This twelve just OWNS things in this office right now. This is some heavyweight house and techno gear from two of the hottest producers in their respective fields right now, featuring Dutch techno master Mike Dehnert and NYC technohouse don, Levon Vincent. Dehnert's 'Umlaut 2' first appeared on the brilliant 'MDRL' 12" for Fachwerk, (well worth tracking down!!) and lays down two alternate versions here designed for pure club play with his trademark blend of rugged dub chords and skip-shifting rhythms. We're not gonna front though, this 12" is all about the addictively strong Levon Vincent re… Read more

If you're not familar with Dave Huismans by now, get to know! The highly skilled Dutch dude has wrecked everyone with his dubstep and broke-step releases for Tectonic and Subsolo over the last couple of years blending garage, techno, house and dubstep functions, but for this release he's concentrated on the House element for Clone's new no-nonsense Basement series. 'Wire' starts the session with groovy square basslines and shuffled housing patterns, before 'Bounce' dips in with swooping bass and cracking Shake alike percussion. Keeping up the vibe 'Disconnect' trips out on warm chords and… Read more

Electronic maverick Luke Vibert returns to Planet Mu for what is being hailed as one of his best albums to date. The man has produced more records than we've got time to list, andVibert's work is elevated by consistency andan effective sound that keeps heads coming back for more. 'We Hear You' is no massive departure or major stylistic shift, more just an affirmation of the timeless quality of his sound - many of the tracks really could have come from any point in the last 20 years - while remaining as fresh as the next man and his mates. As the label put it; "songs like 'De-Pimp Act' con… Read more

Review to follow shortly…

For many of our customers, we'd imagine this release will rank as one of the most sought after and cherished pieces of electronic music in their collections (or, more likely, wants lists). Originally released back in 1994, this was the first fruit of the Gescom project, a clandestine collective featuring members of Autechre operating alongside various Skam notables like Rob Hall, Mike Williamson and Darryl Fitton (aka Bola), or contemporaries like Russell Haswell. But, you and I were never supposed to know that, and all those characters would probably still deny their involvement to this day, mo… Read more

Steven Ford aka Bruno Pronsato is a regular favourite with the tech-house cognoscenti, well known for his releases on Orac, Hello? Repeat, and Telegraph. 'The Make Up, The Break Up' is the first release on his own Thesongsays imprint, initiating the label with an impressive display of state-of-the-art tech-house pumps and wriggles tickled from his machines. For this digital version Pronsato has allowed himself to indulge in a bit of prog-scoped rhythm sculpting, using the same beat and bass elements over seven tracks, but weaving them through varied sonic vistas. Parts 1 a… Read more

This latest Total compilation from Kompakt starts in the finest fashion, launching into DJ Koze's '40 Love' during which a field recording of a tennis match somehow turns into a brilliant techno track, with every strike of the ball acting as a snare. Far from being a mere trifling novelty, it's a witty, cleverly assembled production that sets a high standard for what's to come. Next is the (wryly titled?) Thomas/Mayer track 'Total 9' whose beats crunch artfully across a blush of harps and plucked strings. From here we start getting remixes thrown into the selection, including a Gui Bo… Read more

Gatekeeper is among the most shadowy operators from the Bristol skool of steppers. His 'Let Go' 12" for Punch Drunk is, in our opinion, an overlooked classic of the genre and his Skull Disco collab with Appleblim is a killer bit of work. He's remixed that track here for Immerse records with a VIP version, adding an armour plating of breakstep modes to the original to run it into a far deadlier beast. On the flip his 'Hades' track takes the same toughened Breakstep route with spine knacking breaks and a stoically stilted flow to mix up with the likes of your Toasty or Gunjack tracks. Ace.

The hotly tipped Tom Trago lops off tracks from his 'Voyage Direct' album for remix treatments from Actress, Motor City Drum Ensemble and his buddy Yuro aka Cinnaman. Needless to say, we're all over the Actress track, heading off on another solo mission to jack 'Lost In The Streets Of NYC' with Shake-alike rhythmic sensibilities and unpredictable edits in a ruffneck style that just slays it. Motor City Drum Ensemble provide a much smoother counterpoint with their house rolling mix of 'Passion', while Trago hooks up with Kindred Spirit Yuro for a peaking disco house floor filler with up-to-the-minute production standards. KILLER!!!

Helixir notches up the latest 7even 12" with two variations on a 4/4 steppers ting. His 'XP Dub' takes the A-side with an echo chamber stepper featuring clean and heavy percussion with hints of 50's horror movie synths. We much prefer 'Peace Dub' on the other side, slowing the pulse to a casual 134bpm with much potential for the DJs and a heavy roll-and-step rhythm makes this label worth watching. For fans of Ramadanman, Indigo or Pinch - big twelve!

Curle picks up on this rare and overlooked cut from the legendary Thomas Brinkmann backed with a brand new Soulphiction remix. 'Isch' bears Brinkmann's usual attention to detail and ear for an oddly off centre groove with squalls of textured noise added to a bass driven minimal techno track. Soulphiction's mix swerves the track out of its icy groove and into a smart pair of disco pants, rubbing in a rolling disco bassline and even some harps for that warm and lovely glow. Disco-house and minimal heads take note!

It's all going off for Untold right now, with a string of increasingly crucial twelves under his belt and a following that now includes not only the usual heads but also the likes of Modeselektor and Hardwax pushing his wares at every given opportunity. This latest plate for Hot Flush is possibly his most anticipated yet, with the massive "Just For You" barely contained on the a-side, while man of the moment Roska delivers a predictably righteous refix on the flip. The original carries considerable dancefloor punch with a low-swung ravey Garage vibe propelled at a healthy 140bpm with al… Read more

Review to follow shortly…

Veteran Finnish electronics maestro and one of the most fascinating producers of our times, Mika Vainio returns to the Touch label, the recent home of some of his most uncompromsing work. Last years 'Oleva' and the preceding Pan Sonic album remain examples of the finest electronic albums of the last few years, but they were surely also some of his most accessible. For 'Black Telephone Of Matter' we hear the contrarily noisy and contemplative side of Mika, no beats, but plenty of completely devastating aural views surveying vast abstract landscapes. 'Roma A.D 2727' weaves si… Read more

We've only just recovered from his Soul Jazz 12" the other week, but David Kennedy aka Pearson Sound has no intention of easing the pressure with another, and dare we say even better, release for his own Hessle Audio imprint. Both tracks here are infused with a glowing rave soul positivity that's bloody hard to resist either on your headphones or in the dance, where these cuts are specifically headed. It's also becoming clearly apparent that there's a need to separate his slightly tougher and techier Ramadanman alias from these productions, as the 90's house spirited 'PLSN' displays a ligh… Read more

Soul Motive make some devastating moves with their latest plate drawing together masters of the old and nu skool garage scene, giving up a side each to El-B and Rossi B & Luca. Both outfits have made sizeable impressions on the UK urban and garage scenes respectively, with El-B contributing template setting riddims since the late 90's and undisputed heavyweights Rossi B & Luca holding down pirate radio and raves from London to Bristol for the best part of this decade with a slew of their own edits and original street riddims. Their 'Jah No Dead' track smashes the A-side … Read more

Gothenburg's Henrik Jonsson has already recorded three album's worth of imperious and eclectic ambient music, but this fourth long-player for City Centre Offices marks Jonsson's first output since relocating to that epicentre of all things electronic: Berlin. The same enigmatic blend of styles is at play here, beginning with a spot of fairytale orchestration with "Welcome' before 'En Ny Morgon' slips into a classic krautrock-type groove, sounding like something Cluster might have come out with during their heyday. The album proceeds with a wonderful, washed-out… Read more

*Absolutely mindblowing album of layered, distorted and decimated 80's synthpop meets MBV style sonic devastation - one of the albums of the year!* Occasionally artists crop up that manage to extract tangible yet ambiguous feelings of darkness while somehow pushing musical boundaries without pause for breath. Cold Cave is one of those artists. His 'Cremations' album for Dominic Fernow's Hosptial imprint is a collection of two EPs and one LP released over the last 18 months, traversing the darkest shadows of Synth-Pop, Industrial, psyched Noise, proto-electronics and wall-of-sound shoegaze sh… Read more

Latest label round-up from the long dormant Touchin' Bass imprint. Their electro alarm clock must have been synchornised to the wrong time because these guys have been quiet for a little while now, but they're back with more of the purist 'letcroid sound for '09. Wireblock and Underscan artist Bogger starts the comp with the metallic tweaks of 'Mineral', Ben Milstein offers a fluttering slice of electro-acoustic trickery and Wee DJ's 'No resolution' proves that he's still a dark bastard. Most notable, we reckon, are the final two tracks to be released by the Bitstream brothers. Prob… Read more

The red faced one returneth with a deep tripping three tracker for Delsin. Since coming to prominence over the last few years, very few producers (with the exception of Carl Craig and a few others) have come close to matching his technofied mission, meaning each and every Redshape 12" is held in high regard by the more discerning techno heads. '2010' serves this function in style with typically high production standards piled into an overweight acid bassline and the lushest Detroit-moody synth pads. 'White' follows this up with a drifting piece of technohouse abstraction sounding like a brighter… Read more