Detroit Techno 166 Items

Detroit producer Norm Talley shares his debut album, “Norm-A-Lise” on FXHE Records. Having started his career when disco was king, Talley’s real life influences over his 25+ year career have included the originations of house through various iterations. His reference points as one of the original members of the West 6 Mile Detroit crew and his dedication to his Analog only studio position him as one of the more dynamic Detroit artists who’s finally taking the time to release a complete project for his long awaiting fans. The album features 14 original tracks with influences of disco, house, and beyond taking his signature infectious style deeper. On top of all of that, the album includes a track written by FXHE label boss Omar S aka Alex Smith featuring L ‘Renee.

Limited to 100 copies. Multi coloured vinyl, various colour ways, the colour you will get is random. No Repress. No Reprint. 

A year after their impressive last album Burn It Down, Detroit techno legends Octave One are back with a nine track double EP that again shows they are masters of big hypnotic grooves.
Entitled Love by Machine, the album's name is a nod to the fact that the Burden brothers are such revered masters of their hardware. Both in the studio, where they cook up atmospheric house and techno with soaring synths and vocals and also in the live arena, where they are celebrated as one of the most accomplished and forward thinking performers in the game today. That is all the more impressive when you bear in mind they have been active since the ‘80s, most often releasing on their own 430 West label, which is where they appear again here.

Say Lenny: "We've been exploring the theme of connection with this project. How technology gives us the illusion that we are closer to each other more than ever. At some point humanity crossed a line where the devices that we created to bring us together are the same devices that are blocking us from organic experiences.”

"Technology is only a tool, which we also had in mind during the recording process.” Adds Lawrence. "We decided to go back to how we used to make our records, when we didn't have so many ‘sophisticated' audio devices. Back to when we interacted in the studio together as musicians.”

Things open up with the loose metallic percussive line that is In Mono, which sets the machine made tone and is filled with promise. Locator then immediately gets to action with a gallivanting techno kick and various synth lines wrapping round each other as you get sucked into the groove. Just Don't Speak (Midnight Sun Redub) is a more deep and house leaning track with big feel good piano keys and slithering synths that will get hands in the air. Proving they have real range, 7 B4 Dawn is a moody and reserved cut with subtle acid pricks, hip swinging claps and a spaced out dead of night feel.

The second half of the album offers peak time business in the form of the spectacular Bad Love II, the whirring and cosmic Sounds of Jericho and the big loops and fluid grooves of [Where] Time Collides. Pain Pressure is a wonky number with big bassline and a focus on percussive patterns as well as some vocals with real attitude and last cut 8 B4 Dawn ends things in a downbeat and sombre way with sad chords and emotive strings. It is pure Detroit, much like the whole album, and rounds out another fine release from these most revered veterans.

Detroit legend Omar S returns this week on his always different but always unmissable Fxhe label with the bouncy and neon-lit groove of 'Hard Times', which sees him collaborate once again with Megan Louise of Canadian outfit Desire (Italians Do It Better) on vocals. The original comes backed with a handy instrumental mix and a dreamy, plus an evocative rework by Idib chief Johnny Jewel over on the flip.

Omar S is back with another great E.P. with opening Killer track O Maarr, second track Glass is for the Lo Fi Geeks and lastly Bug Off is where all the Deepness and Funk starts and continues.

12" featuring the tracks that are only available on the CD.

”Gateway” The opening track leads you through a universe of cosmic melodies and imagination into a new atmosphere. Deep kicks ride along bubbled bass lines, rave-y stabs, and sinister Detroit strings.* "light Span" * Huge drum work and clever percussion take us further into the void covered with gorgeous arps & snappy snares. Definitely a sound of the time as well as the future, taking the listeners back to the 90's rave era with its massive bass stabs. Enjoyable journey music. * "nebula 7" *A fine taste of Detroit techno string work and arrangement, the EP's ending track pushes the ear to the final elements of the journey. Haunting voices, funky space bass and futuristic cool. Well chilled and served perfectly as a completion of the EP, this track rounds out the 'Trilogy Wave' series concept of the group in this 1995 popular recording reissue.

After Polyschematic EP 1 and 2 (rmce009 and RMCE009.1) Polyfan Polyphenix is back with the Polyvalence EP. The record includes 4 cuts of melodic electro breaks that connect seamlessly to his previous EPs on Rawax Motorcity Edition

Population One 313 power pack.. Beware!

White marbled vinyl. Copy n° 164/300

Rebecca Goldberg wrote Trois Cent Trois as an auditory postcard with musings from a late-summer road trip across France in 2021. On TCT Rebecca sonically guides us through the emotion of new adventure and the risks involved during a time of global uncertainty. The first single, Troit Cent Trois, is a play of the French way to say Detroit and 3-0-3. Like Rebecca's previous work on Detroit Underground, acid is the EP’s predominant sound. The next stop, A2 track Le Détroits, is an acidic metaphor for the celestial beauty of the French countryside. Face A ends with The Perception of our Power, a Ghettotech cut that's full of Detroit-funky/beloved-in-Paris bounce. Flip to Face B and bathe in the acid arpeggiation of the lead-off track Paradoxe du Plaisir (Pleasure Paradox in English), referring to the practical difficulties encountered in the pursuit of pleasure. The destination B2 track, What It Means (To Start Over in a Ruined World), waxes poetic on the explanation with throbbing percussion and call and response rhythms. According to Viktor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning, "Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensued and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself." Trois Cent Trois was featured on Bandcamp’s “New and Notable” releases list and was highly regarded in The Wire magazine. For the vinyl release, Rebecca designed a minimal black and white package with slanted black text reminiscent of France's directional local road signs. The vinyl is limited to 303 copies and each one is hand-signed and numbered.

With the second record for Misfit Melodies and the fourth for the Running Back universe, Robert Dietz solidifies and hones his very own sound. Heartfelt and emotive, a slice of lovers acid works as the prelude to an EP of IDM patterns, classic house tropes and something that is as much fun as it is funky. “Great Hormones at Bed Time” owes the same amount of money to Detroit as it does to Frankfurt am Main. Definitely no lullabies here.

Vinyl has scuffs and light scratches.

After flexing his more functional dj-tool approach on the previous Rod20 releases, ROD goes full on Detroit Techno on the Hood Spirit EP with four 1 take hardware jams filled with colour and light.

RAWAX MOTOR CITY EDITION presents one of Detroits most working artist, Mr. Gari Romalis. Under his SCSI moniker he delivered here an outstanding elctro release reminding us the glory days of this genre. This masterpiece will be out in March 2020. Highly recommended!

Detroit's Sean Deason drops the second release in our New Detroit Deep series, following Hazmat's Infinite Silence ep. Sean has delivered an ep of classic Detroit Techno and Breakbeat, showcasing all the Detroit Techno elements of groove and soul.

Another classic release on Makin' Madd Records in the rebound! This time it's The Shadow aka Lou Robinson of Scan7) "The Lurking Shadow EP" which came out 1995 will be soon available again on solid black vinyl. Re-mastered edition - don't sleep! Special thanks to Mr. Terrence Parker!

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs, closer to VG+

RAWAX proudly welcomes Alan D. Oldham to the Family. We're happy to present you Signal To Noise Ratio - Detroit is Burning. This gem was ariginally out on Djax Up Beats in 1991!

Vibraphone presents another huge release. This time it's Silicon Minds - IHY (Interstellar Hypnotic Yama -Biko) With an timeless Mayday Tribute Mix by the one and only Derrick May!
Highy recommended!

All music by Andres Specter Ordonez Illustration by Sean Linn Graphics by Thomas Xu 2023 Whobody Publishing BMI

All music by Andres Specter Ordonez Illustration by Sean Linn Graphics by Thomas Xu 2023 Whobody Publishing BMI

All music by Andres Specter Ordonez Illustration by Sean Linn Graphics by Thomas Xu 2023 Whobody Publishing BMI

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3rd release on Steve O'Sullivan's own Rawax series comes from T.A.C. aka Chris McCormack & John Beer. "Funny Money" was originally released in 2000 on Mosaic. 22 years later it will be out on vinyl (re-mastered) again.

Detroit techno luminary Terrence Dixon joins Kynant with six tracks of signature minimalism.

Mastered by Giuseppe Tillieci (aka Neel) @ EnissLab Studios, Rome. Artwork by Christopher Honeywell

Seven years after the classic ‘Theater of a Confused Mind’ (as Population One), Detroit techno phenomenon Terrence Dixon is back on Rush Hour with a new album, this time under his own name. ‘Reporting from Detroit’ is another prime example of the distinctly unique sound language Dixon has developed over the last three decades - defiant, forward-thinking afrofuturist techno that could only have been made in the Motor City. The first pressing is limited and holds an extra record with 2 extra tracks called "Electronic Travellers" & "Growth And Development".

Last seen on Discogs in 2017, the mysterious Marvyn Don returns with a full release of his old Lilac Road & Swag related EP from the early 2000’s, with four UK techno and tech house inspired rollers that are fit for any dark club or afters. This EP has been brought back to life with some exciting additions to the series coming later this year. Grab it whilst you can! Limited to 300 copies.

Those buried in the soil of the red planet dance forever in the afterlife. You can hear their rhythm in the dust storms at night

As The Vision, Robert Hood provided Detroit techno a pinnacle of the artform. It may be justifiably best known for the lip-bitingly strong minimalist transport of Detroit: One Circle with its sparing central refrain "Detroit" and spine-playing riffage, or for the killer Explain The Style variant, but for us the EP's shortest and freakiest number Modern And Ancient is also one of its strongest, a mad, half-stepping slice of Afro-futurist electro encryption that still blows our mind today.

Detroit a city of great contrasts. Feats of engineering that spurred the world forward. For a few decades wealth and prosperity. Hi-tech dreams seemed achieved. But with the dream also comes nightmares…..Traffic Jams, Predatory Insurance Companies prey on municipalities with no mass transporation, freeways built specifically to ruin minority prosperity & to build walls between people. Beautiful countries all over the world wrecked at war over the thirst for oil, entire neighborhoods decimated when the corporate greed for profit forces engineers to build throw away cars that are quickly replaced by better built foreign competition. Even Worse……Climate change. Detroit the city that knows the best NO Corporations Should Dictate City Function the people should……listen to the sound and learn from it……or deal with the Lo-tech reality that Corporate greed actually is so good at building. UR the future UR the change……

Outer space or Cyber space, you decide… Fantasy or an urban introduction into the vast possibilities of the internet? Honoring sci fi heroes, citing inspiration, or something more sinister?

Norm Talley's Upstairs Asylum label only arrived in 2021 but is already up there with the great Motor City imprints. The boss has been busy putting together a trio of new EPs for the first half of 2023 that showcases a wealth of Mid-West talent. House hero Boo Williams kicks off this one with his typically tight drum programming and party-starting synth work on 'Tickin Clock.' Eric Johnson keeps it raw, deep and loopy on 'Melodic Gruv' then Reggie Dokes brings his signature Atlanta house sound to 'Mother's Child' with its melancholic lead sax and 'End of Time' is a broken beat bliss out.

Wowww. heavy compilation, puttogether by Delano Smith (Mixmode) and Rick Wilhite (Vibes New & Rare Music) featuring a fine selection on who's who in Detroit music - spread out over 3 vinyl discs !

Upstairs Asylum Recordings is one of the many seminal Detroit labels run by local legend Norm Talley. It's right in the middle of a busy run right now with no fewer superb run with three new EPs all dropping in quick succession. This one is a split EP with US duo Solid Gold Playaz taking care of the a-side. As always with this pair, their sounds are deep and dusty house with exquisite melodies tugging at the heart. On the flip, Gari Romalis steps up with the slick percussive skip of 'Detroit After Dark' then 'Panties' from Brian Neal brings jacked up analogue groves that lean into techno with a big fat bassline.

Detroit's finest with another nice various artists release! Drivetrain (Detroit, Usa) The Greatest (Hard Times Mix) taking flavorful elements from his deep house original, this is a killer dose of thick-set, granular house-meets-techno; blissfully wrapped in plush, woozy, jazz-flecked overtones. Motomitsu (Paris, France) - Bless perfectly appointed, synthetic strings rise and fall; back-dropping deep, purling bass, anesthetic keys and distant, wraithlike vocals drifting in and out of view. Jani Ho (melbourne, Australia) - Mono Charge club weaponry delivering an exhilarating, full-throttle ride through a menagerie of ever-shifting layers, which themselves are in a constant state of leg-sweeping flux. Owen Ni (athens, Usa) - Another Sunny Afternoon a stratospheric, psyched-out house heater, fired up of aerial synthesizers, whisking off to beatific and unearthly sonic euphoria.

Various Artist from the Earth Mothern family: Rk’s, Austerity, JS and Zero Gravity Saga for the first volume of the “Tape Fresser” series. Rk’s open the EP with B3rln2 a deep, techno track, based on a solid groove and a stellar pad. The new secret project Austerity closes the A side with a raw-tech-funk-balearic jam, highly recommended for every floor. B side starts with Seven Words, sharp drums and a soft female voice, exclusive JS style. The last track of the EP is Pink Flamingo of Zero Gravity Saga a new anonymous project based in Berlin, pure acid destruction mixed with heart.