Back catalogue: Techno (All)

Review: Lempuyang's third offering is an outstanding split release between Steve O'Sullivan & Hydergine, label bosses for Mosaic/Bluetrain & Ranges. In 'Binary Riddim' Steve delivers a two-part dub track spanning >13 minutes, seriously heavy in the low end; melancholy strings in the first half, progressing to outright menacing chord stabs in the latter. A versatile track offering something for both warm-up and the dancefloor. Complimenting on the flip are 'Mystic Light' and 'Lunar Eclipse' from Hydergine. Deep, dubby atmospherics meander over a weighty 909 kick on B1. Subtle minimalism a la Terrence Dixon, pitched down on B2. Essential release!

Review: Scott Hallam has been an acid devotee since the early days, and he's largely put out his music on his own Axia label. While most of that is digital-only, now Cartulis have picked up on the considerable talents of this hardware lifer and presented five of his finest works on wax. The vibe veers tremendously, touching on dark and sinewy dungeon acid, boxy electro workouts, strangely psychedelic hardcore and plenty more besides. Hallam's style feels betrothed to the outboard approach - it's all synths and drum machines to these ears, and its immediacy is a big part of the charm. That, and the playful personality he works into those wigged out acid lines and pinging FX.

Review: Halvtrak is hardly prolific - this EP is just his fourth solo vinyl outing in a decade - but what he does release is invariably excellent. The Finnish producer's trademark sound is rooted in the past, referencing British breakbeats, ambient techno, bleep, Motor City futurism and Chicago house, but always sounds fresh, pleasingly melodic and analogue rich. Opener 'X-Pressed' is probably the most peak-time ready of the strong bunch of tracks on show, with glassy-eyed chords and spacey melodies riding a thrusting bassline and sweaty breakbeats, though the house-tempo melodic techno strut of 'Rhythm Overture' pushes it close. Elsewhere, 'Phase Distorshun' is a more angular, deeper and lo-fi techno excursion, while 'Doubt' sounds like a cross between deep bleep minimalism and hypnotic, mid-90s Detroit techno.

Review: "Way back in the 1990s, Mark Hand, Neil Iceton & Jez Nicholl channelled their love of sci-fi-fired Motor City techno into a string of inspired releases under the alias Cubic Space Collective.

After reuniting for a memorable machine jam at Freerotation festival in 2016, Hand & Iceton headed back into the studio for a one-off session and recorded 'Holiday in Beta Centauri', a musical love letter to Mad Mike and the rest of Detroit's most militant futurist techno crew.

Sending us surging skywards via 'Binary System', where lilting lead lines, fizzing electronics and enveloping chords dance atop a snappy, cymbal-heavy drum machine rhythm, before 'Arps in Hyperspace' sees them step things up a notch via layered waves of synths, sparkling melodies and a driving, hyper-speed groove.

The North-East-based twosome then attempt to warm us to the core in the shape of 'Rigil': restless organ stabs, undulating Michigan bass, alien electronics, psychedelic acid lines and Galaxy 2 Galaxy style chords catching the ear. Bringing us gently back down to earth, they complete their deep space mission with 'Beyond The Nebula (Holiday in Beta Centauri)', a bustling electro number full of stabbing analogue bass, star-burst electronics, meditative ambient chords that shimmer full of night-sky melodies.

A fine return to action for this Teesside UR-loving techno twosome... 3,167 miles away in Detroit, their achievement will be noted."

Review: Welcome to System Revival Recordings, a new label which inaugurates itself with an EP from Headless Horseman. He is someone who has a sophisticated sound and experimental approach to sound design that always brings his techno to life. 'Minor Setbacks' is a new series of releases on this label and its cut here is a fierce one indeed that was originally made as support for a Various Artists compilation for charity for Beirut in 2020. It has lashing of acid flash about the mix over tight, textural drums. Berlin's boundary breaking Monolake and Detroit's influential Erika add their own remix.

Review: A new label out of Mexico, Short Attention Records launches its second release with a five track offering of proper melodic house & techno from Hector Ram with the word 'quality' stamped large upon them. 'Midnight Sounds' starts things off with the grand rhythmically-building 'Midnight Sounds', almost New Order-esque at times. 'For Our Small Parties' follows, old skool again in flavour, blending subtly employed breaks and a sturdy house framework, then 'Dear Dancefloor', probably the gentlest and most fragile effort here, opens side two. 'On The Road' boasts a more electro feel and Orbital-esque synths, and is deemed worthy of a second airing via a nicely throbbing remix from Detroit's Generation Next closing proceedings.

Review: Emergent Italian producer Herva has been responsible for some truly unique music committed to wax in recent times - see last year's album for Delsin as well as his hook up with Massprod on the mighty Kontra-Musik. His run of fine releases continues here with How To Mind Your Own, a six track EP for Dublin's All City operation which doesn't so much as defy easy genre categorisation, it laughs in the face of such futile gestures. Some may call it deep house but really Herva has crafted some mutant brands of the genre where individual tracks contain more ideas and rhythmic deviations than you are likely to hear in whole 12"s from many other artists. Totally crazy and totally refreshing.

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: Steve O'Sullivan invites a trio of artists to lay down some serious head nodding beats for 'Rhythm Method Vol.4'. Calling on one of Canada's trusted talents and solid purveyors of deep grooves Jay Tripwire leads the charge with 'Mung Bean Medley'. There's simply no messing: pushing through a taught rhythmic workout, incessant toms and metallic tones etch deep into the mood - awash with dubbed out atmospherics and crafty touches that more than a give a nod to the dark house dubs of yesteryear. On the flip, 'Hidden Sequence' inject their creative flex, demonstrating the all important art of minimalist bounce with 'Synchro'. The kind of fully swung beats and tripped out twinges that brighten the groove more often than not when 7am comes calling. The svelte bustle and soothing tones of 'Makka' from Fletcher by contrast, soothe the mind and leaves plenty of room to kick back as weary limbs take their toll: a fine tonic indeed.