Search

With its grimy cyberpunk aesthetic, Berlin label Mechatronica's innovative electro releases have found fans in the likes of DJ Stingray 313 and Helena Hauff. Alongside a mix from its catalogue, co-founder Casper Mejlholm tells Ben Murphy how experimentation and rule-breaking are at the heart of its success

With his Shaytoon Records label, Sepehr has built a platform for underground techno and electronic music from the Iranian diaspora. But the versatile New York-based producer and DJ fights oversimplified categorisations and pigeonholing at every turn, extracting influence from obscure ‘90s rave records as much as Persian mythology. Alongside a 90-minute On Cue mix demonstrating this sound, he tells Marke Bieschke about his Flower Storm project with Kasra V, the influence of Silent Servant, and his grunge-influenced new band

Brooding and austere, Richie Hawtin’s third album under the Plastikman alias is a minimalist masterwork

1st May 1994 was the first big London protest against the looming Criminal Justice Bill, the piece of legislation that first proscribed a genre of music — rave music, “wholly or predominantly categorised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” — in law. Despite widespread demonstrations at what was seen as draconian power-grabs by the UK authorities, the Bill became law later in 1994. Here, Harold Heath looks back at the reaction from the dance music community at the time, and the Act’s lasting impact on the rave scene today