Max Watts taps Detroit lineage with gritty, DJ-ready techno cuts

Max Watts’ LN015 lands exactly where Detroit techno still matters most: in the room, on a system, with no wasted motion. The two-track 12-inch on Limited Network does not reach for crossover polish or clever detours. It is built like a working record, the kind selectors can drop without explaining anything to the dancefloor.

That fit starts with the label itself. Limited Network is a Detroit, Michigan imprint distributed by Submerge, and its catalog has been building since LN000 in 2019. Watts has been part of that run from the start, with earlier releases including LN003, LN006, LN007 Small Axe EP, LN008 Immortal Funk EP, LN010 with Huey Mnemonic, and LN014 Archives EP. That last one was described as an eight-track, no-nonsense exploration of minimal techno inspired by the second wave of Detroit techno, and LN015 keeps that same backbone intact.

Phonica’s listing makes the shape of the new record clear. LN015 pulls two new cuts from Watts’ ADAT archive, with “Wall Shaker” cast as a timeless, anthemic track built to rock dancefloors and “All In One” described as a 9-minute journey of chords, rhythms, and deep sub frequencies. The pressing is cut at 45 rpm, which matters here because this is not background listening music. It is engineered to hit hard, with Discogs timing the tracks at 6:11 and 9:32 and crediting Watts as writer, producer, and engineer, with lacquer cutting by Dietrich Schoenemann and pressing by Archer Record Pressing.

What gives LN015 its hook is the tension between heritage and utility. You can hear the Detroit lineage in the solidity of the groove and the way the chords are used like structural beams, not decoration. You can also hear the more minimal end of the spectrum in the restraint. There is no overstacked arrangement, no filler, just sturdy techno architecture that knows exactly how to move a room. For readers who live in the overlap between Detroit, Midwest techno, and sparse club function, that is the point.

That is also why Watts’ current profile matters beyond the 12-inch itself. OBEY’s January 22, 2025 profile places him in Detroit and notes recent appearances at Nowadays, Public Records, Basement, and Berlin’s Tresor, while Interdimensional Transmissions has him on the May 21 bill for FADE II BLACK with Jay Denham, a night framed around “the essence of Midwest techno.” LN015 fits that same lane: compact, gritty, and made for a system that can tell the difference.