The 17 track release is a star-studded remix package, featuring some of the biggest names in techno.

Drumcode marks its 250th release with a historic collaboration with Kevin Saunderson, as tracks from his legendary E-Dancer moniker receive the remix treatment from a diverse selection of artists from Detroit, Europe and beyond.

From Inner City to E-Dancer, Kevin Saunderson’s music has been a presence in Adam Beyer’s life since his teenage years. A visit to Berlin’s Hard Wax in 1993 sealed it. Beyer, a drummer, strongly identified with the music’s rhythms and returned to Stockholm with a swag of records from Motor City artists – Jeff Mills, Underground Resistance and of course Saunderson, under a multitude of aliases.

Detroit techno has been imbued in his musical DNA ever since. Indeed, the ‘Reese bassline’, with its famous ‘hoover’ sound named after Saunderson’s moniker of the same name has featured in various iterations in countless Drumcode tracks right up to this day.

After Saunderson and Beyer initially discussed a collaboration in 2019, the seeds of something a little different were sewn last year when Wehbba delivered a standout edit of E-Dancer ‘Velocity Funk’. Soon after, ‘Re:Generate’ was born featuring artists spanning generations, scenes and continents; a transatlantic stamp of where techno stands in 2021.

For Adam Beyer and everyone at Drumcode this release is also about honouring and celebrating the Black visionaries – Saunderson being one of many – who the scene owes so much to, while simultaneously educating younger fans about the origins of techno.

The label is thrilled that a troupe of Motor City’s finest have contributed remixes to the project, including Robert Hood, DJ Bone, DJ Minx (one of Detroit’s foremost pioneering female DJs), as well as Kevin’s son Dantiez, who is an outstanding artist in his own right.

Connecting the timeless sounds of Detroit with the European techno scene and Drumcode’s leading artists and affiliates, the compilation includes remixes from Adam Beyer, Amelie Lens, Layton Giordani, Bart Skils, Rebūke and Wehbba, whose remix kickstarted the project. Also featured is label friend and Berghain resident Len Faki who has long been a connection point between Drumcode and the German techno scene.

Elsewhere, the compilation is amplified by cutting-edge contributions from TYGAPAW, the founder of queer party series and record label Fake Accent who lays down a thrilling remix of ‘Banjo’, while Paris-born, Berlin-based iconoclast rRoxymore brings heat with a fascinating multi-layered re-work of ‘Human Bond’. Paul Woolford is another special addition, giving his Special Request touch to ‘Rock the Beat’.
The project is highlighted by a new track from Saunderson titled ‘The Rise’, his first E-Dancer original since 2019.

“This is a really special project to me because it connects artists of all generations of which E-Dancer has inspired, while giving a new generation some history. Unifying people through music and reminding people where it all started are two missions always at the forefront of my projects. I’m happy that all these years later E-Dancer is respected by the producers to come after me, and a fresh take on the music I made at the start of my journey is there to carry the next wave of kids on the dancefloor. I’m honoured to be doing this with Adam, uniting Drumcode and Detroit.” – Kevin Saunderson

“Kevin Saunderson’s E-Dancer material released during the ‘90s had a substantial impact on me. The 1998 ‘Heavenly’ album was an incredibly important moment in the history of techno. At the time I was a couple of years into launching Drumcode and was drawing substantial influence from many of Kevin’s records for my own productions at the time. Celebrating 250 releases on Drumcode is a moment in the label’s story that I wanted to recognise with something special and this opportunity to breathe new life into this iconic collection of E-Dancer material seemed a perfect fit in many ways.

“I wanted to celebrate and shine a light on Kevin Saunderson / E-Dancer and in doing so educate the younger generation of how important ‘Heavenly’ was, while simultaneously bringing in a truly diverse cross section of exciting, cutting-edge producers to create 2021 interpretations of these records. This project felt like the perfect fusion of fresh sounds and ideas from across the techno spectrum. Respect to Kevin, his team and all the remixers who created such forward-thinking music for this album.” – Adam Beyer

You can pick up a copy from HERE