Various – Realm United

Originally from southern Italy, Kaiser has quietly shaped KSR into a focused outpost for techno, putting function before flatness. The now Berlin-based label returns with its fourteenth release, a full-tilt fantasy feed of double vinyl packed with concrete-slick yet gritty techno arcanes from a network of friends and close-knit collaborators. Realm United offers everything from rhythmic drills to celestial frills; label boss Kaiser opens with 'Pressure Funk', while Dutch mainstay Dimi Angelis turns in a cold hydraulic pummel on 'Flood', and Buenos Aires-born Pfirter deals in murky propulsion, before Stephanie Sykes leans into droughted percussion, and not least Sanna Mun's 'Hydra' offers a standout in weird-angled pressure. Jay York, Augusto Taito and Minneapolis veteran Dustin Zahn round out the set, ensuring the lobes keep bruised til finito.