Natch Records delivers a solid and diverse four tracks ep. Two originals which best represent the latest evolution of the label to a more powerful and straightforward sound. On the other side the remixes by Jeroen Search and Zadig offer really devious and unexpected interpretations, really efficient but still demanding on the dancefloor.
The world of M_Rec refocuses on unassuming and dedicated dancefloor tracks with this release on the original Ltd. imprint by british producer and sound engineer Coefficient. Steering away from the saturated world of big and harsh techno, Coefficient concentrates on the craft of reviving and re-exploring archetypical mind-altering techno, rooted halfway between the American midwest and the heyday of british rave culture…..
Time To Express presents its first release of 2014 with a stunning appearance by London-based Italian Marco Shuttle. Sing Like A Bird is a gorgeous, hypnotic techno anthem. Stretched out over almost 12 minutes, the track’s lean groove teams up with a stunning vocal line. The listener is taken by the hand, slowly directed towards a high-flying crescendo. Peter Van Hoesen’s remix takes the existing framework of the original and adds a dose of psychedelica to it. His interpretation emphasizes the trancy, hypnotic aspect of Marco’s track. Several synth lines take turns twisting and shifting in and out of the mix, leading up towards a great buildup.
This year Robert Hood celebrates the 20th anniversary of his M-Plant label with a sequence of EPs featuring classic M-Plant releases and rarities remixed and re-edited, a compilation bringing Hood’s huge body of work together and a series of special events. Kicking off the EP releases, UK techno stalwart Mark Broom delivers these exceptional edits of ‘Untitled 1’ from Hood’s series ‘Moveable Parts’ and ‘One Touch’ from the ‘Minimal Nation’ album.
MindTrip introduce a new V/A series, featuring four of the most challenging and interesting artists from the techno scene; each one of them contributing music which will alter mind perceptions, entitled ‘From The Lab To The Club’. The A-side of Part 1 features Markus Suckut with his trademark deep and trippy sound providing a perfect opener, ‘Sarin’. Jesse Jakob makes his first appearance on MindTrip with the hypnotic ‘Black Bells’. Label owner Pfirter opens the flip side with the mighty ‘Angular Momentum’, alongside burgeoning dutch techno producer Charlton, taking the trip into an even more intense analogue listening experience with the track ‘The Quantum Complex’.
Soma welcome the debut album from the ever-growing roster of youthful talent as Lewis Fautzi drops The Gare Album, named in homage to The Gare Club, Porto, where Lewis made his discovery of Techno. A bold 4 track single debut gave rise to the album process midway through 2013 and under the careful supervision of Soma, Lewis has provided a definitive peak in his sound cultivated on the back of years of studio work. A collection of deep, dark and twisted techno awaits.A definite maturity in production shines through on this fantastic LP from Fautzi as he creates a cold and calculating output, clearly focused on the future. The Gare Album has allowed Fautzi to express himself fully through electronic music, a task that he has taken to whole-heartedly.The Gare Album will be released on limited double LP.
Dial regular Efdemin returns with a third album of a respected career, with the autumnal theme of Decay inspired by the German producer’s three-month artist residency in Kyoto, Japan. Sollmann immersed himself in the local culture while in Kyoto, attending ceremonies with monks at temples and visiting local instrument makers. This results in a ten track set that canvasses the sort of poignant, introverted house music that’s characterized much of Phillip Sollmann’s work as Efdemin to date. There are however a few stylistic surprises along the way – the stripped back, jacking “Transducer” or the fusion of jazzy licks and noisy bursts of percussion that makes up the title track – but overall you’d be hard pushed to think of a better label to house Decay than Dial.
Dimi Angelis & Jeroen Search continue on their very own imprint A&S with an outspaced and hypnotic 4 tracker.
Staffan Linzatti returns for his second release on Chronicle with another uncompromising selection of linear techno constructions sculpted with an unfaltering vision of how hypnotic body music can transcend simple rhythmic needs. Icy atmospherics and razor-sharp production make for one of the strongest manifestations of Linzatti’s distinctive sound.
Okay dozens of Jeff Mills inspired techno tracks come out these days… which doesn’t really matter actually, as long as they are tasty… like these 4 tracks by Dutchman Mike Storm.
Join the Engineers of the Other Space as they embark on a journey deep into the outer realms of the imagination. Travel to the Outer Space Division and Fall into the Strata.Belief System is proud to present the newly received Random Audio transmissions from Deep Space Central.
When the Aquaplano records were first released in 2008 and 2009 they were distinctly out of step with the way techno appeared to be heading. The minimal detour was reaching its logical endpoint, and producers were returning to the 1990s for inspiration, with Berghain and Sandwell District at the vanguard of a new techno movement. What the Aquaplano sessions shared in common were slower BPMs and finding inspiration in the 1990s, but there they parted ways. The influences these Italians were drawing on were rather different, returning to tribal rhythms and ambient textures to sketch out a much more heady, psychedelic form of techno. The results were a perfect balance of hypnotic beats and swirling atmosphere geared for a broken-in dancefloor or the hazy afterhours. Across these two records Dozzy and Nuel would go a long way towards creating the template for a brand of deep, atmospheric techno that has become much more prominent in the years since. And while many have sought to imitate this sound, few – if any – have matched what first emerged from the Aquaplano sessions. After only being available in a very limited run, it is fitting that the sonic blueprints provided by Dozzy and Nuel are now available again – and much more widely – at a time when their influence is as strong as it has ever been.
The ESHU label waste little time in matching their 2013 output, issuing a sixth 12″ that sees Roger Gerressen, Jocelyn Abell, Daniel Lekatompessy and Ivano Tetelepta working together under the titular banner across four tracks. Taking a particularly Millsian approach to proceedings, there’s a sense of focus demonstrated that hints the Eshu collective is only getting stronger. The mood varies too with the A Side split evenly between the stripped back and alien on “Cesium” and the creeping and hypnotic “Sulfur” whilst on the flip “Mercury” is one track you could imagine the likes of Dettmann or Rodhad pulling for. The title track closes out the EP on a more downbeat note, with crawling textures offering the minimal amount of forward momentum amidst a foggy coating of static.
Aiken, known for his releases on Semantica, with some darker advanced techno tracks and ambient pieces.
Some strong timeless trippy techno tracks on the classic Synewave label by Italian producer Andrea Belluzzi.
The theme of “Chronicles of Possible Worlds” is exoplanets, new planets discovered starting in 1995 which revolve around a star outside our solar system. Mixing music, dance and visuals, this creative work testifies to the advances of science and hints at the existence of possible other worlds. Following a period of investigation and a meeting with researchers from the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory, Mills chose to focus on six planets (Wasp 12b, 13b, 14b, 15b, 16b and 17b). Their specific physical and structural properties were then translated through music, sound, images and dance. Together with Mills, the choreographer Alexandre Roccoli created a roaming choreography spread out across the Vasarely Foundation that explores the correspondence between the physical properties of these planets and choreography’s own body states. The show’s soundtrack, composed by Mills, is broadcast by the dancers costumes (designed by Berlin designer Anke Bruns) that are equipped with speakers. The music, the different sonic trajectories, the dancers and the public ambling freely through the halls can spatialize, orbit, or even fuse in the naves of the Foundation.
Journey through vivid sonic currents and states which might as well be regarded as Rashim’s magnum opus: the 006 release on ARR is a new height delivered as a mini-album. The more basic and primal spirit of this release encapsulates Rashim’s music in a way which makes total sense. Bound over six tracks, they all display a different perspective of this dramatic colossus.
Following on from his Floorplan album and November’s Floorplan EP, Robert Hood returns with a new double header on M-Plant, to close 2013. He delivers these two new cuts of pulsating, body-moving Techno with that classic, deep and minimal Hood sound. He builds ‘Eleven’ and ‘Alarm’, layer upon layer, gradually drawing all the elements together, until they become a penetrating attack on the senses.
Badge of Honor pushing the envelope of techno with quirky, Detroit-infused abstractions that only the masterful Dixon could conjure up. Far removed from his Population One moniker, this is Terrence Dixon’s fourth LP in an illustrious 20-year career. The album hits us with raw, all-encompassing techno cuts alongside some choice left-field experiments (View From A Lighthouse, Radio Room and Light Years), cementing Terrence’s reputation as the free-form producer of choice, not unlike a modern day Sun Ra. From the P-Funk basslines and melodies of Operation Acoustic and Incoming, to the dark, undulating Mills-esque sound of The Atlantic, this is a release that seemingly covers all the bases. Over a year in the making and already doing the rounds with those in the know, Badge of Honor represents techno from a future age, conceptualised to go well beyond the surface…
The Hipodrome Of Music 