Electronic Generations comprises 17 tracks that started out as recordings of live hybrid sets from Cox’s Melbourne studio during lockdown. Each one has been remixed and reimagined in some way.

Accompanying the announcement is the effort’s lead single, a Nicole Moudaber collaboration called “How It Makes You Feel.” In a statement, Cox said he delivered a lighter version before Moudaber toughened up the concept.

“In today’s darkness of techno I wanted to create something more jovial,” said Cox. “So the original is quite an easy track to enjoy, it’s very bubbly and bouncy. But with this new version Nicole has made a very dark twisted reimagining. It’s now very much epic techno — which you have to play from beginning to end to get the full experience.”

Juan Atkins also remixed “Deep Space X” for the album; his version will arrive this summer. Fatboy Slim boasts a credit on Electronic Generations as well.

“As a live artist and a DJ, I get to play all over the world, and to see people enjoying the shared experience of being together and dancing,” Cox said. “I’ve pulled together all the elements that I’ve learned from watching those crowds, added my sound and tried to bring you a true electronic music experience.”

Find the tracklist for Electronic Generations by Carl Cox below.

01.  Electronic Generations (El Rancho Mix)
02. How It Makes You Feel
03. Our Time Will Come
04. Heads Up
05. Toys Out Of The Pram
06.  Bring It Back
07. Deep Space X
08. Lokma
09. Keep The Pressure On
10. Get After It
11. Line Lock
12. World Gone Mad
13. Speed Trials On Acid
14. Move The Crowd
15. Apollo Beings
16. See The Sun Rising
17. Electronic Generations Reprise

Oldham has been based in Berlin since 2005, and it’s rubbed off on him in the best way. The dark, bouncy “Untergang” merges his native Detroit techno style with hard-hitting beats typical of prime-time sets at Tresor. It’s not off base considering he released a double LP/CD for Tresor’s imprint back in 1999.

Anyone who has followed Oldham’s four-decade career knows he’s more than meets the eye. A multifaceted talent, he started out as a cartoonist, graphic designer and radio host. He put the likes of Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig and his mentor Mad Mike Banks from Underground Resistance on the Detroit airwaves.

By creating art for their releases, Alan Oldham became entrenched in the Detroit scene and eventually made his own name as DJ T-1000, producing live techno DJ sets and recordings on two proprietary labels. He simultaneously maintains a strong presence in the fine art world, showing large-scale drawings and paintings internationally to sold-out acclaim.

Don’t Complain, Don’t Explain Tracklist:

1. 1. Untergang
   2. Codeswitch
   3. Indonesian Girl
   4. Resonance
   5. Resonance (Gene Richards Jr. Remix)

According to a press release, Regis (real name Karl O’Connor) produced the tracks comprising the EP back in 1999. The euphoric synths of “Beyond The Reach Of Time Pt. 2” clashed with the harder style of Tresor Records, for whom O’Connor was producing an album, but they did not fit his Housewerk Records label either.

Interestingly, the Beyond The Reach Of Time EP‘s title track shares about as many elements in common with its accompaniment, “At The Side Of Silence,” as its prequel on the EPM20 compilation. “No Love From Above” is the outlier as far as the EP is concerned – but its subtle, grating textures liken it to O’Connor’s usual fare.

O’Connor began producing music in the early ’90s and founded Downwards Records alongside Female in 1993. In addition to key releases like 1995’s Montreal, his early support of artists like Surgeon cemented his status as a key personality in Birmingham techno.

The Beyond The Reach Of Time EP will be available for purchase via EPM Music Bandcamp.

The title track sees Traxman build a ghetto house soundscape around Richard Groove‘s vocal before the juke stylings of “Take Dat Wig Off.” “West Grimy” follows with a danceable take on techno, and those who purchase the effort via Bandcamp are afforded a bonus track titled “Ya Betta Work.”

Traxman Revisited

Traxman (real name Cornelius Ferguson) is one of the artists most closely associated with juke and footwork, alongside RP Boo, DJ Clent and the late DJ Rashad. His credentials extend further back than that, though. He first cut his teeth as a DJ in Chicago in the early ’80s and is often credited as one of the first to play Italo disco.

Earlier in 2021, Ferguson released a ghetto house-focused album titled TRAXMAN The Return of Ghetto House Trackz. Shortly thereafter, he led masterclasses for an online music camp called Chicago Footworkology.

Stream or download the Freaky Brotha EP across platforms here.

The A side of the EP consists of the title track and “Riskin Tides,” both straightforward hypnotic cuts heavy on atmospheres. On the flip, the aptly titled “Studio 5/4” wanders off the beaten path with a novel time signature and abrasive polyrhythm in contrast to the relatively melodic “Wet Hot Heat.” As a whole, Hand Over Control offers functional techno that takes just enough creative risks to hold the attention of the discerning appreciator.

A staple of Minneapolis techno since 1998, Dustin Zahn has steadily emerged alongside DVS1 as one of the city’s chief electronic music exports. His releases have found their way not only to venerated imprints such as Droid Recordings, Rekids and Audio Assault, but more commercially accessible labels like Suara and Drumcode. Zahn’s own Enemy Records, launched in 2004, has also given a home to music by the likes of Decimal, Truncate and Minilogue.

In the weeks leading up to its release, preorder for Dustin Zahn’s Hand Over Control will be available via Blueprint Records Bandcamp.

Clocking in at nearly 11 minutes, “Acid King” stands out nearly as much for its artfully distorted snare drums as its Plastikman-reminiscent 303 lead. The release also includes a “Stripped Mix” and a “F.U.S.E. Bass Dub,” in addition to a track consisting of isolated percussion samples as well as one of the echoing spoken word vocal.

“As a teenager growing up on the other side of the river from Detroit it was impossible not to be heavily influenced by the sound of Detroit radio and the music being produced there,” Hawtin recently wrote of his early musings. “Listening to my earlier productions of 1990 you can hear those influences, first more as imitations and then slowly developing into something more.”

Richie Hawtin rose to fame in the ’90s not only for his own recordings, but those of the artists signed to his and John Acquaviva‘s influential Plus 8 imprint. Time Warps marked his first “dance floor-focused EP” since 1999’s Minus Orange.

“Acid King” arrived August 6th via From Our Minds. Purchase it in digital format via Richie Hawtin Bandcamp and look out for a vinyl release in late September.

Paterson and Le Gonidec have shared the single “Whippersnapper” ahead of the release. Full of hardware sounds, it goes heavier on techno than industrial with novel changes and no vocals. If the lead single serves as any indicator, the OSS sound will live in a lane of its own.

Paterson launched The Orb alongside Jimmy Cauty of The KLF in 1988. The Orb’s 1991 debut album, The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, served as the blueprint for their signature ambient house sound. They followed it up with their most commercially successful effort, U.F.Orb, the following year.

Prior to that, Paterson and Le Gonidic roadied for English rock band Killing Joke. As noted by Mixmag, Le Gonidic went on to perform with The Orb in addition to contributing to releases like FFWD, Orbus Terrarum, Bicycles & Tricycles, Orblivion, and Orbsessions Volume 1.

Preorder Enter The Kettle by OSS in digital, vinyl and CD format here.

Laurent Garnier: Off The Record will premiere at the CPH:DOX film festival on May 7th. The documentary serves as a deep-dive into Garnier’s origins and his life’s work cultivating and evolving the techno scene worldwide. Appearances from the likes of Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Seth Troxler, Kerri Chandler, The Blessed Madonna, Jeff Mills, and others will expand on Garnier’s history.

“We have been talking about it for such a long time and now…next Friday, May the 7th, it’s finally getting its theatrical world première at the fantastic festival CPH:DOX!” Garnier Tweeted. “I am so thrilled!”

Although French by birth, Laurent Garnier began DJing in Manchester in 1986. After traveling back to France to fulfill military obligations, he organized legendary events like Wake Up and Dijon in the early ’90s. He released his first album, Shot in the Dark, in 1995.

“A million thanks to everyone of you who helped us in any way to make this dream come true,” Garnier continued in a reply. “Merci Merci Merci.”

Selector’s Sounds series follows a procedure that puts music quality before status or industry relationships. Learn how it works.

Italian duo BR1002 have announced an album that encapsulates a sonically diverse range of the techno spectrum. The eight-song We Are Nothing will arrive by way of the Kill Ref-run record label KR/LF on March 8th.

The label has shared three tracks from the effort ahead of its official release. “Cycles” takes calculated risks by suffusing a syncopated beat structure with harsh noise and distortion. “Go” offers up much of the same, but tempered with a tastefully repetitive 303 tone. The title track is not yet available, but stoking anticipation for it is a visceral remix by Swarm Intelligence.

Bruno Di Berardino and Bruno Ruggieri have released music together as BR1002 since 2015. After debuting on Monolith Rec with the four-track EP Percezione Distorta, they went on to put out music through labels such as Scuderia, Instruments of Discipline and Overstep.

The limited edition double 12-inch and seven-inch vinyl release of We Are Nothing is sold out at the time of writing. Purchase the three aforementioned tracks and pre-order the full album in digital format via KR/LF Bandcamp.

One Day Away includes a demo mix and “Filthy Remix” of the title track, whereas that of Pipeline is accompanied by the singles “Airline” and “Feline.” From the vantage point of the artists’ Downwards releases each effort could be considered house, but they both exhibit dissonance and sterile sonic textures uncommon to most of the music categorized as such.

Downwards and Onward

Regis and Female (real names Karl O’Connor and Pete Sutton, respectively) founded Downwards in Birmingham in 1994. The label inaugurated with Surgeon‘s self-titled debut EP, which alongside releases by O’Connor and Sutton helped shape the influential “Birmingham sound.” In addition to electronic music, it expanded into to shoegaze, garage rock and industrial.

One Day Away and Pipeline are but two of the six Housewerk Records releases from when the sub label was active in 1996-98. Two others were offered up by O’Connor along with an EP by Dan Nurse as well as a collaborative EP by both O’Connor and Dan Nurse.

Preview or purchase One Day Away and Pipeline via Hardwax.