Techno News

Mistress Recordings welcomes Surrogate, the new project of a US veteran producer and DJ from Detroit who was releasing under primarily one name with little deviation in the last 20 years. "Mistress 15" features puristic, deep driving analog rhythms and sinister, gritty dub techno grooves held together by luxuriously layered arrangements.

For its fifth release, Amsterdam's Taped Artifact offers up a various artists EP that features four tracks including one from the boss, Kevin Arnemann, as well as Hiver, Elmer and Physical Therapy. It is a moody and atmospheric deep techno offering that fits in with the label's ever more singular aesthetic. Up first is Physical Therapy, a producer who since 2012 has put out some fine EPs and LPs on labels like 1080p, Unknown to the Unknown and Liberation Technologies. It is a roomy affair with corrugated mid tempo drums down low and haunting pads up top. Building in intensity with some icy hi hats, it ends up as a ghoulish number that adds real theatre to the floor. Next up is Elmer, key part of Brussels' Bepotel Records crew. Melting techno, wave and dub into raw and expressive new forms, this new cut 'Simple Models' makes great use of analog machinery. Again deep and horizonless, a rippling lead synth line plays off an industrial bass riff as paddy drums roll on below. It's humid and heady stuff, to be sure. Then comes the boss who offers a more dubbed out and bumpy dub­techno track with expansive chords rolling off into the distance and light and airy hi hats dancing in the mid ground. It's one to get floors moving before the Hiver duo of Giuseppe Albrizio and Sergio Caio from labels like Curle and Vidab close things out with the dusty old breakbeats and woozy spaced out synths of 'Intersect.' This is a subtle but impactful EP full of sensitive underground sounds that pack a real punch. Vital Sales Points: - 5th release on Taped Artifact - First Various Artists compilation on Taped Artifact - Custom made artwork by photographer Merel Kemp - Artwork

We are very happy to announce the 13th release of Cabrera with two special remixes from the label boss', J.C., 'Vertigo' record that came out in the summer of 2017. Side A comes with a special Shed rework. Rene is a huge influence for us and we are thrilled to have him on our catalogue. Keeping the essence of the original, he made a proper raw dub techno banger. On the flip side, Kastil, already part of the family, took Nyame in a whole other level and made a fresh blend of fierce techno.

Downfall Recordings present the Infected Machinery EP with four brand new raw analogue acid tracks timed to hit the dancefloor as clubs reopen. As well as residents ConSequence and The Auditor they also bring tracks by two respected artists Jerome Hill and Fajack.

Oblique returns with a highly personal project: 3 tracks from (or with) friends who all helped create/inspire/influence the sound of the label.

Ivano Tetelepta, Roger Gerressen and Ben Buitendijk already had loads of jam sessions when suddenly "Dilated Pupils" happened. It launched a project that consists of spontaneous studio jams in various formats (involving a dozen of befriended artists on multiple EP's, remixes and even an label). Six years later the original track, after which the project was named, will finally see the light of day!

Bas Amro's "Languor" shows that he, besides having an ear for reimagining classics, can also do his own ,)

Cyspe's "Reminisce" more than deserves the full B-side to close the EP off. A stunning 14 minute trip through the depths of what this incredibly talented producer has to offer!

This archival release on Organic Analogue digs back into the prolific ‘90s period of Swedish techno maverick Jean-Louis Huhta, aka Dungeon Acid. These days he releases on iDEAL, Fit Sound, Börft and Klasse Wrecks, but he cut his techno teeth on labels like Hybrid, Svek and H. Productions. Clad in artwork details by Swedish graffiti legend Nug, Wormhole Of Time comprises unreleased cuts and long out-of-print jams spanning many of Huhta’s aliases. The release also comes with a zine featuring photographs and an interview reflecting on Huhta’s multifarious life in music.

Techno isn't a genre that has birthed many consistent albums, and the dub techno subgenre even less so, but one indisputable classic is Porter Ricks' debut 'Biokinetics'. Originally issued on the legendary Basic Channel sub-label Chain Reaction in 1996 following a trio of 12"s, 'Biokinetics' was the first of the label's album releases, and still stands as its crowning achievement. Porter Ricks are Thomas Köner and Andy Mellwig, and between them they re-framed the techno sound, imbuing the spacious ambience pioneered by label bosses Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald with a frosty, isolated experimental bent, and combining it with the sort of haunted minimalism of early Plastikman.
What separated 'Biokinetics' from other albums at the time was its unwavering narrative - the exact sound has been interpreted countless times since, but the immersive qualities of this singular record have rarely been touched. Maybe it is down to the silvery underwater concept that ties each track together - the bubbling pads, sub-aquatic basses and muffled kick drums. But as with any great album, it's hard to exactly put your finger on what makes it a classic. Simply put 'Biokinetics' is one of the most important records in the genre and one of techno's finest albums. It has been re-released ten years ago by Type Records, and now Mille Plateaux is celebrating Porter Ricks' and Biokinetics' 25th anniversary with this sumptuous double viny edition.

Bright Sounds welcomes BLUNT. The new musical project by Paris based graffiti artist and creative Vincent Desmont where he connects the dots between his musical outings and his visual works.

Over the course of four tracks he delivers a lively package of warm and driven dubtechno. It's a complete and well rounded debut on the ever reliable and fresh Bright Sounds imprint.

A pair or Nordic Dubstep Dons join forces for their debut release as "Channel 15" with two reggae classics reimagined inna DUB techno style and fashion. 12" - Ltd. - Vinyl Only.

Repress

"The Unfinished Fight Against Humanity" is SNTS' third full-length album following "The Rustling Of The Leaves" in 2015 and "Losing Sight" in 2016.

Ten tracks that are born from the combination of historical, mystical and current references, which lead to a reflection of how the human being can complicate its existence due to behaviour and the consequences that derive from such actions. The dark, hard and energetic rhythms of the album narrate the coexistence of diverse human values throughout history, from peace to war, from love to hate, from empathy to ego.

In words of the artist SNTS, "the human being has been created to live in society, the problem arises when society fails to coexist or compete to survive".

a stone thrown, just to watch it fly. a projectile launched for the sole purpose of drawing a ballistic trajectory in the sky. the solens arc is what remains after the subtraction of the goal; a simple parabolic curve defined by gravity, impulse and starting angle. no target to hit, no catharsis to wait for, just the beauty of the flight.
solens arc is kangding ray’s fourth album on raster-noton and the follow-up to his the pentaki slopes ep. taking the arc as the purpose, the twelve songs of the record are arranged/ presented in the form of four variations, constructed from disintegrated melodic textures and dismantled beats. the specific arrangement is also expressed in the positioning of the tracks on the record itself, reserving one side of the double lp for three tracks each. the single sequences are assembled seamlessly into dense, evolving compositions, while keeping their autonomy, and their role in the global dramaturgy.
pointillist serial loops morph into abrasive rave anthems, broken club rhythms are refitted into uneven patterns, like deconstructivist sound architectures. industrial techno stompers dissolve into granular sound waves and filtered space pads, before being overtaken by cinematic drums and rising arpeggios.

Next to suit up is Leeds based talent, Krotone. His distinct sound is well suited to The Deep, and he resurfaces with two dancefloor depth charges. Too dangerous for any server to handle, these cuts are brought to you exclusively on wax.

It’s been a decade since Andy Stott released ‘Passed Me By’, a radical re-imagining of dance music as an expression of “physical and spiritual exhaustion” (Pitchfork). What followed was a process of rapid remodelling: ‘We Stay Together’ (2011 / slow and fucked,
for the club), ‘Luxury Problems’ (2012 / greyscale romance), ‘Faith In Strangers’ (2014 / destroyed love songs), ’Too Many Voices’ (2016 / 4th world Triton shimmers) and ‘It Should Be Us’ (2019 / the club, collapsed) - a run of releases that gradually untangled complex ideas into a singular, chaotic body of work - somewhere between sound-art,
techno and pop.
In early 2020 - with a new album almost done and an offer to produce for a completely mainstream artist on the table - personal upheaval brought everything to a sudden standstill. Months of withdrawal eventually triggered renewed curiosity, a different approach. Stott began to record hours of raw material; slow horns, sibilance, delayed
drums, wondering flutes - whatever, whenever. And although software made it possible to iron out every kink and knot, Stott tirelessly looked for them - in pursuit of a sound that was human in all its awkward asymmetry.
With vocals recorded by Alison Skidmore, the album was finally completed late in the year - taking on a completely different shape. Its songs were desolate, melancholy, defiant, beautiful - often all at once. The sounds echoed music around Stott during those months:
Prince, Gavin Bryars, A.R. Kane, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Robert Turman, Cindy Lee, Leila, Catherine Christer Hennix, Junior Boys, László Hortobágyi, Nídia, Prefab Sprout - the unusual, the familiar.
And echoing that mix of new and old, each of the songs on ’Never The Right Time’ seem woven from the same thread despite following different trajectories; from the lovelorn shimmer of opener ‘Away not gone’, to the clattering linndrum pop of ‘The beginning’, through ‘Answers’ angular club haze, and the city-at-night end-credits ‘Hard to Tell’. These are songs fuelled by nostalgia and soul searching, but all hold true to a vision of music making as a form of renewal and reinvention.
A 10 year cycle, complete.

After shining a light on the rich history of Eevo Lute with two retrospective compilations of Wladimir M. and Florence earlier in the year, Delsin dives deeper in the Dutch techno archives once more by re-masterering, re-cutting and re-releasing Ballet Mechanique's Embody EP. A keystone release containing four tracks of tough, yet emotive electro jams, sounding fresh till the date of today. Originally released in 1996 on Eevo Lute Muzique and definitely one of the highlights when it comes to pure futuristic techno soul. The Embody EP from Jeroen Borrenbergs aka Ballet Mechanique and Eevo's in-house graphic designer at that time made his first public work on one of the most influential techno labels from the Netherlands.

Could a hypnotizing marriage between dub techno and Detroit house be the perfect sonic symbiosis? Check out This Is How We Dub on our third Tech-Um label which is the product of a collaboration between Paul Donton and Daniel Mancini's The Maersk Project and Dutch DJ and iconic producer Orlando Voorn. All of these have been established and respected names within the Techno scene for several years - decades, even! The fruit of their collective labor is finally here to catch your ear and get your body to move along accordingly. Tech-um proudly presents This Is How We Dub, which offers the listener an array of pulsating and sometimes abrasive rhythms. Yet once established, they are hard to let go. Before you know it, each timeless track becomes an essential part of the current atmosphere. Care to take This Is How We Dub for a spin - literally? You will soon find that it will do the same thing to you!

Peverelist does Peverelist on his 3rd album of Bristolian bass techno prisms, Tessellations, his first for the Livity Sound label, forming a typically stripped, acute treatise on the flux of dub, techno, D&B and ambient electronics that make up his soundsystem DNA.

Rooted in the '90s but curved and toned for 2017, Pev's sound is economically functional but not without a crucial sliver of emotive, sensual/textural pressure that bleeds thru in each cut. It's hardly hands-in-the-air material, yet his slow-burning vibes are arguably more satisfying and subtly impressive in the immediacy of the dance and for the long run.

Across a neatly plotted 48 minutes he systematically investigates and consolidates all stripes of the Peverelist sound in a way that builds on the experiments of 12000 Seconds (2014) whilst reprising and refining the heft of Jarvik Mindstate (2009).

The roiling modular tones of opener Burning Seas offers a rare, beat-less iteration of his sound before the session properly gets under way, vacillating the pressure between Under Clearing Skies dense electro-bass pulses and strobing dub chords, and the wide open lushness of Still Early, then twisting into the latinate shimmy of Sheer Chance Matters and the spiralling trills of Wireframes, which sounds almost like Plastikman meets Unique 3.

Further Inland brings a lot of originality and feeling with a misty-eyed mesh of airy Detroit/Berlin arpeggios and serpentine house swang, cooling down into the tribalism patterns of Brinks and Limits and closing on another rare, beat-less vision, Plateau from which to survey his rolling topography and then dive back in again.

Good stuff.

Mysticisms presents Dubplate, a series of (sporadic) releases to showcase the blurring of genres between breaks, house and dub, even techno, wrapped around and within that oft-misunderstood take on digital reggae, the sound of Digidub.

To begin, label favourite Persian acts as selector, with 5 rare archive cuts that typify the producer and sound of the series. From the digital dubbing of Dunya - here in a previously unreleased Extended Mix - to the warped groove and monster bass of D Dub Retwist, this unique link between rave, breaks and sound system culture is clear.

As always Persian aka Peter Reilly, moves across styles with ease, offering the warm roots vibrations of Jacob Dub and Augustus, alongside title cut, Space Within Art - here in Dubplate Mix - a street soul breakbeat and sampledelic mash up, all touched with the heavy hand of dub.

An open expression within a loose framework, Dubplate #1 acts as guide and educator. Where cultures clash, morph and grow, embracing the diaspora through music; Arabic melody meets Jamaica riddim meets English hedonism in a Soundclash.

Digi the Mystery.

After shining a light on the rich history of Eevo Lute with two retrospective compilations of Wladimir M. and Florence earlier in the year, Delsin dives deeper in the Dutch techno archives once more by re-masterering, re-cutting and re-releasing Ballet Mechanique's Embody EP. A keystone release containing four tracks of tough, yet emotive electro jams, sounding fresh till the date of today. Originally released in 1996 on Eevo Lute Muzique and definitely one of the highlights when it comes to pure futuristic techno soul. The Embody EP from Jeroen Borrenbergs aka Ballet Mechanique and Eevo's in-house graphic designer at that time made his first public work on one of the most influential techno labels from the Netherlands.