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

Berlin-based DJ and producer Adam X has released a double vinyl LP titled Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks. Named after an abandoned chemical factory outside of Berlin, the nine-track collection arrived on February 4th through his techno and industrial label, Sonic Groove.

“Deep within the forests of Rüdersdorf, Germany, 1.5 miles outside Berlin, exists a forgotten realm, a dark and dystopian place,” reads an album description. Its first track, “88 Tram,” backs up this ominous prose with a moody, brisk walk through the void thanks to a gritty bass line and ethereal beats. The entire LP takes on a life of its own as each track pulses, vibrates, and confidently spreads an air of mystery and trepidation. Crisp 303 synthesizer sounds collide and coalesce with each other in the aptly titled “Meteors Galore,” a breakneck acid techno sound seemingly tailor made to fill every square inch of Rüdersdorf itself.

About Adam X

Starting around 1990 in the underground dance music scene of Brooklyn, New York, Adam X has remained one of techno’s most prolific artists. He and his brother, influential techno producer Frankie Bones, founded Groove Records, which later rebranded to Sonic Groove. The label offered one of America’s first real outlets underground techno. The two are often credited credited with kickstarting the underground rave scene Stateside, including NYC’s Storm Rave party series.

Purchase or download Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks in digital and double 12-inch vinyl format via Sonic Groove Bandcamp.

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

September 13th marked the release of Crystal Geometry‘s second studio-length album on Adam X‘s Sonic Groove Records. The ten tracks comprising Distressing Visions are a just fit for the tenured label’s techno and industrial focus. The LP is available in digital and vinyl format.

Singles like “The Seer” and “The Threshold” fall closer to the industrial end of the spectrum compared to techno-leaning cuts like “Elektroshoker” and “Guillotine.” Sprinkled in between are tracklist entries that don’t fit neatly into either genre. From the stuttered vocals and fast pace of “Praxis” to the distorted guitar samples in “Ideologies Ablaze,” the LP showcases a versatile sound signature.

Who is Crystal Geometry?

Crystal Geometry (real name Maxime Fabre) draws upon decades of experience in not only rave and industrial but also punk and metal to yield a style rooted in multiple musical worlds. Perhaps owing to his background, his performances lean heavily on the use of modular synthesizers and other live elements.

Since launching the project in 2016, Fabre has released on labels like Area Z, RND. Records and Sacred Court. In that time he has delivered four studio-length albums – including 2020’s Senestre, his Sonic Groove Records debut.

Distressing Visions is available for purchase in both digital and double 12-inch vinyl record format via Sonic Groove Records Bandcamp.