Mystic Ep is made by one of the most confidential producers in Spain. His rarity and his value are like a noble metal : Eduardo De La Calle sounds are warm, elegant and meticulously cuted. Eduardo De La Calle comes with 3 tracks that oscillate between deep and dubtechno in his typical style.
Eduardo De La Calle’s Cadenza debut is a terrific example of the forward thinking, musical vision of the label. Having released a steady stream of vinyl 12”s on his Analog Solutions label, the Spanish DJ and producer flexes his other-worldy electronics on Luciano’s ten year old imprint. .Pink Water’ takes a minimal groove and splashes analog drops over a searing synth background, its melancholic melodies snaking in and around the joyous spring reverb FX of the machines, creating a very unique and commanding track. On the B side, .Madhusudhana’ is built upon a feint jazz funk loop, with shuffling hats and breathy atmospherics working off the heavy oscillations, coming over like a long lost Planet E release. Third track, .The Sneak’, continues the .Precursors’ theme of .machine music’, a rubbery beat welcomes in the trippy and psychedelic synth work, a delicate melody plays behind a heavy, groaning wave, pinging against the reverberating hits, providing another memorable and abstract track.
Following the success of his recently released album “Heliosphere” Benjamin Damage presents one of the most straight forward techno tunes of the year so far.“Delirium Tremens”, one of the more club focused tracks of the album, gets a remix treatment by Detroit´s techno legend Robert Hood.On the flipside Benjamin reworks his on tune into an extended long version for maximum impact.
Although Michigan is well inland from the North Atlantic Ocean, it doesn’t mean Detroit can’t make techno for the high seas or uncharted waters. Terrence Dixon’s Lost At Sea 12″ for the Surface label founded by Nick Dunton and the late Richard Polson sees four tracks of “Untitled” Detroit techno traverse through a sonic field of Joey Anderson and DJ Qu house drums, while saw-wavey Drexciyan qualities and Jeff Mills techno loops also circulate the EP. A deep and heady 12″ of U-boat rhythmics for the techno underground.
Dirk Lamprecht aka DML lives in Munich, a fact he seems to enjoy as suggested by his new “Munique 2 EP” as well as its predecessor “Munique” (both on Broque). The local influence presents itself not so much through the music itself – though being reminiscent of the past in its own sense, DML’s down-to-earth dub and dub techno couldn’t be farther away from folkloristic traditions – but through the subtle use of field recordings which reflect the specific vibes of individual Munich districts. This has nothing to do at all with local patriotism but only shows Dirk’s curiosity for the diversity of his hometown and the individual characteristics of its different neighborhoods. His new “Munique 2″ EP features five fantastic new tracks, which continue the concept of the predecessor release and create their very own vision of traditional dub techno standards, contemporary influences and local field recordings. Classic chords of “Nymphenburg” meet deep dub techno (“Dreimühlen”, “Klonk”), marching arpeggios (“Westend”) or an almost ambient transcendence of “Oberföhring”, and develop a very original and well-deserved homage to Munich; an area which otherwise receives far less recognition within the respective circles than, for instance, Berlin Neukölln or even Cologne Porz.
Preserved Instincts maintain their intermittent schedule of Chasing Voices transmissions with Awoken By Tearss. The usual Preserved Instinct traits are maintained here; a one sided 12″ with little extra information housed in a sumptuous sleeve depicting some rather haunting imagery from centuries gone by. “Awoken By Tears” proves to be as memorable and equally resistant to the notions of beat matching. Swirling mists of laser guided synths slowly emerge and form a hypnotic pattern that teases your full attention before a rough jack hammering drum joins the fray. This signals the emergence of an ever growing crescendo of cacophonous rhythms and thick bass stabs that threaten to explode under pressure of their sheer intensity before out of nowhere the elements recede and all that’s left is your heart in your mouth.
Zadig back on Construct Re-form, telling us about forgotten cities, deep and dark oceans, insane planets and outer space machines… a trip to Arkham asylum.
Dimi Angelis & Jeroen Search back on the road with 3 trippin and detroitesc techno tracks on their A&S Records.
Native-Detroiter Terrence Dixon‘s longtime alliance with Godfather of Techno Juan Atkins has helped forge his own powerful sound in the world of minimal Techno. Originally released on Claude Young’s Utensil Records in 1995. Both Sino (Hong-Kong) and Thema (New-York) join hands to re-release this classic which many consider as one of the early foundation in the minimal techno movement. Thema presents part.1 featuring remixes by Mike Huckaby, Silent Servant and DVS1 Sino presents part.2 featuring two remixes by Ben Klock and one by Edwin Oosterwal
New Population One material, on Mr Terrence Dixon’s own label Reduction. Seriously classy, abstract techno, excursions that sound-clips cannot really do justice
The newest offering from Luke Hess’ Deeplabs imprint: Warehouse Sessions Volume 1. All four producers on duty here keep the vibe deep and unique, jacking at times while laid back and cosmic at others. Four tracks with a groove firmly rooted in early to mid-nineties Detroit warehouse techno, the results mix analog instruments and machines with a dose of atmospheric dub.
This winter Tresor dons hardhat and flashlight once again to exhume more lost treasures from its stated past. Under the guise of it’s own 10-year dormant Archiv Series comes a reissue EP straight from the heart of the club’s former Wertheim department store days, courtesy of long-time resident Juan Atkins.
Tadd Mullinix aka James T. Cotton aka J.T.C. with Sonic Criminal on Killekill label, an EP crossing over classic Detroit techno, deep house, jazz and electro.
Firm yet seductive Detroit-rooted techno tracks by Johannes Volk all with his trademark 909 drum programming and hypnotic synth- & basslines, perfectly connecting past with the present. Deep, raw, stomping, grooving, rocking and no-nonsense. Featuring an even deeper & rawer remix by Unbalance.
Non Series continues with a hard hitting 4 tracker. Savas Pascalidis and Oswld teams up for a mind blowing weapon.
Since launching his own Exploration imprint, Johannes Volk’s output has hit a confident stride which allows him to continue extolling the virtues of creative, imaginative techno in the classic sense of the word. With the colorful flair of earliest Detroit, “Submarine Funk” makes this point the clearest, but certainly there are rich melodies and weighty rhythms to be enjoyed across all three tracks. “Aquanautic Tales” is a more stripped and brooding slow burner, while “Newborn” glides on a thick bed of synth, but it’s the last track that brings all the elements together for a sci-fi jam.
Old and Young Records chooses to release two tracks that explain its style and mind, produced by the entire crew (Alessandro Gambo, D-Vince, Sergio Pace, The Acid Music Band), between dark moods and powerful grooves, the tracks explain what is Old and Young Records, while Santiago Salzar comes with as remixer of their fifth release.
The Hipodrome Of Music 