February techno promo set

Anahata (Sanskrit: अनाहत, Anāhata) is the fourth primary chakra according to the Hindu Yogic and Tantric (Shakta) traditions.
In Sanskrit the word anahata - means unhurt, un-struck and unbeaten. Anahata Nad refers to the Vedic concept of unstruck sound, the sound of the celestial realm.

Lots of music have passed trough my ears during this month. Some of the tracks are available for free and some of them are not, but what it's obvious is that techno has lived a great evolution during the last two years and I think no one has been able to scape from the influence of this new era, no matter the format... and I'm not an exception. I feel really comfortable playing with those so called Berlin sounds and I like to mix them with some non regular 4x4 techno tracks when I think it's needed.

I've recently discovered the music of the BCR Boys and I found on it that kind of effective darkness that in my opinion is perfect to punish any dancefloor. I came across some BCR free tracks on soundcloud so I've used it alongside some other free tracks that Mattias Fridell and Plus Eins generously offer to their regular fans.

I also find really interesting Isomer Transition's and Peel Seamus' (one of Marsel Delsin's alias) music but never used any of their tracks on a set, so I felt this was the right time to use two of them to mark what I think are the two turning points of this set.

There are also tracks from Mike Dehnert (pure fun for a dj), Pigon and Mr. Van Hoesen among others... It may sound even a bit trendy using so much of their music on the same set but hey, this is all about having fun and telling a musical story and, as I said before, I feel really comfortable using this kind of sounds for that purpose.

I hope you also have fun listening to the result. Any comment is more than welcome:

   humo - techno promo - febrer 2012 by humo

January chart

First chart of 2012 (a bit late). January uses to be more quiet when talking about releases and this has not been a big exception.

The first record I've added to my list this month is a quite deep two track EP that I'm really enjoying. I'm talking about the 8th reference on Dekmantel. 

My second choice, has been Chimera EP on one of the most difficult to type (for me, of course) but most active labels during the last 3-4 years: Nachtstrom Schallplatten. Yes, I know, that's not such a long name. I have memorized lots and lots of labels and references. But when I try to write the name of this one, I always put a letter in a wrong place or something like that... Pure darkness on an EP that I'll play a lot. Specially Perc's remix, a quite industrial track that makes want to dance agressively. Both tracks by Ralph Mirto are also great if you want to deliver some punishment to the dancefloor.

Figure is one of my favourite record labels and A. Mochi has always been a really interesting artist for me. If you check this EP you will know what I'm talking about. I think "Black Reign" and "Phantom" could be a great definition of what could be considered Figure's message when looking into its pure dark techno oriented side, and "Stray" contains the restrained dose of dub that this label uses to supply.

Let's go a bit more serious and continue punishing the dancers down there with Perc Trax' nr. 51. When it comes to this, this label doesn't use to have any punches, and I love it. I mean, is like when you're buying a Token release. You know that you're getting a very useful tool when looking to get some response.

And as if I were preparing a set right now, I think it would be really effective to continue with any of the tracks included on Gynoid's 8th reference. Original by Sev Dah, remixes by Mr. Suckut, Donor / Truss and Grovskopa (it looks like this is going his last released track for a while...).  I think that could be enough to start a bit of self-punishment if you miss your copy of this... I think this could be my favourite on this chart, and I'm sure it'll be a faithful sidekick. Ultrarecommended!!!

A bit of good and hot dub from Eduardo de la Calle in his own label Ánalog Solutions. This is not the firts time I talk about EDLC and AS, but the fact is he's been doing a great job during several years now and I think he's not getting as much attention as he deserves. I love the classic feeling he keeps in most of his tracks. I sometimes miss the mixture of dub and acid I used to listen in the late 90's stuff and Eduardo keeps working on that feeling and he does it at a high level.

The man of the moment, Marcel Dettman has released on Music Man an EP that has really surprised me. The oringinal track is just perfect in my honest opinion. I've never seen this kind of sounds on Dettman's portfolio before and I'm loving it... Deep, hard, away from the typical 4x4 fat bass techno beat he uses to deliver and a perfect deeper, in possible, and more hot remix. A must, even just for listening.

Let me add a bit of Electro-House to my collection. When talking about originality and effective music, I think Modeselektor is name to mention. Please, let me know if you don't agree. But I'm sure you won't. I think this is their 3rd year running their own label: Monkeytown and this is the 20th release. Ain't that amazing? Well, we all know what's the deal when talking about this duo. Freek techno, electro and house. That let me be a amateur soothsayer will be followed but some remixes EPs that will gild the lily. Let's see, maybe I'm wrong.

Token, nr. 20, Phase, sold out. I won't say anything else.

And last but not least, limited edition on M_Rec by Mr. Ben Gibson. For me, he's one of the techno lords in the line of people like Inigo Kennedy, Jeff Mills, Surgeon, James Ruskin... well, you know what I mean, right? This release, sold out too, is a clear example of what I'm talking about. The sounds on it are on a level above most of all the stuff coming out lately. That's my opinion of course. Three tracks by Gibson and a really well worked remix by Samuli Kemppi... ah! I was late for this one. I hope I can put my hands on it!!!

Check my January chart here