House charts

Review: First released in digital and CD formats via Sacred Rhythm, 'Progessive Roots Evolution: A Song For Healing' hears Joaqin 'Joe' Claussell's indelible style of long-form spiritual house music re-flaunted to especial somatic ends. Intentionally crafted as a piece that bridges the needs of both the music and dance communities to whom Claussell is mutually close, this is a suite divided into multiple sections that feed on one another; they appose elements of samba, jazz and house, with ambient interstices and even ruminative piano meltdowns ('Healer', 'Heloise'). This ultra limited yellow LP edition is the audiophile's preference, its dynamism best flaunted on the floaty but driving 'Cosmic Arts' mix.

Review: It is no secret that we here at Juno HQ are huge fans of the one and only Alex 'Omar S' Smith. He is a machine when it comes to making music and barely a year goes by without another expansive new album form the Detroit badman. Here comes this year's and it has all the things you would hope for and expect: raw, unfussy but infectious house with dusty drums and 80s synths. Supercoolwicked is a frequently appearing guest who lends these tunes alluring vocal touches while the grooves themselves are subtly, effective tweaks on Smith's tried and tested template. We are here for it.

Review: 20 years is a long time in clubland, but Watergate has embodied the age old phrase that time flies when you're having fun. The Berlin institution has represented a catchy end of the tech house sound throughout its tenure, both on the dancefloor and through its long-standing in-house label. Now they celebrate their big birthday with a cute compilation taking in such massive names as Henrik Schwarz, Sasha and Anja Schneider alongside the more niche names who made major breakthroughs thanks to the club's support. Pressed on three records and featuring a mammoth 18 tracks, there's a lot of bang for your buck if you can't get enough of that Watergate sound.

Review: If you ever need to demonstrate the queer foundations of dance music, just reach for this authoritative compilation - case closed. Demon Music Group have gathered together a mighty 24 tracks of seminal hi-nrg, synth-pop, proto house, Eurobeat and more besides to paint a picture of the vibrant culture which set the tone for house and techno to come. There are some monster hits in this four-vinyl set including Whitney Houston's 'Love Will Save The Day', Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' and Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)', all presented in their finest extended mix forms. There's also more than enough deep cuts to satisfy the more seasoned diggers out there and the artwork is on point, making this a fitting tribute to the 80s gay nightlife which incubated a new kind of dance music.

Review: The always-cultured Session Victim have got increasingly refined in their work over the last decade or so. Always about much more than just throwaway grooves, they embellish their sounds once more here with the new album Listen to Your Heart on the regular home label Delusions of Grandeur. It arrives across six sides of opaque violet vinyl and is hugely limited. The house here is dusty and laden with great soul samples, lit up with gorgeous jazzy melodies and steeped in musicality. The opener is a real early standout while cuts like 'Up To Rise' are full of warm, joyous synth magic.

Review: Deep house pioneer and Balance label head Chez Damier has recently got back into the scene having had his creativity reinvigorated. He has started a new label House of Chez as a way of sharing it with the world and now comes a bumper collection of all the early releases. He has made his with Ben Vedren as H2H and it's fair to say they are some of the standouts here. Elsewhere, Mosis impresses with the delightfully deep 'Pick It Up' and Damian Rausch remixes Sista Sista's 'Baby Don't' into a super low slung and dusty late night beatdown. The legendary Giorgio Morderer even appears with the diffuse synth magic of late night cruiser 'Engery.'

Review: Those who've been paying close attention will know that Alex 'Omar' Smith has been mixing things up musically of late, veering away from the deep Detroit house he's famed for in order to explore a wider range of influences. New album "You Want" doesn't exactly reverse this trend, but it is far more rooted in his particular brand of seductive, off-kilter deepness and techno-tinged hypnotism than recent singles. That's undeniably a good thing, because nobody does crunchy, machine driven club jams better than the Motor City producer. There are nods towards Italian style piano house, disco, broken beat, jazz funk, Masters at Work and - more surprisingly - industrial techno (see the filthy closing cut) - but the resultant cuts don't sound like anything other than tried-and-tested Omar-S club jams.

Review: This bumper collection of 12" singles features nine replicas of the singles from the original campaign around the Screamadelica album. It is now 30 years old and stands proud as one of the finest moments in the emergent acid hose scene, not in small part thanks to the late great and legendary producer Andrew Weatherall. The box set comes with prints by the album original cover artist Paul Cannell and some previous unheard mixes (and accompanying instrumental) of 'Shine Like Stars' by the aforementioned Lord Sabre as well as plenty of other great versions by fellow Boy's Own man Terry Farley and others.

Review: CircoLoco Records is a new record label forged in partnership with the iconic video game creators Rockstar Games. After four editions of colour coded releases, we now have the entire collection of 20 tracks compiled here on one 5xLP package. From the Black edition there's the tunneling techno of Adam Beyer's powerful 'Break It Up', from the Violet edition you have Margaret Dygas' majestic broken beat journey 'Wishing Well', as well as tINI with the neon-lit disco of 'What If, Then What?' featuring Amiture (Green) and Sama Abdulhadi with the steely and hypnotic techno of 'Reverie' taken from the Blue series - plus many more.

Review: German powerhouse label Ostgut Ton turns 16 with another of its big and mighty compilations. Ostgut Ton Funfzehn Plus 1 spans 20 tracks and features a number of top draw collabs from artists who work closely with the label. Some come together for the first time such as Martyn and Duval Timothy, or Len Faki and Honey Dijon, and all were due for release last year originally. They say "the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets." We say, get it bought.

Review: Swiss label Drumpoet has been one of those super reliable outlets that serves up good quality deep house. It has now been doing so for 15 years and marks the occasion with a bumper triple vinyl collection featuring 13 cuts from all the label's finest associates. There is brilliantly left-of-centre minimal from Roman Flugel and Frank Weidermann to kick off, then melody-rich deep house from Bubble Wrap, and an absolute classic from the one and only Herbert who supplies 'Air.' Plenty more lushness comes from the likes of Fred Everything and Ripperton to make this a fine collection.

Review: Few electronic music producers can claim to have made quite as big an impact as Arthur Baker. During the 1980s the New Yorker was involved in creating (or mixing) a string of ground-breaking electro, freestyle and proto-house records, before becoming one of the most in-demand remixers on the planet. This vast box set, which includes six weighty slabs of vinyl and an informative insert, celebrates his legacy, offering up a mixture of pioneering productions (Afrika Bambaata and Soulsonic Force's 'Planet Rock', 'Walking On Sunshine' by Rockers Revenge, 'Confusion' by New Order), dancefloor anthems (Freez's 'I.O.U', his enormous rework of Fleetwood Mac's 'Big Love') and a string of essential but lesser-celebrated revisions - all presented in full-length, DJ-friendly form. In a word: essential.

Notes: ""20 years ago, I dreamed a dream of creating a family of like-minded, crazy individuals from all corners of the planet. That dream was Crosstown Rebels. Over these years, I have forged beautiful friendships, discovered very talented artists and tried my best to help, advise and support some of the most colourful characters in dance music. It's been 20 years of madness, magic and music. Now it's been distilled into our own book to mark this milestone. I'm honestly surprised at how much I remembered!" - Damian Lazarus

For 20 years Crosstown Rebels has forged a path as one of the world's leading electronic music labels.

Established in 2003, Damian Lazarus' label manifesto has not changed. Discovering and nurturing new talent has always been the beating heart of the label, with a mission to soundtrack the future of the dancefloor and beyond. Introducing the world to the likes of Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Maceo Plex and Art Department was just the beginning. Today the roster is gloriously international, showcasing the truly global scene that Crosstown has shaped over the years.

Of course, there's the parties too. The early Slash & Burn and Rebel Rave parties paved the way for Damian to create two of the world's most cherished experiences, Get Lost and Day Zero, and in turn setting a benchmark for electronic music events worldwide.

Now the Crosstown Rebels story is told in a new 240 page book. 20 years of madness, magic and music. Starting right back before the beginning and taking us through to the present day, acclaimed electronic music writer Joe Muggs dives into the label's history, interviewing Damian at length and revealing Crosstown's story as never told before. The book brings together countless unseen photographs and artwork taken from the last two decades. It tells the story of how the dance underground battled and triumphed. This is a unique publication, not only for fans of Crosstown Rebels and Damian Lazarus, but also for anyone with an interest in independent label culture and the evolution of dance music over the last 20 years.

- Deluxe 240 page book
- Limited edition with only 400 copies on public sale
- De-bossed hardback cover, printed on FSC certified papers, with alternating paper stocks, book ribbon and G.F. Smith endpapers
- Foreword by Pete Tong MBE
- Comprehensive label discography
- Printed in the UK by PurePrint, the first CarbonNeutral printer in the world

Review: Loads has been written about Kerri Chandler's inspired Spaces & Places album, an expansive set in which the legendary US producer pays tribute to some of his favourite venues around the world via tracks recorded inside them (and designed specifically with them in mind). It's a genuine triumph, as this full triple-vinyl edition (pressed to translucent green wax and accompanied by a poster featuring pictures taken by Chandler on his travels). It's basically Chandler doing what he does best - there are few musical surprises, but next to no mis-steps either - with our current favourites including the deeply emotive soulful house of 'Back To Earth (Find Your Peace)', the Berlin haziness of 'Sunrise (Watergate)', the bass-heavy brilliance of 'Subbie (Jackpot Mix)', the boogie-influenced, string-laden 'Kaiku (Disco Version)' and the sax-sporting funkiness of 'The Morning Heat (Main Mix)'.

Review: It may come with an eyebrow-raising price tag, but what's on offer here is undeniably alluring: a box set of 10 seven-inch singles containing all of the songs from Louie Vega's brilliant Expansions In The NYC album - an all-star affair in which the Masters at Work man celebrated his love of New York disco, boogie and house. The album itself is incredible, with fantastic musicianship, arrangements and vocals, while the cast list - which includes original electrofunk outfit Unlimited Touch, Peech Boys main man Bernard Fowler, Honey Dijon, Cindy Mazelle, Moodymann, Kerri Chandler and his son Nico - is similarly impressive. It's a great product, packed with brilliant music: a fitting finale to this portion of the ongping 'Expansions NYC' project.

Review: Ray Colino's steady hand on the tiller at Kalahari Oyster Cult has led to it becoming one of the finest, most distinctive labels operating in the wider techno-sphere. Notching up its 40th release in only five years, the collective energy of the cult doubles down on its spiritually-charged trance leanings with this righteous 18 track sermon featuring an impressive cast from close family members to headline acts. Whether it's the acid bubblebath of Volodymyr Gnatenko or Maara & Priori throwing down some deadly hand drum tech for the peak time, your sets are about to get a serious re-up of wiggy wonders. At a time when the early techno-trance sound has become so en vogue, Kalahari's clarity of vision and commitment to the vibe marks it out as a true scene leader.

Review: Fierce, fabulous and more than a little fancy, Box Of Sin takes an exhaustive look at 80s gay nightlife as the driver for the evolution of dance music. Spread over five CDs, we're taken on a sweat-slicked thrill ride through hi-nrg, disco, proto house and synth-pop taking in seminal classics and deep cuts alike. There are plenty of perennial favourites contained within, from The Pointer Sisters' 'Jump (For My Love)' and Soft Cell's 'Memorabilia' through to S'Express' massive chart dance banger 'Theme From S'Express', and you can be sure the compilers have taken care to source the real deal 12" mixes that bring out the best in a track. With plenty of lesser known surprises and a frankly head-spinning amount of knockout tracks, this is an essential document of the outsized impact queer club culture had on electronic music in the 80s and early 90s.

Review: Frost and Einzelkind's Pressure Traxx captures the evolution of minimal tech house over the past ten years, as the rigour of functional 4/4 gave way to different rhythms and motifs from the wider dance music lexicon. It was a smart move which helped reinvigorate the scene, and while they didn't do it on their own they absolutely fuelled the fire. Ten years in, their label is certainly due a retrospective which stretches out over eight sides of next-level workouts for long blends and marathon sets. The cast of characters hardly needs explaining - from Tobias and Villalobos to Edward and John Dimas, the quality never lets up and in one smartly arranged box set you're going to be gifted with the finest minimal in recent circulation.

Review: An integral figure on the Motor City scene for the best part of two decades, Specter has always been a particularly prolific producer. Built To Last - appearing on Theo Parrish's significant Sound Signature label - is his first album-length excursion. It offers an expansive summary of his inspirations and influences - many will notice subtle nods towards local deep house, techno and electro heroes, as well as more experimental synthesizer music, off-kilter electronic jazz-funk, deep space dub and eyeliner-clad early '80s synth-wave - while also showcasing a trademark sound that's every bit as dusty, warm, loose and lo-fi as his lauded Detroit peers.

Review: Desire once again demonstrate their prowess in the field of coldwave synth escapism with this new long player for Italians Do It Better. As soon as 'Black Latex' kicks into gear you know you're in for a red-lit thrill ride that captures all the seduction and mystery of nocturnal body music played the old-skool way. The kit list features such staples as the Jupiter 8, D-50 and Mellotron, while a revolving cast of ghostly vocals impart their message in English, French and Korean. This multi-lingual vibe only serves to take us further away from familiar territory into the displaced surrealism of the sound world Desire like to call home.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Box damaged, product in perfect working order***


You can always rely on the Cocoon compilations to bring you a high level of quality control and an authoritative overview of the state of techno around the time of release. This mammoth six-LP set will give you a lot of music to work with, and it's featuring a dizzying cast of high-end operators starting with the mighty Stephen Brown. Each track gets a side of vinyl to itself, serving as a kind of statement for how much faith the label put in each of these 12 tracks. Amongst the best on this top-drawer comp are Daniel Avery's metallic, spellbinding 'Your Future Looks Different In The Light' and Carl Finlow's lithe electro workout 'Surface Control', but as you might well expect each track is one you'll turn to again and again to give your mix some spice.

Review: The Chems, as they are affectionately known by fans, are breakbeat maestros that have been out in a field of one for many decades. Now they continue to serve up the most blistering big room beats, techno and electro fusions each time they play one of their famously spellbinding sets, as well as on this latest record which is presented here across six sides of vinyl. They are revealing all about their accomplished and decorated career in a new biography that arrives the same time as this new album, For The Beautiful Feeling. It's a high-octane sound full of maximal grooves and a mad guest spot from none other than Beck.

Review: Hard to define, rule breaking and game-changing producer Theo Parrish is back with another of his challenging and superlative albums. This one - which naturally arrives on his own Sound Signature label - is a collaboration with Maurissa Rose that true sooth the soul. It s full of his usual deadly grooves, shamanistic percussive layers and jazz energies with plenty of his famous luscious, meditative loops. Add in the smooth vocals of Rose - which come in the form of a soulful stream of consciousness - and you have yet another unique album from this true maverick of the form.

Review: Marc Leclair may have become best known for his Akufen work in the 00s, but his Horror Inc work is surely some of his finest. Taking the slinky micro house he pioneered and turning it to more cinematic purposes, his last album under the name was 2013's incredible Briefly Eternal on Perlon. Now he revives the project with this expansive suite for Ohm Hourani's Anoma label, which is appropriately tipped towards jazzy subtleties within machine music. With each release, Horror Inc becomes a deeper, subtler concern, and so it goes on this record where the springy, swung patterns are offset by half-hidden melodic murmurs and a generous dose of mystery as Leclair takes his conceptual project further into the realms of playfully spooky micro jazz.

Review: Alex Font is charged with serving up the MINIMALER Factory label's first release and an ambitious one it is too - Cross The Limits: Chapter 1 (we wonder how many chapters there might be?) is a minimal and tech house triple pack that offers a wealth of club-ready sounds. They are embellished with all manner of abstract details and creeping sound designs, from trippy pads to whispered vocals. Each one is intricately designed and carefully arranged to be in a constant state of flux that very much keeps you locked from start to finish. A trio of fine remixes from Dubtil, Franco Cinelli and Alexis Cabrera add further gravitas to this strong album.

Review: Louie Vega remains a towering presence in house music 30+ years after making his early mark. As a solo artist, he deals in soulful, Latin-tinged and musical house sounds that are lavish in arrangement and often made with real instrumentals. The Vega boss now serves up a bumper collection of previously unreleased tunes across no fewer than ten sides of vinyl. There are collaborations, remixes, demos, dubs and reworks along the way and the range in impressive - from deep and triable joints to shuffling samba sounds and back again, this is a vital collection from a real house master.