Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: There's a fair chance you'll already have heard "Cola", experienced production duo Camelphat's collaboration with vocalist Elderbrook. The original version, with its rumbling bass, atmospheric builds, subtle bassline house influence and "she sips the Coca-Cola" refrain, has become something of an anthem since first appearing on digital download earlier in the year. For this first vinyl release, Defected has packaged the now-familiar original mix with a trio of reworks. The most impressive of these comes from German veteran Mousse T. He brilliantly re-casts the track as a bumpin' chunk of celebratory disco-house complete with thrilling piano riffs and an elastic bassline.

Review: It's coming home, it's coming home - house music is coming home! A second instalment of the Groove Access: series Chicago Is Home offers us five fresh tracks from the windy city landing in a glorious cavalcade of razor edged snares and hypnotic jack house. Ed Nine & Kid Enigma's 'Bandleaders' opens side one in spectacular fashion with spoken mantras lying deep in the mix, distinctive phasing arpeggios, poking keyboard riffs and ringing cymbals. JSquare's 'Get Wicked' kicks with even more power, tribal rhythms bouncing of bleepy melodies, before 'Move' by Geto Mark rounds off the side with the strutting, beautifully brutal 'Move', a proper 3AM peak time pleaser. Steve Noah's 'The Hater' opens side two, a wily acid line worming its way across a raw, stripped down backing before exploding into serious gnarliness when you least expect it. AFTR's 'Undercover' rounds things off with another knuckle duster of a tune, leaving no doubt that Chicago is still the place to be when it comes to house.

Review: Akka & BeepBeep is a new label from the US that is dropping its first two EPs simultaneously on Valentine's Day. Joradesilver is behind one, and also feature sin collaborative mode on this other 12". It opens with 'King David', a hi-tek house sound with soul drenched pads and tightly programmed drums and bass. 'Mango Strut' slows right down to dubbed out house with clattering percussion and the sound of spacecraft, then 'June Buggy' gets funky with more twitchy cosmic synths and a nice organic house groove. 'Callin' Dybbs' is a deep and smoky closer for the backroom with a sublime sax line drifting throughout.

Review: MyHouse YourHouse based out of Cordoba, Argentina is back with this excellent various artist EP. Get ready to be transported to a world of sound, as they leave you entranced and captivated. Let the rhythm spin you on a journey of excitement and discovery. On the first side, Ruper Eliis nails that classic '90s NYC swing on the groovy "3Dimension" followed by Martin Bellomo (Momentz) with the deep and introspective cut "Earltraxx". Turn over the disc and you're then treated to label boss Rypli's trippy minimal funk jam "Past Is The Past" and finally Bernards serves up some proper late-night mood music on the ultra deep "It Doing Fusion".

Review: Anthony Georges Patrice's Ausblick label has trod a fine path over the course of its first five releases and the good work continues on its sixth outing which is a new various artists affair. It is Berlin based Ephem who kicks off with 'Dizzy' and all its bumpy beast and raw perc, then Koln's Hidden Sequence follows with 'Optical Drive' that is more stripped back and powered by warming sub bass. Anthony Georges Patrice himself then completes the hat trick with 'Easy To Love' (Tunnel Vision Mix) which over ten sublime minutes brings some more airy, double doit flavoured and has already been getting plays from Mosaic boss Steve O'Sullivan.

Review: Caleto Records's eighth outing takes the form of this various artists compilation featuring exclusively Polish producers. The Etat Cru duo of Olszewski and Pawlescu kick off with the wire and sinewy synths and tech house pomp of 'Jasmina' then Jerry M offers two cuts. 'Gutek' is a nice spaced-out tech cruiser with flashy astral pads and 'Gondin' rides on well-designed breakbeats with an old-school bassline. Robsessive's 'Look After You' is a deeper, dubber, grittier cut for late-night vibes and SIM ON's 'Brudas' is all glitchy and dystopian urban landscaping. Poland sure has plenty of talent based on this EP.

Review: Italian tech connoisseurs E.T.H (Italy) and Palmiz deliver a sublime 4-tracker with Interstellar on Gestalt Records, perfectly balancing big room utility and sweaty club vibes. Highlights include 'How Long (Trippy Mix)' , an energetic, progressive house groover with a big, heavy late 90s sound. This track is a standout with its powerful beats and infectious energy. 'Interstellar is pure 90s fun with it's techno vibes dominating this track, bringing a vintage UK sound that feels both nostalgic and fresh. Another great one is 'Senator Bump' with the blend of classic New York house and elements of acid house. E.T.H and Palmiz have crafted a versatile EP that resonates with both classic and contemporary techno and house lovers.

Review: The musical spirit of even Tuell aka Paul David Rollmann was already enlightened upon in the history of cosmos from "Out To Lunch"/Rand Music and Low-Tech. Regulars already know that he crafts traditional encompassing the realm of sound research. An unusual sound, dark and distinct finding the light at the end of the tunnel. A Subtle melting into enticing sound goods, human beings are stirred into compulsive undulation. With him, it is about the musically developed "Net Earrings" from fresh and remarkable wares. All realized without seeming forced or overdone. Engaged in spirit is Metaboman. One half of the Krause Duo (recently without the NR.2). Fashioning musical creations with diverse musicians on such implements as rhodes, drums, winds and horns, percussion etc. Thus, more life is breathed into electronic music on the live stage. The tracks for the B-side are also experienced live on stage along with assets from the well-known Blue Note Jazz Label's studio. "Control A Zoid" is absolutely in the basement where the door is always cracked just a little, so that just a little sun drenched daylight can shine through. The hope of weightlessness flashes in the darkness. "Tube Dive" is understated devotion to all the utensils needed for the dance floor. This is for the later hours, when the joints just go all out! "Go Go Go" is an endless monster groove with such an embedded bass thump, that the feet should alternatively fly over the floor slippin' and a sliding. The foregoing is gathered from a spirituality that searches for its match. A union of acoustic instruments which quenches the thirst resulting from the intense sweating that, this track makes happen out of the rhythm. Three times pure earthen deepness, which sensibly draws out a maximum degree of forward movement, thereby the irresistible dance mutates into a prayer. Even ardent hard-line atheists willingly give themselves as sacrifices, and all with a smile. A cul-de-sac for electronic music with club character will never last as long as such ejaculation of the club scene stays fertile.

Review: The 110th release from Kompakt Extra comes from Extrawelt, a long-serving electronic band from Hamburg that has previously impressed via albums and singles on Traum Schallplatten, Border Community, Darkroom Dubs and Cocoon Recordings. They naturally hit the ground running with "Pink Panzer", a bustling affair that mixes live drum breakbeats and tough machine percussion with moody, booming bass, creepy strings and evocative, ever-building tech-house electronics. Flipside "Argonaut" is an altogether sleazier and heavier affair full of thrusting, non-stop distorted bass, redlined post-electro drums and all manner of mind-mangling electronic effects. It's effectively the Yang to the A-side's Ying and, like its' predecessor, very good indeed.

Review: Gideon Jackson and Eddie Richards are bona fide tech house titans who have more than helped to shape the genre since day dot and the All Rise EP sees three of their finer past glories gathered together and remastered and pressed on lovely red wax. The excellent 'Biscuit Barrel Blues' opens with exactly the sort of compelling drum work you would expect and it is imbued with some prying synths and sultry vocals. There is an irresistible glitch and dryness to 'Pull Tab 2 Open' and its smeared pads that make it perfect body music then 'Crying' (Gideon Jackson remix) brings a more heavy tech house sound with extra dub weight. Perfection.

Review: Mole Music branches out for the first time to vinyl here and shows it has a great wealth of talent to call on with a various artists' EP that is presumably the start of a new series. Holy Guacamole Vol 1 kicks off with JHNS keeping it deep and lively with 'Nevermind' while Steve End and Colau hook up for 'Back Spin' and lay down some magnificent drum loops that are silky and infectious. El Funkador's 'Shame' brings some 90s New York vibes with lovely snare sounds and warm bursts of chords. On the flipside, Alben & Laje & Errat, Hot DLVRY and Craftsmanship all cook up more fresh fusions of old and new school house.

Review: Bulgarian crew We Or Us have assembled a fine various artists release here for their next 12". 'L'interpretazione Dei Sogni' features an opening cut from The Mole in the form of the loose -limbed 'Groovy Foodbag. 3lias, Erick Navas, Clock Poets & Nagual all combine for the brilliant 'Good Not So Bad' which is gritty minimal tech house, and Triptease & Greg Paulus offer the more organic depths of 'Dreg Gong' which is all busted bass and muffled vocal swirls. Fabrizio Siano's 'Indahoo' shuts down with some wonky rhythms invention, spooky spoken words and DIY percussive details.

Review: Woody McBride's Sounds label continues to dive back in the archives and revive some absolute gold standard techno for modern diggers. This collab effort between McBride (in his DJ ESP guise) and DJ Skull originally came out in 1995, and it still sounds fierce to this day. 'The Drive' is a stripped down tool with all the right chops to tweak out a locked-in raver, but 'G-Rated' is the real gem on the record. In a blistering hailstorm of 303 squelch you get a definitive example of acid techno at its finest. 'The Power' might well find relevance in the present day trance-techno scene thanks to its unsettling leads and relentless forwards thrust.

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


'Lords Of Miami' is a fantastic name for this new one from Domesticated, a label run by one of Berlin's best electro aficionados, Robyrt Hecht. Sshadess, The Coomers, Girlcop and Emscho Shoshe each contribute original cuts ranging from the janky to the smooth, with choice bits like 'Carbonara' remaining unpretentious and not-too-produced, yet also peppery on the glitches. Shoshe's 'Give Up' lends an experiment to vocal booty house too, adding an extra creep factor to the genre with freq-scooping phasers on the sample.