Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: Radial Records is the product of the friendship between the two artists Cosmjn and Lizz, coming together here to promote their sound, musical ideas and passion for electronic music. The two said that they want their record label to lead to cultural exchanges and a blending of musical influences, enriching the electronic music scene and promoting cross-cultural exchanges and for the first release on the label it makes complete sense for them to share top billing and set the tone. Simply called 'Radi 001', the EP has each one doing two tracks of all new music. Cosmjn's first track 'Touchstrip' is a dark tribal tech builder that has some prog house and a perfect amount of jackin' in it. 'Systems' is an electro funk party track that is perfect for poppin' and lockin'. Lizz's two tracks 'Restore Your Fear' and 'Future', meanwhile, are house burners that show the way forward in house music. If this is sign of what's to come on the label, than make sure to keep tabs on this project.

Review: More proper tacker makes it way to vinyl here courtesy of the blow label who enlist four more producers of this latest various artists EP. Kitchen Plug's 'Cheat Code' marries the best of tech, garage, dub and house into a kinetic bit of body music that oozes warm and lo-fi soul. CYMKA brings kaleidoscopic colour and squelchy acid to 'Sweet Peach' then it's all pout old school piano rave madness from Batenko on 'Inside Summer 21'. Last of all is the searing electro funk of Les Hauts with 'Passing Clouds', a blisteringly quick trip into another dimension with some rueful chord work. Sensational EP.

Review: Cowbeats is back with more fresh future moosic to make you moove. This fourth edition of their self-titled various artists series is another one packed with gems. Kurilo's 'Son Of The Sun' manages to make stuff beats feel funky, while Riku Sugimoto has plenty of snap in his kick and hit combinations throughout 'Coffee On Me.' There is a more cosmic sense of cruising when Solidwood dials you in on his sublime 'Working With Suspect' and Rizzi & Lapucci go for cold, snappy tech house as they offer up 'Mind From Another Kind. Lastly, NND cuts loose on the melodic wild and freewheeling 'FunkyDrome.'

Review: Akua Grant's outings as Lady Blacktronika are always worth checking, and her first full outing on Peggy Gou's Gudu label is no different. 'Baby I Got It' is full-on aural madness - a bombastic blend of beefy, redlined house drums, ghostly chords, pitched-up vocal samples and discordant minor key melodies - while 'Sing The Blues' is a deliciously drowsy chunk of wayward, dub-flecked deep house that's as beautiful as it is trippy. Best of all though is the locked-in deep house hypnotism of 'Hold My Hand', which features some superbly soulful vocal samples, metronomic bass and spacey electronic textures. Octa Octa provides a fine remix of that cut, too, re-imaging it as a stomping slab of lo-fi, funk-fuelled breakbeat house headiness.

Review: Japan's Thinner Groove flesh out their distinctive aesthetic with every new release. This time around, they welcome none other than Lemmi Ash, KOOLMFL and Sonic Weapon for a collaborative three-track EP of lowercase minimal tech and textural vignettes. The aim of the game is best encapsulated in the label's commentary: "each track can add a distinctive touch to the night, as like completing your cocktail with lemon and/or lime". Each track indeed sounds to the ear akin to how a fruity garnish tastes, with Ash's 'Presence' bringing tart citrine breaks notes to a gracefully held glass vessel. KOOLMFL's 'Atonbow' is drier bitters, barely availing itself of its trembling chords and sampled vox after an ultra-snappy initiation featuring a mere bass and kick-clap. Thinner Groove know all too well that good music is like an excitation of the flavour palate, and that minimality is the thing that lets such flavours sit.

Review: Lew Lewis is an artist who first rose up through the ranks back in the 1990s. He has his own labels Poodle Recordings and Nu Poodle Breaks back when UK tech house was right at the vanguard and never sounding better. He debuted himself in 1999 on Swag and now a couple of gems from that time have been found in his archives that never got released back then. They sound right on point with their elastic baselines and metallic drum textures all combing for a punchy, bumpy sound that will get you in a sweat in no time.

Review: Lapse Records welcomes Los Primos here as they debut their excellent new EP Under-Stompin'. This fresh project is the brainchild of Toronto's Cosmic JD and Aaron Santos, both affiliated with the Hypnotic Mindscapes label and party collective. They showcase their singular take on tight, twitchy cosmic tech house across a quartet of its that start with the snappy snare work of 'What We're On' before 'Primitive Holiday' (feat Masayuki Tomita) is more raw and coarse with sharp hits and spraying basslines. 'Vicky's Out 4 Blud' (feat Nicolas Cage) takes things into a more cosmic direction and the 'The TS Chronicles' is a warped afters banger.

Review: Radio Slave's Rekids welcomes a Detroit house master in Monty Luke for what is a comprehensive excursion into deep house across nine exquisite new cuts. Dub, techno and more all help colour these soundwaves and first up is the shimmering electro rhythm of '40 Acres & A Terabyte' while 'Nightdubbing' gets more zoned out and smooth as it comes alive with shimmering synths over rolling beats. Elsewhere are more grinding groves like 'Starstorms' which recalls the early work of Carl Craig and 'Avant-Garde Dance Hall' is a deft dub workout.

Review: You can never stop good music from making it out into the world and so it is that new label Secret Keeper from Ukraine makes its bow here despite what is going on back home. Luschn steps up for the first EP and sets a high standard with it from the off. 'Track 1' is tech with a menacing undercurrent and an undulating rhythm while 'Track 2' gets a little more loose in its loops. The mood switches on the b-side, where disco-tech comes to the fore and some deft melodies bring a cosmic feel to 'Track 3'. Last of all, 'Track 4' is nice and dry, stripped back and whacked out tech from another planet.

Review: This EP's four tracks explore a range of styles within the house genre, from driving grooves to more ambient-tinged. The A-side opens with 'Mind Floating' (Ruffy Pagan Renip), a hypnotic track with a deep bassline, psychedelic synths and a driving beat, followed by 'Chcem Strongly' (Ruffy Surf N' Turf), a more relaxed and ethereal track with cosmic ambient techno and early trance influences. The B-side features two remixes of 'Mind Floating'. The Special Character Peaky Renip remix is a chord-heavy take on the original, while the original 2010 Secret version is a more electro-oriented interpretation. Carnedd Dafydd is a strong release from Luv Jam and Maria Slovakova, showcasing their versatility and skill as producers. The heavy balance of psychedelic and chill out is premier.

Review: Shout out to brand new label Planka that opens its account with the perfect entitled Funderground EP. It's a various artist affair that welcomes some new names (to us) to the scene and first to go and first to impress is Moray. 'Lujuria Universal' is full flavour tech with punchy kicks and driving, fizzing bass to get clubs going. Natural Goofy brings twitchy cosmic unease to his hurried 'You Are Alone' then Len Lewis takes things into more physical realms with the loopy tech and astral basslines of 'The Emperor Strikes Back'. It is left to Will Vickers to close down and he does so with the freewheeling and turbocharged house of 'Arf Tone.'

Review: Swiss producer and DJ Lea Lisa gathers together some of her favorite tracks to play out with in a double pack compilation for Favorite Recordings. As you might be able to tell from some of the artists and tracks on here, Lea likes her house music deep, tracky, sometimes soulful and verging on proper techno. Featured here are key tracks like 'Ekeyz' from Pure Science, the club mix of 'Be There' by Kerri Chandler and 'Blax Thanxs' by Abacus. One very desirable addition is the early 90s gem 'Emotional' by Think. This very strong gathering of deep house tracks may be one of the best this year. Act quick and grab a copy.