Someone give me some work to do, I am clearly bored.

Matthew Dear: Anger Management / Audion: Kisses (Spectral) - EP
On 'Anger Management', not an effect, melody or beat is wasted. As contagious as any of his other releases and continues to confirm the label as a major force in global techno. Anyone else though, will wonder what all the fuss is about. With 'Kisses' its Matthew Dear by any other name, the techno boy wunderkind flirting with the Chicago jackin' sound. Low kick thuds try to stop an ever fluctuating rasp from swamping the entire mix. Might sound a bit gay on home listening but will work wonders in a club.

Jeff Samuel: Windux / Dash Dude: The Radio Diet (Morris Audio) - 12"
'Windux' is no-fucking-around four-to-the-floor house with shades of click. Just pretend you know what you're talking about and quote the track 'Sloung' on your travels. Dash Dude's full length LP is reportedly cracking, this 12" unfortunately plays it by the numbers. Slightly stodgy, predictable click house punctuated with lazy processed vocals. The presence of remixes by Jeff Samuel and Hakan Libdo doesn't really save this. Both up the kick drum but I reckon that's as far as they could have gone with this.

Apoll: Family Three / Jussipekka: Work The (Morris Audio Citysport Edition) - EP
Some might call Apoll's effort uninspired, boring and lacklustre....and they'd be right. But after some uninspiring releases on Pokerflat, Jussipekka delivers missives that veer from the heads-down driving techno of 'Work it, Move it, Do it' to visions of Detroit on the awfully titled 'The Hippi'. Jazzy house isn't really our thing and we've yet to decide if this track steps over the acceptance boundary. Exiting the EP is the excellent 'Lempi'; rich, sustained ambient chords pierce the unusual lolloping rhythm.

Secondo: It's any late time (Dreck) - 12"
Secondo: We got it like that (Soul Jazz) - 12"
Secondo AKA Radovan Scasascia provides us with two marvellous examples of digital disco. The funk basslines, hi-NRG chords and even vocals are all put thru the laptop shredder and emitted in micro bursts. sonically effective as well as retaining disco's underlying ability to rhythmically propel you. both are worthy demonstrations of the technique.

Magnum 38: 4 fois le petit mort (Shitkatapult) - EP
Yet to be bored by anything on this label. And this understated release by Magnum 38 has its moments. 'Sagemann' is definitely the weakest; 8-bit buzzsaw bassline left running throughout its duration just simply annoys. Coming off like a poor man's T.Raumschmiere. but 'Klinik Jive' sounds as good as its title; bursts of distortion controlled to a 4/4 template.

Anne Westphalen: Everything else (Sue Mi) - 12"
Stunning collection of micro-grooves. 'Gleisdreieck' reminds me of AGF; beautifully rendered tales of lost love and late nights mapped to a berlin kick. The remnants of dub scrapes and max patch shavings are lovingly sculpted into ambience on 'Saltlakecity'. The sort of textural dub that just about everyone is doing, but few seem to pull off with any style.

Portable: Gridshift (Sud Electronic) - EP
Texturally correct; smooth as slick b-lines pulse and vibrate, tunes are roughened up, effects are applied. But it's on repeated playback that the mood takes a backseat and digital details are revealed. As the EP progresses, resonance and diffusion of brightness are gently increased until the whole palette is reduced to pixel dust.