Take, for example, Neil Landstrumm's move to Planet Mu. This has been good for everyone – it means that Neil doesn't have the hassle of having to break out of the techno market with his label Scandinavia; he has a ready made fanbase at Mu who may not have followed him as closely before but appreciate his rave and experimental sensibilities; and of course he has a bit more freedom to do what he wants, something which less than adventurous labels like Tresor would probably not give him.

Fellow Scots Stuffrecords have teamed up with Landstrumm and Scandinavia to release 'Empire On A Fiver EP', which is essentially an accompaniment 12” to Landstrumm's recent 'Lord For £39' album on Planet Mu. Weighing in between slowed down electro and hip hop, it's a perfect example of Neil's freestyle approach to laying down tracks where arcade sounds, 808s and bowel-busting bass work up a distinctly New York flavour. He has never been more at ease– now putting out records in a market that doesn't just want the old Peacefrog and Tresor type sounds, whilst remaining a man willing and able to give his live sets a techno injection when required.

While Germans Heiko Laux and Johannes Heil made their name by releasing on a regular basis for Kanzleramt, a more attention shy compatriot Alex Cortex was working away diligently, turning in equally impressive releases over many styles. Pomelo has been one of his regular homes for a while now, and in 'Non Rigid Designator' he partly resembles the tuneful electroid side of Drexciya, as well as visiting balls-to-the-wall machine-driven techno, designed for a sweatier club experience. The slower breakbeats of the EP’s closing track, ‘Doxa’, meanwhile, aren’t far off the sound of early Black Dog and may oddly enough even remind some of vintage Leftfield. Comparisons like this don't do Cortex justice though – he's very much his own man, with creativity in abundance.

Mark Broom is a rare breed – he is one of the few producers to have kept consistently productive over the last 15 years, without showing any great signs of fatigue. If you wanted him to bang you up an EP in a day, he could probably get you something together by dinner time. While recent releases on Dublin's D1 label have explored a broader range of styles than the Detroit fare that typifies much of their catalogue, 'Deal Or No Deal' returns to their deeper roots, but in a style that mimics Basic Channel, where volcanic sub bass and bubbling melody remind us of Broom's unquestionable calibre.

Dettmann and Klock may be the current reference point for Berlin sounding techno but it could be argued that it's the Londoner who masters the city's classic sound best. As far as tributes to the BC sound go, this really is on the money, and a nice continuation from his last Visitor 12” in 2003. Would it be ambitious to expect any new material from Baby Ford and Broom now too? To anyone recently converted to minimal techno, forget about the new stuff for a minute, get onto Discogs.com, look for Ifach and find some records that will never date.

Also coming from D1 recently was a new one from Educution aka Toirse, entitled 'Make Up Tips For The Elephant Man Part 1’. The standout here is 'Dohnce!' - a chunky, edit heavy slice of funky (yes, we can use that word again I think) vocal fused techno that sets its own very personal agenda right from the off. Toirse's great 12” on Front End Synthetics a number of years ago signaled what was to come - and there are definite similarities in the style – but his production has come on leaps and bounds since, and it doesn't come much phatter than this in 2009.

Without being based in mainland Europe or London like many other prominent companies in the game, Glasgow's Rubadub are one of the unlikely players in international distribution. Long ties with Detroit’s Submerge have seen them forge close relationships with some of the city's top dogs, including Jeff Mills. Last February he sent them a little present. It wasn't a Valentine's card, or a pair of gold encrusted Axis sandals, or anything like it... it was a robot! And why shouldn't it be really? Rubadub, along with about four other companies that Mills uses, received this toy robot as way to signify his new release 'The Good Robot'.

Grumbling has already begun regarding this new release, and if you've followed Mills' music over the last number of years in the hope that he would present something 'new', you'll know what the discontent is all about. Yes, there are some epic string tracks with no beats, and there are a few straight ahead tracks that sound like a million others he has done before – ultimately this is another standard Mills release with no surprises. While Mills' music may not be as advanced in sound design as those who have embraced computer technology, there still is a rich, cerebral edge to his music, even if it is the same edge that we've been hearing for years.

On a side note, it has been curious over the last few years and whole minimal explosion that many experts have been tripping over themselves to point out how Rob Hood was the creator and how Dan Bell deserves some type of knighthood, without giving Jeff Mills any type of mention. Sure, he was famed for the harder end of minimal, but it's not like Hood was known for too much more than that either. Make no mistake, when everyone was talking about techno going minimal in the nineties, it was Jeff who was the main reference point.

As techno moves in harder directions again, a new focus may go back to Mills - but will he have any new material to show that he is still the master? On the evidence of 'The Good Robot' perhaps not – still though, he's never going to release a bad record as such. Ten years ago the Swedes were raising the bar in terms of how big and crisp techno could sound; but the lo-fi production values of Mills still offered something more authentic to the ear. Maybe the mystique of his sound has worn off a little since, but we'd probably be foolish to think that this dog has had his day.

If people like Steve Poindexter spent a fraction of the time that they do pimping themselves on MySpace as they might producing, there really could be a big Chi-town renaissance taking place. Sounding like something that was “recorded in a toilet” is not meant to encourage positive thoughts – but the rougher lo-fi style of producers like Omar S makes perfect sense for anyone that has even a passing interest in Chicago house and techno. 'Blown Valvetrane' on Sound Signature may not be his best work to date but all offerings here are very usable as dense loop based mixing tracks.

Hearing about a controversial Omar S interview on Resident Advisor recently made me check it out – and observing some of the disapproving responses there to his straight up answers and liberal use of “fuck” really makes you wonder what kind of people get bothered by this – probably the same type of people that complain to radio or TV stations when they hear similarly ‘improper’ comments. A lot of what's lacking in music press these days are producers that are willing to come out and speak their mind – instead you have guarded answers that are over aware of what PR companies, record labels, peers, fans etc. are going to think. This is what makes people like Omar S refreshing, even if you never heard a record of his.

OVR (Regis and James Ruskin) are about to release their first full 12”('Interior') on Blueprint, and it seems that it will be a successful mission. One noticeable characteristic is the tone of the kicks – these tracks are going to really boom on the dancefloor, that's for sure. It is a very stripped back style but the simple combination of straightforward hats and slithery hooklines, still manages to maintain a degree of funk. These are largely mixing tools, and good ones at that; although it would be nice if some of the background effects – which threaten, but don't bite - come more to the fore on their next outing (which will be the next Blueprint after this).

Well done to Sleeparchive for being in the position of being able to put out a full 12” of noise on 'LBB Works' - it may bemuse some fans but still come in useful for others. Ultradyne's earth-shaking electro tremors triumph as he remixes Katelectro on Mighty Robot, while full on bass combat from the Anstam crew impresses on 'Cree'. Surgeon and Martyn's remixes of tracks from Shed's OK-but-not-great LP on Ostgut both do their job, and while neither may be future classics, they'll definitely be seeing some healthy DJ rotation for a while to come.

Speaking of Surgeon, a number of live versions of previously released tracks that he performed at a gig in Oslo, appear in the next Counterbalance as the duly titled 'Hello Oslo' release. Some may scorn the idea of an innovator like Surgeon re-releasing old tracks, but bringing new life to some of his best works like 'Screw The Roses ' and 'Body Request' should not be dismissed. He has been working on new material though, and with a less hectic schedule of remixes ahead it seems, maybe he might share some of it with us soon.