Sect At Juno Download

Review: Having swiftly carved a niche for himself amongst the likes of Perc, Ben Gibson returns to Sect to deliver more of his brooding and engaging techno. There's a great emphasis on sound design and atmospherics in the two tracks on Quien Es?, as ominous clangs and tense tones hang heavy over rugged drum workouts. "Ceased To Gasp" is the more industrial of the two, but still allows for a melodic slant in the cavernous echoes that define the track. "Remain" adopts a swirling, psychedelic approach to sonic decoration that draws you in just as it continues flooring you, like all good techno should. Highly recommended.

Review: DJ Bone is a ridiculously prolific producer and plays records across the world, but isn't the first name that rolls off the tongue when you play the 'name a Detroit DJ" game. DJ Bone probably likes it that way as he gets to put out his music on his preferred labels on his own terms. After being responsible for Sect's inaugural release DJ Bone returns to the imprint for their seventh with an ode to everyone's favourite day of the week Sunday. "Sunday Morning" and "Sunday Night" are variations on the same instrumental theme with the former placing the emphasis on the warm piano riffs and the latter adding layers of superlative percussion for the late night vibes.

Review: Kalamazoo native Fanon Flowers has been releasing music for over 15 years, yet he is one of the few dancefloor artists who manages to get the fusion of Detroit techno and Chicago house down to a tee. So what next for Flowers, now that his latest release has been snapped up by Sect? Oddly enough, part one of "Maschinenhaus" sounds European rather than American, a looped dubby chord playing out in the unflinchingly hypnotic Basic Channel manner. Indeed, the only real hint that it is a US production comes as the thunderous, precision claps kick in. The second part sees Flowers set out a more distinctly American feel: the same heavy claps are present, but this time so too are deeper, more textured chords and a discernible swing to the tracky, DJ-friendly groove. Coming from a place that's neither Detroit nor Chicago and audibly influenced this time by a German aesthetic, "Maschinenhaus" is a product of the best of bits from the troika of dance music's capital cities.

Review: As a staunch representative of Midwest techno since the mid-nineties, Fanon Flowers has always skirted on the periphery of the scene rather than getting placed on the pedestal many of his neighbours do, but this return to the UK's Sect Records sees a further widening of his reach, with this particular record embracing his dub techno side with a cavernous chord deployment and plenty of metallic hits. Substance is on deadly form for the remix, trimming said chord down to a fine point and adding some welcome funk into the arrangement to a thoroughly engrossing end.

Review: Sect's third and final sampler for the It's All For You compilation ends on a bittersweet note, seeing the last release from Sect favourite Grovskopa, who has decided to retire following the closest of near death experiences. First up is Lag's remix of his Sect classic "Atopic", reworking the lurching bass and broken-beat rhythms of the original into a hypnotic number with a fractured synth melody. The (digital) B-Side sees "2:69", a brittle yet powerful track with churning bass which recalls Drexciya's classically hard edged approach, combined with hazy orchestral sweeps - a fitting swansong for a great producer.

Review: The Dimension EP can be seen as a veritable coup from the Sect label, as iconic Dutch techno artist Jeroen Search makes his label debut with some typically wall rattling techno functionalism. Able to flaunt a discography that reaches deep into the early nineties with releases across Mills' Axis imprint, M_Rec LTD, Traut and more, Search's tireless energy for one take productions has seen him at his most productive this year and as always his tracks still retain a finely sculpted feel regardless of his preferred approach. Swiftly spiralling undercurrents of analogue acid merge in synchronicity with the tightly wound drums to provide one relentlessly driven groove on "Paralell Lives" with intermittent ascendant hat rolls and subaqueous keys worthy of the Something In The Sky series only serving to further hypnotise your senses. Complementing this, "Section A" is gruff Fachwerk style concrete techno at its finest and "Inverse" demonstrates Search's ease for producing well crafted minimalism.