flashback #3: Azure Records

29-01-2026

1999

v/jek - 1201 (AZR1201)
A1 Untitled
A2 Untitled
B1 Untitled
B2 Untitled

Four cuts of electro-infused techno by an artist whose identity to this day, remains (on Discogs anyhow) a mystery. The first cut isn't too bad, a couple layers of acid, nothing too unexpected, and while it doesn't reinvent the wheel, the second track outshines the first from the jump, with a much more interesting rhythmic feeling and a distinct vibe to it. This has got to be one of my favourite techno tracks by anyone and one of my picks of things from this label, period, not to mention the nicest design on the label art. Onto the B-side. The opening number of the B-side likewise has a nice feel to it from the electro notes which take this one to some places which are welcome respites from the most typical of typical techno sounds. Nonetheless, they are both techno through and through, just in a different way than one may think of at first.

2001

Various Artists - T4 Project (AZR1202)
A1 Mike Parker - Anon
A2 Sem Fac & Black Hand - Totungzelt
B1 Adam Jay - Impulse Control
B2 Bryan Zentz - Guarded Eternal

Opening things up is the much beloved New York City master of psychedelic techno, Mike Parker. Anon may not be his crowning achievement but there is some fun if often rather subtle sound design going on here. Nonetheless, in 2001, this would likely have been among the freshest techno out, sonically. Next up is a number by Semfac (an alias of John Selway's) and Black Hand whose name means "killing time" in German, but despite the edgy menace promised in its title, Totungzeit is largely a goofy slightly cheesy psychedelic electro track that would be better suited to breakdancing than raving. Label head Adam Jay's Impulse Control is fairly controlled indeed, but that's not to say it's overly conservative, it has some neat "reverse" echo tricks, some good drum samples, is pleasantly less melodic than it could be, very content to ride on the same stab over an over throughout its runtime. Bryan Zentz's contribution seems to draw a fair bit on sounds one associates with Detroit with some nice pads, grooving bass, but never in a way which feels especially cloying.

2002

Adam Jay vs Mike Parker - Counteractions (AZR1203)
A1 Adam Jay - Necessity
A2 Adam Jay - Necessity (Mike Parker Remix)
B1 Mike Parker - Triceratops
B2 Mike Parker - Triceratops (Adam Jay Remix)

Adam Jay's Necessity is a solid, slammer, one which has some of that beautifully neurotic energy techno sometimes exhibits. Mike Parker's remix gives it some of the latter's special sauce and it truly shines. Next up, Parker's Triceratops is probably one of his most famous pieces. After it opened Mike Parker's first full-length album, Dispatches, here it is again. Adam Jay's remix is almost unrecognizable as the same track but has some lovely clacky as all-get-out percussion on his remix of it.

Locutus - Dreams of the Tarmac Warrior (AZR1204)
A1 Untitled
A2 Untitled
B0 Untitled

This time, an alias drawing from Star Trek: The Next Generation! Here Wes Herche chooses to name himself after the name assumed by the Borg-assimilated form of Jean-Luc Picard. A few different flavours on display here. A1 has a classic style techno riff with some hardgroove-adjacent stuff in the drums. Claustrophobic but fun, though the main riff could be a bit more commanding in its patch. A2 has a super tight very fastrolling xylophonic bass, some nice pads, some sampled percussion, some drum machine, some rather wild stuff going on, also rather densely packed. The closer feels not unlike something from classic-era Kalamazoo's Black Nation Records. Herche has also produced as Jack of Clubs on his Polarized Records, an offshoot of the label Bipolar he ran with Danny Croucher.

2003

Adam Jay - Strength in Difference (AZR1205)
A0 Strength in Difference
B1 Pivotal
B2 Shapes of Deception

Opening title number has some of that notquite-dub techno notchfilter riffage going on with insistent energy and a ton of vibiness. You could reductively call it bread and butter but the other side to that is that this track is an excellent illustration of a particular sound which defines techno; not on its own, but there is a lot of techno of this sort and the execution of this particular sound here is outstanding. Pivotal is similarly nice but not necessarily quite as triumphant in its stride. Shapes of Deception has some beautifully crafted tricks up its sleeve rooted in the use of digital delay on some of its drum machine hits. Overall, this EP is quite excellent.
Adam Jay - Positive Relation (AZR1206)
A0 Positive Relation [6:34]
B1 Style Runner [5:23]
B2 Societal Flaw [6:37]

More gorgeous filterdub-adjacent beauty from the label head. The title track is probably the strongest. The next two feel like alternate mixes of each other, but the strength of Style Runner is how it feels like it starts in media res, making it ultimately the most "useful" track, if it helps to think of it like that.
Adam Jay - Self Exile (AZRLP01)
A1 Self Exile
A2 Boundary
B1 Regret
B2 Passing Time
C1 Bruiting the Drum
C2 Beyond Eyes
C3 Wishing She Never Happened to Me
D1 Parallel Reality
D2 Closure

Boundary and Passing Time are cowritten with Matthew Bandy of the Deep House Soldiers or DHS (not to be confused with Benjamin Stokes and his Dimensional Holofonic Sound alias).

2004

Noah Pred - Mutuality (AZR1207)
A1 Mutuality (Original Mix) A2 Mutuality (Virulent Remix) B1 Mutuality (Adam Jay Remix) B2 Holding Pace

The original mix has a lot going on at once and feels very densely packed and maybe a bit claustrophobic for my tastes, a bit dizzying, but a number of good ideas, at that. So, to be used cautiously, perhaps. Virulent's remix is a lot easier to imagine dropping in a mix, though is still pretty busy...Adam Jay's remix feels more usable still, yet for me the highlight of the whole EP is actually the closing track, Holding Pace, which I'd rank as among my favourite this shortlived label ever put out..

2005

DJ Kage - Estrella De La Plata EP (AZR1208)
A1 Estrella De La Plata (Original Mix)
A2 Estrella De La Plata (Adam Jay Remix)
B1 Upstream
B2 Downstream

I prefer the title track in either the original or remixed versions to the cuts on the B-side. These two are solid, especially the original, but it's not the best tech house I've ever heard.
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