In 2021, the first edition of “Next Wave Acid Punx” came out. Published by Eskimo Recordings, which is the dance department of N.E.W.S., the US-born artist Curses from Berlin presented dozens of tracks from the synth/EBM archives and exclusives from our days. Similarly, the ‘part deux’ follows its trails, as the teasing four-track sampler shows. For the start, the curator Curses reworks “Heartbeat” by Nuovo Testamento, an American post-punk band previously seen and heard on Avant! and Discoteca Italia. With a strong taste of italo and US freestyle, it serves as a sonic lollipop 1980’s youth in ..read more

For the last three years, in addition to being busy with DJing and collabs/remixes, Ancient Methods has curated new talents for his own label Persephonic Sirens. After EPs by Downwell, Rubén Seoane and many more, it’s the maestro’s turn to present “The Third Siren”, to let the seductive roars conquer the lands and seas again. My picks are on the A-side. The groovy opener “Sophia’s Silent Woe” offers a time machine experience, when flamboyant track with spoken word intro recalls proto techno (of BOY Records fame), and Balearic strings add a dreamy breeze. Ancient Methods’ trademark percussion ..read more

If the name Olivier Abbeloos doesn’t ring any bell, T99 and Quadrophonia certainly do. Especially if you remember the emergence of European techno many decades ago, when Abbeloos co-produced party bombs “Anasthasia” and “Quadrophonia”, respectively. With the fellow producer and promoter Analog Devices, the two seasoned players are full of energy to stun a new generation. As both were close witnesses of the early nineties, they are eligible for using rave templates, which range from continental to UK hardcore stabs. Stocky bass drum and polka vocals let out “Baghwa”, which after an annihilating ..read more

A new arrival on Persephonic Sirens is a precious one: Giorgi Kolbaia aka Downwell from Georgia is not holding his horses and delivers four armor-clad workouts. After well-received 2019 debut on the Spanish label Oráculo Records, the artist from the Caucasus joins the acclaimed industrial techno label, doing it with an impact. Firmly steering a buoyant, bass-laden machinery, Downwell lends an entrancing flair to his tracks, like in the thundering title cut that turns the periscope towards a Goa encampment. Creatures from the dark side are exhaling toxic fumes for the start of “Dusk To Dawn”, t ..read more

Various unknown artists and various sounds of techno on this five-tracker, clocking almost 30 minutes of playtime. A good reason to return to the label, after covering the fifth release in the STAUB series. Most hypnotic is the opener, a stimulating builder that reminds of Jay Ahern’s works with synthetic dub patterns and squeaking pulses. Kick drum force pushes A2 into the darker spheres, with messy voices in the squeeze of industrial aesthetics, followed by a 2.5-minute broken beats dash in the A3. The B1 wins the beauty contest, a calm and harmonic tune with dubbed out chords and lovely rat ..read more

In the early 90’s, Electric Indigo was as a vital player in the techno scene between Vienna and Munich and her acid and techno sets were integral part of the legendary Ultraschall club. Now in 2020, the sound of the Austrian-born musician travels in comparatively different paths, which actually is not surprising after her experimental sound research for Imbalance Computer Music a few years ago. In her album for Mego, Electric Indigo turns an eye to material engineering, being inspired by durable compounds when she presents eight cast iron purges on the theme “Ferrum”. Dwelling in the inner dep ..read more

The sound of Rotterdam may have changed over the years but Black Merlin’s new release for the city’s Pinkman imprint carries the same nasty mechanics we know from hakkuh days. Even when in “SFORMATOR 2” the BPMs are modest, compared to the Terrordrome days, its daunting dark tribal makes me think of the proto-gabber act Holy Noise. Following “SFORMATOR 1” from the April last year, the artist sticks to crushing mood in new three tracks of further 120 BPM hangman drumming. In “Verticle Shadow” a shotgun-equipped desperado is running against a locust swarm and “Kraur Ribel” is going for a slow ki ..read more

The last days of December 20 years ago were spent in great anticipation of the Millennium Bug. The darkest plots saw the future of the (wo)mankind endangered, if the computers would have flipped out. Luckily, hardly anything of these predictions materialised and doomsday scenarios were postponed. Which means that 20 years later we are still around and it allows me to look back to the 1999 section of my record collection. It’s another subjective end of the year list and not representative at all, also given the fact that Pan Sonic‘s album “A” is missing in my collection, which is otherwise well ..read more

**** I Murdered – Blood In Blood Out (Reclaim Your City RYCL011 – 2019) After connecting dots on the global techno map – from Amsterdam via Tbilisi to Buenos Aires – , in a series of mini compilations, Reclaim Your City presents the label’s first solo release. Out on a bail after their debut EP on Mord, in their second record the Berlin duo consisting of Janice and Luis Flores are merging crime scene techno with industrial funk. After opening tones of the churning and slicing original “Blood In Blood Out”, I thought about Orphx, and indeed, the remix duties are subsequently handed over to the ..read more

After much-appraised “Ocular Animus” last summer, Ultradyne’s Pi Gao Movement has commissioned a vinyl release of secret UFO committee sound files that were recorded by the Majestic 12 alias in 2011. “Descendants Of Starfish Prime” is written with the blackest ink and comes from the junction of dark electro and EBM.  First instructions for perilous journey are found in the slimy crawler “Document MJXIII”, while the industrial jitter “Revelation From The Uninspired” is a pacemaker matching the darkest sectors of Drexciya’s heritage. The curtains remain closed and hardly any daylight is let ..read more