Daniel Bell, Freq, Sub Club, Glasgow, 22 June

Travelling all the way across the Atlantic ocean for a special appearance at Freq, is Daniel Bell; an American who first broke into the techno scene with the 12" release, Technarchy, while still at film-school near Toronto. The record was co-produced by Richie Hawtin and John Aquaviva in 1990 under the moniker of Cybersonic, and it soon prompted a move to Detroit, one of the spiritual homes of techno as we know it. Further tracks followed on +8 Records, plus a tour supporting Moby and The Prodigy, but Daniel left to pursue his own projects, namely his label, Accelerate Communications in 1992. Tracing back the Bell history is fraught with name-changes and aliases, and for a while he recorded as DBX on Accelerate, and switched tactics; the Detroit influences were overshadowed by the funkier Chicago elements creeping into his music. This happened to be very significant for Bell, and for the techno scene as a whole, as his more streamlined rhythms became minimal and helped to jumpstart the genre in the mind of European producers. Several new record labels, record stores, and distribution companies later, Bell had given birth to classics like Losing Control, taken a break from recording, and dived straight back in from the late nineties onwards. Today, his 7th City label continues to release extraordinary techno, while Bell has emmersed himself in Germany, and the Berlin scene; one he helped to create while living in another continent. Residents Brian and Murray will be on in hand to set the scene and provide stormin' support slots, as ever. [Alex Burden]