Techno Tuesday

"Positive Education" by Slam -- Oh boy, here we go... This right here is simply a Classic. Slam released this progresive techno song on their Soma Recordings label, c. 1993. It was also released, in remixed form, on their 2000 Alien Radio album. Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle, as heads of the Scottish label, are responsible for 13 years of amazing techno and house music production and DJing, and it is their label that introduced Daft Punk to the world with the "New Wave" and "Da Funk" singles.

Loaded with absolutely enormous builds - come on, the song practically shuts down completely half-way though, only to come roaring back! - this song sits right next to the classics of Underworld in terms of scope and huge, druggy energy.
Pick up Alien Radio, or to get a taste of what Soma has brought to the table, get Soma 10, the ten-year retrospective they released a few years back with loads of classics, including this, the original mix, on it.

"Graphite" by Osborne -- Osborne, aka Todd Osborn (no 'e'), aka Soundmurderer (his Jungle guise), aka Starski and Clutch (his booty guise, with Brian Gillespie), owner of the Ann Arbor record store Dubplate Pressure, Todd has been a DJ and producer for a number of years, producing amazing records out of his home studio.

"Graphite" comes from the B-side of the incredible Afrika EP, his third release on Spectral Sounds. A sub-label of Ghostly International, Spectral is the avenue for the label's dance-floor-directed releases, focusing on moody, leftfield techno/house, for producers like James Cotton, Matthew Dear, and Osborne. Swinging, clipped and micro at some stages, "Graphite" also has some bounce to it, with a rubbery synth and the deep bass drum that thuds along with the shuffling clicks.

The other two songs on the 12" are absolutely worth the price - the A side is unlike anything else he's released, like African-tribal techno if you can imagine it - so please please please pick it up, you will not be disappointed. Look for his album to drop... sometime this winter - I get chilly just thinking about that. Brrrrrrrrr!