Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: Tokyo-based independent label Infodump follows up its inaugural EP with a new release from owner Takuro Hasumi. 'Ticktack' opens his account with lithe, droning synth lines which are layered up next to organic percussion and dark bass energy that keeps you on edge. 'Wilderness' then flips the script with a much more bright and trippy melodic mix over minimal drums and last of all is 'The Fall'. This one is another intriguing mix of silvery synth shimmers and stripped-back drum programming that locks you in the moment. The fresh EP comes with fresh artwork from Japanese outsider artist Pinksk.

Review: Head Front Panel is the first guest producer to land on Dark Machine Funk and apparently has long been an inspiration. He brings four precision tooled techno weapons aimed squarely at the dancefloor. 'Panama' is a copy cut with vocal yelps that will ignite the party, 'Tactile' is dubby, with watery pads and a relentless sense of forward motion that will sweep anyone off their feet and 'Surdo' then gets more dark, heads down and menacing with its glitchy melodies and warehouse feel. 'Them' brings more darkness, rusty loose, edgy synths and all round vibe of techno mischief.

Review: Darker Than Wax welcomes back Malik Hendricks for a new EP that was recorded in Brooklyn in 2020 and 2021 by the American-born, Lisbon-based producer. And it marks something of a shift in his musical journey as he moves away from the sample-heavy sound he is known for and towards more organic grooves with hints of Midwest funk and techno. There is an electro flavour to the opener, sleazy ghetto house flourish to 'Fiyahverkx' and broken beat minimalism to 'Totem.' On the flip comes 'The Money Dance' which is the best of the lot - a soul-drenched and elastic house jam with quality chords and keys.

Review: Vital Detroit players Luke Hess and Joshua Harrison are back with a second EP that builds on the brilliance of their first. As always this is super deep and atmospheric dub techno outing on the superb EchoChord and all the cuts on it were produced live, in one take, in New York, at BlackCat Recordings. As such each one feels alive and variant, detailed with imperfections and of course defined by weighty low ends, aqueous synth work and a hypnotic sense of groove. These are stylish inward journeys of the highest order once more from this pair.

Review: Dutch artist Tammo Hesselink has always played with rhythm whatever style of music he makes. He does that again here with a new EP - his debut for the Midgar label out of Berlin - that showcases his stripped-back style over five fresh cuts. Opener 'Zero History' has loopy beats and a moody atmosphere that's dark but alluring then 'Nut Wandel' is another heady and hypotonic cut with undulating bass and deft sound designs while the flipside features a trio of variations on that theme - sleek rhythms and evocative little details that draw you in deep. These might ostensibly be DJ tools, but they sure do elevate a dancefloor in sophisticated ways.

Review: Jerome Hill is having a fine year - back in February he turned out his superb Flow Mechanics album on Hypercolour and now he is back on Super Rhythm Trax with a fire four-track electro and house outing. The opener 'The Warning' is a prickly one with acidic lines and raw, chattering claps making for a menacing vibe. 'Harlesden Shuffle' (extended 12" Disco mix) is then a wonky disco-tinged minimal cut with Wagon Repair-style synth leads and plenty of acid stabs. There is plenty of bite to the jacked-up B-side cut 'Combustion Zone' then 'House Thing' rounds out with early Chicago vibes, dusty drums and naughty basslines.

Review: Bristol's Hodge is one of those producers with a signature style no matter the genre he makes. He's an adept studio craftsman who designs sounds in a way few others do and he shows that again here with this fresh 12" on the mighty Timedance. 'Voice Crash' opens up with clanking great hits over minimalist beat frameworks that are always on the move, and you will be too. '151' is a more manic and dense arrangement with malfunctioning loops, knackered synth mutations and whirring effects all making for something fairly mind-blowing. Last of all is 'Fussyhead', a percolating and potent rhythm underpinned with lashings of UK bass.

Review: NX12X is the first in a new series of experimental records from this label and the artists given the keys for the inaugural release are Goldsmiths student and modular synth maestro Sam Hostettler and electronic innovator La Leif who tackle a pair of tracks each. Hostettler's sounds are the moody, heavy ambient atmospheres of 'Pointalims' and the more light and airy li-fi soundscapes of 'Opalescence.' La Leif offers broken beats with a skeletal feel and a burial-style synth aesthetic on 'Kyoto' and then crunchy breaks and fizzing, distorted synth malfunctions of 'Kimochi.'

Review: Grown-up techno label Kompkat has always served up its most dancefloor ready sounds as part of the Speicher series and it is now up to an impressive 129 installments. This one kicks off with Hunter/Game & U S H N U's collaboration 'Reload' which is an electric cut with bright synth lines shimmering about the mix next to thunderous claps and dark future vocals. On the flip, Bawrut cuts loose with rave stabs over dense percussive grooves with vocal snatches adding to the unsettling and boisterous mood of 'Clapa', which does indeed also have plenty of claps.

Review: The Ranges label has really found its, yep, range over the course of its first dozen or so relies and this 15th is another gem. It is a return to the imprint for Hydergine who once again draws on a rich vein of dub techno history and reworks it into his own new rhythms and arrangements. The opener is a classically infused sound to get things going and after 'Entangle' there are more broken beat patterns to 'Spectrum' and a pulsing sense of edgy undercurrent to 'Introspection.' 'Perception' is the most sparse of the lot and also gets a Resoe remix that has deft synths darting about the mix.

Review: The Third Room concludes its so far excellent various artists series with a third and final instalment of yet more future-facing and heady cosmic techno. Justine Perry kicks things off with the deep space synths and paired back hypnosis of 'Diversion' while Hadone then bangs a little harder with 'Strain Relief' which has twitchy synth motifs and hard, hammering beats. HWRD's 'Mirage' is a buoyant techno bouncer with loopy synth ringlets all interacting with each other to mind-melting effect and Quelza's 'Domino' dips into deepest of dub techno territory to shut down a nice diverse EP.

Review: Detroit house hero Kyle Hall returns with his biggest project in some time in the form of Transmissions, a new double album on his own well-regarded Forget The Clock. All six tracks have enigmatic, functional titles and the music is as idiosyncratic as ever. Each one veers more towards techno than is Hall's usual style, with pulsating synth lines and tight, dusty drum tracks making for stripped-to-the-bones grooves. Later on, things grow ever more abstract with twisted acid lines screwing their way through the increasingly ragged and roughshod drums. These are perfectly imperfect jams from a master of the form.

Review: The inimitable Jamal Moss comes forth with his second offering for Madrid's Apnea records. 'The Moon Dance' unfurls over 11 tracks- in turns pensive, elegiac, and slammin'. Between the sedate expanse of opener 'When The Earths Shadow Falls On The Moon' and the final cymbal strokes of gauche, machine funk closer 'Mawu', Moss lifts us on yet another Afrofuturist space flight of fancy, passing through superclusters of deep house, tactile techno and stroboscopic piano jams along the way.
Standout moments include the smoove-as-u-like-it intergalactic lounge jazz diversion 'The Moondance Moon Walk Version'; its steezy stride-piano vamp seamlessly intertwining with Moss' signature babbling acid intrusions, the irresistibly groovy bump of 'Tethered 2 The Divinely Spaces With In' and the hypnotic sway of 'Celestial Poems Of The Lady With 10000 Names', which opens up from Terrence Dixon-esque introspection into broad windy city string washes and synapse-tickling bleeps. With this collection, Moss pens yet another crucial chapter in the seemingly bottomless hieroglyphic being scroll. While 'The Moon Dance' is one of his most accessible and harmonious works to date, it doesn't lose an ounce of the rawness and immediacy of his previous work. Essential listening!