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

Max Gardner and Cory Simpson have inaugurated a new label called Peer with Gardner’s techno EP, This Is A Test. Three original singles are supported with remixes by Drumcell and Insolate. The EP was released on Bandcamp in February 2022 in digital format.

Thunderous bass beats kick off the EP’s first track, “Clamor” before quickly unfolding into a War of The Worlds-style alarm call. Bell tones round out the sound for a multi-dimensional experience. The resulting impact is huge, and the rest of the EP measures up similarly.

Next, “For Realness” takes Gardner deeper into dark territory with pulsing discord as off-kilter sounds morph and twist through the track. The Insolate remix supports the gravity of the original with an even stronger emphasis on hard dissonance.

Then, evoking a soundtrack to a deep hypnosis session, swirling loops and glitches meet more driving beats on the EP’s title track. Drumcell’s remix pares it down without losing traction, boosting the bass further.

Max Gardner is the founder of the Direct To Earth event series in San Francisco. Cory Simpson is cofounder of the DEPTH Seattle collective.

Purchase This is a Test in digital format via Peer Bandcamp.

Bounce, claps and a driving pace permeate the EP’s sound. It could easily be mixed all the way through to adoring peak-time crowds worldwide. Tracks “Crestfall,” “Call” and “Advanced” trend toward harder, faster sounds. the Wrong Assessment and Franz Jäger remixes of “Advanced” and “Crestfall” respectively round out a fresh take on techno that bridges cultural and geographic landscapes.

Debuting in 2021, Cratan has released three EPs including Crestfall that maintain his consistent minimally melodic style throughout.

Observant is an electronic music label founded by DJ and producer duo Audio Units (real names Ashwin and Ashrith Baburao). Indian techno thrived pre-pandemic with international support by heavy-hitter DJs and festivals like Awakenings and DGTL. Where Goa and psytrance have historically dominated that scene, techno is now a secured mainstay at clubs and festivals.

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

Spanish artists Reeko and Tensal have each offered up a single for a hard techno two-tracker on the former’s imprint. Tremendous Satan’s Doom demonstrates the compatibility of their individual styles as a singular whole. It released in digital format via Mental Disorder on October 22nd.

“Rose Out Of Chaos” by Reeko pairs peak-hour lead synths with cinematic percussion, a hypnotic breakdown arriving midway through the arrangement for dramatic effect. Tensal’s “Lux Rhapsody” contributes a necessary measure of groove suffused with brutalist textures and a smooth bass line.

Reeko and Tensal Revisited

Boasting nearly two decades as a recording artist, Reeko (real name Juan Rico) has released on labels such as Pole Recordings, Planet Rhythm, and Avian in addition to his own label, Mental Disorder. For about a decade he has also championed more hypnotic, dub techno and ambient the alias Architectural.

The discography of Tensal (real name Héctor Sandoval) is fairly short by comparison. With numerous releases on Soma Records as well as appearances on Mord and Arts, however, he’s arguably packed significant accomplishments into his tenure.

Purchase Tremendous Satan’s Doom in digital format via Mental Disorder Bandcamp.

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

“Dreams can come true,” reads the product description of Mannequin [SAV018]. “The worldwide techno legend Oscar Mulero is releasing a milestone EP on Suburban Avenue.”

The weight of Mulero’s name was not the sole reason for the Asymptote-run label’s delight. The four-track EP arguably makes for one of the Spanish DJ and producer’s more memorable recent releases. It arrived in digital and vinyl format August 2nd.

“Start to Move” sees Mulero apply his keen ear for texture to a straightforward hard techno format. “Area” follows with a more avant-garde polyrhythm, and the anxiety-provoking suspense of the title track scratches an itch that’s hard to put your finger on. The record ends with “Straight Line,” whose grating timbres are still a relatively soft iteration of the producer’s sound.

Oscar Mulero and Suburban Avenue

Hailing from Madrid, Oscar Mulero became a fixture of the Spanish underground not long after taking up DJing in 1988. He helped open renowned nightclub The Omën in the mid ’90s and remains one of the artists most closely associated with the country’s electronic music community, sought after for its authentic balance between industry and artistry.

Given Suburban Avenue’s relatively short lifespan, the fact that it drew Mulero’s attention speaks to the quality of its offerings. Since its 2014 launch, the imprint has given a home to music by the likes of 3KZ, Fanon Flowers, Z.I.P.P.O and Binny. Asymptote themselves released a four-song acid techno EP titled Acid Pulse in April.

Mannequin is sold out in 12-inch vinyl record format at the time of writing. Purchase it in digital format via Suburban Avenue Bandcamp.

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

Techno has long offered a case study of how music can tell a story through unconventional methods. Operator‘s latest release sits in the far fringes of this already obscure aesthetic. The 10-song Theurgy EP released on Mord in digital and vinyl record format on July 12th.

Tracks like “Proxima B” and “Apex Cut” are about as melodic as the EP gets, with the abrasive textures of “Complex Raid 2089” and “Arcturus” encapsulating more challenging concepts. Perhaps the standout of the EP is “Century Station.” Hinging around samples of a train horn, the single demonstrates the sonic appeal of urban noise a la Luigi Russolo.

Operator is the alias of South Coast U.K. DJ and producer Rich Jones, who launched the project nearly a decade ago. Since then, labels like MindTrip, Audio Assault and Soma Records have provided a platform for his music. He additionally runs his own imprint, Gnosis Records.

The Theurgy EP is available for purchase in digital and 12-inch vinyl record format via Mord Bandcamp.

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

Returning to their sound of old for a release via their own PoleGroup imprint are Spanish duo Exium. Four brutalist hard techno cuts appear on the Low-pressure discharge EP. It arrived May 14th in digital and vinyl record format.

According to a description, the Low-pressure discharge EP sees Exium make “a sort of comeback to their primitive roots.” Of the four tracks, “Cyclotron” is the only one whose warped melodies and granite-like textures aren’t underscored by a syncopated beat. The effort closes out with the title track, whose lower tempo and percussive swing at once hint at both industrial and electro.

Exium Revisited

A creative union between producer/DJs Valentín Corujo and Héctor Sandoval, Exium have maintained a consistent output since they started the project in 1999. Over the years their music has landed on labels like Sunn, Nheoma, Planet Rhythm and Pole Recordings.

In 2010, the latter label – founded by Oscar Mulero – rebranded as PoleGroup, with artists Reeko and Christian Wunsch as well as Corujo and Sandoval themselves joining as partners. In the years since, it has championed releases by the likes of Jonas Kopp, Tensal, Perc and Developer.

Purchase the Low-pressure discharge EP in both digital and 12-inch vinyl record format via PoleGroup Bandcamp.

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

KR/LF, the record label of Italian artist Kill Ref, is giving a home to another compelling hard techno release. Parter / Twitch by Serbian DJ and producer Lag consists of two tracks well suited to the imprint’s style. It releases in digital and vinyl format May 17th.

Both “Parter” and “Twitch” follow the same general formula: mind-bending broken beats with artful noise and short vocal samples ringing out overhead. In each concept it yields an at-once challenging and danceable soundscape, two permutations of the same gritty aesthetic.

Who is Lag?

Lag (real name Milos Martinov) traveled a long and winding road in music before focusing on techno. Initially drawn to punk rock, he received a formal education in classical music before finding himself enticed by the boundless potential of electronic music.

After flirting with EBM/industrial, Martinov landed on Serbian label Teskoba Recordings with “Untitled 3,” which appeared on the Eraser EP in 2009. He further refined his sound, and from 2013 on his music has been championed by the likes of Mord, THEM and Singularity Recordings.

Parler / Twitch is available for pre-order in both digital and 10-inch vinyl record format via KR/LF Bandcamp.

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

Italian producer Kaiser has teamed up with Spanish talent Kwartz on a brand-new techno endeavor. Force Reaction, as they call themselves, have debuted on the former artist’s KSR imprint with Definition [KSR006]. The four-track EP released in digital and vinyl format April 23rd.

Each entry of the Definition tracklist is a numerically ordered namesake of the EP’s title. “Definition 1,” “Definition 2” and “Definition 3” offer grating hard techno, and “Definiton 4” closes out the EP with more atmospheric minimal. By and large, the effort succeeds in fusing robotic motifs with just the right measure of human groove.

Mario Kampos has released music as Kwartz since 2012, when he debuted with the Quantico EP via Ketra Records. In the time since his music has found a home on labels like Horo, Mord and his own Order&Devotion.

By comparison, Kaiser (real name Gianluca Caiati) boasts a shorter tenure – albeit with a longer discography concentrated into that time. In addition to releases on Planet Rhythm Records, Labyrinth and Voight, he inaugurated KSR in 2018 with the EP State Of Existence.

Definition is sold out in 12-inch vinyl record format at the time of writing. It is available for purchase digitally via KSR Bandcamp.

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

Austrian artist Specific Objects has launched a record label called Twice Infinity. With a debut EP of the same name, the DJ and producer has delivered four hard techno tracks that offer a glimpse of what’s to come. It released in digital and vinyl formats February 26th.

For “Endstate” and “Niver,” Specific Objects (real name Mathias Baumgart) served up peak-hour dance floor weapons that offering little in the way of subtlety. “Visceral” is more of the same except buoyed with a soulful spoken-word vocal sample and nostalgic synth work. “Lockdown Groove” ends the EP on a more melodic note while maintaining the drive of the tracks preceding it.

Baumgart’s debut release as Specific Objects came in 2016 with a two-tracker titled Demos Oneiroi that released via Betanol Records. Since then, his music has found a home on MEAT Recordings, Temple. and NORD LTD.

With the Twice Infinity EP, Baumgart derived inspiration from early 2000s techno to set the tone for future releases. He intends to offer “a means of personal expression under full control and ownership, as well as an outlet for underrated styles of techno that don’t follow current trends blindly,” according to a description.

The Twice Infinity EP is available in digital and 12-inch record format via Twice Infinity Bandcamp.

Berlin record label HAVEN has offered up a four-song compilation for its latest release. Sardonic Tonality Vol. 3 (HVNWHT005) comprises four visceral hard techno cuts. It released February 12th in digital format with a limited vinyl record pressing.

German duo New Frames kick the compilation off at a frenetic pace with the sonically diverse yet unrelenting “Byronic Hero.” “Oblivious Civics” by HAVEN boss Keepsakes suffuses its grating sonics with dissonant melody, followed by Italian producer Ayarcana‘s cinematic “Bring Nothing Take Nothing.” “Overmonitorized” by Surit closes the effort out with relatively soft but still foreboding sounds.

HAVEN inaugurated in January, 2018 with Keepsakes’ four-song EP, Perspectives From A Sterile Hellhole. In the three years since, the label has given a home to additional releases from the founder himself as well as those of Tommy Holohan, Body Beat Ritual and Peder Mannerfelt.

Sardonic Tonality Vol. 1, which arrived in September 2019, included singles by New Frames, Ansome and Draag. The second installment of the series released April 2020 and consisted of music by Taken Name, Riesenfeld, Ryan James Ford and Julien Andreas.

The 300 12-inch vinyl record copies of Sardonic Tonality Vol. 3 have sold out, and HAVEN does not issue represses of their white label series. The album is available in digital format via HAVEN Bandcamp.