Back catalogue: House

Review: The most sought-after release from the entire Sounds catalogue, Gemini and Unit T's 1995 release, 'Sideburns', finally gets a much-needed reissue. A1 track, 'Trip', is a prime example of deep house if there ever was one. An infectious, encircling melody meets the deep groove of the bassline to create a finished product that is in equal measure sun-soaked and cosmic. 'B Trip', the A2 track, is a gloriously shifted, off-beat reimagining of A1, pummeling percussion reverberates across the track, left alone to enjoy moments where everything is stripped back, before the body of the track returns. On the B-side, 'Mystery Tones' arrives with the kind of groove that instantly makes its way across dancefloors - a unifying track that feels precise in its simplicity, whilst still retaining exactly the right degree of looseness to get a crowd moving. This is a must-have record for any deep house aficionados, and you can now save yourself the hefty Discogs price tag!

Review: The highly politicised Los Angeles collective Ultra Red re-released their superb A16/A17 12" last year. Both tunes were produced entirely from field recordings made during street protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington April 16 and 17, 2000 and became secret weapons of DJs like Ricardo Villalobos & Craig Richards. Now, 'A16' gets remixed by underground titans Losoul and The Mole into two club-ready groovers. Losoul goes first with a dry and minimal take that is textured and deep with plenty of absorbing atmosphere. Next up, The Mole goes for a more propulsive sound with glistening tech house drums and icy pads. Both are artful reworks that take you on a mental trip.

Review: This reissue of Underground Resistance's seminal Nation 2 Nation LP is a significant moment; the group's messages of liberation and resistance feel as relevant as ever, not least given the reivisionist concept behind this EP. Perhaps, though, we should resist chinstroking too much; for the original liner notes of this seminal release criticize the over-intellectualization of characteristically African American art forms such as house, hip-hop, jungle and jazz. Even so, this 1991 classic stands as tall as ever, with sax contributions from Lenny Price helping to explore exactly what jazz would sound like if it had originated with the analogue gear that was available to UR's members, decades later.

Review: Pioneering psychedelic trance label Platipus is going all-out to celebrate its 30th birthday, with no less than 12 compilation style EPs scheduled for release this year. This is the second and, like its predecessor, sounds pleasingly current thanks to the trend towards harder and more psychedelic music. Len Faki kicks things off via a pleasingly weighty, hypnotic, chant-sporting rework of Union Jack's 'Cactus', before Chab channels the spirit and sound of dawn at a turn-of-the-millennium free party ('Sunrise'). Over on the reverse, Simon Berry and Luke Brancaccio deliver a deep, progressive house-influenced tech-trance interpretation of Martin Merkel's 'Little Wonder', while Star impresses with the driving, peak-time hedonism of 'Rock Rose'.

Review: Upwellings' latest for his local Lithuanian label Greyscale, 'Lark Dub', is something of a a dub techno masterclass, shifting through subtle echoic phases and left-right-panned chords. The four tracks here imply a journey through some otherworldly cosmos, with curiosities such as 'Fed On Dub' conveying a dark world of unfortunate (or, perhaps, fortunate after all) creatures whose entire daily reference intake consists of dub topi. It's a subsistence living, for sure, but rather than misery, it amounts to a spiritually satisfying, ascetic lifestyle. Remixes from Bluetrain, Ohm & Octal Industries round off the B, pushing through the vinyl crackle into detuned, forward-propulsive moods.

Review: Estonian label Gestalt is back with another blistering and club-ready 12', this time from Utopian Streams. Across the four fresh cuts are explorations of the sound worlds where electro, tech, acid, minimal and breakbeat all collide. 'Dream Shores' is an emotionally intense cut with waves of synth and subtle acid, crisp drums and big bouncing beats. 'Planet JX' is a darker, more downbeat number full of future menace and melancholy and 'Andromeda' is a cosmic workout with fizzing lines and sonar pulses over mid tempo drums. The last cut of the lot might be the best - the dreamy 'Now Is The Time' with its majestic chords and melodies over Detroit house drums.