Review: Continuing their permeance into contemporary techno culture Delsin Records outta Amsterdam bring together a refined selection of stalwarts and newcomer artists this annual compilation. Scour down the list and you'll find bonus numbers from the likes of Forest Drive West with his classic rhythmic style to headliners like BNJMN, Natural & Electronic.system and WAV, aka Wata Igarashi & Voiski! Intrigues include amethia recordings purge Varuna, all time classic John Beltran (in "Euphoric Dream Ocean") and cosmic broken beat experiments from Wladimir M (think Planet E and Evo Lute). Furthermore, find tracks from electro wizz CiM and go deeper into italian-style techno variations with VC-118A's "Crunch" and of course some OG electro from Delsin legend Versalife. To 2021 and beyond!
Review: For the latest chapter in the Delsin saga, tracks from BNJMN's 2018 album Hypnagogia get remixed by some of electronic music's most respected producers. First up is Dial mainstay Efdemin, who turns the title track into a deep techno affair, with swirling pads unfolding over a pulsating groove. Luigi Tozzi's take on "Indub" is also from the deeper end of the spectrum, but the Italian producer uses steely drums and ticking percussion to create an atmospheric but effective arrangement. rRpxymore's take on "Atoms Speak" ventures in a different direction, with snappy kicks underpinning clipped percussion and detuned, warbling synth lines.
Review: As underground venues and spaces struggle to overcome the financial pressures exacted by coronavirus, many artists are responding to support them. In_vurt is a case in point; issued on Cassegrain's label, it sees a multitude of techno producers who have played at Vurt contribute tracks, with the proceeds of sales helping the Seoul venue. It's an impressive, 28-track collection, and features some of underground techno's most respected artists, including Answer Code Request, who drops the dreamy, breakbeat-led "No Comply 180", Artefakt's dubbed out tunnelling "Solstice" and the shimmering rhythms on BNJMN's "Overstated". These sit alongside more experimental tracks like Cio D'Or's glitchy "Permanent Key" and the droning, expansive "Further Movements Into Unknown Territories" from Peter Van Hoesen.
Vladw - "If Young People Fail, Everything Will Fail" (Robert S PT remix) - (5:17) 133 BPM
Kasst - "Breathe" - (5:36) 132 BPM
Parrish Smith - "Moshpit" - (6:02) 130 BPM
Steve Bicknell - "Constant Movement" - (7:26) 132 BPM
Tim Tama - "Suspicion Is The Enemy" - (5:45) 134 BPM
Dave Simon - "Vision Of Intensity" - (5:42) 133 BPM
Keith Carnal - "One-on-One" - (7:09) 134 BPM
Review: Triple Vision pull out all the stops on the ninth Evidence Based edition. Tin Man's expansive 303 sound is to the fore on the aptly-named "Acid Swirls", while representing a more sombre, subdued style is Oscar Mulero's broken beat remake of End Train's "Into The Sun's Maze". Deadbeat drops a high-paced minimal techno groove in the shape of "7th and 33rd", while Triple Vision scores a coup by securing the services of Steve Bicknell - the Lost founder's contribution is the suitably textured and otherworldly "Constant Movement". He's not the only high-profile name to line out for this edition and I Hate Models delivers the rattling, glitchy techno of "Beloved & Damned".
Review: The label arm of Dutch techno distributor Triple Vision delivers a fine compilation. It starts off in understated, sombre mode, with the rolling drums and woozy synths of tracks from Amotik and Refracted, before Codex Empire delves deeper with an atmospheric, break beat-led take on KAS:ST's "Raving Alone". That's not to say that Volume 8 is shy of dance floor tracks; from the rolling tribal groove of Setaoc Mass' "Light Falls" and the rave-infused "Generation X" from Deep Dimension to Remco Beekwilder's banging, chord-heavy "90's Mayhem", this is an expertly weighted and executed collection of modern techno.
Review: Delsin has been a purveyor of deep electronic music for the best part of two decades - and as this compilation demonstrates, 2018 was no exception. It moves in sound from re-issued electro classics by Lost Trax and VC-118A - the latter's chilling string-led "Sepia" is particularly beautiful - into Yagya's brittle deep house/techno and the gentle dub techno of Vril. Even on the more uptempo tracks, such as the throbbing acid of Artefakt's "Falling Into The Light" and the robotic, clanging rhythms of Yan Cook's "Dead Satellite", there is a subtlety and depth of sound absent in most labels' identities. Here's to another twenty years.
Review: Hypnagogia is BNJMN aka Ben Thomas' first album in seven years, and it has certainly been worth the wait. Veering wildly in sounds from the atmospheric ambience of "Atoms Speak" and "Glowed" into the nightmarish tones and stepping rhythm of "Swarm", it shows once again that he is a versatile artist. While Hypnagogia also focuses on the dance floor, most impressively on the rolling, subtle filters of "Titan Dome" and the eerie "Hypnagogia" (part 1)" BNJMN's fifth album works best during its home listening moments. Even the more uptempo "InDub" boasts the kind of subtle production approach that works best when experienced from the sofa.
Review: BNJMN's take on techno has never been fixed, though in recent times he's happily been focused on the more robust, forthright end of the style. Droid neatly fits into this category, with the track sitting somewhere between the dust-encrusted, distorted sound favoured by the likes of L.I.E.S and Lobster Theremin, the end-of-days intensity of Berceuse Heroique's output, and good old-fashioned techno funk. It fizzes, clanks and throbs in all the right places, with just the right amount of metallic pressure and mind-bending electronic chicanery. The accompanying remixes are strong, too. There's a bouncy, surging interpretation from Inland that should please all those who like 'no nonsense' techno, and a pulsating, EBM-influenced interpretation from Cassegrain.
Review: Bnjmn rose to prominence as a house producer, but this mini-album for Delsin sees him straying further down an experimental path than before. "P-Tr" is a cold, glacial bleep techno cut, while "Womb" sees him lay down a linear, heads-down groove. Elsewhere, he departs from the dance floor as he displays eloquently on the noisy tones of "1987" and the tranced out, classical melodies of "Oder". But Bnjmn remains a dance floor producer at heart and nowhere is this more audible on "Microgravity". A rumbling, gritty workout, it connects his house heritage with his experimental techno present.
Review: More pounding analogue machine grooves from the boy from Bournemouth, now based in Berlin. This release inaugurates new Creme Organisation sub label Jericho One. Starting things off in good fashion is "Skur" a furious, bare bones stomper with some serious ghosts in the machine, lurking in the background. "Herz" or "Glut" get a bit more atmospheric with dark strings and pads accompanying rusty, gnarly, galloping beats. There's some diversity on here which is good; things get a bit more on the purist and cyclical techno tip with "Hydrofoil" a bleepy and hypnotic number, while final track "Solvent X" saves the best for last on this peak time, 808 fuelled stomper.
Review: Since adopting the BNJMN guise, UK producer Ben Thomas has graced a fairly impressive list of labels with his intricately sculpted brand of techno, and there's a definite sense that his best work is done when aligned with a Dutch label. After all, it was Rush Hour's excellent Direct Current series that brought BNJMN to wider attention with the classic Plastic World album from 2011. Having previously contributed a production to Delsin's 100DSR compilation series last year, the now Berlin-based BNJMN is granted a debut proper with the six track EP Coil. Spend some time with the EP and you'll come to the conclusion it's a confident assessment of everything BNJMN is capable of producing, with the pulsing, mind bending techno of the title track followed by more contemplative moments and some good old fashioned wall-shakers.
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