Shedding the Past is a collection of eleven Detroit-style techno tunes by German techno engineer Shed. It is a record in the mold of Aphex Twin with a powerful skipping beat that is the trademark of this German hotshot. At times it is intense, monotonous, technically complicated but never dull. From the ambient-tinged “The Lower Upside Down” to the Kevin Sanderson styled (and humorously titled) “Another Wedged Chicken”, one really needs a dark Berlin club in an office block to really appreciate the euphoric highs and beats that wind you. However, even out of that setting Shedding the Past stands up on its own. Detroit techno’s originators may have hailed from Bellville, Michigan but the techno sound was inspired by any number of German electronic musicians, most notably Kraftwerk. Therefore it is fitting that a German engineer should pick up the ball first punted by the Bellville Three and run with it to score a try of his own.