Simian Mobile Disco, “It’s the Beat,” Attack Delay Sustain Release (Wichita):

This fire starter gets to the Day-Glo-speckled core of the indie crossovers’ no-bullshit, just-start-the-party-and-fuckin’-dance attitude.

Claude VonStroke, “Seven Deadly Strokes” 12-inch (Neuton)

The percolating, renegade techno lashes so forcefully and deeply here, it’s as impossible to dislodge from your melon as San Francisco–based VonStroke’s equally brilliant “Who’s Afraid of Detroit?”

Diplo, “Diplo Rhythm,” Florida (Big Dada)

This nugget from 2004 is at the head of club chameleon Diplo’s blazing trail, with tight verses and spine-snapping-turned-ass-smacking beats. One of the best tracks he’s ever produced.

Motor, “Flashback,” Unhuman (NovaMute)

Drug-induced flashbacks could hit a handful of Decibel-goers, but the acid-house squelches and degenerative synth lines that feed Mr. No’s and Bryan Black’s ravenous track have the workings of a real-life nightmare.

Switch, “20 Dollar,” M.I.A.’s Kala (XL/Interscope)

Switch’s production is money: Punctuated by industrial claps and low-grade drum machines, the Blue Monday–ish metallic synths penetrate the folds, fading in and out with effective repetition.

Guns ‘N’ Bombs, “Nothing Is Getting Us Anywhere” 10-inch (Kitsune)

Techy LED glitch-house! Intense midsong apexes! Sinking vocoders!

3 Channels, “We Was There Tomorrow,” Crosstown Rebels, Vol. 1 (Crosstown Rebels)

A racing, heart-stopping track with dubbed-out effects from this Polish duo. It embodies the icy-to-hostile sexiness of their label’s brand of electro.

Strategy, “Future Rock,” Future Rock (Kranky)

This Portland-based producer piles finger snaps and field recordings onto a gauzy, multilayered, dub-meets-robofunk groove.

Speedy J, “De-Orbit,” Ginger (Warp)

This IDM-paving minimal techno track from 1993 is practically archaic, but the warm, crisp tones and beautiful, late-night textures keep it fresh as the latest Kompakt single.

Biosphere, “The Shield,” Patashnik digital download (Biophon)

For a different kind of ambient—the harrowing, dark strain of techno—look to Norwegian composer Geir Jenssen. David Lynch would’ve loved the desolate spaceport beeps, ominous tones, and cryptic vocal samples in this 1994 conception.

Travis Ritter