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The 'Heyday' EP is more emotive techno from the often underrated, yet always prolific Argentinian producer Barem. While minimal techno has fallen off the radar somewhat in recent times, Barem at least has the ingenuity to promote his own calculated take on the process.

While the genre was often criticised as being nothing more than a boring fad, this EP is anything but. Stirring and emotive, dark yet groovy it's a far cry from the generic minimal once churned out by the bucketload by Barem's M_nus contemporaries.

Barem has taken a hiatus from his traditional M_nus stomping ground here, preferring instead to released the EP on Philadelphia based Foundsound recordings. The EP comes complete with three remixes from a shrewdly assembled array of up and coming producers.

Frenchman Paul Ritch is the first contributor. Famed for his no nonsense, uncompromising techno productions, Ritch does nothing to dispel this reputation here. His remix starts off in quite a light, funky mode, but as always with his productions, madness is imminent, and duly arrives in an almost proggy, tech house vein.

Barem's fellow Argentinian, Ronan Portela is next up. The originals vocal is kept intact yet pitched up to devastating effect. Groovy, bouncy and with a breakdown to make your ears wilt, Portela's remix won't harm his emphatic, seemingly unstoppable rise through the techno ranks.

Jorge Savoretti wraps up the package with his digital only remix. Savoretti duly lends the original an old school flavour with a minimal aesthetic. Another astute remix, it's a pity it's available in digital form only.

With Gaiser's 'Pull Push', Marc Houle's 'Yonkers' and now, Barem's 'Heyday' EP, Minus' ever expanding group of artists are it seems, finally hitting form once again.

Artist: Barem Title: Heyday ep Label: Foundsound Tracklist Heyday Original mix Heyday Paul Ritch remix Heyday Ronan Portela remix (digital only) Heyday Jorge Savoretti remix (digital only) www.foundsoundrecords.com www.myspace.com/barem Our Rating: 7/10