In Session: Oscar Mulero

Muscular, sleek, fast: three words that describe the hour of techno that Oscar Mulero has turned in for this week's exclusive In Session mix.

The Spanish DJ/producer conjures the sound of a machine pumping away in the dead of night. The movement of cold metal repeats incessantly until a groove appears, buried deep below mesmeric bleeps and sheets of reverb.

It's evocative stuff and the precise work of an aural engineer who's been playing records since '88 and releasing them since '93. A staple of the Madrid techno scene since he was a teenager, Mulero is a hero in his home country and a cult name on the European circuit. He knows how to the apply the kind of pressure that makes you feel like you're trapped in a dystopian nuclear plant, wrapped in a darkness so black it might never lift.

He's currently celebrating the release of his third album 'Muscle And Mind' on PoleGroup Recordings, the label he founded in 2004 to house his own music as well as the work of a select few others. Its logo is a speeding wheel, signifying the pace and energy of the brand of techno that he's been perfecting most of his life.

Mulero began DJing in the late 80s in underground clubs in Madrid, playing EBM and goth, the kind of dark, physical music that would lead him to develop an interest in techno. In the early 90s he secured a residency at The New World and never looked back. He'd go on to found his own club in the city, The Omen, which in turn led to him receiving bookings across Spain and beyond. In 1996 he played at the third ever Sonar in Barcelona and forward motion needed to become an internationally renowned artist was set.

Since then he's released a slew of 12"s on PoleGroup as well as his other label, Warm Up, and underground imprints such as Japan's HueHelix, America's Modularz and Belgium's Token. A quick run through his discography proves he's a force on the international techno circuit and, along with his recent LP, his other full-lengths 'Grey Fades To Green' and 'Black Propaganda' are fine bodies of work.

His In Session is steely and uncompromising, but undercut with the kind of warmth that'll have you locked all the way through.

'Muscle And Mind' is out now via PoleGroup

01. Oscar mulero / Mechanical Function / PoleGroup.

02. Oscar Mulero / Unreleased.

03. Dino Sabatini / Modulation A / Outis.

04. Reeko / Capitulo 1 / Mental Disorder.

05. Exium / Monopoles / PoleGroup.

06. Tensal / C-D2 / Tensal.

07. Oscar Mulero / Mentally Induced Action / PoleGroup.

08. Samuli Kemppi / Power of Voltages / M_Rec Ltd.

09. Oscar Mulero / Pain / Warm Up.

10. Abdulla Rashim / Moral Blinds / Northern Electronics.

11. Deepbass / Black Art 8 Coefficient rmx ) / UTCH.

12. Artiest Onbekend / CP4.

13. CTRLS / Shift / Token.

14. Birth of Frequency / Desing / Enemy.

15. Dimi Angelis & Jeroen / Nucleotide / M_Rec Ltd.

16. Sleeparchive / 3 / Tresor.

17. Sleeparchive / Window 057 (Oscar Mulero rmx ) / Warm Up.