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

Set to release on February 18th is the new Mata Disk EP, Surrounder. Nous’klaer Audio, a Rotterdam-based label and news source since 2013, has previewed two tracks online ahead of digital and vinyl offerings.

Also from Rotterdam, Mata Disk (F.K.A. Ice Viper) keeps in step with the label’s local focus. It has been a challenge for the past five years to hone in on a sound worthy of release. His style and tastes changed frequently until finally Surrounder took shape.

That shape is breaks-centric experimental techno, and he’s on a mission to convince listeners it’s ready for prime time. The title track starts with heavily syncopated, high-flying loops mostly anchored by its core melody. Bass and a four-on-the-floor beat pick up halfway through, making this a good transitional track from a breaks-to-techno set.

“Chooser” is the other preview offered, with a similar vibe and structure plus bigger, sustained beats. Spacey melody floats overhead for a quick couple minutes of introspection.

Preorder Surrounder in digital or 12-inch vinyl record format via Nous’klaer Audio Bandcamp. 

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

London DJ and producer Inigo Kennedy has delivered a unique techno record by way of his Asymmetric record label. Abacus Frames offers five sonically diverse tracks that examine the genre through a seemingly innocent lens. It released in digital format November 12th.

Kennedy’s EP helps dispel some of the preconceived notions often associated with techno. Straightforward and synthy, the title track and “Pulse Train” deconstruct the fundamentals of the style. “Stepping Stones,” “Laterna Magica,” and “Divide And Fall” utilize more visceral textures and chilling atmospheres as their storytelling medium.

Inigo Kennedy Revisited

Kennedy boasts a recording career extending back 25 years, with releases on labels like ZET, Token Records and Pole Recordings. He launched Asymmetric in 1999 with the EP Preliminary Statements, and after a relative lapse he returned to the imprint with the September release of a ten-track album, Eyes Closed in the Sun.

Purchase Abacus Frames in digital format via Asymmetric Bandcamp.

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

Much contention has ensued over whether a given piece of music truly constitutes techno. For those that recognize the genre less as a BPM range and more as an adventurous sound philosophy, Blawan‘s Woke Up Right Handed EP more than meets the mark. It released in digital and vinyl record format on November 12th.

With swing uncommon to the techno genre, tracks like “Blika” and “Close The Cycle” exhibit an experimental approach to a familiar exploration of texture. “Under Belly,” the arguable standout of the EP, barely remains anchored to the rest of the EP’s sensibility. Driven by an impish and carnival-esque melody, it utilizes inventive production techniques for a highly inventive take on dance music.

Blawan (real name Jamie Roberts) started out in music as a drummer, which perhaps influenced the novel rhythms in the Woke Up Right Handed EP. Prior to his current project, the British DJ and producer also worked under the monikers Kilner and Bored Young Adults. In addition to releasing via his own label, TERNESC, he has also landed on the likes of R&S Records, Hessle Audio and Avian.

Stream or download the Woke Up Right Handed EP across platforms here.

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

Collaborating once again, U.K. artist Karim Maas and Chicago’s Stave have delivered an experimental techno album titled Godless [UVB76-LP002]. Comprising seven cerebral soundscapes, it arrived by way of UVB-76 Music in digital and vinyl format on September 24th.

From the percussion-free “Interlude” to the glitch-heavy “Blakk” to the ambient noise of “Track4,” Godless doesn’t test the limits of techno – it fully crosses over into noise at various points. Tracks like “D_A_T” and “Project 1,” on the other hand, keep the listener tethered to some semblance of familiarity. The title track closes the effort out with grating textures and high-pitched tones that bring an abstract finality to the effort as a whole.

UBV-76 Music, Karim Maas and Stave

UVB-76 Music was founded in 2015 by Canadian artist Gremlinz and Bristol trio Ruffhouse with visual themes by James Hewitt. Dedicated to leading the way “in the field of underground sonic art,” the label has given a home to releases by the likes of Overlook, Clarity and Pessimist.

Karim Maas (real name Thomas Cooper) and Stave (real name Jonathan Krohn) have been key contributors to the UVB-76 sound. The former hails from Bristol and the latter from Chicago. Although they’ve worked together since 2019, Godless marks their first collaborative full-length effort.

Godless is sold out in vinyl record format. Purchase it in digital format via UBV-76 Music Bandcamp.

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

London producer Otik has channeled his sublime style into a genre-be-damned EP. Trifecta, as it’s titled, comprises three tracks from the artist as well as a remix by Zenker Brothers. It released on Club Qu in digital and vinyl format on September 17th.

The title track opens the effort with cavernous techno kick drums that give way to a haunting lead synth melody overhead. “Rodex” and “Switchways” venture into drum and bass territory, the latter replete with lush, ambient atmospheres. The Zenker Brothers’ techno remix of “Switchways” rounds out Trifecta, conforming to the confines of a single genre more than any of the songs preceding it.

On Otik

Over the course of his recording career, Otik (real name Ashley Thomas) has released on such labels as Brotherhood Sound System, Durkle Disco and Dext Recordings. 2020 marked something of a turning point, however. Thomas’ self-released EP Wetlands garnered wide praise and support, signaling the beginning of an active period for the DJ and producer.

From 2020-2021, Thomas has landed on labels like INTERGRADED and Shall Not Fade. He’s been notably successful with self-releases as well. Records like Thousand Yard Stare, Lost Structures (2015-2018) and Quarter Truth arrived without the support of a traditional record label.

Purchase Trifecta by Otik in digital and vinyl format via Club Qu Bandcamp.

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

Colombian DJ and producer Gotshell has debuted on Ellen Allien‘s BPitch Berlin imprint. His techno and techno-adjacent Rezagados EP derives inspiration from government response to protests raging on in his home country. The eight-track effort released in digital format on June 18th.

Gotshell (real name Cristian Alexander Soto Lopez) covers considerable ground in the Rezagados EP. Songs like “Censura,” “Falacia,” the title track, and “Águilas” establish dissonant, fast-paced techno as a base style. Wedged between are oft melodic and sample-heavy cuts such as “Estado de Conmoción” and “Creyentes,” which give the effort as a whole uncommon range.

Gotshell Revisited

Lopez used to release music under the moniker Alessan Main as far back as 2012. He inaugurated the Gotshell project with the Hemispherios EP in 2015, which appeared on German label Nachtstrom Schallplatten. In the years since, labels like Planet Rhythm, Mord and KR/LF have given a home to his music.

The Rezagados EP builds on techno’s legacy as protest music, according to a release description. “Produced against a backdrop of poverty, inequality and protest met with violent government reprisals, Rezagados is an outcry against the Colombian government’s repression of dissent and creation of what the producer calls a ‘distorted reality that minimizes hope,’ it reads.

The Rezagados EP is available for purchase in digital format via Gotshell Bandcamp.

The latest effort by techno/experimental outfit Group has found a home on Subsist Records. Agriculture, as it’s titled, sees the Spanish label partner with Guinean imprint Faith Disciplines, who have previously championed the anonymous project’s work. It released in digital and vinyl format on February 17th.

The six tracks comprising Agriculture exhibit hallmarks of minimal, hard and dub techno, but manifesting differently from one concept to the next. Saturation and lack of brightness are common features throughout the EP, with an emphasis on reverb delay and sonic negative space throughout.

Compared to Agriculture, Group’s previous releases have fallen into the experimental category with little techno influence to speak of. 2019’s Esoteric Free Afrika and last year’s Folkcore Vol. 1 each meld tribal music with avant-garde sound design, occasionally hinting at industrial and drone.

“Perhaps, and to disorientate us even more, we can discover with this new album something more about their past,” reads the release description. “Agriculture is a different release; this time Group doesn’t just stick to his degraded style and shows us that whoever is behind this project most likely had a past as a techno producer.”

Agriculture is available in digital format and as a limited 12-inch vinyl record via Subsist Records Bandcamp.

Over a month ago, Berlin artist el nino diablo delivered the experimental ShadowPlay EP. He has now enlisted Queen Sudhara of Faithless and Perel of DFA Records for Shadow Dancer (Remixes), breathing new life into the lead single from the effort.

“Shadow Dancer” was arguably the most club-friendly track on the ShadowPlay EP, and Queen Sudhara makes it even more accessible with tranquil, effervescent deep house motifs. Perel reimagines the track with a different vision, adding nostalgic synths that give way to high-energy acids. Also included in the remix pack is a club mix of the source material.

Shadow Work

According to Resident Advisor, el nino diable incorporated field recordings from the Troodos mountains of Cyprus into the original version of “Shadow Dancer.” Other entries of the ShadowPlay EP tracklist, like “Unchained” and “Collateral Beauty,” drifted even further away from the predictable by pairing sometimes cinematic production elements with unconventional beat structures.

Stream or purchase Shadow Dancer (Remixes) in digital format here.