The secret to producing great techno is learning how to apply the minimum amount of force necessary at exactly the right moment. Wata Igarashi is intimately familiar with this idea: he’s built his entire career around this principle.

His second album My Supernova is a case in point. It’s more direct than his refined, artful debut album - Agartha was inspired by Miles Davis, kosmische music and post-war minimalism - but it’s never brutal or punishing. That shouldn’t come as a surprise: the Japanese producer has long been one of techno’s master technicians. Precise, subtle, delicate, hypnotic, organic, mechanical, powerful, psychedelic… his work is full of opposing forces and apparent contradictions. 

 

Listening to Wata at home is one thing, but as anyone who’s seen him will tell you, you need to see him live to get the full experience. Get ready for a tunnelling, spiralling session at Sónar 2026.