Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: For those who value digging deep into the folds of original UK tech house, Mark Ambrose has been a cult favourite for a long time. Now, as the sound continues to enjoy favourable conditions amongst those who like to play long and winding sets stretching out into infinity, Repeat are doing the right thing and combing through Ambrose's considerable back catalogue from the late 90s to piece together some of the most sought after gems. Sharks be damned, now we can get our hands on some of these prized items, like the wall-shaking, dubby as hell 'Zulu Groove' and sumptuously groovy sunriser 'Free Your Mind'. No matter how much tech house gets made these days, they don't make it like they used to.

Review: Tech house might be a much-maligned genre these days but once upon a time it was seriously hot shit. That time happened to be when Terry Francis was at the top of his game back in the mid-90s. The UK pioneering very much helped to shape the early sound of the genre as a producer but also a DJ with his legendary sets at Wiggle and Fabric. This ongoing compilation series is now up to a fourth volume of hits from the main man and the quality remains as high as ever. This part focuses on his work from the mid-90s to the early 00s, and all of it is class as they mix up tech, acid, house and more into pure dance floor fire.

Review: Repeater's latest reissue takes us back to 2001 and the formative years of the UK tech-house scene. Get F***ed was a (sweary) alias of pioneering producers Nils Hess and the late Nathan Coles, utilised by the pair between 1998 and 2005. Wet Dreams, their sophomore album, first appeared in stores in 2000 and has become hard to find on vinyl in recent years. This edition not only boasts remastered tracks but has also been expanded to three slabs of wax in guarantee a louder pressing. Largely funky and spacey, utilising a mixture of far-sighted synth sounds, deep chords, boisterous house beats, chunky basslines, futurist intent and subtle nods to early UK garage, the album's ten tracks arguably sound as fresh now as they did when they were first unleashed on dancefloors at the dawn of the century.

Review: The 90s East Coast house scene owes a real debt to John Howard. He was a pioneer of the era who led the way with his mix of groove, soul, jazzy rhythms and fresh breaks. His best work has become the subject of a new series of reissues from Repeat who kicked off with his Scianloic 12" and now drop this hand-stamped double 12". Shessions is packed to the brim with innovative early house grooves that are up there with your favourite artists from Chicago and Detroit - or at least should be. Our pick is the shimmering late night glow of deep house delight 'Can't Need Sunlight'.

Review: Jay Tripwire's My Life With The Machines compilation series is doing a terrific job of showcasing some of the umpteen early noughties gems buried in his catalogue and archive of unreleased jams. This is volume four (the first three instalments dropped in 2022) and features seven more slabs of intergalactic, wide-eyed, dub-fired tech-house treats. He begins with a sumptuously spacey and loved-up rework of Mothersole & Haris's 'Dumbek', before adding echoing sax sounds and dubbed-out organ lines to a heady early morning groove on 'What Kind of Voodoo Do You Do?', an alternate take on one of his most admired tribal-tinged tracks from 2002. Other highlights include the ultra-deep after-party excellence of 'Smoothin' It Out', the heads-down excellence of 'Smooth Swimmers (Swag Unreleased)' and the warming shuffle of 'Geometry'.

Review: One of the "Godfathers of UK tech house" (there are many contenders for this unofficial crown), Eddie Richards began the Time Travel series to reposition this snappy sound in its most modern form. Ironically, this means travelling back in time, then revisiting the present with older, better tools. Tech house was born in London, and yet in terms of popularity and influence, it has transmigrated to the furthest-flung regions of Europe and Asia in quicktime. How can we possibly reintegrate its original sound, let alone refind it? A veteran of the unstoppable waterwheel that was Camden Palace, Richards makes as honest an attempt as you can hope for. He doesn't bother with track-titular profundity, instead embracing names like 'Dream2', 'Moody' and 'Eightone8', suggesting tech house, despite the "tech", should be an off-the-cuff sound, one not chiselled and burnished to perfection. 'Danger' and 'Tease' are proper blemished tech house mother-genes, while for the 'Love Is (Dub)' crosses into u-chambered dubtech territory, with a bespoke, rebarred hi-hat to boot.