Mike Storm At Juno Download

Review: It sounds like Storm immersed himself in classic techno before writing and recording Communication. The title track is reminiscent of the best bits from Sleeparchive's catalogue; insistent, austere bleeps are delivered over a hypnotic, pulsing groove and Storm fires a broadside of metallic percussion that glistens like metal-plated sleet in the wind. The 'Re-Work' features the kind of doubled up claps one often finds on Function's work, coupled with the droning sensibilities of Prologue's catalogue. Finally, 'Designed to Locate' has echoes of classic Millsian techno as searing metallic rhythms and an insistent tempo provide a basis for eerie, intergalactic synths to shoot into orbit.

Review: Mike Storm provides a master-class in underground techno, beginning with the eerie, tripped out "No Contact" and "Sign of Life", a bleep-heavy affair. Soon afterwards however, Storm is living up to his name with "Speaking to No One", a bleak affair that nonetheless maintains a sense of funk thanks to its lithe break beats and on "And Then", a far darker, more intense metallic groove that leads into "They Were". Like the previous track, it offers no quarter and consists solely of a driving, metallic rhythm and disturbed subsonic bleeps. "Dark Sight" relives Storm's rave past and "Chapter 01" is filled with sensuous strings, but in the main, this is a merciless collection.