Various Artists Structures and Solutions: 1996 - 2016 Blueprint Records
Industrial techno is dead. Right? No? Fashions may come and go, but balls to the wall techno, it seems, is here to stay. Throughout the changing seasons, Blueprint has been a mainstay of fast and muscular dance music. Now, they’re celebrating their twentieth anniversary of releasing club bangers with the compilation Structures And Solutions.
Structures And Solutions could be considered a microcosm of the state of the techno nation. Crunchy hardware jams rub up against slick, hi-fidelity tracks, and there’s even a nod or two to the current vogue for modular synthesis. The diversity of the tracks plays well. As catchy, dancefloor-ready bangers segue into moodier moments, such as Blawan’s excellently menacing Passer By, the listener gets the sense of a label that has been able to move with the times without compromising its principles.
As with all subcultures, what was once confrontational becomes part of an established vocabulary, but this is an inevitable part of growing up, and Blueprint seem comfortable with their elder statesman status in techno, able to enjoy the rude health of the genre. Original speed techno head Oliver Ho delivers a restrained master class in subdued aggression, whilst Regis’ Party Spoiler Too sees the producer returning to the single-minded repetition that made his name two decades ago in style.
While not ground breaking or revolutionary, Structure And Solutions is a solid compilation, and a colourful snapshot of techno in 2016.
Industrial techno is dead. Long live industrial techno.