Back in stock: Funky/Club House

Review: A classic that delivers the quintessential Euro house experience with its infectious energy and irresistible dancefloor appeal. This new yellow vinyl version brings flashbacks flooding in of the era's vibrant club scene through a mix of upbeat rhythms, catchy melodies and expansive remixes. Side-1 opens with the single version of 'More & More', a track that wastes no time diving into a groove-laden beat and euphoric synth lines. The extended mix that follows stretches the vibe even further, offering DJs and dance enthusiasts a longer ride through the track's pulsating, feel-good energy. Side-2 turns up the heat with the 'Underground' remix, which injects a deeper, more nocturnal edge into the track, perfect for late-night sets. The 'Trance Mix' closes the collection with an ethereal, sweeping take on the original, merging classic Euro house elements with hypnotic trance influences. This release is a love letter to the era of extended pleasure through remixes, capturing both the mainstream appeal and underground allure of Euro house.

Review: Ninja Tune favourite and sometime lo-fi house pin-up DJ Seinfeld continues to prove he was always about so much more with a new collab alongside Confidence Man that he describes as "quirky, naive and an ode to all the summer flings out there". It came about after the pair hung out a few times and enjoyed each other's company and the tun itself has already been something of a mini classic during festival season. As well as the original with its catchy drum loops, pop leaning vocal hooks and lush strings, there is a cheeky UK garage version that has even more irresistible bump and a Carlita remix that reworks into something different but equally essential.

Review: The In Waves label is fast approaching its tentth release but before that it turns once again to Flowers On Monday for this lush new four track EP featuring Amega and Weam Ismail. It's the rousing and hymnal sounds of 'Featuring Amega And Weam Ismail.' that open up with loose, interwoven grooves and stirring melodies all topped off by the prayer-like vocals of Ismail. 'Your Sand' (feat Amega) is another dreamy deep house jaunt and 'Resonate Me' (feat Amega) is a spine tinging and angelic electronic lullaby that gets served up in a superb ambient version.

Review: French Affair was a German-French dance-pop band that emerged at the dawn of the new millennium and had some heart success between 2000 and 2023. 'My Heart Goes Boom (La Di Da Da)' is one of them and 'Sexy' is another. It gets reissued here with several different mixes making it more suitable to club play and is an irresistibly bold, upbeat tune that collides infectious house drums with catchy, sultry vocals. The production is polished, with deep basslines and crisp percussion and a smooth vocal delivery adding a layer of steamy allure. This one is both seductive and fun and perfect for playful sets in the sun.

Review: Who better to tell the story of house music than one of its main early protagonists? Marshall Jefferson penned plenty of Chicago's greatest early records and as a DJ helped lay the foundations for the sound too. As such he is a perfect choice for Defected's House Masters series and does a fine job of laying out some of its finest moments on this brilliant new mix. No matter how many times you hear these OG gems they still resonate, from the passionate vocals of Ten City to the iconic chords of 'Someday' via the darker jack of Jefferson under his Hercules alias this is an essential listen.

Review: The now nicely matured Samosa label out of Italy is back with a 31st offering of its lavish disco and funk fusions. This time out the four tracker features four different artists starting with Strange and 'Hard Working' (De Gama Re-drums) which is a cosmic laced late night stomper then Frank Virgilio gets all romantic and feel good with 'Love Is Positivity.' Mosaik Kollektif opens up the flip with the deep sounds of 'Keep' (De Gama Re-drums) and last of all comes some more freewheeling funk with Monsieur Van Pratt and his 'Funk De Ibiza.'

Review: After they relocated to Miami, Florida, in the early 1970s, Bahamas band T Connection recorded a string of disco and disco-funk anthems for local label T.K. Amongst their most admired and played releases - the peerless and extra-percussion 'At Midnight' excepted - is 'Saturday Night', which here gets the remix treatment courtesy of popular Aussie disco/house fusionist Dr Packer. He provides two peak-time-ready rubs: a jaunty, rolling, full-vocal A-side remix that lightly straightens and tools-up the groove while retaining the horns, strings, guitar and bass from the band's superb original mix, and a flip-side 'Dubstrumental'. Almost entirely free of singing besides some whispered and yelped backing vocals, it allows the original disco instrumentation more room to breathe while rolling out the band's killer groove.

Review: T.Recs delivers a potent double-header of peak-time house on their latest vinyl release. 'Urban Deep' is a 122bpm floor-filler that seamlessly blends a throbbing bassline with jubilant claps and a dreamy vocal, creating an irresistible throwback vibe. On the flip, 'Franklin & Marshall' embraces classic house anthem territory with its Prophet 2000 piano riffs and TR-909 beats. The unexpected addition of a smoky, gospel-tinged vocal elevates this track to epic proportions, making it a surefire weekend weapon for discerning DJs.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


French label Wagram keep on documenting the history of electric music with their on going Anthology series. Now up to Volume 6 and still turning out plenty of essential tuned across four sides of wax, this one features the most diverse selection yet. There are blissed out stoner beats like DJ Cam's 'Birds Also Sing For Anamaria', electric house tracks from Martin Solveig in the form of 'Heartbeat' and shuffling, Latin tinged soulful house jams like 'Queixume' which is a superb Masters At Work mix edit. Also on the remix tip is the classic Daft Punk rework of I:cube's 'Disco Cubism' which is clipped, funky, brightly coloured filter house par excellence.

Review: It's a case of old school meets new school on this fresh new slice of house from Defected. Representing the vets is the one and only Louie Vega, while in the contemporary corner are New York's finest, the Martinez Brothers. Marc E Bassy also pops up on vocals for this feel good deep house gem. His part sung, part rapped delivery comes over soul drenched beats and nice singing leads, which have long been a hallmark of the great Masters at Work man, Vega. A TMBLV mix is more pumping, Honey Dijon cuts loose on elastic bass and rugged rhythms and Dom Dolla offers a more energetic and main room version.

Review: Fronted by Dane-dame Sannie Carlson, Whigfield was backed by various producers and engineers over the years, main among whom was the towering Larry Pignagnoli. *The* song to commemorate Whigfield by, 'Saturday Night' is a Europop and Eurodance trailblazer, harking back, perhaps, to a more glamorous time, where fashion designers rubbed shoulders with models, PR girls and riviera DJs for Italian and Danish upper crusts. Carlson would record 'Saturday Night' after meeting fellow DJ Davide Riva, who was also part of a music production duo. In three days, an (in your mind-) sticky, bubblegum-popping opus would be written, with a nursery-rhyming refrain and a jaunty na-na-na hook epitomising the notion of a "hair-dryer song", a term coined by Simon Cowell in reference to the song as a precursor to Rebecca Black's 'Friday': "the kind of song girls sing into their hair dryers before getting ready to go out."