Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Drop Music marks a marvellous quarter of a century of releases with this new slab of vinyl featuring some gems from disco funksters Crazy P and the house mainstays Inland Knights. Crazy P go first with 'Disc Odyssey' which is perfectly indicative of their much beloved sound with its low slung kicks and funky bassline. Inland Knights then offer a trio of in demand & unreleased tracks. 'Overnight' is a bumming deep house joint, 'Walk On' has an icy late night vibe and balmy pads and 'Do It Again is a more playful closer, with some killer b-line action. All four, needless to say, are timeless gems, and the fact the last two are appearing on vinyl first the first time makes it an even more desirable cop.

Review: Drop Music marks a quarter of a century of reliable and ever-on-point sounds with a special series of EPs that embodies what it's always been about, offering up both classics and never-before-released tunes. This one kicks off with 'Make A Move' which is chunky low-slung tech. It unfolds at a relatively slow tempo but that gives the fat acid gurgles time to really hit. Inland Knights then serves up the next three cuts, starting with the bass bin bothering sounds of 'Push It', the more silky tech loops of 'Long Time' and the vocal-laced acid-tech swagger of 'Same Talk.' Here's to the next 25 years.

Review: The endlessly fertile scenes that are minimal and tech house yield more essential DJ goodness here as Bread & Butter assembles a selection of talents for this ninth various artists' release. Alex Font & Aron open up with 'Walking On Clouds' which is not as airy and dreamy as it might sound, but does lay down a nice deft minimal groove. Beiger has a more sunny outlook with the mellifluous synth clouds of his 'Audible Illusions' and Mihai Pol then brings ouse late night jazz house cool to his 'Bip Bip.' Iuly B completes a varied package with the heady loops and wispy cosmic synth motifs of 'Bouncing Lights.'

Review: Functional house experts Toolroom are back with Toolroom Sampler Vol 11 which is again packed with maximal club cuts for big dancefloors. Martin Ikin's 'Make U Sweat' is indeed sweet tech that never stops pumping under libidinous vocals. Flashmob's 'My Body' is loopy and manic tech with peak time intent and Nathan Barato and Matheo Velez offer up the macho grooves of 'Weapon.' Last of all, Jenn Getz & Alfie offer another slight tweak on try Toorloom sound with the grey and gritty white knuckle beats of 'Vibration.' A great EP for working DJs looking for instant impact.

Review: ILDEC's Dead Space EP features four heavy, futuristic tracks that are set to dominate the dancefloor. Leading with 'Just,' a robust techno/electro blend with a distinct futuristic vibe, the EP sets a powerful tone. '3030303' (feat. Torrent) follows, delivering a bouncy acid dancefloor killer with a captivating sci-fi narrative. 'Loop' takes a dirtier, sexier approach with its groovy, ass-shaking rhythm that verges on eerie acid house, making it an irresistible track. Closing the EP is 'Trontron,' a high-energy breaks track that crushes with its alluring, electrifying beats. Each track on Dead Space EP has a unique flavor. Are you looking to wow dancefloor patrons at your next DJ event? Then look no further than these.

Review: Ildec has become an increasingly vital artist in the last couple of years. His quality and tasteful output nudges at the boundaries of house and tech with unique sense of character. That's true again here on a new EP for Exarde that starts with a darker sound and snappy tech drums. Otis & Paul Lution remix with a hint of electro pop and futurism and 'Solo Para Adultos' then brings some shimmering synths to kinetic kicks and claps. 'Koala' is a textured stomper with an industrial cosmic edge.

Review: Infinity Plus One channels the murky heat of 90s Detroit into four cuts that throb with machine soul and analogue bite. Based in the UK, the producer debuts with a raw but focused blend of electro, house and technoihis nod to the Motor City filtered through a distinctively UK lens. 'Innocent Beginnings' pairs chunky kicks with haunted synth washes, laying the groundwork with a bass-heavy strut that feels both grounded and widescreen. 'Dusk And Darkness' leans darker, stitching 808s and breaks into a rolling, rave-adjacent groove, all tension and propulsion. On the flip, 'Stand For Love' dips into classic deep house mode, slowing the pace for a moment of emotional clarityigentle pads circling a tender vocal loop. Closer 'Ubiquity' rides a twisting bassline into atmospheric club gear, its big stabs and lurking low-end pulling dancers into a heady zone. A full-spectrum debut that honours the roots but refuses to settle in them, this is warehouse music made with reverenceiand a sense of forward motion.

Review: A compelling journey through minimal and tech house, blending futuristic elements with rich, danceable grooves. Side-1 opens with 'Survival', a track driven by a deep bassline and a sci-fi atmosphere that's both hypnotic and forward-thinking. The title track, 'Redemption', follows with techy, space-infused techno energy, creating an expansive soundscape. Side-2 brings versatility to the forefront. 'Connected (Kevin Tribute mix)' is an undeniable dancefloor weapon, packed with uptempo beats and a bold fusion of house and techno influences. It's a vibrant, big-room-ready highlight. The EP closes with 'A Loophole In Time', a downtempo treasure that transitions into jazzy, lounge-inspired ambiance, offering a smooth, melodic finale perfect for late-night introspection. 'Redemption' EP demonstrates Infinity Plus One's mastery of mood and groove, providing a versatile collection that moves seamlessly from high-energy dancefloor moments to introspective, melodic reflections.

Review: Inner City's time on Network Records produced a run of timeless recordings that merged their signature vocal soul with the underground grooves of Detroit. This reissue of 'Ahnonghay' highlights that early golden era and finds the legendary Kevin Saunderson return to his techno roots in some style. The tune was originally released under his seminal Reese alias and marries that raw Motor City energy with sleek electronica that embodies the early techno blueprint. This 12" pressing includes the original mix alongside two standout remixes: Carl Craig's atmospheric reimagining and Dave Clarke's gritty UK techno take. All in all, a vital snapshot of techno's early evolution.

Review: Back in 2022, James Burnham aka Burnski started a White sub-series of his much-hyped Instinct label and the first one sold out as quick as a flash. Now he is finally back with a follow-up that will likely do the same. This limited one-sided 12" slab of sonic filth features just one tune, but what a tune it is. '02' is a house cut with elements of garage percussion, old-school dirty bass, and even some trance-infused chords that chime with what's going on in the dance world right now. Some return horns at the breakdown really send it into overdrive and it's not hard seeing this one blow the roof off many a club this summer.

Review: Leibniz's return was always going to be interesting given previous work and so it is. Each of the five news cuts exemplifies the power of simplicity with grimy, hypnotic mantras that showcase Leibniz's mastery of the genre. Stripping away unnecessary details, he focuses on what truly matters to cook up a minimalist sound that hits hard. These sounds really emphasise the notion that less is more, with each one full of refined technique and ability to cut through the noise. It's a masterclass in minimal techno that proves what to ignore is just as important as what to keep.

Review: By now a very well-recognised trailblazer of the minimal house and techno circuits, iO Mulen (Aleksandr Voznichenko) shares his third album, Rock Like This, through his own Mulen imprint. Refusing to fall back on heavy-handed press notes, the eight tracks on this perfect composite storm are enough to bewitch us of their own accord. These house and techno retrofusions play out like the kind of sounds that the impossible dangling contraption depicted on its front cover might generate; 'Rock Like This' throws back to Chicago deep house and jankout acid trance, magicking up a shockingly good fusion of disparate styles in a bionic mode, while the rising actions of 'How Do You Say' and 'Emergency' teem with twin enjoyments of and reverences for 90s Euro and acid techno. There are cosmic-trancier subplots on there too, such as 'I'm Waiting For', which selects its constituent sounds with an aesthete's ear, striking a difficult balance of the raw and the fine. Voznichenko refuses to privilege one referent genre over another, and it results in a respectfully done, carefully made and truly exciting dance record, unafraid of cheese nor sophistication, and reconciling the two.

Review: Berlin's Exit Strategy began their 12"s game releasing EPs in browned sleeves, shortly before branching out into digital-vinyl combo releases with original artwork in the 2020s. Now with over ten years of experience under their belts, they welcome five new artists for a playful bricolage in deep and minimal techno, privileging elite, razor-sharp additive sound design and future-soulful vocal tasters. Ivory's opener 'Rain' epitomises this, while Jimi Jules squelchifies the same formula, and Aera's 'Future Holdings' rolls out the same logic to its ultimate conclusion, veering towards complex, 3D-graphic melodic techno composed entirely of climbing saws.

Review: Since launching the Anva imprint in 2019, Tagir has used it as a vehicle for his own productions - albeit one with a notably sparse and sporadic release schedule. Here he continues that theme, offering up an atmospheric four-tracker made in cahoots with Indigo Minds (an outfit he previously worked with as part of the Jerry collective). They begin with 'Meditation Dance', a ghostly chunk of mind-bending minimal house moodiness full of glitchy grooves, weird noises and trippy spoken word samples (horror techno anyone?), before opting for warped bass, jacking tech-house beats and reggae-inspired stabs on 'Bandit'. Over on side B, 'Donut' is a shuffling slab of druggy tech-house insomnia, while 'Jack' is a stripped-back mix of Ricardo Villalobos noises, deep sub-bass, off-kilter minimal techno beats and strange electronic noises.

Review: Revered Japanese house producer and DJ Kaoru Inoue has been making his mark since the late 90s with releases music through his label Seeds and Ground and others like Mule Musiq and Groovement. Originally released in Japan in 2013, this newly reissued album blends world music, field recordings, ambient and electronic elements into an immersive and widescreen sound. It opens with the minimal gamelan ambient track 'Malam' followed by the Afro-Brazilian house of 'Selva' which is reminiscent of early Luciano and Villalobos. The album also features electric jazz fusion house, avant-garde tribal breakbeats and Balearic slow house. Closing with the melancholic new age piece 'Healing Force,' it's a timeless delight.