A by the by release from Robag Wruhme. This is a very good producer churning out just another piece of somewhat decent music, but it is completely let down by the fact he uses both recycled sounds and structures from earlier releases. It's a poor show.

I think now that he should stick to remixing other peoples music, which he does incredibly well, rather than forcing out hasty releases such as this.

Another disappointment is that this record sounds about eight years old, and not in a nostalgic way. In fact, I would not be surprised if this is a leftover from an earlier session that did not make the grade: that is exactly what it sounds like.

Good hard industrial thumping techno. It's got the solid chugging bass, cascading rhythms and shifting hi-hats, which all sound like a good time at the ol' saw mill tonight. There's a heavy sense of the mechanical side of techno on this record, which makes the new avenue that Byron Bogues has taken into minimal (and not very good minimal) tech-house very disappointing. This wasn't a big record, and didn't deserve to be, but it's still the best thing this producer has done. If only he could have continued along these lines instead of being swayed with the trends, he would have created a masterpiece.

This is a solid album from a producer who has seemed to excel mainly with remixes such as JSJ's Deep Love 9.
I have found that the test of a producer is an album. Many producers who have released excellent singles often run a bit short on an album, be it a lack of ideas or rushed production.
This album works well, with a progression running through the tracks from begin to end.
There are some duds here though. Colours is driven by a female vocal that feels far too mid-nineties chillout compilation for liking. And the major departure from the mood of the album, The Room, is a piece of minimal tech that simply does not do enough, or have a strong enough hook, to warrant its play length.
But on the whole this is a solid album and at its best reminds me of Leftism.

This is Dirk Leyers on an edge closer to his Nerk collaborations yet still using that stripped down melodic sense that he displayed so well on the Wellen release for Kompakt. Not a producer that has been on everyone's lips but with this release, and his small but faultless catalogue, it seems that he should deservedly gain a reputation. All three tracks are sparse groovy techno. The A-side (Azul) being the most driving of the tracks. The title track (Alma) is a spacey piece of Detroit style techno. Though a short track it has all its pieces in the right place. This release would fit as well with the Gigolo crowd as with the Kompakt collective. In fact, it combines the best of both: danceable without sacrificing musicality. A wonderful release from a wonderful producer.

This mix came out when tech-house was really starting to move into mainstream attention. Taken as a mix, it is a somewhat fumbled progression, but as a sampler of some of the best tech-house tracks of the time, it is a solid introduction. The standouts are Cpen's perennially impressive Pirate's Life, the two SCSI-9 tracks that highlight the producer's career, and Mispent Years by Schatrax, which not only ends a great selection but also recaptures the sound of Fabric in its early and amazing years.