Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Kompakt have billed their latest collaborative spiritual house release - three groove sandwiches shared between Deer Jade, David Hasert and Nicone - as an antidote to the all-to-prevalent late-winter blues and lack of sun, an affliction that seems to blight ravers in particular. Aside from canvassing for more outdoor and/or glass-roofed venues, all we can do in the meantime is weight the tonearm and jog-start the disc; 'Jukurpa' and 'Wasting My Time With You' are just the course of sonic vitamins us daywalkers need. The former is a deep, righteous blur of just piano tritones and circumscribed handholds around fires, as weighted knee-slaps and impacts evoke the feeling of a collective ritual come out-of-body experience. 'Cosmic Dream' returns to the very same rave spot at nighttime; at this point, it's all gone a bit lunar-psy, but the desert winds and temperate nighttime heat allow ample energy for continued soul flight.

Review: Here's a new transmission from lesser-known cats operating in the minimal underground. PUNCHIS seem to be committed to keeping things low key and letting the tunes do the talking, which is absolutely fine given the quality of the music contained within. Delaj sets the tone of the record as dubby and moody with the slender minimal breaks of 'The Path of Life' before Cirkel Square offers up a swirling minimal tech house offering with sumptuous synth work to slide your mind into. Nicola Brusegan invites Mariana to lay down some vocals nodding to the mighty Erykah Badu on 'Touch Me', and DOMO rounds the record off with the shuffling, rubbery funk of 'Settle Down'.

Review: Voodoos & Taboos unveil their anticipated new LPs series with Human Aventura, the debut self-titled album from the promising Corsican producer. An unusual dance release modelling itself on electro and chiptune, but finding itself somewhere in the hidden interstice between them, this is a self-described "libidinous Mediterranean spoken disco" album, giving elements of Telex or Kraftwerk, albeit with a progressive bent best heard on pithy cuts 'Solid State Scouter'. Not one to be missed for those who like it intelligent, fidgety and FMmy.

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: 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: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.

Review: The unstoppable Fuse continues its X series with a meeting between Italian veteran Alex Neri and next generation Florence-rooted hero Mennie. The sound is big, bold and 90s on this EP, with 'Reality' setting the tone perfectly with its trance-informed arps, sensual rhythm section and 'outer space' speech samples. 'Find Me' has a slightly more intricate techno make up to its synth work, while 'Rockets' shrugs off the grandiose synths for a tougher rhythm track sprinkled with acid. 'Watch Me' completes the picture with a rawer, nastier workout that maintains that old-stool flavour the duo have laid down on this deadly release.

Review: The Paris based Velvet Spirit releases its fourth EP. After appearing on their third releases, the label had to have a release specifically dedicated to Numero 6 solely. If you are looking for something different then check out the head turning 'Midnight Treat'. Electro like you may have not heard. The Indy Jane mix of 'Are You Sure' is particularly nasty (in all the right ways), while on the second side, 'Vicious' is a clever and unique take on tech house that injects a bit of electro in it while 'Bloodline' is the smoothest cut of the lot. Quite eerie in a new wave way, you have to hand it to Numero 6 for making something quite unique.