H2H
Les Perdre / Thomas Barnett Mixes

German's Dial has always been a cornerstone for electronic invention and Kosta Athanassiadis aka XDB has always lead from the front who it comes to deep and hypnotic sounds. The two come together for this fine full length which is the result of an ongoing 20 year friendship. The record is an exploration of experimental grooves, with spoken word snippets over deep organ sounds, pulsing drums and shifting timbres all drawing you deep into an alluring world of rhythm and sound. Next to more sedate pieces for mind expansion are plenty of gritty club grooves. Excellent work.

Hands up who gets the vintage sci-fi reference in Trevor Jackson's latest production alias? For the non-nerds amongst us, Dark There Were & Golden-Eyed is the name of both a legendary short story by Ray Bradbury and a famous London sci-fi bookshop of the 1970s. Musically, the three tracks Jackson has served up this time round tend towards the stripped-back and synthesizer-heavy. They were apparently recorded between 2010 and 2014 using a minimalist set-up of handpicked pieces of analogue gear. While the B-side contains a couple of formidably dark, odd and curious, soundtrack style excursions, it's the epic A-side, "Design Your Dreams" - a fluid, loved-up and hypnotic blend of Terry Riley style cyclical synthesizer motifs and subtle percussion - that stands out.

F Comms is one of techno 's most influential early labels and its 25th anniversary reissue series is reminding us why. Next up to get a second time in the spotlight is Deepside's self titled EP from 1992. Deepside was Guy Rabiller and Ludovic Navarre. It's a blistering one, too, with twitchy synths over hulking great kick drums. Rave stabs and twisted basslines all bring that old school energy, while 'Get On Your Own Way' (Trance mix) is a nice one to get lost in when you're coming up. All tracks are mixed by Ludovic Navarre himself, who is if course best known as St Germain, so the quality is superbly high.