Axis Expressionist Series is a collection of vinyl and limited digital releases, curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project as well as new unreleased works. “Inner Eye” and “That Voodoo You Do” were originally released in digital as “Every Dog Has Its Day vol.12” (2020). “Nocturnal Moves” was originally released in digital as “Every Dog Has Its Day vol.9” (2020).
This fifth EP in the Steve Rachmad re-issue series contains a colorful combination of three tracks from different releases. Side A brings the sought after track ‘Teknitron’, originally released on his 3rd EP, originally released under his short-lived alias Black Scorpion back in 1995. ‘Transpose’ is taken from his first Sterac EP from 1994, while the last tracks ‘Alastria’ comes from his second album Thera, originally released in 1998. All tracks are re-mastered of course. Steve Rachmad’s richly melodic strain of techno has resulted in a huge body of work he has been growing since the early 90s. His sound is the perfect distillation of machine soul – dubby atmospherics and crisp, danceable dynamics balanced in perfect unison. Amsterdam’s Delsin Records gathers together some of the Dutch techno figurehead’s most important, sought-after works in a new EP series, all remastered from the original DAT tapes from Steve’s archives.
With Augustus Williams, Juan Atkins’ newly signed artist, Metroplex Records welcomes one of Detroit’s new generation of electro and techno explorers to the label. His debut, titled ,,Increaser EP” offers four tracks of celestial funk, deeply indebted to the classic sound of Metroplex. The EP starts off with ,,The Hook-Up”, a bouncy yet minimal electro permutation built around a propulsive bassline and a percolating synth arpeggio. On the other three tracks Williams flexes his techno muscle and shows his keen sense for deep and focused techno-soul with a futurist edge that has any dance floor heaving with energy. – most notably in the noisy abstractions of ,,Submission”.
Berlin-based American Jon Hester presents some fierce-driving techno tracks on his latest release on Odd Even Records, with a clear Motor City influence.
Young Detroit-native Kenny Hooper steps up for his debut release on Elypsia Records with not one but three 12 inches full of prime Motor City techno and electro escapism. Titled ,,Detroit Orbiter Volume 1 – 3″, each EP features four tracks, showcasing Hooper’s brilliant personal take on classic Detroit sounds. The twelve tracks of the ,,Detroit Orbiter” trilogy signal the arrival of yet another Motor City talent ready to rake the world and dance floors by storm with his chunky and funkafied sonic fictions.
Futurepast presents a new release from Spanish producer and DJ Eduardo De La Calle. “Kardama” emerged as the winter of 2022 bled into 2023, a period where he’d actually been producing more downtempo works. As a reflective work, De La Calle processes emotions and thoughts with analog methods, reverse delays and pedals on “Kardama”. The emotions that he holds close to himself show up in the detail that sits deeper within each track.
Tresor Records reissue the sole output from Shifted Phases entitled “The Cosmic Memoirs Of The Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope”. Initially released in 2002, soon after James Stinson passed away, this LP plays a mysterious and compelling role in the Drexciya journey. While other records of Drexciya and related projects have received numerous reprints and editions, The Cosmic Memoirs… has remained out of print since its release. This rarity leaves it more open to interpretation with its place in the Drexciyan storm series, as it became increasingly hard to find and underexplored. This reissue does not merely close the loop on Tresor’s reissue series of the Drexciya catalogue but brings Shifted Phases to fresh ears more than other records.
KNWN 2.5, the latest release from the Berlin-based label and artist Knowone, is a stunning exploration of atmospheric techno and ambient soundscapery. Deep dubby Basic Channel inspired techno tracks.
Luke Hess’ latest EP ‘Psalm’ is a captivating journey into the deeper and more chord-heavy realms of dub techno.
Halvtrak returns to Cold Blow with techno-romantic rave escapism, riding Chi House-leaning rhythms and intergalactic Techno sculptures. If his previous “Images By Night” dealt with things nocturnal, Digital Dawn opens the curtains to a blue-eyed retrofuturism, bursting with colour and spark.
Young Detroit-native Kenny Hooper, former member of Scan 7, steps up for his debut release on Elypsia Records with not one, not two but three 12 inches full of prime Motor City techno and electro escapism. Titled ,,Detroit Orbiter Series” Volume I, II and III, each EP features four tracks, showcasing Kenny Hooper’s brilliant and contemporary personal take on classic Detroit sounds. The twelve tracks of the ,,Detroit Orbiter Series” trilogy signal the arrival of a fresh Motor City talent ready to rake the world and dance floors by storm with his chunky and funkified sonic fictions.
O-Wells aka Frankfurt Bass is back on Mojuba sub label a.r.t.less with some very tasty life affirming sun showered Detroit Techno for your heart and soul. This special musical treat called Liquid Sun comes in four different mixes to suit your every needs from club dance floors to living rooms and beyond.
Hollands’ finest Detroit Techno producer is back in great shape with 3 tracks full of mysterious chords, groovy basslines and subtle charm that are simply too catchy to be missed. Typical Steve Rachmad style.
”Metropolis Metropolis” album is an abbreviated version of the most recent electronic music soundtrack for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) by Jeff Mills. Unlike his first soundtrack version (released in 2011) where tracks addressed specific segments of the film in a track listing form, this version is more a symbiotic mix of compositions that proposes a nuanced representation of the plot and storyline. As an electronic symphonic music creation, Mills proposes a few interesting points in the schematics of this album. First, the positioning and role of the listener as the soundtrack is based on the environment of the scenes, rather than pure transcription and second, as a storyline that takes place in the year 2000, the choice of sound elements refer to some future commonality and foresight between the genres of Classical and Electronic music – between man and machine.
One foot in the nineties and another in the future, New Yorker Holden Federico’s music updates the funk and grit of techno’s formative era for modern dance floors. The four tracks on Inner Order, his second EP for the SK11X series, squeeze maximum power out of few elements, with peak-time cuts presented on the A-side and his deeper work on the flip.
Techno legend Dave Angel drops ‘Glide’ on Radio Slave’s Rekids. Turning his sights to Radio Slave’s essential Rekids for his latest release, the iconic DJ/producer prepares a heavy duty two-tracker for the label. Title cut ‘Glide’ leads the release with flanged hi-hats, evolving synths, and rocking low-end combining to form a club-shaking hit. On the flip, ‘Peekaboo’ combines dub-techno-inspired chords with wonky samples and pumping drums for a warehouse-filling B-side.
Shapes of the Roots is a two piece project by D_Roots. On Part 2 the Italian producer shows the deeper side of his production skills with 4 beautiful, driving Detroit electro/techno tracks.
Following the re-release of Drexciya’s essentials ‘Neptune’s Lair’, ‘Hydro Doorways’, ‘Harnessed The Storm’ and ‘Digital Tsunami’, the reissue series continues with Transllusion’s ‘Opening Of The Cerebral Gate’ and the ‘Mind Over Positive And Negative Dimensional Matter’ 12”. Produced by the late James Marcel Stinson and released in 2001 via Supremat, a short-lived sub-label Tresor dedicated to a more abstract and experimental electro sound, ‘The Opening Of The Cerebral Gate’ was conceived as the second part of the so-called Drexciyan Storms – a whopping stack of seven albums by the Detroit pair released under di erent monikers within a single year. This phase marks a groundbreaking time for the duo, their cosmos breaking wide open, right at the dawn of a new technological era in electronic music production. All this is deeply reflected in Transllusion’s first album. This phase marks a groundbreaking time for the duo, their cosmos breaking wide open, right at the dawn of a new technological era in electronic music production. All this is deeply reflected in Transllusion’s first album.
Following the re-release of Drexciya’s essentials ‘Neptune’s Lair’, ‘Hydro Doorways’, ‘Harnessed The Storm’ and ‘Digital Tsunami’, the reissue series continues with Transllusion’s ‘Opening Of The Cerebral Gate’ and the ‘Mind Over Positive And Negative Dimensional Matter’ 12″, produced by the late James Marcel Stinson and released in 2001 via Supremat, a short-lived sub-label Tresor dedicated to a more abstract and experimental electro sound. 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of James Stinson and the releases of the Transllusion and Shifted Phases albums.
“Cosmic Distance Markers” was originally released on Axis Records. DJ Surgeles has a longstanding professional relationship with Detroit legend Jeff Mills. Connected through music, DJ Surgeles learned the insides and tricks of Jeff. Many conversations and meetings over the years led to this new concept, The Escape Velocity. DJ Surgeles has also collaborated exclusively with Jeff Mills on the concepts Something in The Sky and STRMRKD, and produced a special Axis Records 10 year anniversary release, The Bells: DJ Mix back in 2007.
The Hipodrome Of Music 