After a long spell of transition for techno, 2009 has seen a fresher start than previous years.

While Berlin seems to be intrinsically linked with minimal techno, it is actually one of the city's industrial labels, Ancient Methods, that have supplied one of this year's first standout offerings, with ‘Third Method’. Powered by tough but fluid drums and almighty atmosphere (with the help of Regis on ‘Else’), it is powerful stuff; with ‘White Flames’ containing one of the catchiest hooks to have ever appeared on an industrial techno record – what a groove! Coming on blue marble effect vinyl, how could anyone resist a copy?

Another release to watch out for comes from a similarly anonymous looking Berlin label Do Not Resist The Beat. Deep pulsing dub techno is the objective, and in a style typical of much of the material on MDR, it may well come from that same camp. The Basic Channel sound has been done again and again and again, but unlike much minimal techno of the last few years - which repeatedly milked the same ideas - the dub techno sound has been the subject of no great backlash. When something is a classic sound, it's a classic sound - but let's hope that this classic sound isn't over abused this year.

Dasha Rush's 'I Run Iron I Run Ironic' album on Hunger To Create should also be investigated. The stripped back techno twitches of ‘Time Gap’, ‘64 Dreams’ and ‘Don’t Remind’ could easily have fitted onto Force Tracks or Mille Plateaux back in the days of EFA, and while some of the other tracks here may not be as instant for some, that's because it isn't purely for the dancefloor - with a fair proportion of it entering a less beat heavy, melancholic style of electronica. With vinyl album sales at an all-time low, especially for experimental music such as this, it’s good to see people still taking the risk and getting one out there.

While some fans didn't approve of the direction Sandwell District took last year, the fact is the label's growing success is well deserved. One sided records have to be questioned, but Function's new one (an edit of ‘Variance’) is a winner. Some have compared it to the sound of 90s tech-trance wizard Emmanuel Top, and it's easy to see why. While maybe not a feature in many of his older records, Function's hypnotic synthlines have been the major part of his reinvention and of Sandwell's rise in popularity. Minus disciple Troy Pierce will soon appear on the label on remix duty – hopefully the David Grohl-lookalike can equal the standard that will be set by Regis and Marcel Dettmann on the next release.

American producer Gunjack's new label Consume (which pitches itself in between techno and rude bwoy dubstep) opens with 'A Murder of Crows' - a fine display of breakneck beats squaring up against inventive bass wobbles that really nails the gap between the harder end of both genres. Gunjack is better known for releases on Sheep and his own Deafmosaic stamp, and while he has moved into the dubstep market with this, most of his older fans will be following this new project just as closely.

Belgian label Token continues apace, with two Ben Sims mixes of Phase's ‘Morodem’. Ben has had trouble re-inventing his sound over the last few years, but seems to be more at ease of late with a string of new releases. The first mix is a more peak time club techno effort, with escalating atmospherics and speaker frying FX seeing him back on top form, while the second effort is a deeper, more jacking version of Sterac, equally effective in its own way. 'Frozen Border 01' by an unknown artist, meanwhile, harks back to a sparser UK techno sound of the late ’90s a la Rue East/Visitor; led by busy Chicago-style claps, this is a must for DJs that like to get quick into the mix.

One annoying recent trend is how labels and distributors dangle a release on the internet many months before actually releasing the bloody thing. It is indicative of a more cautious market and of the extra 'buzz' that needs to be generated pre-release, but it is still very tedious for fans, or shops that are getting requests long before the actual release date – which may often be still unannounced. Grovskopa's 'Jauhar' on Warm Up is one such example. The original sees the Swede upping the ante in the tricky rhythmed metallic techno sound that he specialises in, and while label boss Oscar Mulero doesn't improve on the original, he does add a greater singularity to the track.

Music shows on TV should be showing this type of thing at night. Is there anything like The Party Zone or BPM on anymore? Videos are arguably as influential as going to clubs for many young people, and whatever you say about the power of YouTube, which actually carries more weight? A video watched on TV in a warm living room, or a compressed video on a laptop screen on someone's err... lap? Former presenter Simone would definitely be rocking this video if she were still around. It really did go all wrong when she swapped The Party Zone for The Love Zone or whatever that was. She was still way hotter than Cat Deeley though.

You can't keep a good man down, and despite a public announcement that he was quitting techno a few years ago, Chris McCormack hasn't fully stuck to his word. A provider of some of the most inspired music of the last 10 or so years, he has kindly put up up a free download link to the third and final part of his three album 'Exit To Extinction' series. Containing a fair proportion of ambient and slowed-down song-based material, Chris has still made sure to include a few bangers for his hardcore fans, with 'Blackfathom' and 'Smash The System' being as good tough techno tracks as you're likely to hear nowadays. Listen to all of it though, as there really are some beautiful tracks here.

If labels like Warp were really on it, they'd have snapped up Chris a long time ago. However, if Chris was as much of a game player as he could be, he would have used and abused Warp by now and be writing soundtracks for Hollywood. Then again, if he had made it that far, his ass would probably be owned 10 times over and the chances of being able to download an album by him for free at http://www.blacklistedmastering.co.uk/article04.htm could be pretty slim. Grab it now!

On the electro front, it’s been a slack period lately – however a bunch of new releases on Satamile's new sub label Bot have recently dropped, with Ben Milstein's 'Patience EP' being of particular interest to those who enjoy the spaced-out, bass-heavy style that punctuated his Doctor Evil 12” on Touchin Bass.

One album that fell under the radar towards the end of last year, with the sudden departure of their distributor Neuton, is ‘Broken Art' from Dez Williams on Patrick Pulsinger's Cheap label. Dez was one of the UK's great hopes but disappeared for close to four years; thankfully he still knows how to abuse his machines, and if underground dark electro in a genuinely unique style is your thing, then you shouldn't miss this.

On a similar tip, don't let Cestrian's ‘The Walled City’ on MNX escape you; and also watch out for the Front 242-esque ‘Going Back To Belgium’ by Adam X, just out on the Scottish label as well. While not as harsh as his first release on MNX, it does make a nice accompaniment 12”, and according to Adam this will be the last EP in his EBM direction for now.

Finally, Dave Clarke's White Noise label has been quickly racking up the releases - up to no4 in just over four months, it is the turn of Terence Fixmer to represent the baron on ‘Destiny EP’. 'Energy Destiny' and ‘Shark’ both resemble Fixmer's Gigolo material circa 2001, and while it may not be his best release to date, it's still worth a look. Back running his own label, it's good to see DC in the game again; maybe he might even release some new singles of his own to keep the old ones company. Whatever about someone like Derrick May, who is happy to live off the glory of old co-productions, it's obvious that Clarke still has it in him to make some good records. Will 2009 be the year?

Sunil Sharpe