Back in stock: Electro

Review: For the legendary label Tresor to put out a breakbeat record is something very rare. The ardent techno label for over 30 years is clearly telling us without saying, how good this music is. Tresor is always in touch with rave music though and it's not fully surprising that Tresor would support any music that is so reminiscent of the old skool days like Digital Entropy is. Datashader rises from the depths to give us their wicked debut. The EP is an audio onslaught that combines blistering breakbeat gems like 'Velocity 04.22' with eerie sci-fi pieces like 'Sync Out Off'. The AFX like 'Fong' and 'Sub Osc" are early favorites from those who have heard samples of this haunting record. It is rare to see the power of rave, breakbeat and IDM presented this well on one record.

Review: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.

Review: Konerytmi is quite a productive name in electro the last few years and in just a handful of earth cycles, the output of this Russian born audio warrior has reached staggering levels. Thankfully, the quality is there giving fans the joy to discover so much from him. One that definitely should be in your wantlist is the Saaristo EP. 'Hiekkalinna' is really good example at the strategy he employs when making tracks. 'Kesakauri' and 'Avaruukisko' add a bit of 80s nostalgia with some darker synth lines and an EBM balance to the electro. The title track ends the EP on a melancholy note and is perhaps, our favorite of the four. Konerytmi continues to give us terrific electro to enjoy.

Review: White Fetish X, the latest release by enigmatic collaboration between Dataintrang and Luke Eargoggle on the Italian label Pareidolia Recordings, is a hypnotic and eerie exploration of the dark side of electronica. The album's six tracks veritably pulsate with a sinister energy, blending elements of EBM, electro clash, and sci-fi to create a truly unique and unsettling soundscape. 'Starting Shift' sets the tone with its menacing EBM stomp and early techno sound, while 'Mann Gegen Mann' ups the ante with its sinister electroclash beats. The title track is a hypnotic and eerie soundscape, with its sci-fi synths and demented, horror-like atmosphere. 'Radiowelt' is a heavy electro track with a pulsing body funk rhythm, while 'Audio Warrior' closes the album out with its dark and evil-sounding but funky bassline. Overall, White Fetish X is a challenging and rewarding listen for fans of dark electronica. Its sinister soundscapes and hypnotic rhythms create a truly unique and unsettling experience that will stay with you long after the final track has faded out.

Review: Mint Condition continues its run of strong reissues of house and techno music. Originally released on the cult label Robs records in 1995, Kilowatt's 'The Last EP' is finally getting the much deserved repress. Included is the wicked acid banger 'Loose End' which is a diamond of the mid-90s bleep house sound. 'The End' is another standout track on this release that gives us great memories of all the exciting IDM related going ons in the mid 90s - not least in the club of the same name - with echoes of 808 State from the late 80s too. Sometimes you aren't sure why a record's been reissued, but this one is definitely a worthy case. Expect these copies to go fast.

Review: Having spent six years apart from one another, Marvin & Guy now reunite with Life and Death for two infectious tracks, breaking their two-year silence from original releases. Departing from their signature melodies, the duo presents minimalist compositions tailored for the dancefloor. Born from playful experimentation with a synthesiser bassline, these tracks boast distinctive rhythmic and harmonic shifts - the irresistible appeal of' 'Who Dis' is its fatness and apparently simplicity. Incorporating sounds like shattered glass and Formula 1 engine roars - both meticulously recorded for these tracks - the joy and fun of the creative process shines through in the music and results in effective good time party tracks.

Review: The next entry in Tresydos' tenth release series features another four sterling slices of contemporary minimal tech house trance fusions, leading in with B Love's 'Video Soul', which samples a television interview with legendary talk box funker Roger Troutman. Arnic follows that with the brooding synth construction of 'I'm Into You' before Neik's 'New Age' cools things down with a rolling, warm-up-friendly groove. Atree's 'Augmented Reality' is a spikier affair to end the record on an uptempo note, maintaining the playful energy which binds the whole record together in a burst of catchy baselines and cheeky samples.

Review: Tel Aviv twosome Red Axes can always be relied upon to deliver trippy, mind-altering and left-of-centre music, regardless of what stylistic or rhythmic framework they're operating in at any given time. That assessment rings as true as ever on the duo's first Shall Not Fade outing. Opener 'The Electric', for example, mixes druggy and hallucinogenic electronic motifs with a throbbing, retro-futurist house groove, sci-fi synths and the creepiest of lead lines, while 'Next One Is Bill' is a twisted, brain-melting jack-track propelled forwards by a filthy TB-303 bassline. Turn to the B-side for 'The Bee', a buzzing, foreboding chunk of punk funk/dub-disco/dark house fusion, and the intoxicating mixture of music box melodies, restless Chicago house drums and clandestine sounds that is 'Axes in the Sky'.

Review: Poetic Hovering Synth Tinkerer.

Review: B12's 1993 debut album, Electro-Soma, has long been regarded as one of intelligent dance music's "must-have releases". Offering a decidedly intergalactic blend of otherworldly techno, ambient and deep space electronica, it remains a brilliant piece of work. Here, Warp Records give it the reissue treatment, packaging the peerless original album with a second disc of early B12 rarities and hard-to-find cuts recorded during the same period. There's naturally plenty to admire on this bonus disc, from the shimmering electro bustle of "Transient Pathways" and Motor City futurism of "Debris", to the intoxicating ambient brilliance of "Go With The Hiss". That this material is every bit as good as the tracks included on Electro-Soma is testament to the (then) duo's rarely matched brilliance.