New releases last eight weeks: House

Review: For the latest must-check missive on their self-titled label, London twosome Make-a-Dance have decided to pay tribute to the formative 'garage-house' sounds made for, and played at, New York clubs in the mid 1980s. Rising star Magari steps up first with 'Mars Bar', a Larry Levan-friendly affair where soulful, reggae style vocal samples ride a Boyd Jarvis-esque bassline and warm synths. It's very authentic to the sound being paid tribute to, as is Mark Seven's accompanying (and lightly freestyle influenced) 'Parkway Power' rework. Over on the reverse, Ilija Rudman takes over with 'Danceteria', a proto-garage house affair whose title offers a nod to the infamous NYC venue of the same name. Manuel Durquart remixes, retaining the nostalgic vibe while adding extra trippy layers of sound, a sturdier early NYC house groove and mazy synth solos.

Review: Two years on from his first M.A.D Edits EP, 'Rakim Redun Volume 1', Karim Sanchez once more dons the Rakim Under alias for round two. As with its predecessor, the four-track EP sees him breathe new life into lesser-known cuts from the past while adding his own samples and nostalgic musical elements. Clips of opener 'Transfer 91' were not available at the time of reviewing (too hot to handle, we assume), so we'll start with 'Gulf of Space', which sounds like a take on a turn-of-the-90s, bleep-era electro-meets-house jam underpinned by deep, heavy bass and peppered with spacey synths and sampled spoken word vocals. 'Wonderbean' is a more rubbery, elastic and energetic affair - all restless, jazzy bass, post-electro breaks and mangled vocal snippets, while 'Ko-Ko' is a tweak of what sounds like a proto-bleep electro workout.