Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: Kyle Hall and Steven Julien have been working together on and off for a whole decade now as Funkinevil. To mark the occasion they have pulled together their first two releases - namely 2012's 'Night / Dusk' and 2013's 'Ignorant' - on one new double album that very much sums up their raw house sound. The Detroit-London duo draw on plenty of their hometown's signature aesthetics, from well swung drums to soulful synths, and the results are still fresh sounding and captivatingly deep. Importantly, all these years later, there is still real emotional punch in these tunes as well as damn good grooves. Essential stuff from this vital pair.

Review: 'PULSE 01' is the first release in PITP's new series, which is an ongoing exploration of ambient tech, while offering a more structured display of beat-driven ambient music. Pulse 01 features brand new tracks by SYNE and Influx.

SYNE is Dennis Huddleston from the UK, who is most recognized for his ambient work as 36. He returns to his SYNE alias for the first time in nearly 5 years, with only his second record since his 2017 self-titled debut LP.

'Dystalgia' is a 12 minute opus, spread over 3 movements. Soaring pads and razor sharp percussion combine for a dynamic, emotionally charged journey in sound. Showing love to the Detroit greats, but recognising the distinct UK influence which made him fall in love with Techno in the early 90's, it's a surprising pivot in Dennis' sound and one which all lovers of beautiful, melodic ambient techno should enjoy.

Influx is the techno/acid/trance moniker of James Bernard. With his first release in 1993 (Braineater EP on Sapho Records), Influx is no stranger to techno and acid. This project had been in hibernation for nearly 14 years until his 2021 remixes for his collaborative album with 36 and awakened souls (The Other Side of Darkness). Revel Dub is a dub-techno excursion with sprinkles of ambient and psy-trance rounding out the frequencies. The Slow Version dials back the tempo to half-time and travels to more ambient dub territories.

Review: 'PULSE 01' is the first release in PITP's new series, which is an ongoing exploration of ambient tech, while offering a more structured display of beat-driven ambient music. Pulse 01 features brand new tracks by SYNE and Influx.

SYNE is Dennis Huddleston from the UK, who is most recognized for his ambient work as 36. He returns to his SYNE alias for the first time in nearly 5 years, with only his second record since his 2017 self-titled debut LP.

'Dystalgia' is a 12 minute opus, spread over 3 movements. Soaring pads and razor sharp percussion combine for a dynamic, emotionally charged journey in sound. Showing love to the Detroit greats, but recognising the distinct UK influence which made him fall in love with Techno in the early 90's, it's a surprising pivot in Dennis' sound and one which all lovers of beautiful, melodic ambient techno should enjoy.

Influx is the techno/acid/trance moniker of James Bernard. With his first release in 1993 (Braineater EP on Sapho Records), Influx is no stranger to techno and acid. This project had been in hibernation for nearly 14 years until his 2021 remixes for his collaborative album with 36 and awakened souls (The Other Side of Darkness). Revel Dub is a dub-techno excursion with sprinkles of ambient and psy-trance rounding out the frequencies. The Slow Version dials back the tempo to half-time and travels to more ambient dub territories.

Review: Omar S and Shadow Ray hooked up back in 2005 as Oasis and turned out a low key classic with Collaborating. It's an essential double album packed with signature Motor City heat and dishevelled deep house workouts for mind, body and soul. Things open with the slow paced crawler 'Oasis 4' then take in 'Oasis 11' with its pinging percussion and stripped back grooves, the standout 'Oasis 1s-1/2' with its gorgeously melancholic synth bleeps and heart melting chords and the darker energy of 'Oasis 7'.

Review: Sakro has long been turning out his expertly designed and highlight impactful minimal house and tech cuts, so it's about time we finally heard a full length from him. Psychophonies is the name of his debut and it arrives on his own label Bon Vivant with a signature palette of dark grooves and ghostly synth atmospheres. 'Unicos' soon draws you in with just that sort of vibe before the hurried drum funk of 'Loneliness' and freaky minimal-jazz-house stylings of 'Psychophony'. This is pure dancefloor music that is both perfectly functional but also full of delightful forms.

Review: Anja Schneider has been at the heart of the Berlin underground for decades. Famously she headed up the Mobilee label which was a powerhouse of, well, house, and now she revisits her sizeable back catalogue for a bumper triple album of remixes, works and updates. If nothing else this collection shows what great range she had as all styes are covered from dark and driving tech to more blissed out deep house. The likes of 'Turning My Head' show great percussive flair and 'Dubmission' (Julian Muller remix) is quick and slick, stripped back minimal. Vocal delight 'Rain' is a real classic amongst many here.

Review: EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC: M=Minimal come through with an excellent vinyl accompaniment to their recent CD of reworkings of Conrad Schnitzler's Zug from Ricardo Villalobos and his Fisherman's Friend, Max Loderbauer. At over 19 minutes, the Aktion remix just about fits on this twelve inch and sees Max and Ric adopt a club ready approach with a stripped back, heads down groove driving forward through a slightly unnerving, guttural re-appropriation of Schnitzler's alien synth textures. Adopting a more ominous and wholly experimental tone, the Sorgenkind mix sounds vaguely like a heavy breathing bull pondering the surrounding expanses of shifting dronal textures as you wait in vain for anything approaching a beat to surface. Download codes are included.

Review: Asad Rizvi, known as Silverlining, presents this white hot three-vinyl set showcasing his collaborative work with fellow artists. This collection spans the genres of minimal and tech house, tagged with elements of tech house, minimal, and breakbeat house. Some of the highlights include 'If You Were A Cat You'd Follow Me' by Appleheadz with its jazzy downtempo future jazz vibe, evoking a smooth and melodic atmosphere. Followed by 'In My Sky' (instrumental), delivering smooth melodic tech house adorned with jazz guitar and soft keys. The set continues with 'Taken Over,' a melodic house gem from Bluegoose Vs Silverlining, exuding infectious rhythms and melodic hooks. 'Tuesday Morning Milkman' by Impossible Beings takes listeners on a deep techno journey, perfect for late-night sci-fi vibes. Another excellent additions is 'They'll Never Get It Right Them Two' by Two Right Wrongans, a dynamic banger that tears the roof off the dancefloor. Overall, this triple pack is jam-packed full of excellent dance music.

Review: New Interplanetary Melodies is a great name for a label and it also sums up the sounds of this new album from Sindaco. It's a beautiful mix of exploratory soundscapes, organic percussion and lush melody that unfolds in charming and captivating ways. Found sounds add more real world details to these tracks which range from lazy downbeat jaunts on a wide open savanna to more dynamic deep house trips through the cosmos. Worldly percussion, exotic melodies and unique instruments are all deployed to mark for multi-layered tracks that work equally on brain and body. It makes for a triumph of a record that is experimental yet aborsbing and packed with great detail.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing on corner of outer sleeve, product unopened and in excellent condition***


SIT, short for Sideways Invisibility Theory, is the collaborative project of Vlad Caia and Cristi Cons. As two scene leaders of the Romanian minimal phenomenon, both artists have proven over many years to have a unique vision for creativity and fresh approaches in what can be a homogenised scene. Of their many achievements, on their Amphia label as much as elsewhere, this album on Sushitech stands as one of their finest moments. As with all the best Romanian minimal, it's also still hotly in demand, making it a welcome addition to Sushitech's 15th anniversary pressing marathon. From dub tech laced rollers to gossamer-light trippers, this is the classiest end of the minimal tech house game from two artists with the vision to push things a little bit further.

Review: Norm Talley returns to his Upstairs Asylum label alongside fellow US house pioneer Delano Smith for Straight Up No Chaser, an eight-track opus featuring four solo cuts each. Talley's gritty, dubbed-out, low-rolling house style is present and correct throughout with the loopy chords of 'Blak Bottom' getting things going, 'The Flip' getting more cavernous and aqueous and 'ISO Vision' leaning into dub techno. 'Believe It' is a soulful deep house looper, while Smith gets bubbly with 'The Bassline', lays down thumping kicks on 'Travels 23' and his trademark synth smears on 'The Drive' while 'Remembrance' is a heady dub house cut that locks you into a state of perfect hypnosis.

Review: Dutch industrial techno producer Parrish Smith created Light Cruel & Vain over the course of nearly three years. Each track on the record was originally conceived solo, then further realised with the assistance of contributing musicians Sofiane Brahmi and Javier Vivancos. The collaborative where no studio sessions occurred due to the pandemic - the full collaboration conducted remotely. Notable tracks include the seething post-punk swagger of "Black Scarlet" or the brooding industrial rock of "Sway", to the industrial strength breaks of "Never Break Faith" and a frantic techno banger towards the end "I Wanna Be An Idol".

Review: After being commissioned to produce several 'interlocking' ambient pieces for an art gallery piece in LA, Brian Foote and Sage Caswell decided to take the concept of 'audience crossfading' to the next level, creating an entire ambient album using a particular sonic technique. Over five long pieces from 'Waterwheel' to 'Smiley', their aim was to evoke the feeling of bodies moving in thoroughfares. The tracks are long-exposed movements captured in ambient space, blending rhythms and soundscapes for chillout rooms that exist only in memory now.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


It has been 11 years since Solomun's last album, and few could have predicted the career arc he has enjoyed since. The big man started out as an underground favourite. His Diynamic label was famous for bringing colour back to dance music after the bleak minimal years. He made 'fairground tech house' as it was called. He then became a huge draw at Ibiza's premium VIP clubs and appeared in Grand Theft Auto. This album takes him to major label Sony and features Hollywood names like Jamie Foxx. It is melodic, accessible house from one of electronic music's most famous names.

Review: Sarah Sommers' inaugural album HeartCore was captured live at Princess Tower Studios in Berlin. Clocking in at 74 minutes, it's a vibrant fusion of dance music genres fuelled by Sarah's profound passion for electronic beats that span various eras. From dub to techno, house to dubstep, and drum & bass to breakbeat, the record showcases all that and more across nine tracks extracted from Sarah's live sets and previously performed across Berlin clubs in 2022 and 2023. A testament to her lifelong love of the music, this LP epitomises authenticity and comes on lovely gatefold neon pink wax.

Review: This is Freestyle free from any style.
There is no need for the disembodied voice telling you THIS IS HOUSE.
It is simply felt and known.

{Every kick.
Every arpeggio.
Every bass note.
Experienced through the prism of now.
Ribs rattle from the heart center to the endless reaches of consciousness.}

The racks are stacked high beyond the heavens as the Filter Queen speaks of love without words.
Bound to no earthly constructs, beholden to no laws.
This is the joyous sound of overground resistance.

Review: Peter Kersten, better known as Lawrence, is the veteran deep house producer and gallerist who many of you may know as chief of Hamburg's Dial Records and who made external outings previously on Japan's Mule Musiq where he released several lauded long-players. His latest one comes courtesy of Berlin's Sushitech entitled Earthshine, a 3XLP featuring 12 tracks written and produced by Kersten over the last five years. All in all it's a diverse selection put together by one of the scene's most highly regarded artists.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent working condition***


Peter Kersten, better known as Lawrence, is the veteran deep house producer and gallerist who many of you may know as chief of Hamburg's Dial Records and who made external outings previously on Japan's Mule Musiq where he released several lauded long-players. His latest one comes courtesy of Berlin's Sushitech entitled Earthshine, a 3XLP featuring 12 tracks written and produced by Kersten over the last five years. All in all it's a diverse selection put together by one of the scene's most highly regarded artists.

Review: Astonishingly, 23 years have passed since Glenn Underground and Boo Williams established the Strictly Jaz Unit project, a fluid collective of underground Chicago deep house producers. These days, SJU mainly operates as a duo, and it was this stripped-back line-up that produced "The Tempest", a rare album-length outing bristling with quality cuts. As a whole, the album is far more intergalactic, electronic and sci-fi sounding than either man's solo productions, with just a few hints of the luscious instrumentation and swinging grooves associated with their previous work. There's no dip in quality, though, with the dubbed-out deep house hypnotism of "Heard Syndrome", the Patrick Cowley/Giorgio Moroder influenced "The Struggle", the Chicago-goes-Yorkshire bleep flex of "Time of Speed, Not Day" and acid-fired gorgeousness of "The Flat (London Projects)" standing out.

Review: Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1 and Freiland are landmark examples of 1990s minimalist concept techno. Studio 1 defined a stripped-down, hypnotic approach, while Freiland explored a more experimental, textured sound. This release features two discs with each of those differing approaches served up, but the second compiles the best of Freiland into a continuous set. Both showcase Voigt's pioneering vision and knack for marrying great precision with an absorbing atmosphere in a way that remains influential today. Essential listening for techno-purists and fans of the avant-garde.