In Order to Dance Vol.5 (R&S) R&S is one of those labels that has old ravers going dewey-eyed with smoke-filled nostalgia at the mere mention of the name. And despite a pretty impressive track record, what they conveniently forget is how much rubbish the label was also responsible for.

But when it comes to cold, pan-European insular techno, this collection of 23 tracks hardly puts a foot wrong. I initially purchased it for choice moments from the likes of Basic Channel, Aphex Twin and Carl Craig, but the one that I stayed for was Mike Dred’s utterly terrifying ‘Macrocosm’. Which (to my knowledge) contains the only use of a guiro on a dance track. Distressed acid basslines and rasping synths weave over a hard rhythm for what seems like an eternity. Genuinely eerie and it sonically captured the essence of what made slow-build acid house music better than sex.

Besides the aforementioned star turns, there’s also the wonderfully quirky robot marimba pop of µ-ziq’s ‘Phi*1700 (U/V)’ which contains his pre-requisite amount of MIDI-distortion. The urgent hypno-pulse of ‘The Wipe (5am Synaptic)’ by Teste is still marvellously malevolent and Kenny Larkin’s ‘Soul Man’ remains one of his finest moments.

This compilation continued the excellent standards that the previous four had established and remains a pivotal document in the evolution of techno. Just don’t bother with volume six.