detroit techno
Jeff Mills – Str Mrkd [AX077]
The first release of a new Axis sub-label by Jeff Mills entitled ‘Star Marked’ with 4 tracks of Jeff Mills trademark techno tracks.
The SECT3000 – Basic Moves 08 [BM008]
The SECT3000 is Remco, little-known mid-nineties Swiss proto-techno producer, the younger brother of the synth player from Swiss new wave band Les Rêveurs Artificiels/Die Künstlichen Träumer. Once in a while, he would make a sporadic tune on his brother’s gear, recording it on 8-track tape, without ever mixing it down, then just archiving it in a closet at his parent’s house. Basic Moves got these tapes, made the mixing and mastering and not these two tracks are out for put listening pleasure.
Indio – Inca EP [DSR/X17]
Indio was a short lived but influential trio of John Beltran, Sam McQueen and Seth Taylor. They released an album and three EPs of hi tech ambient techno on Derrick May’s Transmat and the Rhythmic Tech label between 1999 and 2010. Here, three tracks from their self titled 2003 EP and one that was released on Styrax get put together, remastered and recut for the next Delsin reissue. Opener ‘Winter Long’ is classy techno cut that looks into the future. A symphony or gorgeous strings lights up the backdrop as scintillating drums dance and shimmery in the foreground. A Detroit sense of melody adds colour and ensures utter timelessness. ‘Blue Fantasy’ is another track that show off the power of machines to make music that touches your soul with its gorgeous strong stabs and masterful drum programming, and ‘Inca’ then slips more into a house groove, with busy, shuffling drums driving along beneath acidic twitches and broad, heavenly pads. It’s slick, urgent and compelling and ‘Nolita’ closes things with more delicate dancing machines, rueful synth work and rubber bass. It’s archetypal Detroit techno that sounds as good and forward facing now as it ever did.
Waveguide – Quod EP [ARTLESS2179]
Over the years, Ken Sumitani has released a decent amount of rather good music, primarily under the Stereociti and Mono Village aliases. This, though, marks his debut under a new alter ego: Waveguide. As debuts go, it’s something of a triumph, too, serving up four essential, tried-and-tested cuts. There are two high-octane, electro-influenced offerings: the sun-bright, funk-fueled melodic bliss of “Lemma” and the heavier, raw-sounding “Tightrope”, whose skittish beats are offset by some delightfully deep melodies and even deeper chords. You’ll find some similarly smooth and hypnotic chords on the brilliant deep techno dubbiness of EP opener “Quod”, while “Cubic Root” sees the Japanese producer successfully wrap restless synth loops around a mildly trippy, Motor City influenced rhythm track.
The 7th Plain – Chronicles I-III Box [A-TONLP08]
Essential re-issue project of Luke Slater’s alias The 7th Plain. Cosmic, analogue, orchestrated, they still represent some of the most emotionally intense music ever to come out of the techno realm. Aside from the special vinyl boxset (6×12“ LP), which includes Chronicles I – III, limited edition stickers, an essay by Joe Muggs and a complete download code. All releases are available individually on CD, 2xLP and for the first time in digital formats.
Planetary – Origins EP [MET034]
By popular demand Metamorphic is reissuing their 3rd release, Origins EP by Planetary aka Dan Curtin, carefully remastered from the original DAT recordings.
Reedale Rise – Forest Canopy EP [SUBWAXE-X-C1208]
Reedale Rise here with a strong follow up to his much appreciated “Luminouse Air” album released earlier this year on Kondi Records. Forest Canopy EP has all the Reedale Rise trademarks of futuristic warm and souldful electro with a bit of a acidic twist.
RA.652 Ectomorph
Infiniti By Juan Atkins – Skynet [TRESOR105]
Juan Atkins’ Infiniti project combines raw tactility and puristic elegance with Skynet, where slinking grooves mask chaotic frequencies and roughly-hewn structure.
Alongside fellow Detroit legend Terrence Dixon who appears on several tracks, Atkins exposes the life and emotion in machines, outputting a biomorphic atmosphere of industrial soul. The ongoing importance of this album is indisputable, essential both to techno and to Tresor.
Pascal Hetzel – Reset EP [TEETH-6]
This is the sixth release on Eye Teeth, the techno sublabel of Interdimensional Transmissions, by Berlin’s Pascal Hetzel. This EP effortlessly merges a modular and hardware approach to music making while fusing techno, industrial and electro influences. The opening cut “Incognizance” is a near perfect blend of all his influences, while the EP closer “Reformation” mixes these ideas into an energizing very techno take on electro feelings. We love this EP and really look forward to new music from this promising artist.
Do or Die – Impossible Materia [MOJ09]
Last year, Spanish analogue freak Do Or Die impressed with debut album “Alien GF”, a nine-track romp through intergalactic acid, techno and electro pastures. “Imposible Materia” offers up his first new material since and is similarly impressive. Head first for “Lost”, a bustling, all-action affair rich in fizzing riffs, weird noises, classic Motor City chords and wiggly acid lines, before losing yourself in the hypnotic, minor key motifs, broken techno beats and unsettling stabs of “DX100”. Sci-fi loving acid freaks will devour the psychedelic TB-303 lines, rumbling Michigan bass and punchy drum machine hits of opener “Conciencia Sucia”, while closing cut “In Time” offers a warm, groovy, tactile and suitably shuffling conclusion to another superb Do Or Die release.
Synectics – Purple Universe [MPD009]
Musique Pour La Danse presents this LP limited edition reissue of The Purple Universe, an album originally released in 1993 by Swiss duo Synectics (Marco Repetto & Stefan Riesen) on legendary braindance label Rephlex. Bearing CAT number 06, this early release is one of Rephlex’s best-kept secrets. The 2 x LP edition includes 3 tracks from the CD version, never available on vinyl before.
MNVR / Omni Causa – Two Minds EP [USR010]
For the tenth instalment of Undersound Recordings we present a split EP from Dominic Dammer, under his MNVR and Omni Causa aliases. Dominic runs mindcolormusic, a collective active from 2010 releasing IDM and electro tinged music in tape and vinyl format and has been djing since the mid 90’s. The A side from MNVR presents a deeper approach with two emotional techno tracks whereas B side from Omni Causa takes a moodier turn with broken electro jams.
Julian Perez – Camina O Revienta [GIRADA05]
Julian Perez on fire, Camina O Revienta EP features 2 pounding dance floor bombs and a nice laidback track for early mornings.
Jeff Mills – Waveform Transmission Vol.3 [TRESOR25]
Waveform Transmission Vol.3 initially came out in 1994 on Tresor Records. The eight titles on the album marked a turning point for Jeff Mills. It indicates a transition from the straightforward sound he had created through the early 1990’s, into the different facets and sound pallet he will develop through the remainder of the decade. It is a significant piece within Jeff Mills’ masterwork.
Juju & Jordash / Shawn Rudiman / Cubic Space Collective – Regenerate EP [FR004]
Freerotation Records returns with another 12” featuring Freerotation residents and regulars. The theme for this release is live hardware techno and the A side features two cuts from Juju and Jordash’s live improvised set from Freerotation 2017, while the flip showcases two of Freerotation 2017’s live hardware acts, the evergreen Shawn Rudiman from Pittsburgh USA, and the recently revived North-Easterners Cubic Space Collective. Collectively these artists are some of the best live techno performers in the world today, with decades of experience behind them, and true dedication to their craft.
Deniro – Bhote Kukur EP [TAPE012]
Modus – Triple M EP [OUZ02]
Outer Zone is the label from Glasgow’s La Cheetah Club and this is their second release, coming from Glasgow’s very own Modus, who himself is a resident at Edinburgh’s legendary techno night Substance. Refracted through the sound of Detroit’s second wave, Modus, steers ‘Triple M’ across a spectrum of discordant pulsations and contorting energies towards enthralment.
Norken – SA 001 [SA001]
Norken returns with 2 tracks recorded for Subconcious Algorithms, mysterious new label that will be releasing music made by machines that have become aware have become emotional. The function of your subconscious mind is to store and retrieve data. These 2 tracks from Norken possess an awareness that take your mind back to the early 90’s but also into the future.
The Hipodrome Of Music 