Electronic Music
Archive series
Overview
2015-2019 Digital Hyper-Futurism #09
Electronic music embraced a hyper-futurist edge as the underground pushed the limits of rhythm, texture, and synthesis. This era traces the evolution from the brutalist architectures of industrial techno to the liquid precision of deconstructed club, footwork, and pointillist sound design.
From raw, hardware-driven experiments to glitch-infused abstractions of the digital avant-garde, these records forged a radical new sonic language. This volume captures the moment electronic music became a high-definition frontier-abstract yet danceable, cerebral yet visceral-the definitive architecture of the modern sound.
Watch 22 essential Digital Hyper-Futurism tracks. Use the "Watch" buttons to stream individual tracks, or play the complete playlist to experience all tracks in one session.
2015
"Hyper-Real Synthesis / Deconstructed Club Core"
Sophie Xeon built this from hypercompressed samples of physical objects - balloons, plastic bags, springs - run through custom Max/MSP patches until the source was unrecognizable. MSMSMSM (pronounced "Msmsmsm" - no vowels, no human breath) was the opening track on the PRODUCT compilation and functioned as a manifesto: synthesis so hyper-real it loops back to abstraction. Released on PC Music, it defined deconstructed club as a genre separate from footwork, grime, or post-dubstep. - On "PRODUCT"
2015
"Industrial Techno / Raw Hardware Power"
Roberts built this around a 909 kick processed through an overdrive pedal chained into a spring reverb tank - the industrial weight comes from the spring physically moving under high gain. Careless was Roberts at his most purely functional: no arrangement arc, no breakdown, no concession to accessibility. Released on Ternesc, it sits at the brutal end of his output and predates the more nuanced hardware work he developed with Karenn. - On "Careless EP"
2015
"Footwork Evolution / Geometric Rhythm DNA"
Jerrilynn Patton was working overnight shifts at a Gary, Indiana steel mill while making Dark Energy. Unknown Tongues uses asymmetric rhythm patterns derived from footwork's 160 BPM grid but refuses to resolve into any repeating cycle - the geometric complexity comes from Patton manually programming each 16th-note offset rather than using a step sequencer's pattern repeat. Planet Mu signed her on the strength of two SoundCloud uploads; Dark Energy was made entirely on FL Studio on a laptop at home. - On "Dark Energy"
2015
"Industrial-Acid / Peak-Time Techno DNA"
Jason Daniels built the acid line from a Roland TB-303 run through an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal - the aggressive midrange that separates this from typical 303 work is the pedal's asymmetric clipping stage. Released on Monnom Black, Len Faki's imprint, it became the label's defining track of the period and cemented industrial-acid peak-time techno as a distinct Berlin export. Played by Faki and Daniels at Berghain throughout 2015-2016. - On "Escape the System EP"
2015
"Orbital-Techno / Sub-Bass Minimalist Mutation DNA"
The "Oh my gosh. Easy easy. Hold it down." vocal is sampled from a 1995 BBC Radio 1 "One in the Jungle" pilot broadcast by DJ Ron and MC Strings - the jungle pirate radio lineage landing inside a mainstream release 20 years later. Young built the track around a sub-bass pulse tuned to 40 Hz, below the threshold of most consumer speakers, so the track performs differently in a club than on headphones. In Colour reached number 2 in the UK albums chart - the highest charting electronic album of its kind that year. - On "In Colour"
2015
"Raw Electro / Minimal-Industrial DNA"
Hauff recorded this entirely on hardware with no DAW - a Roland SH-101 and a TR-606 running into a mixing desk with no computer in the signal chain at any point. Spur ("track" or "spur" in German) was made during her Hamburg residency at the Golden Pudel Club, and the raw production reflects a deliberate rejection of the polished Berlin minimal sound then dominant. Released on Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune, it established raw electro as a viable label-level genre rather than a niche collector's format. - On "Discreet Desires"
2015
"Dystopian-Techno / Atmospheric-Pressure / Deep-Berghain DNA"
"Children of the Ringworld" - Philip Renk named this after Larry Niven's science fiction novel, which describes a constructed megastructure orbiting a star. The track was designed specifically for the Berghain main room, tuned to the room's 30 Hz sub-bass extension; Renk has said it sounds "wrong" on any other soundsystem. Released on his Dystopian imprint, it defined deep-Berghain DNA as a distinct production category: atmospheric, slow-developing, built for endurance rather than impact. - On "Wach"
2016
"Pointillist Trance / Deconstructed Euphoria DNA"
Senni built his entire output from a single element of trance - the build and its rising chord stab - surgically removing the drop and leaving only the anticipation on loop. Win in the Flat World is pointillist trance: each chord stab isolated like a note on a score, with silence between them bearing equal compositional weight. Released on Warp, it was the track that moved his concept from art-world curiosity to a production methodology that influenced the deconstructed club movement. - On "Persona"
2016
"Structural Techno-Bass / Hyper-Defined Rave DNA"
Tom and Ed Russell (both also of Tessela and Truss separately) built this together using a shared modular system where each brother controlled half the patch in real time - the structural complexity comes from two people making independent sequencing decisions simultaneously. Released on Tectonic, it was their first release as Overmono and established the collaborative methodology they've used since. The "hyper-defined rave DNA" comes from UK hardcore samples processed until only the transient envelope remains. - On "Winged / Echo"
2016
"Abstract Minimal / Anti-Human Techno"
The Stockholm duo keeps their identities anonymous; the album title is a self-contained concept - 15 tracks, each adding one more "Ss" to the sequence until the final track completes it. The anti-human techno of SsSsSs... is produced from granular processing of industrial machinery field recordings with no pitched synthesizer elements anywhere in the album. Every tone is a physical object made tonal through processing. Released on their own SHXCXCHCXSH label. - On "SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs"
2016
"Structural Industrial DNA"
David Letellier built this from a single oscillator patch on a Buchla synthesizer - an instrument whose non-standard voltage architecture means the timbral palette has no equivalent in European modular synthesis. The structural industrial DNA comes from Letellier's background in architecture; he has described his productions as "buildings where the structural elements are visible." Released on Stroboscopic Artefacts, Ardent was the track that made the label's aesthetic internationally recognized. - On "Cory Arcane"
2017
"Hardware-Driven / Brutalist Techno"
The title refers to a technique Blawan uses to create kick drum transients: physically crushing piezo contact microphones under his boot to capture the impact, then processing the recording into a drum hit. Crush the Mushrooms was performed entirely live at Unsound Festival 2016 - the release is the performance recording with no overdubs. Where Chaste Down established live-hardware techno as a format, Crush the Mushrooms defined its brutalist ceiling. - On "Karenn EP3"
2017
"Chrome-Plated / Avant-Garde Minimalism"
Cunningham built this around a Chrome-plated aesthetic - every sound processed until it has the reflective, cold surface quality of polished metal. X22RME is a serial number format, deliberately industrial and anonymous. AZD (the album) was made during a period Cunningham described as "trying to make music that sounds like it has no author" - the avant-garde minimalism is a systematic erasure of any recognizable gesture or style. Released on Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune. - On "AZD"
2017
"Synth Avant-Garde / Hypnotic Futurism DNA"
Daniel Lopatin composed the Good Time soundtrack in real time while watching rough cuts of the Safdie brothers' film - the directors sent him cut after cut with a 24-hour turnaround requirement. Good Time (the track) was built entirely from processed vintage synthesizer patches run through convolution reverb loaded with impulse responses Lopatin recorded in actual New York subway tunnels. The Cannes Film Festival awarded the soundtrack a prize - the first electronic score to receive it in the main competition. - On "Good Time"
2017
"Glitch-Techno / Emotional Synthetic DNA"
Liam Hynd built this on a modular system augmented by custom Max/MSP patches that introduced randomized pitch micro-deviations into every element - the emotional quality comes from the tuning instability rather than any melodic writing. Touch Absence was Hynd's debut release, made in Glasgow while studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Released on Whities, it introduced glitch-techno as an emotionally legible rather than purely formal genre. - On "Whities 009"
2017
"Peak-Time Acid Techno / Underground DNA"
Margot Fenestraz built the TB-303 line using a hardware unit she found broken at a Paris flea market and repaired herself - the acid character comes partly from a malfunctioning accent circuit she chose not to fix. Acid Train was her second release and the track that established her as a peak-time acid techno producer rather than a niche collector's act. Released on Mothers Finest, her own label, it defined a French underground response to Berlin's dominance of industrial techno. - On "Acid Train EP"
2018
"Neural-Network IDM / Visual-Audio Synthesis"
Richard James trained a neural network on his own back catalog to generate melodic material, then used the outputs as raw material rather than finished compositions - the IDM quality comes from human curation of machine-generated content rather than algorithmic composition. The music video by Weirdcore uses real-time rendered 3D geometry that responds to the audio signal; it won a BAFTA for British Short Animation. T69 collapse was the lead single from Collapse EP - his most technically advanced release to that point. - On "Collapse EP"
2018
"Precision Engineering / Future-Club Grammar"
Hertz built this around a single chord progression processed through a quarter-tone tuning system - every interval in the track sits between standard Western pitch relationships, creating harmonic tension that has no resolution in equal temperament. The "Q" is never explained; Hertz has declined to clarify. Theme from Q was the track that moved Objekt's production approach from psychoacoustic engineering into harmonic research. Released on Hessle Audio, it defines future-club grammar as a formal rather than functional project. - On "Theme from Q"
2018
"Deconstructed Club / Political-Electronic DNA"
J'Kerian Morgan built this as a direct political statement about Black queer experience in Berlin's predominantly white club spaces - the deconstructed club architecture is deliberately unwelcoming, designed to replicate the feeling of occupying space that was not built for you. Hunted is the album's hardest track by design: Morgan has described it as the sound of "refusing to be comfortable." Released on Tri Angle, it made deconstructed club explicitly political in a way that distinguished it from the aesthetic project of contemporaries like SOPHIE. - On "Power"
2019
"Industrial EBM / Rave-Futurism DNA"
Martyna Maja named this after the unofficial nickname for the PKiN (Palace of Culture and Science) in Warsaw - a Stalinist-era skyscraper Varsovians call "Batman Church" for its silhouette. The EBM sequences are built from a Korg MS-20 run through a distortion chain designed to produce exactly the midrange aggression of early Belgian industrial. Released on Mind Records, it was the track that placed Warsaw's emerging industrial scene in a Berlin-facing context without losing its Eastern European political charge. - On "Batman Church EP"
2019
"Industrial Techno / High-Pressure Power"
Temple built this as an explicit counter to Gegen's 2014 rawness - where Gegen was confrontational industrial, Joshua and Goliath is controlled high-pressure power. The title's biblical inversion (Joshua rather than David facing Goliath) signals Temple's framing of underground resistance as strategic rather than spontaneous. The kick is tuned to 50 Hz specifically to exceed Gegen's 909 frequency range while retaining sub-bass weight. Released on Noise Manifesto. - On "Joshua and Goliath EP"
2019
"Kickless Techno / Translucent Harmonic DNA"
Sam Barker removed the kick drum entirely as a conceptual decision: Utility explores whether techno retains its functional identity without its defining element. Built from translucent harmonic layers on a modular system with all percussive transients filtered out, the track plays at standard techno tempo but refuses to behave like techno. Released on Ostgut Ton, it was the label's most formally radical release to that point - Berghain's own imprint publishing a record that undermines Berghain's production aesthetic from the inside. - On "Debiasing"
Electronic Music Archive Series