Crosstown Rebels Vinilo y CD

Review: Here's something fresh on Crosstown Rebels from Made By Pete, making a welcome return on Damian Lazarus' label with another striking vocal house track. This time it's Zoe Kypri leading the way on 'Horizon Red', instilling the track with a poignant, soulful power which brings out the natural patter of hand drums and melancholic piano in Pete's production. If you want to zero in on the track, 'Pete's Dub' is on hand to take the mood even deeper, while Lazarus lends a re-shape on the B-side which weaves its own mystical magic.

Review: By his previously prolific standards, Disco Halal founder Chen Moscovici AKA Moscoman has been rather quiet of late, choosing to release low-key digital singles on his own label. Here he breaks cover and returns to wax after two years away. Title track 'Adventura' is as atmospheric, off-kilter and druggy as you'd expect, with minor-key melodies, trippy electronics, buzzing effects and psychedelic guitar flourishes riding a chugging, arpeggio-driven groove. Over on the flip he joins forces with Zoot Woman on the pleasingly wayward, new wave-goes-indie dance creepiness of 'Reinvention', which rising star Alan Dixon then turns into a sparkling slab of dark nu-disco with added loose-limbed drums.

Review: Harry Romero returns to Crosstown Rebels as he links with vocalist Shyam P for 'Mind Games'. With a catalogue as rich as any and continuing at the top of his game two decades after his emergence within New York's fabled nightlife scene, Romero continues to serve up his own take of Latin-inspired and percussive-driven house music via a long list of the industry's leading imprints. Crafting a slick and heady groove before launching into a hypnotic haze accenting by a bubbling bassline, 'Mind Games' is an infectious and vibrant house cut as Shyam P's alluring vocals take hold amongst emotive builds and breaks. 'Mira', after, is a classic Romero offering as the focus shifts to crisp organic percussion arrangements, carnival-esque whistles and hooky Latin vocals for a bustling terrace number, before 'Analog Bugz' takes cues from its title as crisp drum shots and sharp stabs unite to create a no-nonsense builder made for the main room.

Review: Designed with a dual purpose - setting the label's agenda for the year ahead and introducing new signings - Crosstown Rebels' SPIRITS series has long been a must-check source of dependable tech-house tracks. Naturally, there's plenty of highlights to be found across this sixth annual edition. Our current favourites including the throbbing, percussion-rich, big room tech-house excellence of 'The Vision' by Cameron Jack; the acid-fired heaviness of Lauren Lane's 'Fair Game', with its wobbly sub-bass and echoing Latin drum hits; the crackling, mind-mangling tech-house psychedelia of 'So Deep' by Cristina Lazic and Leia Contois; and the fiendishly bass-heavy tribal-tech wonder that is Inigo Vontier's accurately titled 'That Trippy Sound'.