Equinox: Acid Rain VIP (Planet Mu) - 12"
Breakage: Drowning (Planet Mu) - 12"

Drumfunk seems to be one of the last few reasons to listen to drum'n bass. As the rest of the movement has been quite happy to settle into a mediocre cycle of watered down rhythms and lame dynamics. Artists like Equinox and Breakage, through their work on labels like Inperspective and Bassbin, have taken the art of breakbeat editing to new levels.

A similar camaraderie exists with artists associated with electronic music, so it seems apt that these two should eventually make their way to Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu imprint. Whilst both are excellent (Breakage's effort seems more layered), I prefer the soulless cavern of Equinox. The title track sounding as if the computer was left to its own devices; exercising every single manipulative algorithm available. Loop, breakdown, reform, repeat.

Cepia: Dowry EP (Ghostly) - 12"
Kill Memory Crash: Crash V8 (Ghostly) - 12"
Kill Memory Crash: The O (Ghostly) - 12"
Lawrence: Spark EP (Ghostly) - 12"
Daniel Wang: Berlin Sunrise EP (Ghostly) - 12"

Cepia is IDM. I therefore pass. I don't do IDM.

Wicked bit of up-tempo modern dance music from Kill Memory Crash: Ghostly's answer to EBM. 'The O' is sneering filtered vocals of meaningless narrative pasted to a propulsive kinetic kick. Sounds retro and futurist in equal amounts and therein lies its genius. Supported by an even more ridiculously hi-NRG Hacker (no, not Hecker) remix.

'Crash V8' is driving heads-down electro that should suitably soundtrack some Hollywood techno thriller. Even the usually miserable Richard Devine flails limbs on his remix. Young, dumb, but full of cum.

Lawrence impressed with this smart, sophisticated offering before wowing everyone with his amazing 'The Night Will Last Forever' LP. Same schtick really: refined, clinically pure builds of considered narrative, the merest hint at a rhythm and loads of sex.

Daniel Wang glitters it up with four quite brilliant takes of hi-NRG disco techno. Arpeggio melodies, rich addictive B-lines, camp German ravers and all manner of maladjusted synth's are thrown into the pit. An apt sonic postcard of the city that nurtured techno.

2AM / FM: Part 1 (Spectral Sound) - 12"
Peter Grummich: The Roll (Spectral Sound) - 12"
Hieroglyphic Being: Liquid Sex EP (Spectral Sound) - 12"
Various Artists: State Of The Union 2 EP - Fist Of The North Star (Spectral Sound) - 12"

2 AM / FM is nicely done, perfunctory nuggets of machine-abusive techno, just seriously lacking any compositional class. All the right sounds, beats and textures to evoke vinyl hits of yesterdecade. Sadly predictable as fuck and therefore pure dancefloor designed. Purchase if you can't find any Drexciya to hand.

Peter Grummich Tag's: Berlin, brittle, buzzing, clanking, cyclic, dry, flat, pixellated, rigid, synthesised, teutonic, robotic, electronic.

Now that techno music has aged enough to have a history, there seems to be an ever increasing wave of artists whose musical manifesto is to mimic all that had gone on before. Not pussyfoot around by taking elements of the past, but to completely hijack specific sounds. Artists like Sleeparchive are not happy until someone blurts out "Fucking hell, is that new Plastikman?".

Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss does his best impression of that distinctive early Chicago house sound. At a time when machines were beige grey and computer sequencing wasn't in full circulation: broken beats, harsh handclaps, mangled melodies. After a while though, it does get on your tits.

On the 'State of the Union' EP, as usual Mike Shannon trounces everyone else with apparent effortlessness. His 'Blind Love' is more danceable than The Mole's shuffle and subtly dubbier than Deadbeat's dread.