Back in stock: Progressive House

Review: Dave Seaman and Steve Parry's Selador Recordings imprint releases most of its music digitally, serving up the most in-demand tracks on vinyl via the ongoing Magic Black Plastic Series. Volume five in the series boasts four more tried-and-tested treats, beginning with Clavis' gorgeous remix of Charles Webster and Ursula Rucker's 'Begin Anew' - all bubbly, hypnotic electronic bass, trippy tech-house noises, immersive chords, bouncy beats and poetic spoken word vocals. Timanto blurs the boundaries between warming deep house and melody-rich progressive house on 'Other Side', before Dave Seaman joins forces with Thomas Gandey on the low-slung dark room moodiness of 'Heavyweight Residue'. To round off the EP, Harcourt delivers a hypnotic, soft-touch tech-house take on 'Red James' by Robert Babicz.

Review: Plenty of dark disco's finest practitioners come together on this new 12" on Iptamenos Discos, with Psycho Weazel serving up the original tune. They are two producers from Switzerland who mix up indie-dance, cold wave, breakbeat and EBM. Here they offer 'Mains D'Argile' featuring Curses which has sweeping, widescreen synths bring a retro feel to a stiff, kinetic beat. The wonderful Marvin & Guy offer an extended mix for extra long club fun and then it is Local Suicide who guests on 'Matra Murena' which brings a perfect mix of light and dark to stark grooves, and Rafael Cerato remixes to close out the package.

Review: he North Macedonia label Pirka releases its fifth album and features four excellent tracks by the longtime producer Vincent Casanova. Things begin with the addictive melodic burner 'Mikey's Attic", which has a great balance of being futuristic with being retro enough to get everyone to the dancefloor. 'Euphoria' is bit more reserved but deeper. The track sneaks up on you as rhythmic elements continue to change and evolve under this excellent bassline. The track is carefree and fun that makes for an enjoyable time. On Side two, 'Strike' is more up-tempo jam that we cannot get enough of while 'Lush Void' might be our favorite of the bunch. This spacey romp into the cosmos is not only beautiful but it feels in constant motion like you are on a magic carpet ride. This EP has something for everyone!

Review: Rezpektiva welcome the elusive but impressive Phantom Power back to their roster for yet one more release - albeit consisting of formerly released tunes on Crib Records in 1994. These tracks are exemplary of the UK techno heyday and its weirder, madder crannies: 'Helter Skelter' opens with trilling mark tree caresses and riffing basses; 'Travelogue', meanwhile, indulges mouthy synths and cheesy crashes marking the on-beat. Both convey the redlining feel of driven movement on aero-arterial future freeways; despite the name, these guys are arguably the least in need of an outside energy source.