In the lead up to this new MOS release – and purportedly exciting new series – Discotek, the promise was a series that would explore the darker side of electronica, uncovering the sounds of underground minimal and techno. If that is your cup of tea, this first instalment delivers.

Disc One sees international DJ and producer, and recent We Love Sounds participant D Ramirez (aka Dean Marriott) behind the decks, offering up a chilled at first – chunky to end – set, but definitely a consistently darker side of tech. It kicks off with a distinctly mysterious feel, one that resonates throughout. He gets proceedings off with the Sullivan Dub mix of Pleasure Me – his collaboration with Dmitry Bobrov. It proves to be a nice sampler for what is to come; strong electronica overtones, with nice dynamic basslines. That’s exactly what Gamma from Trentemoller and Buda is too, and it leads nicely into an increasingly popular track in Get Dumb by Axwell/Ingrosso/Angello/Laidback Luke; quite the collaboration indeed. He keeps things buzzing over nicely with his own appropriately named La Diskotek (Shakedown remix), taking it up a notch to a middle section of the CD that in my opinion, rates right up there. Throw in the likes of Snap from Gelderblom and Amesz; System from Ramirez and Knight and a brilliant transposition of Roadkill by Dubfire (I’m loving this track right now) and Time Fades Away from Mowbray and Ramirez – all side by side – and you’ve got a serious dose of about 25 minutes of electronica at its very smoothest. He wraps it up with Juergen’s Love It – which has a slightly uplifting big-room feel to it, and then drops the big Columbian Soul from himself and Mark Knight. All up, a very solid offering from Ramirez, and one that got better and better. No wonder I lapped it up during We Love Sounds set a matter of days ago.

Enter local boy Mark Dynamix delivering a sound that has similarities to his 2006 Mixtape MOS release. As his surname suggests, and ever the one to keep moving, this one is just a little different. He eases us into it with Daniella Stickroth and Chest In The Attic – which together with Lost in the Tropics (Tanzmann remix) from James Mowbray and Leiam Sullivan, sets the scene for Dynamix to really let things get just a touch messy, such as with Kaliber’s 03 A-1 and August in Paris from Jennifer Cardini and Shanky. Quality tracks, if not earth-shattering. Thankfully, he brings a touch of Sebastien Leger to the floor with Little Bug – with some chunky breakdowns, this song together with Some Polyphony from Petter shows us once again what this new Discotek series is to be about. The tempo noticeably rises, and Dynamix runs with it right to the end – churning out loads of energy in the process. Get ready for the ride, as there is nothing for the faint-hearted here. The energy is infectious, although it gets close to being a tad laboured at points. He rocks through it though, and his collaboration with Jaytech, Destructor – offers up a more tapered sound, and as it nears the end of his ‘set’; it’s perfect in its timing. Nowhere is the track selection better than in the last track, Zero Zero by Internal Sync – which in just over four minutes, seemingly takes us through the spectrum of what has been on offer for the past hour and a bit. Electronica, solid bass, well placed breakdowns, a smooth melody, coupled together with an almost uplifting feel. Infectious indeed.

And that’s all she wrote. For me, the Ramirez disc was more enjoyable – but that’s undoubtedly personal preference. All up, as a first offering in a series is concerned, this is a very solid premiere. In particular for Ministry Of Sound it offers something very different to the tried and tested (if not occasionally tortured) distinctly commercial sounds. This is something fresh, and it sounds pretty damn good.