Back catalogue: Funky/Club House

Review: Motor City label Upstairs Asylum celebrates its roots in 313 with this new Dance Detroit EP featuring a wealth of American house innovators. First up, Reggie Dokes and Steve Crawford join forces on 'Fear Of Failure', a house track steeped in Detroit soul. Marvin Prather's 'Until' follows on with his stylish and soul-drenched grooves. Steve Crawford then goes it alone and turns up the drums on his potent 'Let You Go' (feat Tony B) and then get deeply emotional on 'Love Is Here' this time with help from featured artist Anthony Poteat. Prather and then label regular and Atlanta man Reggie Dokes closes down with his 'Not Ready.'

Review: Smooth house master James Curd has a bunch of his succulent sounds remixed by a heavyweight roster of remixes here. First up Art of Tones layers in freewheeling synth loops and tough disco claps to his remix of 'Sunday Queen'. 'Sublime Mind' gets the Byron The Aquarius treatment and becomes a cosmic star-gazer with zoned-out pads and sweet beats. Add in some signature soul from Terrence Parker and another perfectly tracky house tool from the always-on form Rick Wade and you have a classy EP.

Review: Get ready for a rush-inducing dose of proper soulful vocal house from the mighty Dames Brown. On this record for Defected, Detroit's foremost trio of Athena Johnson, Lisa Cunningham and Teresa Marbury linked up with the mighty Amp Fiddler and Andres for a rip through house music as real as it gets. The original 12" mix of 'What Would You Do?' is hard to beat for raw, heavy-hitting groove and production, but there are some choice remixes included here for those who have different needs, whether it's the bouncy jazz funk of Two Soul Fusion's version or the smoother sound of Folamour creating a sleek disco house variation for the peak time crowd.

Review: MotorCity Wine out of Detroit looks to the other side of the planet for its next release as Sydney, Australia-based artist Edseven steps up with his Burnin Up EP. It's that title track featuring Oliver Night that opens up with a smooth and seductive sound, leggy drums and warming chords. 'Soul Takes Flight' is another cuddly, deep and late-night lounge sound full of emotive vibes and another amazing vocal from Oliver Night. Things get even more chill on the flip with the mid-tempo sounds of 'If I Let You' featuring vocals from Cinta, all pressed up in a limited picture sleeve 12".

Review: Mark Francis teams up with Nimiwari to deliver a soulful house gem in 'Exclusively', a track that brings the Newark DJ's signature sound to the forefront. Known for his residency at Club Shelter, Francis expertly crafts a lush soundscape, with Shawn Lucas on keys adding a rich layer of depth. Nimiwari's vocal performance, blending soul and house influences, elevates the track with emotion and finesse. On remix duties, Detroit legend Alton Miller steps in with a groovy rework, featuring his trademark keys and a bassline that glides effortlessly. Miller's take is an elegant nod to his deep roots in the scene, co-founder of The Music Institute club and a key figure in Detroit's house history. Both the original and remix are backed by instrumentals, offering DJs ample space to work with on the floor. Francis and Nimiwari have created something special here, a soulful, timeless track with just the right amount of modern flair. It's a testament to their artistry and the production skills of everyone involved, especially in how the music flows so naturally from one version to the next.

Review: Connoisseurs of the European underground will be well-tuned to the sounds of quality operator Nico Lahs. And as for house operations over in the States, they don't come much finer than Kai Alce's NDATL Muzik, which means this a superb coming together. And so it proves with 'Over Me', offering slouchy, low-slung deep house beats with nice aloof, soulful samples. 'Searching' has a zoned-out late-night feel with swirling pads and a super smooth groove, then 'Overcome' brings a little more percussion and jazzy key work which Alce flips into one of signature and smoky shufflers.

Review: Theo Parrish has green-lit a couple of back catalogue reissues from his Sound Signature label this month and this one originally came back in 2010 and found him on production duties and Bilal Love on the vocals. The Melloghettomental EP is an archetype Parrish offering - dusty, lo-fi beatdown and house fusions with muted but meaningful chords and aching vocal hooks. You get all that on blissed-out opener 'Can't Keep Running Away', superbly soulful live bass work on 'U Bring Me Up' and heavier, more griding grooves but still sublime vocals on 'Why Wait'. The title cut is an off-grid mix of sci-fi melodies and diffuse chords, shimmering drums and low slub bass. Sublime.

Review: Here's something to get excited about: a cracking new cut from Detroit deep house legend Alton Miller, backed with a 'Sound Signature' translation from the equally revered Theo Parrish. Miller's version of "Bring Me Down", is something of a treat: a sparkling, starry deep house epic that's blessed with immaculate vocals from soul chanteuse Maurissa Rose. Parrish's translation is equally as stretched out and similarly enjoyable, but is far looser and dustier in feel, with warmer bass and beats that naturally tend towards the jazzier. It's naturally more in keeping with Parrish's work than Miller's, but retains enough of the latter's touches to be counted as a fine remix.

Review: Proper future classic Omar S!

Review: US house champion Junior Sanchez lands on the legendary Planet E label here with new remixes of his 'Art-O-Fact' bringing plenty of funk and Motor City house sounds. The Detroit remix opens up and is a deft working of the groove with smart filters and bursts of sparkling arpeggios lighting up the speedy house beats. The Detroit Bass remix is a little heavier and with more low end, as you might expect from the title, and last of all the Detroit Beatless remix is a masterclass is emotive synth work that dances and teases in a cosmic night sky.

Review: The assumption of quality that comes with Patrice Scott records is never let down, and so it goes on this latest refined transmission from his Sistrum label. 'For My People' is a sharp and snappy jam with some of the warmest bass you're likely to hear all year, but it's also smoothed out by mellow keys that provide the starry-eyed magic so intrinsic to Scott's sound. 'Let's Dance' is equally chill, albeit with a nagging swing you won't be able to resist bopping to, whether on the floor or elsewhere in your world. 'Abstract Jazz' offers up something a little more playful as Scott lets the beats come in a little crooked and the keys go darting off into intriguing harmonic configurations, but it's still sophisticated and elegant at its core. 'The Detroit Track' rounds the EP off with another sweet bumper which speaks to Scott's legacy as much as the city he hails from.

Review: On their fourth studio album, The Masters Plan, Robert and Lyric Hood - the father-daughter duo behind Floorplan - deliver a masterclass in house and techno that's as diverse as it is cohesive. Released on Luke Solomon's Classic Music Company, this 18-track odyssey showcases the Hoods' uncanny ability to blend the sacred and profane, the light and dark, into a sonic tapestry that's uniquely their own. From the opening chords, it's clear that Floorplan's Detroit roots run deep. The gospel-infused 'We Give Thee Honour' sets the tone, its uplifting vocals and rolling rhythms invoking the spiritual ecstasy of a Sunday morning service reimagined for the dancefloor. This spiritual thread weaves throughout the album, most notably on tracks featuring local Detroit vocalists like the soulful trio Dames Brown, Earthtone, and Lowell Pye. But make no mistake - The Masters Plan isn't all celestial bliss. The Hoods aren't afraid to get grimy, as evidenced by the pummelling beats of 'What A Friend'. Here, they demonstrate their mastery of techno's harder edge, crafting a track that wouldn't sound out of place in the sweatiest basement clubs of Berlin or London. It's this deft navigation between styles that makes 'The Masters Plan' so compelling. The dreamy house soundscapes of 'Feel It' provide moments of blissful respite, while collaborations like 'Fake & Unholy' with label-mate Honey Dijon inject a shot of pure dancefloor adrenaline. What's most striking about 'The Masters Plan' is how seamlessly Robert and Lyric blend their generational perspectives. Rather than a handicap, their age gap becomes a strength, allowing them to draw inspiration from decades of electronic music history while still pushing the sound forward. Ultimately,
The Masters Plan feels like both a celebration and an invitation.