Delsin Holland At Juno Download

Review: It would be easy and unforgivably lazy to lump Claro's work in with the great unwashed of deep/dub techno. While Reform Club does sparkle and shimmer with epic strings, ghostly reversed chords and dreamy synths, it's the interplay between these elements and Stewart's unpredictable rhythmic dalliances that make his third album so rewarding. "Reformed" is a case in point: glassy percussion and sensuous string passages suggest an adept take on classic Detroit techno, but the underlying, resonating bass depicts an artist highlighting flaws and imperfections. In a similar vein is "It's Getting Late", where evocative chords unfold over a quirky bassline and the raw, Aardvarck-esque beats and breathy melodies of "Scriptease". But it's the tracks where Stewart appears to be sharing his own personal experiences that have the greatest impact. The atmospheric, chiming synths of "Still Here" has the same underlying sadness that Stewart articulated so beautifully on Metanarrative and the whistling sounds and serene ambience of "Quiet Life" elevate Stewart to the same level as great musical storytellers like Mark Hollis and Ian Curtis. The fact that be can bare his soul and document deeply personal topics without resorting to words makes his voice all the more powerful.

Review: Jeff Mills said nearly a decade ago that techno is being made for an aging audience. Regardless of whether this is true or not, what happens when the artists themselves start to get older - can they maintain their relevance? In the case of Mark 'Claro Intelecto' Stewart, the answer to this conundrum is simple; go back to your roots. The Manchester producer may have settled down, but creatively, Second Blood shows that he's as dynamic as ever. "Heart" marks a return to the first Claro Intelecto album, Neurofibro or the more understated sections of its successor, Metanarrative, with an atmospheric, ambient soundtrack gently unfolding, populated by muffled, half-heard vocals. The title track sees Stewart pick up the pace, but although the underlying bassline has a dark, resonating edge to it, the tempo is sluggish and the chords flutter about in a way that suggests the producer is seeking to tease out new directions for his sub-heavy techno. "Voyeurism" has no such ambitions, but sounds all the better for it; like the best tracks from the Warehouse Sessions series, its bass plays the central role, a fathomic, all-encompassing series of tones that steers the plaintive melodies on an irresistibly evocative path. Sometimes to stay ahead of the curve, you first need to take a few steps back.

Review: At a time when classic-sounding techno is at a premium, Boris Bunnik aka Conforce is one of its main proponents, right? Wrong. It would be too easy and simplistic to dismiss the Dutch producer as merely revisiting the sounds that were current during the mid-90s, and Escapism, like his other releases for Clone, Rush Hour and Delsin, does much to dispel any pre-conceived notions about him. One of the common themes and sources of inspiration on the album is Bunnik's love of swirling, ambient textures. Spacey melodies unfold all the way through "Aquinas Control" as a dubby, rippling bass takes hold, while on the title track, glassy percussion and shuffling 808s provide the electro backing to Bunnik's atmospheric chords. There are times too when it sounds like Conforce has completely immersed himself in electronic music's reflective, esoteric side and the evoactive, shimmering synths of "Timelapse" could have been part of a long lost sci-fi soundtrack. On other occasions, Escapism sounds earthy, grainy and twitchy, especially on the detuned textures of "Diversion" or "Revolt DX", which sees Bunnik drop a gained, jarring rhythm track. However, the real highlights occur when Bunnik occupies a place where all of these sounds meet, like the ghostly pads and forceful bass of "Elude" or the hushed tones and uplifting synths of "Ominous". It's also where you'll find this year's most eloquent articulation of techno escapism.

Review: For those of you that remember "Energize," Yoav's underground anthem from five years back, then news of his revival will be a source of great pleasure to your soul. Many have been perplexed by his disappearance during the past few years, left only with his seminal track's appearance on compilations from Ame, Carl Craig and Delsin II. But now, the Israeli producer makes a welcomed return with his fifth full length single, the Love Dubs EP.

Opening with "Higher State," Yoav gets off to a hazy start. Dramatic synth lines topple over lazy house beats as the track winds itself along, gaining momentum as it goes. 80s influenced synths flash across the track to add yet more drama in this rolling workout. "Lovedub" takes the listener on more of a freestyle jam, as a simple filtered bassline moves along as disjointed beats shuffle forward. The real fun and intrigue however, lies in the spacey keys that cascade over the track beneath. "Soul Surrender" finishes things off in a grittier, more driving tone. With the beat cranked up and the driving, deep bass set to work this is more of a heads down number that gets moving. A simple melody breaks the drama of the track, leaving the listener locked in the groove instead. Top stuff, and yes, it was worth the wait.

Review: Having firmly found his groove with UK labels such as 2nd Drop and Fourth Wave, Gerry Read's latest EP sees that further notch in his ascendancy as he gets snapped up by Dutch institution Delsin to kick off their new house-orientated series. Stylistically, the four tracks on this new EP continue the mission statement Read has already laid out; there's a claustrophobic quality to lead track "Yeh Come Dance", that finds a cacophony of wooden percussion and angular vocal loops sweating all over each other while the hi-hats leer on drunkenly. As something of a contrast, the beat in "Crawlspace" is decidedly straight by these standards, letting the sequencing of the drum machine call more of the shots before too much wayward sample placing can send the rhythm askew. It doesn't take much to see the jazzy quality in Read's music, but "Bozza" perhaps marks the first instance where this quality has been capitalised on and fully realised. In that sense it marks something of a progression for the young beatsmith, as the complex arrangement of brushed drums, piano and other sonic debris aim for a place other than that usual seedy corner of the dancefloor. "Crooked" rounds off the EP with by distilling all these feelings into one track of strung out strangeness, where the groove is borrowed from garage and then robbed of its innocence, with an underlying bed of mean-spirited audio fragments. As with all the GR output it's evocative stuff, and reminds you that this EP marks not just consistency but also progress for the plucky producer.

Review: Much like their geographical near neighbours Rush Hour, Clone and Creme, the point where we run out of superlatives to adorn the releases from Delsin Records is most definitely on the horizon. The label seems to retain an uncanny knack for covering each release in excellence, regardless of whether the artist responsible is well known or hitherto unheralded. Their latest definitely falls under the latter, with Hazylujah coming correct on Too Many Ghosts, a debut four track EP that reveals the fledgling Italian producer to already possess an enviable mastery of murked out, smudgy techno. The title track is an undeniable highlight, shifting into focus through the mists of grey noise and dragging your senses through the deepest recesses of detuned analogue textures and hollowed out rhythms across eight haunting minutes that sound like Actress doing dub techno. The three other tracks are just as idiosyncratically good and this is yet another Delsin release that deserves your full attention.