Mike Dehnert At Juno Download

Review: Mike Dehnert arrives on the Echochord Colour series in the midst of a purple patch, having sported various takes on the glowering techno world he occupies, as anyone who has checked recent drops on his own Fachwerk and Clone Basement will testify! The EP opens in fine style with the guttural vocal intonations of "RGS2" cascading in sync with the gloopy bass hits, dragging you down a k-hole of despair until the rasping hi-hat procession arrives and a sense of industrial chaos grows. Flipside, "Bar2" operates around minute rhythmic deviations from the thick set groove - just wait for the sprawling synth line to coax more metallic hi-hat brilliance into action. Fellow Fachwerker Roman Lindau remixes "RGS2" into a growling, scratchy, heads down techno bump.

Review: Mike Dehnert is a firm fixture amongst the tougher realms of Berlin techno, not least for his Fachwerk label. This time around, the menacing lunge of EP opener "Montage" plumps straight for the awesome industrial, melodically-bled kind of techno that rattles Berghain on a weekend. "Isolateur" sparks even more interest with its housey refrain pinned down by a steady set of notes that seem positively musical in comparison. "Picon" is a surprise of ambient techno, with not a whiff of mixability about it. It's a pleasant reminder that, when he feels like it, Dehnert is capable of trying something different. An excellent and well rounded EP.

Review: Having signalled his return to pounding techno on a rowdy Echochord release recently, Mike Dehnert ensures that rattling sensation in our eardrums remains with Placide, a four fingered assault on your senses through home stable Fachwerk. Apparently inspired by some spam email entitled "Give It To Me Raw!" Dehnert elected to record opening track "Drehimpuls" live in Paris for extra rawness, with suitable results; the track literally barrels through a thick wall of corrugated sonics. The remaining three tracks sound slightly cleaner in comparison, though the sheer sound design at play ensures the unpredictable serrated synth of "Charger" or booming warehouse groove of "Eigenzeit" prove just as memorable. Final track "Isolant" is undeniably funky too, trapping some lost female vocal deep beneath the mangled kicks and smacked out whistles.

Review: Mike Dehnert is no stranger to Danish label Echocord, having released the thumping Breso EP on the label back in 2011, so this Roulement EP makes for a welcome and long overdue return offering further examples of his nuanced approach. "Limite" shows the prolific Dehnert at his most contrasting, pairing the subtleties of some delicate house stabs with teeth-gnashing textures and thumping four to the floor beat, while "Retransmission" is him at his most mind-bending, looping gritty, rumbling drums and a metronomic cowbell disturbingly treated vocal samples. Fellow Fachwerk producer Sascha Rydell's take on "Limite" offers yet more contrast, as every element is submerged in a heady dub cloud.

Review: Making a return to Delsin with his first full release for the label after the excellent Framework LP from last year, the uber-prolific Mike Dehnert delivers an EP which is something of a departure from his usual sound, but no less essential for it. "Andruck" sees Redshape-style synths cast adrift over a pulsating bass, loose cowbell with a distinct lack of 4/4 present, while "Tracer" goes for the jugular with its combination of Millsian bleeps and subtle but gravelly dub chords. "Refillable" will go down well with fans of Skudge and Shed, combining a relentless rolling rhythm, fluid, twisting, filtered stabs and indistinct vocals, while closer "Umgangston" is built around a ravey chord sequence which fluctuates in and out of intensity with a freeform manner. Dehnert must be one of techno's most dependable producers, and he's come up trumps once again.

Review: In the lead up to Fachwerk's quarter century milestone - an album from Mike Dehnert - the label's main players again share the release duties. Sascha Rydell's contribution is by far the most crossover, centred on a discoy loop and offering a housey version of Fachwerk's sound. Elsewhere, it's business as usual; Roman Lindau's "Plavix" is everything one would expect from the Berlin label, a stripped back techno groove, slightly stepping and swathed in razor-sharp metallic percussion. Dehnert meanwhile, drops the clunky drums and visceral hats of "Avec", which provide the backdrop for a typical chord build. But just as Rydell surprised, so does the label owner and "Traces Of" provides an unlikely mixture of distorted beats and a sassy double bass.

Review: Germany's Fachwerk stable drops a second collaborative EP from label heads Mike Dehnert, Roman Lindau and Sascha Rydell. Entitled, quite simply, Fachwerk EP 2, it follows last year's Fachwerk EP which included tracks from each of the three producers at the centre of the label's quite singular techno vision, which combines crunchy, swung mechanical rhythms with warm, rolling, dubby tones. It's one of several releases which will culminate in the release of the label's 25th release, which we imagine will be something quite special indeed. The EP is as brilliant as you'd expect, with the muscularity of Dehnert's "M10? augmented with vocals that sound like snatches of Arthur Russell, the metallic strings of Lindau's "Grow" and the manic piano groove of Rydell's "When You Play It" all offering solid entries into the label's formidable catalogue. This label is simply on fire at the moment - don't sleep.

Review: The producers' names on this EP suggest that listeners should prepare themselves for wave upon wave of unflinching techno, but in Wurzbacher's case, the opposite is true. "Julischkaa" is a deep, dubby groove, full of the kind of gentle chords and spacey synths that one might hear on a D5 production for Delsin rather than a new school German techno record. Having said that, Dehnert fans won't be disappointed with "Mischkaa". Although more restrained than his usual fare, its moody chords and percussive licks get steadily more intense as the arrangement progresses and his rolling snares bring it to an irresistibly menacing climax.

Review: Fachwerk signs off on an excellent year in the best way possible - presenting this collection of all new material from label bosses Dehnert, Lindau and Rydell. Roman calls shotgun with the brain matter scraping, gutter punch rhythms of "Hurt" that masterfully crafts the relentless motion from indecipherable vocal fractures. As finely poised as the track is, the A-Side is dominated by the subsequent collaboration between Lindau and Dehnert. "Sophia" is perhaps the most dementedly brilliant production to surface from the Fachwerk studios yet, with the dense swamp of bass and singular drum kicks in the opening bars not really giving prior warning to the thrilling rhythmic mess of saturated acid and panning vocals. Dehnert is in more familiar foundation-pummelling form on the flip with the caustic and unrelenting "Blattwerk" which explodes with colourful textures midway through, whilst Sascha Rydell has the last laugh with the pressurised percussive presence of "It Happened". Big tip!