Back catalogue: House

Review: Ari Bald & CJ Scott are "Stockholm pals and soulmates" who have made waves on the legendary Studio Barnhus before now and here return to another local imprint in Baenger. Across the four tracks they delve into feel-good sounds with a hint of nostalgia that are perfectly in time for summer. The sample-heavy EP opens with 'Cloudy White', a thumping house cut with poppy synth magic and r&b vocals that swell your heart. 'Pan Riche' taps into filter house with sugary leads and 90s house drums that will have you rushing in an instant. The flip side starts with more contemporary disco-house fusion gold and finishes with 'Dime Girl', a funky and low-slung groover.

Review: Juuz out of Hungary continues to break new ground as it lays out its sonic identity with another tasteful various artists EP that roam free across the minimal world. Silat Beksi & Fedo get things underway with the heady but also playful and cheeky sounds of 'Porque Tu' before Minube's '909 Things' is a textural blend of found sounds, great sound designs and perfectly rubbery, dubby drum kicks. Daniel Broesecke's 'No Name' then gets more dark and down and dirty with a stripped-back mix of caps and bass that is pure backroom. Chris Llopis shut down its trippy sine waves and spinning hi-hats from the classic school of minimalism on his 'Manipulator.'

Review: New York's Joe Claussell offers three blistering takes on 'So In Love' by Black Rascals, the early 90s project from Blaze. This red-label 7" is a pricey one, but the contents justify it: deep house from the source, reworked by one of its most spiritual selectors. 'Rough Mix 1' leans into swirling vocal loops and expansive FX, full of Claussell's signature dynamics, while 'Rough Mix 2' dials back the drama slightly for something more floor-focused. Flip it for 'Drums', a stripped-down tool that reimagines the track as raw percussive hypnosis. Essential NY house lineage, revived in style and pressed loud-just don't expect it to hang around.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Minimal house legend Thomas Melchior and Montreal's Flabbergast duo bring their skills to remix Calcio Club's cool System Check EP. Melchior is one of our favs when it comes to silky, deep, minimal house and here delivers a remix that retains the original's groove while smoothly transitioning into lush synth vibes. Flabbergast's Guillaume Coutu Dumont and Vincent Lemieux have a sound just as distinctive and offer two remixes that push micro-house's limits. Their tracks feature mind-bending effects, Moog-style synth hooks and a burst of percussion that all lead the remixes to a new level of dance floor ecstasy.

Review: Carriego reemploys early Detroit techno and 00s minimalism, crafting a piezo powered four-track journey consisting in deeper, supersawed atmosses, and spanning electro to new wave. 'Hazard' sets a tense mood, while 'The Bridge' swells and quells pads and hip breaks voxes. 'Curtain Call' weirdens things, with popcorn string plucks piling on pylons of tension, while 'Seems Like' concludes on a snappier, momentous hush-hush. It's the fourth EP so far from the Frenchman, and an impressive one at that.

Review: Remarkable future deep house from an artist whose reputation speaks for itself, nonetheless through the wing-flapped wings and freedom trills of the past. As he came of age in New Jersey in the mid 1980s, Kerri Chandler's groove-driven productions and rapt DJ sets could easily be said to have "evangelised" the dancefloor, with the deep and soul-bearing tilt of his sound seeming to promise salvation. Undoing and atonement come to those who shrive not in speech, but by moving their feet. 'Caged Bird' first came in 2020 - well past Chandler's 90s purple patch - but nonetheless contained as ever the slickly sophisticated jazz and vocal reflections likely inherited from Chandler's father, the late great jazzer DJ Joseph Chandler. Nae sings on the track, and her lyrics name-check Maya Angelou, who adapted the infamous poem 'Sympathy' by Paul Laurence Dunbar under the name 'Caged Bird'.

Review: Cinthie returns to Heist with another stormer of an EP, packed with peak-time tackle and knowing nods to her rave roots. Following the titanic success of 2023's 'Piano Heaven' i also on Heist i the Berlin-based maverick had plenty to live up to on 'Get Up', and she certainly doesn't disappoint. 'Deep Inside Love' is a euphoric house pumper with uplifting keys and big room swagger, while 'Higher' leans into the rave nostalgia that typifies much of today's underground club milieu i all stabs, vocals and hands-in-the-air intention. 'Get Up' drops the tempo just a touch, offering a warm, dubby breather laced with classic house moods. Rounding it off is a slick remix from Demi Riquisimo, who gives 'Higher' a semi-retro twist. As ever with Cinthie, this is club music with heart, soul and a large dose of fun.

Review: Widescreen bass portamenti and steady-state textures predominate on this new Cleyra release through Timedance. Reflecting the Bristol artist's preference for heavyset bass and hydrop(h)onic textures, we were first turned on to their sound like heliotropic plants to red supergiants, whence in 2022 the 'Soft Bloom' EP offered our ears an ironic floral hardness. Since then, the artist has been hard at work on another five tracker of irreplicable sound, with 'Tumble Turn' and 'There's Nothing Happening Between Us' offering the best of the EP's tresillos and stereo-ecstatic percussions, which seem to paradoxically texturally vary themselves both much and not so much. How did they do it, we wonder?

Review: Next up on the brilliantly revitalised Gamm label is Coflo, who delivers a trio of dynamic reworks that show why he's one of house music's most exciting new producers. There are no lazy edits here-just bold, club-ready blends packed with flair. 'Canto De Alright' is a versatile transition tool that slides seamlessly between house and hip-hop. On 'Fly Like The Payback,' Coflo fuses Steve Miller Band and James Brown into a rare groove gem and closing the package, Nas gets a funky boogie rework that hits hard and grooves effortlessly. These tracks are hot, inventive, and destined to become weapons for DJs who like their sounds sharp and soulful.

Review: Renato Cohen has been kicking out jams of all shapes and sizes for many years, but this new outing on French house classicists Skylax amounts to some of his best work in ages. 'Roaring' is a disco-tech cut with dazzling arps loping in sugar, pixelated circles over the striking beats. 'We Desert' then gets more loose with synths spraying about with a mind of their own and plenty of cosmic colour. On the flip, the open gets reworked twice, first into a more heads down and bendy acid workout for the afters and also as a hands-in-the-air piano Balearic classic.

Review: A fresh transmission from the Co-op camp, this two-tracker reframes soulful source material through the prism of West London's broken beat tradition and deep, jazz-inflected house. On 'Smooth Co-Operator', the velvet of Sade's original is reworked with restraint and flairisyncopated drums, funk stabs and hip-hop atmospheres merge in a smoky, low-lit groove. It's classy and confident, a subtle floor-builder that wears its edits lightly. Flip it over and the tempo shifts up: 'Dream Alchemy' dials in from a different zone entirely. A cinematic tech-house excursion, it accelerates with a cold clarityihovering pads, delayed keys and submerged A$AP Rocky vocals moving in step with a bassline that rolls like fog over city streets. J Diggns' ethereal melodic work floats above the pulse, while Whiskey Drop's grounding in UK club DNA gives it teeth. It's the kind of record that finds a home in the middle of a setibridging moods without breaking flow. Both sides manage to feel nostalgic and future-bound. A deft, compelling fusion from start to finish.

Review: After a seven-year hiatus, Concept e25 is back which will, quite literally, be music to the ears of deep house heads. This is the alias of French producer Frederic Boeuf who has been crafting his own grooves since 2012 on labels like Skylax, Copie Blanche and Swedish Brandy. The 'Thesis' EP shows what he is all about with deep, cuddly drums, infectious kick patterns and subtle, painterly synths that help smooth the grooves and get your mind wandering.

Review: Hector Couto steps up on Cecille with Hot Stuff, a burning four-tracker roping in Chile's Alejandro Paz for a rework of his cult vocal cut 'El House', originally out on Comeme over a decade ago. Couto, a mainstay of modern European house with credits on Hot Creations, BPitch and Defected, revives his trademark low-slung swing, seasoning Paz's voice with sparse drums and deeper club intents. 'Camis House' rolls out woozy chords, sub-heavy basslines and apparitional voxes, before the flip 'Hot Stuff' ludicrizes the mood by way of looped soul chops and loose-lipped percussion. 'Red Velvet' rounds things off with slap bass, twitchy synth work and warm analogue textures; Couto sounds fully at home on Curly and Scholl's enduring Frankfurt imprint.

Review: Nutria Sounds is a new sub-label of Kai Alce's rightly revered deep house stable, NDATL Muzik, and it's back with 002 here with an EP by rising Toronto producer Marcelo Cruz, who delivers spiritually rich, dancefloor-ready grooves. 'Mi Espiritu (feat Jaidene Veda)' opens with haunting vocals layered over emotive percussion and bubbly drums, then 'Ceremonia' follows with Carlito Brigante's expressive piano dancing atop hypnotic rhythms that bring to mind sacred rituals. Closing track 'Deeper Dreams' dives into raw, underground territory with cuddly bass and stripped-back drums. It's a tasteful one from Nutria Sounds, which seems set to become a crucial new outlet for organic, soulful dance gems.

Review: Nicola Cruz lands on Cabaret with the 'Cryptic Nature' EP. Beyond consistently high-quality, compelling productions, it's usually hard to predict what the talented Ecuadorian producer will deliver i but he does his energetic Japanese label hosts proud with this stirring selection. The broken rhythms, trippy vocals and paranoid synths of the title track start things off on a strong footing, before the strobe-lit thrust of 'Elementals' powers ahead with swung snares and crisp hats. The four-to-the-floor drive continues into the wigged-out psychedelia of 'Kojix', while the jagged drums of 'Desire Scan' and the otherworldly intensity of 'Photosphere' round off a mighty fine, entirely floor-focused set.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record slightly warped***


A top value for money opportunity here, as Moiss Music deliver the latest in their sweet and sticky Jam series of various artist 12" line ups, bringing you no less than six bubbling, vivacious disco triumphs from six artists. Khemir's 'Disco Bandit' kicks off proceedings, a production that sounds like it was made by a band of around 45 musicians, a proper cavalcade of strings, brass, brazen disco thump and beautifully bold vocals. Wurzelholz's 'Prince' goes for a bit more economy but with a slinky funk bassline like that - not to mention the occasional exclamation from the purple overlord himself - it's equally devastating in dancefloor terms. Among the other highlights, 'Golden' by I Gemin has the feel of a lost Daft Punk flip tune and Cosmocomics' 'Glamorous Garcon', boasting 70s-style synth bubbles that are as cute as they are retro. Tasty as ever.

Review: Planka Records continues to lay out its musical agenda with a fourth EP that takes the form of a forward-thinking compilation that blends fresh talent with trusted names. Hypnotic rhythms, shimmering textures, and fearless experimentation define this release, creating a soundscape that's equally suited for deep club immersion or solitary reflection. House, electro, and techno influences blur seamlessly, crafting tracks that transcend time and genre. Each cut pulses with enigmatic energy, pulling the listener deeper into Planka's evolving sonic universe. With PLNK004, the label reaffirms its role as a tastemaker-consistently championing innovation while staying true to its raw, underground roots. An essential, boundary-pushing listen.

Review: FaF's Marseille-based label Durite has assembled another Various Artists compilation full of global soundscapes inspired by Middle Eastern rhythms on one side, while the other blends psychedelic Japanese and Chinese samples into trippy, atmospheric cuts. Italian producer Nativo balances deep house and electro with worldly flair, French artist Pagenty keeps ting dubby and slow with snaking leads and hiccuping drums. Fellow Frenchman Blinkduus Dischetto sparkles with raspy synth leads and celestial keys and Crane De Poule then serves up 'Lucky,' the clear EP highlight with its hurried Eastern Melodie and vocal samples over a clipped and tight tech beat.

Review: Norm Talley's Detroit label Upstairs Asylum comes through with another various artists gem here: Gari Romalis kick off with the sort of smoky house depths you always expect from this imprint. 'Electronix (I'm Ya Dancer)' is dubbed out but dynamic, then G Major's 'Metro To Downtown' brings an injection of soul warmth and percussive looseness. Chuck Daniels & Hazmat Live's 'I Want You' is a darker, more heads down affair with freaky vocals and digital synth patterns over gritty, US garage styled low ends. Max Watts then cuts loose with the undulating dub techno depths of 'Velocity' to round out a varied EP.

Review: Each release on the Vacuity label follows a spiritual journey inspired by the chakra system. This third EP focuses on the solar plexus chakra, which represents self-confidence, action and inner power. Titled 'Chiron Key,' it also references the astrological symbol of healing and resilience and embodies a coming together of spirituality and rhythm that, hope the label, encourages you to connect deeply with your own inner strength through music. Cakkou's 'Missed Call' has tribal techno leads and trippy neon lines and Luca Ruiz's 'Safari FM' is a twitchy and futuristic world of minimal tech with sprawling bass.

Review: Two legendary producers joined production forces in 1999 to create one timeless track that sees the light of day again here. Ron Trent and old friend Chez Damier were co-owners of one of the most important house labels of all time - Prescription Records - and they re-teamed up for this deep house classic for Ron's first full length album Primitive Arts. For the remix package, Atjazz deliveres an extended remix that amplifies the groove while maintaining the soulful depth of the original. Atjazz's signature melodic refinement and rhythmic precision shine through, making this version more uplifting yet hypnoticia lush reinterpretation that still respects its deep-rooted heritage. On Side-B, two more Ron Trent gems receive modern reworks. First up, 'Berlin Night in Paris' (Fred H Remix) transforms the 2017 track from 'Spaces and Places' EP into a chord-driven, tech-house-infused journey. Lastly, 'Cry' (Sourires Remix) delivers an atmospheric deep house experience, rich in space and emotion. Subtle yet powerful, this remix explores introspective tones, balancing melody and groove with a meditative feel. Together, these remixes further reinforce the already vast legacy of Trent and Damier in deep house history.

Review: Darcoform present a captivating four-tracker where minimal frenetics collide with backend sonic mental processes, producing no end of strange fidgety sounds. With side A, Vid's 'Soundscapes' and Cim Pian's 'Visions Of Neverland' conjure a twin gnosis through slipping frameworks made up of 2-step breakbeats and vocal samples. On the B, Mtps unites introspection and groove in 'Book Of Truth', interlacing vampish textures and beats, presaging Durosai's closer 'Str8 Chillin' which lays back with its arms folded over a mechanised punctuatiosn: "rock the dance", it goes, in celebratory conclusion.

Review: Chilean-born, Bristol-based Shanti Celeste has always brought a unique colour and emotion to her often bass-heavy sounds. She's a party-starting DJ, too, but delves into whole new realms with her wonderful sophomore full-length. Romance sees her exploring themes of love and friendship through shimmering pop textures and emotionally resonant songwriting. Her vocals take centre stage for the first time and lead single 'Thinking About You' is a heartfelt tribute to a late friend with a glowing groove and airy falsetto. Crafted between Bristol and London, the album features collaborations with Batu and harpist Miriam Adefris, whose delicate touch enhances its celestial tone and following last summer's acclaimed 'Ice Cream Dream Boy,' Romance is a luminous return and smart evolution.