Techno News

Exalt Records presents 'Planet Discovery'. At just shy of 7 minutes, Gabriel seems to have summoned all the power and knowhow of his genius: shot through this utterly infectious, broody yet soul stirring slow-tempo groove.

With a nod to the founding sounds of early UK electronica, he underpins layer upon layer of synthesized elements that fizz with photonic precision to the pulse of an off-beat drum machine. Each part holds its space in micro-orbit; haunting melodics etch out intertwining paths that finds their crescendo in perfect harmony. A joyful electronic symphony that strikes the kind of universal balance that is all too often sought but rarely achieved.

With it being 20 years since Matthew Puffett aka Future Beat Alliance released his Abaco 12” EP on Ferox, it seemed fitting to have him take up remix duties on the B-side of this release. Stripping back Gabriel’s original but keeping the tempo slow, he reshapes the essentials and focuses the energy on a powerful bassline, precision beat and soaring synthesis that carries as much mystique as it does raw power. Almost as if Moroder and Baldelli got stuck in an elevator and discovered a new dimension in a cosmos far far away.

All tracks licensed from Makkum Records | Produced and mixed by remix artists | Mastering by Detlef Funder, Paraschall Studios Düsseldorf | Artwork by Darko Kujundžic

It's the kind of project that brings the old mad scientist cliché out for an airing, "It's insane, but it just might work." The insanity in this case being a motley cast that features Andy Moor (The Ex, Amsterdam), Desmond Denker (Cologne), Phanton (Cologne), Yürke (Düsseldorf), Dubby King Knarf (Knarf Rellöm, Hamburg), Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg), Begritty (Cologne) laying down their versions of tracks from the demento-a-go-go-electro-pop-rock-mono-mind known as Zea.

How could we resist the spasmodic schizoid psychedelic menace of that devilish Dutch juggernaut called Zea. This bastardised twelve inch slab of wax has Zea sonically re-assessed, dissected and twisted in side out. And it had to happen, it had to be made.

"Standing up I forgot what came to mind when I was lying on the kitchen floor. Standing up I forgot what came to mind, something I tried to remember before." It's the punky pop intro of the song 'Staande ben ik vergeten wat ik dacht toen ik lag', the Dutch translation of the first sentence of the song that provided the title for this collection of remixes. Zea, a.k.a. Arnold de Boer, a musician who skips sitting down, who either jumps or lies on the floor fumbling with a dictaphone trying to remember the ideas that just came to mind jumping around from the couch straight into the kitchen, trying to write the next song while cooking spicy food that makes his head explode. It's all inthere, everyone is in there; shrinking people, growing people, dead people. And all "Sub specie ludens" (from the perspective of human play).

What remains when light fades ? Gil Barte, co-founder of Meth O Tapes and Kump Records, brings an answer in sketches with this new release. Faithfull to his previously developped style made of musical miniatures, he draws a diagonal throughout the abyssal void of the unknown.

As a catalogue of apparitions, « Transmutation » turns shadows into presence all along these pages, sometimes breaky, sometimes ritual, haunted with glitches and drones, reminding us enchanting sightings then losing us in sticky dark ambient margins, in a forest of walls with faces, in deep corridors, whispering under. Everything rustles here in spectral encounters, blurry, storyless figures barely named in titles. It's music for sleepwalkers, for those who know how to cross by to the other side, to the black screen of darkness and set what they have to give there.

Special edition, cover printed on letterpress

Barker & Baumecker precede their upcoming album Turns with the new two track 12" Love Hertz / Cipher
With Barker & Baumecker things are never black or white, straight and narrow, either-or, on/off - the two Berlin-based producers and DJs Sam Barker & nd_baumecker have a musical mind all of their own and share multifaceted musical interests not restricted to floor functionality alone - behind the decks they feel equally at home with House- and Pop-friendly vibes at Panorama Bar or the darker shades of bass music on the Berghain floor, they have sweet spots for Disco music in the Berghain Garten and experimental and ambient sounds in the Halle for Elektroakustischer Salon. Long story short:
Barker & Baumecker love sonority, both in terms of various genres and high fidelity.
Preceding their album Turns - out via Ostgut Ton on 25 November 2016 - Barker & Baumecker return with a double faced two track 12". "Love Hertz" is a blissful, uplifting, melodic and - at times - bluesy UK Bass-inspired cut, shuffling and playfully flicking throughout. The record's alternate lead track "Cipher" on the flip side is a rework of a two-part track from the forthcoming Turns LP: while the album's "Encipher & Decipher" puts focus on the home listening-aspect, this 12"es' "Cipher" is made for the club. The track's atmospheric build-up eventually turns in favor of a heavy, dark kick drum and multi-layered percussion, feeling at times as if the duo's hammering onto Berghain's steel staircase.
Barker & Baumecker are sound fetishists, carefully and scrupulously sculpting their clang on analogue synth machinery, all without turning to cacophony and always staying compositionally sound - established, grown-up club kids with attitude and love for music.

2023 Reissue

After releasing Undefined, Kazufumi Kodama and Babe Roots, the 4th release from a Japanese experimental dub label newdubhall welcomes the ever-evolving pioneer of minimal dub and dub techno Deadbeat, a solo project of Scott Monteith hailing from Canada. Side A 'Things Fall Apart' will feature a beatless dub ambient which shares a perspective of free jazz and 'Adieu Chez Cherie,’ an absolute knockdown four on the floor dub techno on the flip side. Though simple, both sides are layered with complexity, let yourself experience the profundity of newdubhall with this masterpiece.

2022 Repress

Originally released on CD in 1999, Astral Industries present a first vinyl issue of Monolake’s much-loved ‘Gobi’, licensed from Imbalance Computer Music. Set to the backdrop of the Gobi desert in eastern Asia, two shimmering vistas plunge the listener into a vast and deeply hypnotic nocturnal soundscape. The perennial hiss and rattle of insects float along the fresh night air in soft waves. The desert thrives with quiet activity as a westerly wind skitters across moonlit dunes, granulated folds dancing like sheets of thin silk. Tectonic plates murmur beneath the shower of stars overhead, their millennial cycles whispering of aeons past. Vividly textured and enticingly synthetic in its sound design, Gobi succeeds as a stunning piece of minimalism.

Seven Villas is proud to present their latest well-crafted long-playing techno release. Pablo Bolivar & Nacho Sanchez reunite and team up for this excursion into classic inspired rhythmic sound on 'Distances'. Over the past 20 years, these 2 friends have shared their love of the history of Detroit techno, dub techno and more
recently, electro.

Since they last crossed paths in 2014, their love for collecting and playing records has now fully grown into creating their own music. And what more meaningful way to honour that musical friendship than with making music based on that early mutual passion for that Detroit-Berlin techno connection.

'Distances' is just that simply. A 16-track deep foray into all the things the love and respect about the foundations and traditions of techno music. Each essence and theme of the genre is represented with this
tracklist collaboration.

The crispy Kaleidoscopic Minds Series on Abartik is back. Ready for tropic summer days & impulsive club nights.

Abartik’s second VA - a perfect interaction between atmospheric breaks, deep & dub techno. Vinyl only.

Four Devastatingly Precise Workouts From Two Of Portugal's Leading Techno Talents, Vox99 And Vil, Drawing On The Sound Of Late-night (and Morning-after) Raves At Some Of Lisbon's Darkest Venues. The Dub Techno Moods Found On 'sqs1' And 'sqs2' Are Split By Their Differing Sense Of Space, The First Claustrophobic Where The Second Expands. 'suli's Tiger' Is The Grainiest Cut, While The Loopy 'not Proud Of My Behaviour' Provides An Unashamed Hands-in-the-air Moment. In Other Words, An All-round Killer. Early Support By Dvs1.

A split EP pairing two euphoric dance anthems by Thurlow Joyce with a spellbinding roller by Regularfantasy and Priori. Romantic, ecstatic, and full of <3

2025 Repress gold + white marbled vinyl

A foray into deep, organic, cinematic dance music. Subterranean bass, intercepted alien transmissions, and stripped down dance-beats meld with sheets of sounds that roll over the listener like waves lapping up on the shore. Shimmering, watery, brain hemisphere synchronization tones caress and melt stress away. Dance floor friendly tracks that work equally well in one s private listening space. Immersive music with a distinctive aquatic quality. Inspired by Detroit & Berlin s dance genres, but tempered by more ambience / atmosphere than one would expect from those genres. Music without harshness or rough edges. Fuzzy, out-of-focus, soft-sounds that slip in and out of the listener's consciousness. Uniquely melds current dance rhythms with lushness and spirituality. Synesthetic sounds that trigger sensory experiences in cognitive pathways other than hearing smells of perfumes, thoughts of colours, and altered perception of time and space. Psychoacoustic, cerebral, electronic listening music for those wanting a different experience than the current harsher, darker dance trends are offering. Responsibly made gentle music designed from the ground-up to have a positive effect on the nervous system and leave the listener invigorated and recharged. Chi-building sonic balm. Timeless, exotic dance tracks for a new school of electronic music enthusiasts who are searching for beautiful sounds, crafted with a higher purpose in mind.

In February of 2022 we released 'Ina Vanguard Style', a long form documentary on Iration Steppas. The film takes us straight back to the 90s when the two founding members; Mark Iration & Dennis Rootical; met and started building tracks together, taking dub music to brand new realms…

Through the documentary, a whole new generation of young dubbers get introduced to Iration Steppas' initial project: Kitachi!
Hype quickly built around this mysterious side project and bookings stared pouring in for the duo to re-form the group alongside their 3rd musical accomplice Jack Roobles. Since then, lucky skankers have experienced 'Iration Steppas meet Kitachi' live shows at major festivals & dub events around Europe.

It's now time for Kitchi’s 1st full length album 'A Strong Unit' to be re-issued on the label; 1h20 of heavyweight year 3000 dub infused with trip-hop and rave sounds. A project first released in 1996, built at the High Rise studio in Leeds at the same time as the classic Iration Steppas' 'Original Dub D.A.T.' LP. A project which led Kitachi to tour alongside the likes of The Prodigy back in the 90s.

'A Strong Unit' featuring key tracks ‘Kitachi in Dubwize’, ‘Constructive’ & ‘Stalking’. A sonic experience for those who share the Vanguard of Dub spirit, for bass freaks and chronic fanatics!

Manuel Tur & Adrian Hoffmann return to their alter ego Class Compliance for the second time, having introduced it on last year's Future Sound of Jazz compilation on Compost. The "Plug & Play EP" features three quirky and slightly offbeat tracks that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but will find fans among those interested in unquantized synths and polymetric rhythm layers. Early support from Kornel Kovacz, Âme & Ingo Sänger.

Next up on the main label there is a shureshot by Sebastian Habben himself. With Pasadena he delivers a blinding baseline-journey that evolves into a deep techno track including some heavy dub chords. Not as heavy but therefore even more groovy Montebello present a slightly house influenced dub track that is matched with classic sounding chords and a cool vocal sample. On the remix duty we are more than happy to see our Italian buddy Federico Alfieri join us with a superb dub techno version of Pasadena. Give it a spin!

For new beginnings, one must sometimes look into the past. Amb.Caveti has done such thing by inviting producer Martin Abrahamsson to the label under the moniker Deltidseskapism. Originally released in 2004 on Source Records, Martin’s aptly titled ‘Nattmusik’ mimics exactly that - the long drawn out winters of Sweden.

Floating basslines and ethereal high’s leave the imagination to roam, whilst rhythmic clicks and cuts maintain focus on the journey ahead. It’s one for the drive home or late night wander, amidst the icy fog and solitary streetlights.

NC008 see's the return of Navy Cut's debut release artist - Leo James. Presenting two incredible dub-techno inspired slow burners, featuring the mesmerising and soulful vocals of J Appiah.

As with his NC001 release (Speak Back / Day Dream in Dub), Leo
James exclusively showcases a deeper, simpler and more progressive side to his productions for Navy Cut. The alias of Dom Howard/Ruckspin; widely known for his production and engineering for Submotion Orchestra and Author, with several acclaimed albums and worldwide tours under his belt since his 2001 production debut.

J Appiah, a singer/songwriter from Hackney, East London, who's work is autobiographical, often rooted in, and taking shape from life experience and whatever sounds he's immersed in at present. A highly sought after vocalist, and artist in his own right; his thoughtfully crafted melodies and lyrics are beyond impressive and refreshing. An artist true to himself and his feelings, Appiah's music conveys to us what it is to feel alive and human in the world.

2023 Repress

Helmed by two longstanding legends of the scene, our next installment pays tribute to the Benelux techno connection as we welcome Dutch maestro Steve Rachmad under his Sterac alias and Token boss Kr!z to the fold.

Each contributing a brace of the typically elegant hard-hitters they've become so widely reputed for, the pair has us swinging in balance between proper floor-destroying potency and mind-expanding otherworldliness. A homage to the uncluttered and beautifully escapistic vision they've advocated throughout their career and continue to push in their various endeavors, RYCL019 is a feast for the purists as much as a compellingly future-facing manifesto: classic in essence but vanguard in its quest.

Holding the reins of the A side, Rachmad gets the ball rolling pedal to the metal. 'Muff Case' is genotypic Sterac material with its surgical uptempo groove and malleable analogue membranes leaning against a sci-fi-indebted scenario. Twisting gridlocked 4x4 semantics whilst his trademark machine funk runs the voodoo down in euphoric style, the Amsterdam-based magician has us hanging onto each bar's end as we'd be watching a thriller: eager and excited for the next shift of gears.

A deluge of chromatic arps and subtle chord distortions agitate the sleek surface of 'Strike Icer' - a euphorically effervescing and inch-perfectly built slice of liquid-like techno pyrotechnics, congealed into something of a classic for the future ahead. Lovers of Rachmad's precise yet richly-hued blends shall rejoice, for the Dutch producer flexes the refined brilliance and implacable relevancy of his sound in an epoch not so highly regarded for its risk-taking, soul-searching qualities. Cross the other side and here's Belgian techno don Kr!z laying it down badman style.

True to its name, 'Sorcerer' is a spell of unrelenting techno boggle, tailored to withstand the heaviest DJ use without losing any of its punishing grit.

As blunt synth arpeggios keep looping in and out of focus, from sub-end depths to foreground in-your-face'ness, Kr!z harnesses a wild bassy storm, inbound for total floor obliteration. Shifting the angle onto deeper envelope fine-tuning and lysergic mind-games, 'Lightworks' fuses a sense of weird acid sensuality with the incisiveness of crisp drum patterns and bass-heavy aggression. Shining through the squelchy layers of FX-laden baselines, Kr!z's emphasis on textural interplays and rhythmic overlaps blazes to further devastating effect. *This bad boy comes pressed on 70% blue 30% white marbled vinyl. Artwork by the talented Laura Arteaga Charlton.