Scenery Records turns to another Liverpudlian producer, Binny, for a brace of new tracks that come with interesting remixes from Windy City native Chicago Skyway and label cohort Circular Rhythms.
Binny – Retrospective EP [SCN007]
detroit techno
J.S. Zeiter – Pulse / Submerge [M-0006]
Sixth release on the MCMLXV label featuring two tracks aimed squarely at the dance floor by James Zeiter. ‘Pulse’ is a hard-hitting peaktime dancefloor weapon, while ‘Submerge’ is an altogether more atmospheric & stripped down workout.
Developer – Archive 5 [DEVELOPER005]
Functional main room techno tracks from the arhcives of Developer. Solid no-nonense looped techno tracks.
Kartei – The Information Is Coming From The Server [FIELD016]
Dutch label Field is ready to complete its recent trilogy of album projects with ‘The Information Is Coming From The Server’, a debut album from Kartei, aka Crysta Patterson and Voiski. The duo started their cyber technopop act in 2007, performing contextual actions on more alternative scenes. Their working ethos is based on collecting data from the internet to create new material. Data and songs are preserved into their server systematically. The album they serve up here is a condensed compilation of their archive, which can be described as clean and melodic, subtly uplifting and calls on classic techno as well as plenty of futuristic ideals. Grooves are quick and slick, synths are well crafted and emotive and everything is underpinned by a motor kick that powers the album along. Tracks like the bubbly ‘Sunset’ make for moments of calmer reflection between more trip out kickers like ‘Kartei gets Fat’. New wave vocals and sombre chords, bleepy melodies and celestial pads also feature throughout this album, and all in all adds up to a terrifically journeying album of fresh electronic sounds.
Victor Santana – Hiperborea [CHAVAL012]
Chaval Records new release has a little Japanese touch. Powerful sounding techno beats from Victor Santana followed by a remix of one of Japan’s techno legends – Ken Ishii.
DC – Space Pressure EP [MET028]
Dan Curtin relaunches his Metamorphic label with “Space Pressure EP”. Deep, immersive and engaging techno that always maintains the funk and groove, so take time to absorb this beauty in all its glory.
Session Restore – An Obvious Pattern [SSPT007]
Christopher Stach and Mark Rheinlnder as Session Restore with a four tracks release on Separate Skills Recordings.
Somewhen – Dain EP [IMF005]
The IMF label serves up its first release of 2015 and introduces a rising Berlin talent Somewhen. Lead track “Dain” is a stripped back thing of wonder, approaching levels of trippiness that put it somewhere between Dozzy and Acido, whilst “Aula” offers a rougher, more unpredictable side to Somewhen’s production palette. To end matters, Somewhen lays down a gnarled slab of acid perfect for deep in the night in the shape of “XJ”.
Eduardo De La Calle – The Sequoia Symposium [NONPLUS027]
Hailing from Spain, Eduardo De La Calle has been a prolific DJ and house and techno producer since the early nineties. Eduardo is an underground legend staying true to his analogue production techniques and never following the pack.
Zadig – Kern Space Adventures Episode #2 [SYNCRO023]
The first “episode” of Zadig’s Kern Space Adventures series, released last year, offered a particularly intergalactic take on deep house, and sat somewhere between Alien-era Larry Heard, the inherent far-sightedness of Detroit techno, and the head-in-the-clouds electronics of Space Dimension Controller’s more ambient moments. There’s a similarly weightless, drifting-through-space feel about this follow up. It’s particularly noticeable on “Quiet Orbit Around Gladia 2”, a heady fusion of deep space rhythms, loopy, acid-influenced electronics and tactile chords that seem to stretch out beyond the horizon. There’s a little more bump and swing to the slightly darker “Hunted By The Cosmic Assassin”, but it still comes smothered in glassy-eyed pads and immersive electronics.
VA – The 9th Argument EP [AMG009]
Argumento strikes again with the 9th Argument EP, a various artist record showcasing uncompromising techno. Echoplex represents the Detroit sentiment spiced with pounding grooves along the way. Berlin based Frieder Blume aka B.E.F. delivers a floating & sonic analogue jam, where the grainy dub chords interact with the square pattern inside the storming 909 groove. Closing track of this record is by Mechaniker Zu Befehl. Shuffling beats, minimalistic programming with capacity to deliver the unexpected behavior in todays techno.
Delano Smith – A Tale Of Two Cities [C4RMK]
Two strong remixes for Delano Smith. Efdemin and Tobias are on the case. Efdemin drops an epic building Detroit techno flavoured bomb and Tobias take is equally strong but slightly more trippy and hypnotic.
Trap10 – Westside EP [ARTLESS2187]
Straight peak-time action on the A-Side and head-nodding & feet stomping funk infused Techno with soul on the flip, dress to sweat!
Tadeo – Terra Incognito [TOKEN051]
And so the Token juggernaut continues, slaying all before it with some of the best club techno you are likely to find right now. Terra Incognita sees Spanish producer Tadeo debut on the label after a fine succession of 12″s in 2014 and at six tracks long Miguel Sar takes the chance to really explore his range. “Requiem” offers a foreboding beatless opener that is rife with tension, whilst “Deep Space” explores similar territory to the Something from the Sky series by Jeff Mills. From here Tadeo runs through various shades of dancefloor techno with the mind bending “Apollo 7” our pick!
Blue Hour – Introspective [BLUEHOUR005]
Blue Hour’s fifth release ‘Introspective’ continues to explore faster tempos in classic dance-floor fashion. Bright atmosphere and emotive melodies compliment warm staccato drums over three tracks of effective techno.
A Sagittariun – No Spring Chicken EP [HYPELTD020]
Man of mystery, A Sagittariun, lands on HypeLTD. The EP’s centerpiece is “3-4-3”, coming here in two versions. The Original Mix combines the usual Sagittariun heady mix of driving breakbeat techno and warm synth modulations but in a more unsettling and distorted setting. Rolando, steps up on the first of the remixes of “3-4-3”, keeping it on the straight and narrow with an intense and to the point version. “Delta House” is quite a different proposition altogether. A low-slung and funky slice of New Beat, it’s part industrial funk, part Balearic pop, with it’s breathy female vox and wandering bassline really making this a stand out track from A Sagittariun. Loaded with melody, subtle acid and cute saxophone blasts, this track further opens up the breadth of style that A Sagittariun ascribes to.
Aubrey – Abstractions EP [RAWAX009LTD]
Aubrey with a new Detroit influenced EP on Rawax lmtd. Balancing right on the line of techno and house.
Robert Hood / Floorplan – Shaker / Ritual EP [EPM010V]
For the first time this EP unites Robert Hood’s two dancefloor personalities on a brand new release. With one track as Robert Hood and the other under his Floorplan alias we certainly get the best of both worlds. ‘Shaker’ immerses you in those late-night moments when Robert graces the decks. It’s pulsating and hypnotic; stripped-back to the essentials. The beats, the groove, the perfectly placed vocal snippet – nothing is superfluous here. Robert’s Floorplan touch is all over ‘Ritual’. A shuffling Chi-town flavour, trademark hi-hats and a beast of a bassline underlies the track, with elegant synths that build to dizzying heights.
SYS – Bad Signal EP [ESHU008]
After a short period of contemplation ESHU Records is back with fresh beats from their kindred spirits: SYS, they return to their native record label with another quality release from Nijmegen NL. Analog, deep and distorted cuts to be found in this package, warehouse and space material.
A Sagittariun – The Anomaly EP [EDREAMS011]
Hitting a particularly fertile patch with his music, A Sagittariun continues to ride the night skies with some heavy doses of cosmically sprinkled techno and kinetic electronica. ‘Aruba (Overhead Mix)’ is a seductive jam of Nuyorican (tech) soul, cloaked in warm synths with a breathy, human quality and deft melodies to ensure a smooth takeoff for the passengers. Lead cut on the vinyl is ‘The Code Breaker’, channeling some enchanting techno moods and themes on a no gimmicks, no cheap thrills, head & foot stomper, whilst ‘Triangulum’ prefers a mechanical rhythm of robotic tech funk, syrupy melodies and acidic motifs to deliver a dance in outer space.
The Hipodrome Of Music 