Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: Belfast-born producer Cromby lands on Life and Death with a slick three-tracker that balances punchy house pressure with wide-eyed euphoria. The lead cut, 'I'm Coming Back', is a collaborative jam with vocalist NiKi K, all soaring pads and ecstatic vocal phrasing-pure serotonin with a subtle edge. Known Artist then flips it into a tense, club-focused version, peeling back the gloss in favour of moody propulsion and tight, broken drums. On the B-side, 'One More Time' hits with a grinning sense of peak-time mischief, full of springy basslines and bright melodic licks. It's a confident and cleanly produced record that toes the line between emotional release and practical dancefloor function-perfect for high-pressure sets and outdoor moments alike.

Review: Kiria Records drops a sleek EP here from Romanian DJ and producer Direkt, who keeps it refined with minimal grooves and deep vibes. The title track, 'Vintage A,' opens with classy synth work and crisp percussion, setting a hypnotic tone and Cally's remix follows with a stripped-down, razor-sharp rework ideal for subtle transitions and after-hours sets. Flip to the B, and 'Best Kick Forward' lives up to its name and is driven by bold basslines and forward-moving momentum. Closing track 'Fragments' floats on airy textures and intricate rhythms, so it leaves a thoughtful and lasting impact. A polished, versatile EP built for selectors who like it deep.

Review: Three Es would be some trip, and EEE also symbolises guaranteed good times in the club. The mysterious label and eponymous artists keep on rolling out essential tech and minimal cuts that are smartly designed and authentic, but also with anthem potential. Maybe that's why each one is a one-sided 12", to really allow the tune room to shine. In this case, dusty drums with a hint of garage swing and shuffle are paired with melodic baseline motifs and colourful synth patterns. It's a good time groove with plenty of heart.

Review: German techno DJ and producer Tim Engelhardt takes a bold steps toward ascendant progressive techno with 'My Joy', his latest for Habitat. Nodding to the many sun-drenched euphorias personally experienced in Ibiza, this is a true live-it-up house record. Panned organs and subtle vocals take centre stage on the A1, while the B 'Love Triangle' complicates things with a beachside love involution. Midway moment 'Take Control', meanwhile, marks the record's pivotal shift from organ-led emotion to a percussive lock-in.

Review: Sub Basics's Temple Of Sound is back with new music from Henry Greenleaf who appears under his new moniker, Greenteeth. It is a project he is clearly using to cook up smart back room minimal sounds going off this evidence: 'Loxton' is a slow motion and prowling groove but one with deep, menacing bass and nice louche percussion. 'Jungle Love' is another subversive sound with a snaking rhythm and dubby low ends, dusty hi hats and late night mischief. Last of, 'On & On & On' plays out over all of the flipside with shuffling drums that are light and airy and topped with wispy drones. It's delightfully hypnotic.

Review: Acid tests, in a scientific context, refer to metallurgic processes whereby the chemical composition of metals are analysed in order to determine their makeup. We can't place exactly when the term was co-opted by artists of the acid techno movement, but we can certainly attest to this acid test's besting of several other lesser litmuses in the micro-genre. ITWS have found a gem in Ilario Liburni, a mainstay of the Italian audio-alchemic underground: 'I Don't Tip' and 'The Acid Test' provide twin minimal acid, with psychedelic ad-libs sure to make even Timothy Leary blush, while isotopes from TIJN and The Wizzard heighten the base compounds' corrosive intensities. A well assayed assault on the ears, well suited for those hazarding another lysergic dabble.

Review: Sometime Trauma Tribe and Spy vs Spy member Christian "Chris" Lloris is now two decades into his production career, though remarkably it has been 12 years since he last released a solo EP on vinyl. 'Echo Ridge', which also marks his debut on Lisbon label Satya, is therefore a long-awaited return to wax. He begins in confident mood with 'Ministrone', a fine fusion of lolloping tech-house grooves, spacey electronics and deep house flourishes, before delivering a chunkier and more bass-heavy slab of trippy tech-house with oddball samples aplenty ('Echo Ridge'). Over on side B, 'Mod Squad' is smooth, squelchy, quietly funky and delightfully off-kilter, while 'Snares Don't Care' is a more hypnotic, spaced-out and bass-heavy affair that's perfect for those "locked in" early morning moments.

Review: Future garage via techno excursivenesses by new producer Loopdeville, whose name sure does sound like a place we'd like to live, London having failed us as of late! On deep purple vinyl first comes 'Celestial Quest', an interstellar undertaking handled with remarkable ease, with little so much as a flickery garage beat and ruminant chords making mellow light of light years. Mihai Pol amps up the danger factor with rogue chord asteroids threatening to pierce the hull; and B-siders 'Nosy Fella' and 'Moonlight' both swerve tactile, with their concussive percussions and vocal murmurations, resounding like unconscious inner workings of the spacefaring mind.

Review: Vinyl only record label Purple Print mark an impressive selection with 'Lanao Izany', a fresh EP from the Hungarian artist Daniel Meister, whose snappily produced but well-balanced mixes help bring a reinvigorating freshness to the easily mishandled world of minimal tech. We're not sure what "lazao Izany" means, but the track *is* zany: unmistakable synth santoor and crying vocals make for a mournfully mobile mix on the A track. Meanwhile, 'Delight' and 'Different Places' continue to goosebump us with low bandwidth static SFX and relentlessly snappy hits.

Review: With more than two decades of output behind him, French producer Okain continues to carve his own path through the deeper ends of dance music. On this latest EP, he folds elements of acid, sci-fi and Goa trance into a rich and forward-moving four-tracker. The experience leans much more toward interstellar techno exploration. 'Acid Spin' kicks things off with propulsion. It's not overly fast, but the drive is undeniable. Electric squiggles and sharp synth lines dart across a steady rhythm, giving the track an urgent yet sleek atmosphere. 'EPR Paradox' is just as tightly produced, letting its groove build gradually with layers of texture and restraint. On the 2nd side, 'Wavefunction' drops into a swirling, cosmic descent. It feels like tumbling through a wormhole, where the lines between gravity and sound begin to blur. 'Computing Force' rounds off the journey with a deft hybrid of Goa trance energy and techno structure. The melodies shimmer with a nostalgic rave glow, yet everything remains clean, spacious, and functional. Altogether, the EP is a bold statement from a veteran still pushing boundaries. It's deep, physical, and built for futuristic dancefloors. This EP could change minds when it comes to what psy-trance is...

Review: With Pattern Gardening, London-after-Leeds imprint Wisdom Teeth yank out an extra gnasher we didn't know we had. As has always been the case, label heads Facta and K-Lone could be said to have curated and curetted a new compilation from the joint dentist's chair, exacting a 22-track root canal with periodontal precision, nearly doubling the size of their V/A ambit since 2024's Club Moss. But on this selective six-track sampler for wax, we've only a further sanding down of a much larger minimal, micro and tech house selection; here's gummy textures and maxillary moods by Polygonia, rRoxymore, Lurka, Sub Basics, and newcomer Jichael Mackson. Clarity and sound design are top priorities, as is the ideal of whitened teeth flashed by the poolside. Snappy, Rhodesy, watery.

Review: Demi Riquisimo and The Trip join forces to launch Tessalicious, debuting a collaborative project, splitting partly off from the former artist's own Semi Delicious imprint. The new four-tracker evidences a shared talent by the pair for producing a twisting, winding dance finesser mood, blending melodiousness and functionality so that we almost can't tell the difference between them. Intended to captivate festival-goers, the likes of 'Don't Go Away' and 'Rock The House' offer sensorial and distant vocal samples, though their rare audible moments - "how do you say... you're gorgeous!?" - manage to leave us feeling all fuzzy inside.

Review: Bobby Donny's ongoing ACE series of vinyl releases has thus far delivered some genuine deep house treats. This is particularly true of the Dutch label's sporadic, compilation style EPs, which tend to showcase tracks previously released on digital-only EPs. There's plenty to set the pulse racing on EP number four, with highlights including two fine collaborations between label founder Frits Wentink and fellow Amsterdam scene stalwart Malin Genie (the sub-heavy peak-time bounce of 'Ambrosia' and the techno-tempo hypnotism of 'Exopaq'); the ultra-deep two-step house shuffle of 'Comet (Deep mix)' by ZZ Banks; the Italo-house influenced colour of Clovis Chilwell's 'Don't Let The Night End'; and the deep, hazy and dubbed-out brilliance of 'Slow Burn' by Rico Scott.