Working from the cellar of a property in Monchengladbach, Germany, Marc Romboy has been creating his uniquely entrancing techno sounds for the past decade and a half, albeit under the various handles of ‘Alphabet City’, ‘Terminal M’ and ‘PSI-49-net’. Yet, he has developed a sound name and reputation as a reliable producer and programmer, who possesses a real sense of space, vibrant energy and an abundant fascination for his art. In fact, he has become renowned for pushing the limits and increasing the scope of electronic music, which has matured as he has (now in his early-thirties) and, since 2004, when he founded the Systematic imprint in Berlin, he has captivated dance audiences in some of the most prestigious electro-houses of Europe.

With his own Label Compilation Volume Two, he is able to showcase the myriad influences that have taken him on his voyage of discovery, yet none of which have diminished his value as an intriguingly alternative sound, within the established genre. In Romboy’s hands, electronica is as safe as it ever could be. Listen carefully and you could be whisked back to the break-dancing, sweat induced, nocturnal goings-on in any of Chicago’s most familiar night spots, with their hints of Steve Silk Hurley and Marshall Jefferson ringing familiarly in your ears.

Yet, Romboy achieves his masterful feat by involving the muses of his current DJ life in the forms of Chelonis R Jones and Babylon Robots, all names that are fairly new to the scene but no less enervative and engaging. Stephan Bodzin and Blake Dexter are collaborative energies on other tracks within this finely balanced compilation album, while Gui Boratto makes a welcome return to the fold, reproducing his unique twist on the hisses and pops of two of the tracks. No matter how you cut it, this is a compilation of techno-mastery at its finest.