Ken Ishii At Juno Download

Review: Out on the Techno veteran's 70 Drums label, this is a collection of remixes from highly regarded Japanese producer Ken Ishii. For 16 years now, Ishii has been producing Detroit-influenced Techno that carries with it a strong futuristic flavour that harks back to Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra. He's also soundtracked the movie Pi, and had the strange but cool honour of composing music for the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.

His own mix of Sunriser is a pleasantly mellow and more introspective journey, whereas the FLR's Vox Rise remix is much more pumped and hyped-up, with an awesome breakdown and some added vocal samples that don't distract from the original's dreamy mood.

Sometime Ishii collaborator 7th Gate does wonders with Organised Green, mixing up genres with tons of style to create something that either Underworld, Shinichi Osawa or Barry White would be proud of. Belgian producer Fabrice Lig also has a lot of fun with the same tune, keeping the original's distinctive modulating lead sound and adding some nice Tech touches and a vocal for good measure. All the mixes on offer bring something truly fresh to Ken Ishii's work and certainly won't disappoint fans

Review: Ishii made his name with esoteric Detroit-influenced techno during the 90s, but "Buddah's Ear" is a different proposition. It sounds inspired by the harder strain of European techno that has emerged over the past few years. This is audible on the title track, where spacey riffs ricochet off heavy, metallic drums and scratchy percussion. 'Original Mix 2' is more stripped back with Ishii focusing on the rolling drums and a bassline that is so tearing it will endanger any sound system that it comes into contact with. The dub version sees snares roll in over a heavy sub-bass, while Ben Sims' take juxtaposes slamming beats with eerie, echoing chords.