Fenin showcases a selection of some of his finest deep and dubby techno with a collection of previously unreleased and vinyl-only tracks for Berlin's Shitkatapult. While showcasing a good understanding of the minimal dub sound, it's interesting to hear traces of UK garage and dubstep incorporated into Fenin's sound, with Done (Edit) coming across like a low-end rubbed version of Basic Channel's mighty Phylyps Track II.

Superb aquatech swingers from Andreas Tilliander and Stefan Thor's pedigree Kondens project, backed with a hulking yet graceful Dub from Berlin's Substance. On 'Flamingo' and 'Tropic Star' Kondens induce an uptempo hybrid of Techno and Garage to exacting standards, all sheer dub chords and mercurial 2-step syncopation with a forward lean. However, the highlight has to be the outstanding Substance version of 'Valvet', carved from purest subbass shapes and minimalist flickers of percussion encircled by dubnoise interference. It's honestly one of the best things he put his name to. Tip!

Echocord present the heaviest cuts from Fluxion's 'Traces' album, backed with a mighty Morphosis remix. The pushy Dub Techno jack of 'Eruption' and 'Motion 3''s rippling percussion represent two highlights from a well crafted set, and constrast nicely with 'Motion 2' which sounds like a Convextion track played on 33 instead of 45. But, best of all is Rabih Beani's 3rd remix as Morphosis, turning 'Eruption' into a blinkered groove spilling shrill ring modulation, gritty EBM kicks and mind-warping psychedelic FX all over the 'floor. Tip!

Two of Canada's finest Dub and Disco Techno heads meet for a coolly contrasting session on Deadbeat's BLKRTZ label. The original 'Lazy Jane' sounds something like Sly & Robbie gone to Berlin; Danuel Tate's vocodered vox hazily sing an electronic blues over loping dub bass and crisp drums dripping with timeless, supple groove. Deadbeat's own 909 Dub looks to classic M-Series templates with a killer motorDub bassline and infinitely delayed dub chords. Very smart stuff.

Review to follow shortly…

Review to follow shortly…

Review to follow shortly…

Mike Dehnert, Roman Lindau and Sascha Rydell serve 'Fachwerk EP (Three)'. Dehnert plays reserved and evolving on the stealthy 'Avec, and twysted, grungy with 'Traces Of'. Lindau offers the stush but pushy drive of 'Plavix' and Rydell's 'Tout Le Monde' is slinky, hypnotic Techno for the later hours.

Visceral, stoic Electro-Techno by Dutch producer Albert van Abbe, backed with a more elegant remix from Convextion in his E.R.P. guise. It's not very nice, Van Abbe's original. In fact it's bloody hard, built from the kind of sounds which make you worry for your needles and bring weaker club soundystems to their knees. Just what we like, then. The E.R.P. remix on the flip retains some of the original's unforgiving toughness, but leavens it with teased out synthlines complementing the hard surfaces in Gerard Hanson's time honoured style. Tip!

'Gyal Flex' is a deep and dubby killer with dramatic stabs and spacey soundscapes while on the flip we find Duplex delivering one of their rare remixes, retaining the beauty of the original and giving it a signature deep techno twist. The original mix is a beautiful uptempo hybrid of edgy techno laced with the soul...great stuff.

Brock Van Wey hits new heights on his most impressive and epic album to date. Like his recent 12" for ASC's Symbol series, his ultra-plush ambient-trance-scapes are infused with chaotic breakbeats reserved to accentuate crucial moments in striking style, arriving at least 30 minutes into the set to ignite 'All It Takes' with a majestic shock. Elsewhere 'My Sun Shines Through Your Rain' sounds like LTJ Bukem remixing Cocteau Twins and 'Pure Of Heart' is an earnest mixture of widescreen ambient and buried brekabeat churn. Lovely.

Purified yet explorative Dub Techno from Arne Weinberg, featuring a smartly buttoned-up Norman Nodge remix. The subtly detailed, dubby lope of 'Phosphor' is tucked into a sleeker, hypnotic formation primed for club play by Nodge, while 'And The Spirits Fade' shares a strong vibe with recent Vatican Shadow releases and 'Innocence & Purity' investigates swirling atmospheres and offset, Techy Detroit drum patterns recalling Terrence Dixon. Don't sleep on this one.

Review to follow shortly…

Solid showing from Fachwerk's core crew. Mike Dehnert plays it coolly reserved with the sleek square bass-ed TechnoHouse groove 'M10'. Roman Lindau lends two of his sub-heavy and hypnotic rollers 'Grow' and 'Under Pressure', while Sascha Rydell commands the useful, tucked-in swing of 'When You Play It' for the DJs and dancers.

Originally released in a micro-run of 10 copies, Echospace [Detroit] present the digital release of Steve Hitchell's 'Beyond The Clouds'. All three tracks were recorded from a live session near the heart of Detroit using hand crafted modular synthesizers, analog devices and custom made effects units. Notably, the release was mastered by Ron Murphy @ NSC Mastering shortly before he passed away.

*Features re-mastered versions of the CD release as well as two new digital exclusive remixes by Intrusion and the unreleased "LIVE" mix by cv313* This is the first Echospace single since "The Coldest Season" dropped on Modern Love and is a perfect continuation of Rod Modell and Steve Hitchell's deeply engrossing dub variations. "Spatial Dimension" sees a sublime configuration of airy, reflective chords and a heaving bassline cushioned by all the space you could imagine. Reflective yet propulsive - something that echospace have turned into their calling card. The cv313 reduction is m… Read more

*Upfront Exclusive* Detroit/Chicago's Steven Hitchell + Rod Modell mark 5 years of sub harmonic deep space explorations in the Dub Techno quadrants on 'Altering Illusions'. From a sprawling nebula of etheric sounds made as Deepchord, Variant, CV313, and Intrusion, the duo have culled a rack of dubs, reworks and brand new material on this, their most substantial release since the now sought-after 12" trilogy on Modern Love. Over four LPs we're treated to 13 tracks of purified groove reductions made on vintage analog equipment, teasing out the infidelities of archaic equipment … Read more

The Danish Dub Techno unit regroups for two deep and grungy trips. '5A' should appeal to fans of Dettmann's slick but frictional grooves, while '5B' is more skanking, spaced-out.

Fluxion serves his 2nd album on Echocord, his fourth since those classic Chain Reaction sets in 1999-2000. With 'Traces' he continues to subtly plane the contours of Dub Techno into ever more fluid, spectral shapes and spaces, building on the legacy of Berlin's CR and BC cornerstones with an individual sense of soul and effortless, frictionless motion. Most notably there's an unreleased vocal appearance from Dennis Brown here on the Rhythm & Sound styled 'No Man Is An Island', providing a lighter counterpoint to the heavyweight Techno throbs of 'Eruption' or the tribal House gait of 'Motion 3' and… Read more

Fluxion presents some of his most diverse work yet, including an exclusive versioning of an unreleased Dennis Brown vocal, and backed with a Thomas Fehlmann remix. The legendary JA vocalist appears on 'No Man Is An Island', paying faithful, respectful tribute to classic Rhythm & Sound styles with skilled finesse, while 'Desert Night' gauges deeper, shuffling Dub House licked with quiet desert guitars, and 'Butiama' steps up into slinky, urging, stepper's House rhythms. Taking Desert Night' Thomas Fehlmann teases out a more sublime late night atmosphere from its languid grooves.

*Fully Remastered* Special stuff from Stephen Hitchell and Rod Modell's cv313 alias, dropping two sturdy but spectral House grooves backed with an epic 22 minute live recording made in "the heart of Detroit". The A-side mixes of 'Seconds To Forever' are made for that non-exclusive club in the clouds, the one where every track is a gaseous anthem which only requires a slow smile of approval. Their original mix is all about strafing bassline movements whose gentle kinetic motions expel intoxicating clouds of dreamy sleep-techno tones for that deliciously anaesthetised suspension… Read more

CV313 plumb the depths of Dub House with one of their finest transmission yet. The original version opens a wide soundsphere where viscous, toiling dub bass evaporates into curling, intoxicating FX fumes with a quiet, stoic elegance. The flipside reduction breathes more space between the beats, elongating and accentuating the gaps and crevices with a hushed midnight magic.

Debut album of deepest Ambient Techno from Malta courtesy of Sonitus Eco and the Silent Season label. Gauging from the rich sonorities and aquatic sound sphere of these tracks, the man obviously has an abiding, instinctive love for Dub Techno and widescreen ambience, making for a very rich, if somewhat orthodox contribution to the style. But there's one standout track which we urge you to check - title track 'It Is Loneliness That Makes The Loudest Noise' arcs from Biosphere-sized dark ambient synth blooms into slow, padded Techno recalling recent Andy Stott, Vessel or G.H. releases, and for that reason is well recommended!

Review to follow shortly…

Type mark their 100th release with a reissue of Porter Ricks' essential 'Biokinetics'. Back in 1996, dark ambient pioneer and sound designer Thomas Köner, together with engineer Andy Mellwig, presented the Techno community with one of it's most enduring and definitive albums in the form of 'Biokinetics'. It was the first album release on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction imprint, birthing three 12" singles which expanded and twisted the templates of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus with an aquatic torque and unique vision, taking the sound to immersive, isolated depths previously unexplo… Read more

Review to follow shortly…