Steve Bicknell has been immersed in techno for close to three decades now. Having launched the legendary  LOST parties in 1991 with Sheree Rashit – which, if you don’t know, gave Jeff Mill’s his UK debut – as well as launching the influential Cosmic Records label a few short years later, he has been one of the most understated, vital figures in the UK’s underground, dark techno spheres since some of the scene’s biggest contemporary players were just kids. Though LOST may have finished up some years ago, that influence has gone nowhere.

His most recent EP on 6dimensions ‘Mind Patterns’ is arguably Bicknell’s most ferocious, relentless work. ‘Vein Injection’ is a distorted, brutal sonic assault while ‘Present Minds’ is a dark, euphoric trip that you could only hope to crawl your way out of, or just get lost in.

96 Back is the pseudonym of Sheffield-born, Leeds based DJ/producer Evan Majumdar-Swift. at At just 18, he is quickly becoming one of the most talked about names in the UK electro and bleep scenes and beyond given his rapid, infectious mixes and, particularly, given the anticipation surrounding his new release on legendary Sheffield label CPU Records.

Few artists have been as pivotal in Ireland’s electronic evolution of the past decade as DeFeKT. A formidable producer and live artist, the modular electro dedicant – real name Matt Flanagan – has, along with the likes of Sunil Sharpe, Jamie Behan, John Daly and Donnacha Costello, risen in recent years from the once covert but bustling techno underground into the thriving mainstream of the scene.

“I've had modular since I started to get better at production in college,” he explains of his production background. “I was introduced to it about 12 years ago by my teacher Ken. In terms of getting more into electro, my journey started by collecting techno records and I’d hear some electro B-sides. At that time I’d be blown away by the beats. My love affair with electro grew and grew as I got into Kraftwerk, Anthony Rother and The Advent to name a few.”

Amid the incendiary percussion, volatile acid lines and buzz saw bass grooves, ‘On A Roll’ is embellished with spoken snippets and found sounds that ground the release in the Irish landscape and community, giving a keen sense when listening to the album that it exists proudly within this pivotal time for Irish electronics where this music exists more in the “mainstream” than ever before. ‘Intro’ finds two young midlands accents discussing “patterns” before the ferocious ‘Caravan Life’ kicks off.

Dallas, Texas is a buzzing hub of raw, hard-hitting electro music, with DJs like Helena Hauff, Maceo Plex and R9 all avid followers of the sound.

The small city has been pumping out essential electro cuts since the mid-’90s, which have drawn influence from hip-hop, Krautrock, industrial, and the sounds of the Motor City.

Identified Patient is part of a new wave of artists questioning the boundaries of what techno can be, at a time when the mainstream is awash with increasingly linear sounds.

“Patrick [Marsman] is really doing important work for the industry,” Veerman tells DJ Mag of the Pinkman label boss over Skype from his home in Amsterdam. “After that EP, there was more movement and my DJ sets got more exposed. The label gives trust and believes in young artists,” something he says is key for pushing electronic music forward.