen in their previously weightier productions. Of course their sense of rhythm is still as on point as ever; "June" is characterised by its beefy toms which drive the track forwards, but most surprising it the simple chord sequence which ebbs and flows throughout, allowing only a simple whistle as its only excess. "Man On Wire" is built around a simple bassline and slowly intensifying synth stab, but again, with a gravity defying breeziness that feels ever so subtly different from their previous productions. The 12" concludes on this note, with a short, bright, arpeggio tool that is an interesting diversion from their usual warehouse sound, and intriguing look at possible things to come.