1. DJ Emerson – Patterns of Force [Micro.Fon]

Taken from DJ Emerson‘s follow-up album to 2016’s Repetitive Music, this sample-heavy techno track strikes the right balance between funk and crunch. A driving, groovy bass line propels it forward while catchy samples, warm synth stabs, and infectious percussion add a touch of subtlety.

2. Radio Zahn – Twilo (Extended) [Rekids]

Masters of the heads-down, eyes-closed groove Radio Slave and Dustin Zahn team up on this ode to the legendary New York house club of its namesake. “Twilo” is a ten-minute ride through chunky drums, rumbling bass, grainy dub chords, and soulful vocals that reward the patient listener with a huge payoff in its final third.

3. Sub Filla – All Sound Boys Dead [//Darkmode]

Tracks like “All Sound Boys Dead” are what dubstep fans mean when they say “proper dubstep.” Sub Filla concocts a heady blend of dusty, reverb-soaked drums, cone-rattling bass growls, and downtuned vocal samples for the heads.

4. Jeff Mills – Horizons

Detroit’s ambassador to outer space Jeff Mills explores his more experimental side on “Horizons,” a chuggy, meditative, and slightly sinister soundscape. Loose, swaying drums create a hypnotic, rhythmic pulse while layers of gnarly pads and washed-out effects build tension.

5. Orca – Intellect VIP [Deep Jungle]

Deep Jungle continue their mission to unearth forgotten gems from the golden era of jungle, this time giving Orca‘s previously unreleased VIP of “Intellect” a much-needed official release and remaster. This is quintessential ’90s jungle: rapid-fire amen breaks, swirling synths, and huge sub bass stabs.

6. Uun – Terrain Vague [Ego Death]

Broken beat techno at its finest. Built around an incessant groove comprised of squelchy sine waves, snappy TR-909 beats, and swirling effects, “Terrain Vague” showcases Uun‘s firm understanding of the balance between intensity and detail.

7. Konduku – Gelgit [Nous’klaer Audio]

Netherlands-born, Berlin-based Konduku has an uncanny ability to write music in multiple genres without losing the core essence of his sound: organic, tribal rhythms and subtle melodies. “Gelgit” takes these elements and places them within the framework of a deep, ever-evolving techno cut that works equally well on a dance floor or at home.

8. Not A Headliner – The Endless Hour [Hemisferio Records]

“The Endless Hour” is pure, unfiltered melodic techno. Use this track as your benchmark for the genre. Taking inspiration from the late ’90s and early 2000s, Not A Headliner combines driving percussion with lush strings, catchy chord loops, and mechanical blips and bloops to create a track that pays homage to the past while looking forward to the future.

9. Sam Link – Hesitate [YUKU]

Wonky, off-kilter footwork meets choppy, grimy jungle in this raucous dance floor burner. Chinstrokers will have hours of entertainment figuring out all the different breaks Sam Link used for the drums on “Hesitate,” while speaker-freakers will love how the huge, distorted bass stabs pack a serious punch.

10. Aroent – Say [Infinite Machine]

Aroent delivers a slice of absolutely deadly breakbeat with a touch of dark garage and IDM added for good measure. Watch out for the classic vocal sample during the breakdown and the absurd, glitchy edits that chew up and spit out the drums after the drop.

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

HISS A.K.A. Rove Ranger has developed his sound for over 15 years. Together with some colleagues, he joined Vison Ekstase back in 2019, a techno collective with its roots planted in Stuttgart, Germany. They’ve created successful events, art, and music by breaking the rules and exploring new ground. From the influences of EBM and industrial to the likes of today’s modern techno, his rough, dirty, uncompromising rhythms coupled with hypnotic melodies stand out as hallmarks of his stripped-down, minimalist ’90s techno.

Like most Enemy Records releases, Ecclesia perhaps shines brightest in a late-night after hours setting. “Hostie” evokes the sensation being caught in the spin cycle of a washing machine. A constantly changing focus showcases different spatial resonances prevalent within the intertwined shuffled claps and hat rhythms. “Stained Glass” brings a more upbeat spatial amalgam to the room with 360-degree-panned pads, stabs, and verb pulling the mind in many directions.

Rounding things out, “Confess” takes tenured listeners back to the stripped-down, classic minimal they grew to love throughout the ’90s and beyond, covering ground with swirling pads and hypnotic whisps of subpattern spacious pings rolling through the background. Last up on the EP, “Vaults” is a minimal train ride with hypnotic bass rhythms sure to roll into the back of a venue.

Ecclesia embraces everything we’ve come to love over the decades with an ambisonic stereo image created using today’s technology, delivering robust minimal compositions that will satisfy any techno enthusiast’s palate. The album is available in digital format via Enemy Records Bandcamp.

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

In December 2020, Belgian DJ and producer Cri Du Coeur made a splash with the debut of a record label mostly serving as a vehicle for his own music. Less than a year later, Arkham Audio has released its first various artists compilation. Arkham Friends Part 1 & 2 released on September 3rd in digital format.

Notable figures in the global techno undercurrent feature on the two-part compilation. Arkham Friends Part 1 includes tracks by Dustin Zahn, Denise Rabe and Luis Flores, whereas Drumcell, Florian Meindl and the label boss himself appear on Part 2. The music therein largely speaks to the label’s funky take on techno without betraying the genre’s emphasis on sonic experimentation.

Arkham Origins

Long before Arkham Audio was a glimmer in his eye, Cri Du Coeur (whose only listed name is Jerome D.) was first exposed to techno at U.K. promoter Universe‘s Tribal Gathering in 1993. Initially performing under the moniker G-Rom, he went on to organize Belgian raves such as Area 51 and Defcon.

Jerome D. inaugurated the Cri Du Coeur alias by releasing three 2020 EPs on his newly minted label. Prior to Arkham Friends Part 1 & 2, Arkham Audio also gave a home to 2021 releases by Electric Rescue and T99.

Arkham Friends Part 1 and Arkham Friends Part 2 are each available for purchase in digital format via Juno Download.

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.

DVS1 (real name Zak Khutoretsky) voiced his support for those demonstrating. “I can’t condone all the behavior surrounding the protests, riots, looting, and violence, but I 100% stand by the reasons this is all happening and I can understand why it’s happening,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “When peaceful protest goes unheard, riots happen, uproar happens. When you don’t hear the voice of someone speaking quietly, they speak LOUDLY.”

Zahn made more pointed commentary, criticizing electronic music influencers for inaction. “I must admit the lack of support from the underground dance community regarding the week’s past events is pretty disappointing considering our culture is entirely indebted to black roots,” his Facebook post began. “The biggest voices in the industry are doing nothing and saying nothing. Your top-tier DJs have made nothing more than whispers and Resident Advisor has barely acknowledged the situation. They should all be ashamed of themselves.”

Compared to the outpouring around the 2018 Tbilisi raids, Zahn asserted that key industry personalities have remained absent from the conversation. “Most popular acts have said NOTHING while others posted an MLK quote, hashtagged George Floyd, and called it a day,” he wrote. “Today’s use of excessive force is 1,000 times the cause everyone fought for two years ago but nobody is doing anything to raise awareness.”

As Selector has recently explored, techno is not only rooted in African American culture but protest as well. Often called “the Public Enemy of techno,” Underground Resistance incorporated themes of uprising into their brand to make social commentary on the whitewashing of black music.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Wednesday that Chauvin’s charge would be upgraded from third to second-degree murder. The other three officers present during the incident have been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting.