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Mark Broom
Browse the latest digital releases by Mark Broom
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Mark Broom has been making and playing techno for 30 years, but he retains an unerring ability to always hit the target. The fourth volume of Mutated Battle Breaks is no exception to this rule, and over the course of eight tracks he drops a variety of crafty club tracks. There's the wiry, angular minimalism of "Tube", where Broom sounds inspired by vintage Rob Hood. In contrast, "Whisper" is a chord-heavy roller that is aligned with late 90s loop techno, while changing tact again, the explanatory "909 Workout" is a furious, pared back rhythm track. The common theme throughout is Broom's talent for making highly effective club techno.
Review: Mark Broom and Riva Starr's recent two-tracker as Star B, 'House Sound', has been given the remix treatment. The results are predictably impressive. To kick things off, Rob and Lyric Hood don their popular Floorplan alias to re-make 'House Sound', brilliantly re-imagining it as a dense, intense, mind-altering techno workout that makes merry with pulsating, restless bass, whistle sounds, delay-laden percussion hits and big piano riffs. It's followed by two takes on 'House Massive' featuring MC GQ: a bouncy, Inner City-inspired, warehouse-ready affair courtesy of Johannes Albert and a booming, breathless, tribal techno style tweak by Gaetano Paraiso of SouthSoul.
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Review: Celebrating the first anniversary of their label, SHDW & Obscure Shape deliver a comprehensive compilation of high-octane techno. Despite most tracks clocking in over the 140 bpm mark, Federation Of Rytm II offers enough nuance and complexity to keep the listener engaged throughout. Lars Huismann's "New Way" resounds to dramatic strings and frenetic break beats, while Mark Broom offers a different perspective. The veteran producer's "Ole Ole" is a dense tribal affair that draws on the loop techno sound for inspiration. The compilation also features other, less predictable influences. Alpharisc's "Flow" draws on dub techno, while contributions from Regent and Invexis seamlessly integrate Detroit depth into peak-time rhythms.
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Review: In a short space of time, the RSPX series has become a key part of the Rekids imprint. More broadly, the releases are essential for discerning techno DJs. This compilation shines a light on why RSPX enjoys this status. Mark Broom's "Late Night Rave Muncher" is a diva vocal-led, high energy club banger, while Klint's "Mustang" achieves the same impact by different means. Focused on a rolling groove, filtered vocals weave in and out of the arrangement. That's not to suggest that the series is all about banging techno. Gene Richards Jr's "Take Control" is a superb, Chicago influenced jacker, powered by a primal groove and piledriving claps, while Philippe Petit's "Form & Function" resounds to eerie organs and a shuffling rhythm.
Review: Mark Broom and Ben Sims are among the UK's most experienced techno producers, so it's no surprise that this split release is of the highest standard. Broom digs deep into the hardcore scene for the raw breaks and rave stabs of "W.W.W.W.W.W.W.WORK", and also takes influence from the 90s for "Nothing To Do". Mixing vocal samples with horn stabs over a rolling groove, it sounds like an update of Earth People's NY house classic "Dance". Sims takes a different approach for the steely, visceral techno "Unity", while he goes deeper for "Snapshot '99". Led by insistent percussion and soaring electronic melodies, it is reminiscent of classic Detroit techno.
Review: Back in 2020, Stefano Miele (better known for his productions as Riva Starr) joined forces with UK techno veteran Mark Broom as Star B, serving up a celebratory chunk of string-laden disco-techno on Snatch (the excitable and energetic 'Gotta Have You'. They explore similar funk-fuelled, disco-tech territory on this belated sequel for Radio Slave's Rekids imprint. Full to bursting with scintillating stabs crafted from disco samples, thumping beats, sampled party atmos, hazy spoken word snippets and restless walking bass, 'Love Will Remain' sounds like a retro-futurist peak-time anthem in the making. They flip the script on 'I've Got Joy', peppering a sweat-soaked, bottom-heavy groove with effects-laden female vocal samples and nagging organ stabs.
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Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Taking a trawl through ePM's archives, the eighth volume of Selected throws up a collection of killer remixes from some of electronic music's most respected names. Robert Hood turns Oliver Way's "Stained Glass Shadows" into a piano house banger, led by celebratory keys and a nagging acid line. In contrast, the Carl Finlow remix of Theiz' "Motor City Bliss" is a beautiful, melancholic electro track, shiny synths encased in steely drums, while Aux 88 drops an acid-heavy version of Techmarine Bottom Feeders' "A Quagmire of Confusion". There's also an abstract dimension to the release, with MGUN delivering a wonderfully woozy take on Esteban Adame's "Home Sick" - a compelling end to this fine remix collection.
Played by: Ben Sims, Paul Mac, FLEKITZA, Juno Recommends Techno, Confetti Bomb, Klute (Commercial Suicide)
Review: It's over 25 years since Baby Ford decamped to the studio with, alternately, Mark Broom and the late Ian 'Eon' Loveday to re-examine the depths and possibilities of collaborative underground techno. The result, as we now know, was a giant step forward into a new sound, with a new label, Ifach, that would go on to define the blueprint for a more minimal sound it would take others a decade emulate. Monolense, four bittersweet, emotional, stripped bare explorations of techno has long been sought-after, commanding high prices on the secondhand market, and is finally getting a re-release. This is not just a moment in time, but a bookmark in UK techno history.
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Review: Mark Broom is on a roll with his Rekids releases, and this EP provides a taster for the incoming follow-up album to 2021's Funfzig. "100% Juice" (Sampler mix)" is a peak-time affair, with Broom fusing dramatic organs and intense thunderclaps over a driving rhythm for maximum impact. "Contigo" is deeper but still club focused thanks to the combination of rasping percussion with warm, Detroit-style synths, while "Nod To The D" explores this sound in closer detail as Broom deploys a bubbling bass and soaring melodies for a truly uplifting piece of Motor City-inspired techno. He returns to more stripped back dance floor territory for "Spiked", a raw analogue workout led by tough drums and frazzled synths.
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Esteban Adame - "Out To Get It" (Anthony Parasole & Phil Moffa Reconstruction remix) - (7:09) 129 BPM
Played by: Juno Recommends Funky House
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Review: With 20 years spent releasing, distributing and representing techno and electro's finest producers, it's fair to say that ePM is a true champion of the underground. That commitment comes into sharp focus on EPM20, which brings together music from all of the Eps that the label released over the past year. The listener is really spoilt for choice: Regis delivers the beautifully ghostly techno of "Beyond The Reach Of Time Pt 1", while Robert Hood keeps the mood mysterious on the aptly named "Shadows". While the compilation spotlights prominent producers, it also showcases artists who sometimes fly under the radar - on this occasion, it's Paul Mac with the drum-heavy "Nothing Remains" and Carl Finlow's nocturnal electro on "Optogenetic". The fact that it's dedicated to the sadly departed Tim Baker is also a lovely touch.
Mastoid Kollektive/Various
Review: Following on from his recent Fast Funfzig EP on Rekids, Mark Broom now unveils a superb album for the label. Drawing on a range of styles and sounds, it sees the veteran producer deliver house music in the form of the organ-led "Mover" and disco-sampling, good time vibes of "We Gonna Dance" which features Ella Fleur's uplifting vocals. However, this isn't a case of Broom mellowing out with age/. The album is peppered with straight up bangers like the dynamic, filtered "Let's Roll" and the epic builds of "Memories" that sit alongside crisp, minimal grooves such as "EFX" and more experimental jams like the stepping "Stark" and the evocative shanty of "Dub Me Good".
Review: Mark Broom draws on his own rich back catalogue for the opening tracks on Fast Funfzig: with their rumbling bass tones, swirling synths and hypnotic tribal drums, both "Fingers" and "Slow" draw on the raw techno soul that pervaded his 1996 debut album, Angie Is A Shoplifter. Meanwhile, "Wild Style" sees him embark on a different route; led by a spiky electro rhythm and an ominous bass, the veteran techno producer weaves vocal snippets into the woozy arrangement. On the final track "Facteur" Broom goes deeper, with hollowed out drums providing the backdrop for a tapestry of dreamy melodies that flow and ebb elegantly.
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Review: The ePM agency, label and distributor celebrates 20 years with a series of split EPs focused on techno, electro and house. First up is the techno release, with ePM attracting a stellar line-up to contribute. Robert Hood drops the eerie "Shadows", where menacing organs and steely percussion come together for a mesmerising slice of minimal techno. Ben Sims conjures up dense, tribal drums, interspersed with haunting wind chimes on "Xotnuc", while James Ruskin delivers the tough, steely rhythm of "There Was A Time". Remaining at the tougher end of the spectrum, the always consistent Mark Broom brings this part of ePM's celebrations to a close with the cavernous, pounding groove of "The Three Swords".
Review: Mark Broom returns to Rekids with a release that's tailor made for dance floor use. Mutated contains eight tracks, with each one clocking in around the three-minute mark. Designed specifically for DJs to get busy with in the mix, these pieces range in style from the high-paced, Rob Hood-style minimalism of "Changing" and "Form" to tracks like "Marker" and "Stranded", whose frenetic rhythms and building chords have echoes of classic Technasia. There are some deeper tracks too, with the chord-heavy "Mutate" standing out, but no matter which direction he pushes in, this release captures the veteran producer in peak-time mode.
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Various/Richie Hawtin
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Originally released back in 1995, this is the first time that Richie Hawtin's selection for Mixmag has been available as separate digital tracks. None of the featured tracks have aged a day, with the Plus 8 boss navigating a path through underground house and techno. There's tripped out acid from Lausen and his own Plastikman and FUSE material sitting side by side with pioneering minimalism from DBX and G-Man and the hypnotic pulses of Teste's eternal "The Wipe". Mixmag Live! also reveals a deeper side to Hawtin's oeuvre, and the trio of dubbed out tracks that the mix ends on - from Paul Hannah, Sensorama and Roman Flugel's Roman IV project - is nothing short of stunning.
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Review: Riva Starr's Snatch! celebrate 10 years in the game in 2020, and this collection rounds up the best of their output over the latter half of that first decade. Tuff, chuggy tech-house is, unsurprisingly, the dominant sound here, but it's by no means all that's on offer - Rogue D flirts with 80s boogie on 'Take It Easy', for instance, while Soul Speech loops up Heatwave's 'Boogie Nights' on 'Soul Speech'. With tracks from the heavy-hitting likes of Max Chapman, Darius Syrossian, Steve Bug, Groove Armada, Wade and Denis Cruz, and cheeky reworks of classics like 'My Beat' and 'Pride (A Deeper Love)', there's useful ammunition here for house jocks of many different micro-persuasions.
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Review: The idea that music should stay away from politics is flawed, and Break The Silence is one of the most convincing counter-arguments against this notion. Featuring unreleased tracks donated by a stellar cast of underground electronic music artists, the compilation seeks to raise funds for Campaign Zero, an initiative that campaigns against police violence in the US. With artists like Rob Hood, 4 Hero and Luke Slater all contributing to Break The Silence, the listener really is spoilt for choice while also supporting a great cause. However, the standouts come from Eddie Fowlkes and Jon Dixon, who both drop superb jazz-influenced house tracks.
Review: While many contemporary producers are mining rave influences with varying degrees of success, few have got the knowledge and sense of history as Mark Broom. This release showcases the UK veteran's expertise: the title track features wild hardcore stabs, filtered heavily and unfolding over pounding kick drums. On "Insta", the Beardman boss goes for a similar approach, only this time, sirens flow over a wobbly bass. "Midnight" is deeper, with celebratory piano lines building gradually against the backdrop of tight percussion and skipping beats, while Broom matches up old school synths with a warbling groove and evocative, looped vocals for the decidedly euphoric "Hear Me".
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