Kenny Larkin's freshly re-issued 'Azimuth' proves itself timeless

The 1994 collection retains its power majestically today

Revered Detroit master Kenny Larkin's re-issued 'Azimuth' album hit the stores this week, and the music contained within continues to soar high above the bulk of what's reproduced in the name of techno today.

The LP was originally released in 1994 via the stables of the famously forward-thinking UK label, Warp Recordings, and the newly remastered incarnation comes complete with a bonus 10” of tracks which were previously only available on a super limited edition of the initial release.

While there's little point in getting too hung up on semantics, the word techno has in some senses been bastardised in recent years due to its association with a sound vastly inferior to its Detroit-born predecessor, and this record serves as some form of reminder of the very best of this most enigmatic of sounds, Detroit techno. Aside from its origin, how does one define it? Very personally speaking, the reason native Detroit techno stands apart from all other forms of 4/4-framed electronic dance music is the indefinable soul and tangible funk with which the music is embodied. The sound, in general, forgoes the use of vocals through which to transmit this feeling, the soul is discreet, but it echoes from the very essence of the music. The funk is unmistakable but doesn't manifest through traditional channels or motifs. Larkin is a genuine master of the sound, and his music has little in common with what often passes as techno today.

The album journeys from ambient, through levitating breaks, and into raw, slamming dance floor funk. From the star-gazing introspection of ''My Travels' to the sleazy grit of hard-hitting 'Wires', the music is supremely inspired from beginning to end.

It's only a word, but I can't help but feel this music should be piped into the headphones of all the well-manicured, sleeve-tattooed Beatport techno DJs out there in an attempt to help them absorb the true nature of the music they claim to represent.

Listen and buy it here