Lost Trax pops up at Delsin once more. It’s their second EP with new material on Delsin after their Surface Treated EP from 2019. On Mind Over Matter, Lost Trax steps in the world of old school pre-nineties jackin’ Chigaco and Detroit sounds. Four tracks filled with razor sharp 303s, bubbling FM-basses, jacking drums and offworldy emotive melodies, making this an excellent pack for the late nights.
In the last years the Berlin-based duo Ausgang got attention in the worldwide techno scene through releases on their own label Ausgang Records. Nico and Roseen show on their first LP a clear vision of taste and quality, coming from the true techno culture. Eight tracks moving from electro to techno, based on radical essential elements reflecting their 90ies roots. Both share the basic idea of techno: raw and gritty sounds with pounding rhythms. Made for darkened rooms with fog and strobe lights. Nothing more, nothing less.
Robert Hood is set to regenerate his much-loved Monobox alias with a new EP followed by an artist album. The ‘Forwardbase Kodai EP’ features 2 exclusive originals that will not appear on the forthcoming album, alongside a remix by Ø [Phase] and a blistering Robert Hood Re-Plant edit.
The 3rd release from Audition goes further into the sci-fi sound he is renowned for. “Irrational” invites you into a paranoid trance with its relentless synth line that seems to want to haunt you forever. Next up is “Tense” which, as the title suggests, creates a hard-hitting tension throughout the track supported by heavy syncopated rhythm. The EP ends with “Rumours” a beatless, brooding track that feels like you re entering a never-ending black hole.
Something Records lifts off ‘Lost in Musik’ by STL aka Stephan Laubner. On 17 tracks and an extended playing-time, this double vinyl comes in complete album feel, multifarious variations, and in STL’s full tonal trademark fit. STL attends the brains & ears in his magic discrete way with an unstoppable bucket-raining flow of fresh sounds, catching rhythms and aspirating music, like no one else usually does. An album to blow your minds, shake your bodies and touch your souls.
The Override Switch combines the talent of two Detroit natives: Jeff Mills and Rafael Leafar. The latter is a multi-instrumentalist with a strong affiliation to jazz music. Through Mike Banks, he was introduced to Jeff Mills, where the idea for “The Override Switch” began to manifest. “The Override Switch” gives control back to the musicians. Unrestrained and unshackled by the semiotics placed by conventional dance music, it looks to a frontier beyond what is conditioned by genre. By infusing the mercurial elements of jazz, it gives electronic instruments the avenue that it always had the potential to travel down; as an unrestrictive genre, exploring the boundless possibilities in which it is capable. It looks to innovation and transcends what has come before; it is a switch in a practical sense, overlooking its past before switching to the future. The album is a homage to artists like John Coltrane, J Dilla, Kraftwerk and those who inspire experimentation with what can be evoked through music.
Long awaited reissue of Connective Zone’s Qwerty EP. Originally released in 2002 on Emoticon, the deep electronica sister label of Headspace Recordings. Connective Zone, aka Lincoln-based duo Graham Sims and Simon Button, have been making their unique brand of deep techno for many years. Warm strings, thick chords, multi-layered synth melodies and crisp beats are the order of the day, with influences coming from early Detroit techno and ‘artificial intelligence’ era UK electronics. All four tracks pack a soulful punch, drawing from the past but allowing their individual sound to shine through. Rhythmically they range from straight-up 4/4 beats to more syncopated patterns, and are sure to find favour with more adventurous DJs as well as home listeners.
Rawax welcomes Thomas Barnett to the family. with the “Foundation Series Volume One”. Originally released in 1997 on Visillusion Records (Detroit).
Since 1991, Tresor has provided a home for artists to germinate their ideas for advanced new sounds and broadcast them to the world. The pioneers that first traversed the Detroit-Berlin connection and were at the forefront of a new cultural movement gave to Tresor its original and continuing mission: community, resistance and reshaping the world to come. The Tresor 30 compilation represents a major land- mark in this continuing history of electronic music. This unique collection of music profiles some of the artists that gave the previous three decades of Tresor its sound and foundation, but it also casts its gaze forward. Writing new postcards from the future, this collection brings new artists who main- tain a connection to that original mission to the fore, charting ways in which this ethos can contin- ue to build bridges and break walls in the next 30 years. Bringing together 52 essential tracks – both clas- sics and exclusive commissions – each of the 12 records in this box-set charts a unique line of flight from those artists that helped define the shape of this new music to those who continue to pattern its landscape further.
Housewerk presetns a limited re-press of the classic of Dan Nurse aka Dave Sumner, “Other Side Of The Tracks”.
Dustin Zahn makes his Blueprint Records debut as James Ruskin’s label continues to celebrate 25 years at the forefront of Techno. ‘Hand Over Control’ EP features four new tracks of deep dance floor techno.
Johannes Volk debuts on Eternal Friction Records with a 4 track EP called “Mutable Motor Units”. The result is a powerful EP filled with powerful grooves, smooth leads and uplifting rhythms, that clearly demonstrates Johannes unique and personal approach to techno.
Detroit techno icons Octave One serve up the third volume of their Locus of Control EP series. The two-track offering again explores the ‘power or powerlessness people feel over the things that shape their world,’ and never has that been more true than during the last 18 months of the pandemic.
DJ Surgeles is back again on Eclectic Limited with a solo EP. 4 powerful tracks on clear orange colored vinyl showcasing his uniquely appreciable recognizable way of making Techno.
Detroit pioneer Robert Hood returns to Rekids with a four-track EP of his trailblazing minimal techno.
+313 CALLING YOU – Special inside out cut. – May the force be with you.
Tracks by Scan 7, Fix, Lost Trax and Rogue Chemist.
Space Trace is coming in hot with a 4 track EP made by the label boss Eric Axelsson. ST001 marks the birth of Space Trace.
RAWAX presents Precession aka Steve O’Sullivan with the second release on his own series. This one is very special as it’s the first release Steve ever did 25 years ago. 2 tracks on this outstanding ep were co-produced by WIS. Retrograde Motion EP came out originally on the legendary Ferox label, runned by Russ Gabriel.
Steve Rachmad, aka Sterac returns to Luke Slater’s Mote-Evolver imprintto release the ‘Numbers’ EP, with four tunneling techno tracks. Kicking off the release is ‘Ghost 37’, which employs vacillating grooves, ominous synths and intricate mechanics before ‘Lost Track 22’ fuses sizzling 303s, dynamic drums and mammoth, alien-sounding modulations. On the flip, ‘Rey Fur 2.1’ keeps the energy flowing with a high-impact clapper featuring bustling fx and expansive tones until ‘Tr-15’ masterfully rounds off the EP with twisting synth flutters, rattling highs and hypnotic bass grooves intricately unfolding underneath.
The Hipodrome Of Music 