BLANKA (ES) maps the sonic coordinates of contemporary techno
Spanish DJ and producer BLANKA presents a selection that reads as a manifesto: a journey through the multiple textures of modern techno, moving from abstract laboratory electronics to peak-time devastation, with extended passages through the darkest, most primitive zones of raw, deep and hypnotic techno. Twenty tracks that follow not a linear BPM logic but an emotional and conceptual one.
An opening that defies convention
The chart begins with a bold statement: Symmetry by Speedy J on Warp Records, at 101 BPM, positions nineties abstract electronics and industrial techno as unavoidable roots. BLANKA anchors her selection in history before projecting it into the present. The shift to 130 BPM with Prometheus by Andy Martin on Compute Music then ignites the engines of the journey.
The raw, deep and hypnotic core
The bulk of the selection inhabits the Techno (Raw / Deep / Hypnotic) subgenre, and here BLANKA demonstrates a curatorial eye of the highest order. Standouts include:
- Belly Jolie Movements by Quelza (Dekmantel, 69 BPM): a piece that defies tempo logic and redefines hypnosis through the slowest cadence.
- Long Hair, Don't Care by Fergus Sweetland (Hayes, 135 BPM): accumulated tension in C Minor from one of London underground's key labels.
- Percolate by Jelena (HEISSS, 137 BPM): the Berlin imprint delivers one of the densest and most abrasive moments of the set.
- Opalocka Acid Groove 12 Bit Mix by Bjarki (Trip Recordings, 136 BPM): the Icelander at his most raw, with that signature 12-bit distortion.
- What Remains in the Echo by Angioma (Room Trax, 138 BPM): alongside Nocturnal Animal by Sina XX, Room Trax appears twice, cementing its editorial weight in this selection.
Moments of breath and depth
The lower BPM cuts — Les Mains Moites by Catartsis and VARIA.Berlin at 68 BPM on VARIA, or Nocturnal Animal by Sina XX at 70 BPM — function as narrative turning points. Not pauses; rather, techno stripped of urgency and turned into landscape.
The weight of established names
Move D appears with Roll Split on AWAY (123 BPM), bringing groove and structural wisdom to the selection. Eduardo De La Calle delivers one of the most contemplative moments with My Own Transition on Planet E Communications — Carl Craig's historic label — at 132 BPM in electronica mode. And Markus Suckut's remix of Onirica by Claudio PRC and Luigi Tozzi (The Third Room) is one of the hidden gems of the chart.
A chart that is also a manifesto
With labels such as Dekmantel, KNTXT, Warp, Mutual Rytm, Blush Recordings and Room Trax coexisting on the same list, BLANKA (ES) proves that her vision of techno is transversal, informed and unafraid of eclecticism. A chart to be listened to from start to finish, not played blindly.
