The past few years have seen Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva’s Plus 8 imprint alternately looking forward and backward. There’ve been both excellent new school techno releases (Alex Under, Adam Beyer) and key reissues (Teste, Taksi, and Hawtin’s own Plastikman project) that influenced the label’s own output. The latest Plus 8 missive falls firmly in the latter camp, a double-A side of two hard-to find classics that still have the power to rock modern dancefloors. “Dead Eye”—originally the debut release on Ford’s IFACH label—sees Baby Ford and Ian Loveday working a thumping, scratchy, shuffling 4/4 groove over some seriously moody keys for an epic journey through the dark. “Amenity,” from Mark Pritchard’s Link alias, opens with a Morse Code riff, adds some skillful atmospheric washes, pings, and pongs, and builds toward a thrilling climax. Both tracks are essentials in the truest sense of the word—no self-respecting techno collection is complete without them.

Plus 8 / PLUS8086
[Todd Hutlock]

Given that it was initiated under the pretense that it would explore “unconditional love to timeless music,” and given that each track on Immer is a personal favorite of Mr. Michael Mayer, this Kompakt off-shoot is basically a chance for those of us who aren’t fortunate enough to know the man to still take a peek into his bag of tricks. D-Saw’s “Track 10:30″ begins with an aural illusion that morphs back and forth across time signatures, and just when it seems to enter an endless lock groove, a sky-sized drum falls out of the sky and smashes the entire track. The product of this union is a celestial piece of German rave, and, yes, trance. With a bass line that brings to mind Kraftwerk’s “Aero Dynamik,” Mayer drops another trance bomb on us for the b-side, Euphorhythm’s “Patrik (Dr. Motte’s 1997 Mix).” It feels good, dirty, and frankly, makes those of us who never actually owned a glow stick a bit jealous.

Immer / 002
[Cameron Octigan]