Back catalogue: All genres

Review: In celebration of their tenth birthday, Selador marks the occasion in style with a four-track collaborative EP, featuring tracks from 3D, Robert Owens, Olivier Giacomotto, Quivver, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo, Argia, and Jepe. The opening track, 'Known Love', is a deep, pulasting house tune that feels like an instant classic, perhaps thanks to the soulful, pop-tinged vocals - think LCD soundsystem meets Four Tet. 'Snailblazer', the second track on the EP, takes a much darker turn, with a chugging, EBM-esque feel. Full-bodied and complete with obscured vocals, this is the kind of track to pull out your bag when it's time to really get stuck in. On the B-side, 'Napkin Knowledge' draws on the glistening synths of eurodance, yet still securing the melodies to a grounded bassline and rhythm section. 'Salitre' is the perfect closing track, rising up in a gleaming, ecstatic melody, before delicately returning to ground level. A varied yet firmly cohesive collaborative release - the perfect way for Selador to kick off their 2023 catalogue.

Review: There's a certain brand of 4x4 deep house that utterly slapssss. And that's exactly the business Toolroom Records are in - they're simultaneous experts at throwing us back to the sprawling garage paradises, while still lending modern, buildup-drop flairs to their productions. This V/A 12" sampler from a wider comp shows off choice buts from label mainstays, Essel, Guz, Qubiko, et al., showing off the best of what Italy's poppy deep house scene has to offer.

Review: Hot Creations has now been rolling out the club friend, crowd pleasing jams for over a decade and well over 200 releases. But still they manage to unearth new names and potent sounds to keep people going back for more. It's Jay Farina and Quinzi who combine on two slammers here. First up is 'Pumpin The Junk', a fat-bottomed house cut with robust drum wallops, raved up horn stabs and a sleazy vocal. On the backside is a more tribal cut. 'The Buzz,' which layers up the percussion with steamy and sizzling summer intent next to a potent vocal that has got summer Ibiza classic written all over it.

Review: Toolroom Records are partly responsible for the recent upsurge in jackin' deep house in the early 2020's; this sampler record, the second in their compilations EP series, serves as yet another tour of their grand new deep house estate. Delusions of grandeur are expressed on 'You Are A God' - which, for a track so deitylike, measures itself with rather a lot of restraint - while 'Talking To Myself' contains a vocal sample that is so mouthy and infectious that we really are beginning to believe ourselves to have been possessed by Metatron. 'Mallet' swerves into tribal territory, while ESSEL's 'Try' could be a contender for dance-chart-topper, assuming its piano weaponry is effective enough at swaying the radio pluggers. Joyous stuff.

Review: The Third Room concludes its so far excellent various artists series with a third and final instalment of yet more future-facing and heady cosmic techno. Justine Perry kicks things off with the deep space synths and paired back hypnosis of 'Diversion' while Hadone then bangs a little harder with 'Strain Relief' which has twitchy synth motifs and hard, hammering beats. HWRD's 'Mirage' is a buoyant techno bouncer with loopy synth ringlets all interacting with each other to mind-melting effect and Quelza's 'Domino' dips into deepest of dub techno territory to shut down a nice diverse EP.

Review: When it comes to UK hardcore/jungle schematics, they don't come much more authoritative than Q Project's 'Champion Sound'. That growing hoover sound and iconic vocal stab and those mercenary breaks... Like Total Science's Q himself, this still tears up dancefloors almost 30 years later. As does the often overlooked B-side 'Night Moves'. Bumping and rolling in the shadow of the anthem on the a-side, this wonderfully minimalistic track highlights the power of that essential stripped back dynamic of breaks and big bulging subs - the only ingredients any good D&B track truly needs.

Review: In amidst a veritable deluge of seven inch-shaped sharpness from Japan's crucial Soul Garden label this week comes this absolute must grip 45 session from Q.A.S.B. The nine-piece Tokyo funkateers have been holding it down since 2005 and this seven picks out a horn heavy highlight from last year's Q.A.S.B. III LP in the shape of "Good Guy." Throwing down a similar vibe to the Quantic Soul Orchestra, this track is all about the lead vocal from Amy A and those warm, tooting horns. Face down and QASB engage flipmode, slowing the tempo down and cranking the sass up on "Bad Boy". If seven inches were vegetables this would be one hot pepper!

Review: For well over a decade Japanese combo Q.A.S.B has been serving up slices of soulful goodness that variously join the dots between James Brown, Kool & The Gang, Sly and the Family Stone and slower, more thoughtful moments. Here they return to regular home Soul Garden with their first single of 2020. A-side "Thank You" is suitably and summery, with sweet female vocals, glistening guitar riffs, sustained organ chords, hazy horns and simmering strings rising above a skittish, jazz-fired groove. The party intensifies on flipside "Week-End", a Japanese language vocal number that makes the most of a more disco-centric, jazz-funk style soul backing track.

Review: Qeta and Inkipak show off their respective skills on this fine split EP on Sound Synthesis's Wave Function label. Qeta takes care of the a-side with a serene opener in the form of 'Idream' which pairs lush ambient designs with pristine breakbeats. 'Revved Orb' is a more dubbed-out and trippy post-jungle rhythm with 'Redawn' bringing soulful Detroit techno style to the floor. With his trio of tunes, Inkipak offers stripped-back breaks and celestial chords, heavenly moods on 'Schedule' and a cosmic comedown soundtrack with 'Wetlands.'

Review: Coming to Sound Synthesis' very own imprint, Wave Function, producers Qeta and Inkipak go head-to-head on this incredible new six-tracker, in a rare contemporary example of a "versus" record. Qeta's approach to production makes more sense when we bear his prior explorations in jungle under the name The Jaffa Kid, in mind; helming up the first three tracks that make up the A-side's corpus, the likes of 'Idream' and 'Corpus' reveal a preference for precision, taken to increasingly bloopy, novel and spacious logical conclusions. Inkipak's rebuttal is to resort to cascading breaks blissouts, preferring a more euphoric arsenal made up of ethereal vocals and trilling arps, of which 'Schedule' is the highlight.

Review: Japan has an always eye opening and left of centre take on most of the world's most established genres. Urban Discos save sup plenty of it and this time it is a Far Eastern take on lover's rock that is in the sights. Here we have two cuts from Qimygo who also records as KIMIGO. Up first it is 'Aitai To Omoeba' with its shiny dancehall beats and glistening, innocent melodies all topped off with the pure and clean vocals of Qimygo. After that upbeat opener comes the swagger and ever so slightly more tradition dub of 'Abatina (Calypso Rose)' but still served up through a bright melodic lends.

Review: The KMA60 Rezpektiva label is dedicated to dreamy electro and techno made on machines and headed for the stars. After past voyages from the likes of Opik, Denia and The Necromorph, it's the turn of Quaid to plot the course and he does so in fine style with some achingly beautiful synth work and crisp beat constructions. Just listen to the celestial arps and hi-tech jazz pads of 'Fusbares', all carried aloft by a dexterous bit of breakbeat programming. 'Cascade' meanwhile is a perfect counterpoint full of cascading bleeps and intricately criss-crossing patterns which serve as a true feast for the ears. If you love that early 90s backroom techno sound, you're going to love this record.

Review: "The inquisitive, investigative and analytical listening of the earliest works of artists such as Robert John Brown and Sean Booth, Mike Paradinas or Jochem George Paap influenced me a lot during the execution of this EP.," writes Eduardo De La Calle about his incredible four-track offering, Frei Aber Einsam. Straddling ambient, acid, electro, smoky breaks and epic electronica sounds, these are tunes you can really get lost in and that's unlikely to change regardless of how many times you hit play. Innovative approaches to arranging synth stuff add an air of genuine rareness to the sounds, with 'Lobha' opening on a timeless hardcore-style break before dissipating first into a gorgeous heads down bassline rhythm before serenity and fade to joy. 'Himsa' is a glitchier affair, packed with micro-percussion and these retro refrains, while 'Magadha' is an epic, deceptively low end driven slice of sonic heaven.

Review: It's been a while since we heard from R&S Records, so we're more than chuffed at news of this latest EP, which this time hears them extend their prolific, ravenous taste for new music ever-further, into what could be described as halftime drum & bass. This time the productions come courtesy of British producer Quartz, and perhaps a name like 'Deity Spear' tells you all you need to know; this is an angelic, synaptic, rapturous EP. Megadeep subs underlie snappy, endlessly-varied hat combos on the openers 'Lilac Cobwebs' and 'Deity Spear', which recall the contributions of Djrum or Lone to the label in recent years, with their cavernous space and extra attention to detail. 'Cosmic Horror' and 'Switchable Groove' refuse to let up on this overarching atmosphere, but lend it a new light altogether, fleshing out evermore sinister contours.

Review: This is a reissue of the classic disco track by Queen Yahna, a New York legend renowned for her part in the supergroup P&P All Stars. Originally released in 1976 on P&P Records - the legendary label run by Peter Brown and Patrick Adams - 'Ain't It Time' is an impressive belter, putting Yahna's incredible low-ranged vocals front and centre, whether by way of commanding melismatics or deft ad-libs. The instrumental, produced by the mysterious Capraquarius, hears the disco train continue to chug along, with pistoning strings, choppy drums and defiant rhythm guitar making for a propulsive backbone.

Review: Quince makes fluid and timeless techno music influenced by the soulful high tech sounds of Detroit. His latest release is a four-track EP on the Nowhere series which features tracks like 'Udon', a hypnotic and pulsating tune with a synth melody and a vocal sample that create a heady atmosphere, as well as 'Noodles', a more upbeat and groovy track with a catchy keyboard stab and a sultry bassline that add some energy and funk. 'Anthology Of Interest' is a solid EP that showcases the veteran Dutch producer's talent and style.

Review: While Hell Yeah! Recordings may be best-known these days for exploring the relaxed, sun-kissed world of Balearic beats, the Italian label's early releases were far bolder and more focused on peak-time dancefloors. They're back on that tip on this must-check 12", which comes courtesy of label regular Quiroga (AKA long-serving producer Walter de Vecchio). In its original form (A1), 'Once Again' is a prize chunk of mind-mangling, post acid house sleaze - all rambunctious, brain-melting acid bass, sweat-soaked drums, ultra-psychedelic TB-03 lines and breathless vocal samples. It comes accompanied by two contrasting remixes - the pitched-down, slow acid-with-pianos sunshine of the 'Ambient Mix' and DMX Krew's funky acid-electro pass - and the star-fall electric/nu-disco/acid fusion of the quirky 'Freak The Funk'.

Review: Two And Half Records make the decision here to try and rid the A and B-side distinction on records that we are all very familiar with and instead they refer to each face of their latest 12" as 'dance' and 'listen.'' It makes sense frankly and is often how things go anyway. Swiss duo Quismi kick off this one with twitchy and narcotic tech house with an old school bent. French artist Groenogen then gets wild with bright melodies and grinding synths, r&b vocals and high speed tech funk on 'Twinkle Dance' while ILyes offers the tech silkiness of 'Starting Now.' On the flip is a trio of less direct, more experimental sounds that sure do offer plenty to get lost in on headphones.