Minimal House/Tech House charts

Review: Given that he's been active as a producer since the dawn of the 90s, it would be fair to say that Sven Vath is well worthy of an authoritative, expansive retrospective. That's certainly what we get here on this quadruple-vinyl mix of classic productions and fresh, eye-catching remixes. It's the latter that dominate the early stages of the collection - see Adam Port's hypnotic, didgeridoo-sporting revision of 'Ritual of Life', Speedy J's acid-fired stomp through 'Ballet-Fusion' - before Vath showcases some of his choice cuts. There's naturally to set the pulse racing, from the twisted, sub-heavy thump of 'Cala Llonga' and the tactile hypnotism of 'Sounds That Control Your Life', to the electroclash-meets-Kraftwerk flex of 'Dein Schweiss' and the ambient techno excellence of 'The Day After', a 21- minute epic from 1995 produced alongside Steffen Britzke as Astral Pilot.

Review: Nathan Coles and Nils Hess dropped a couple of LPs and a tidy run of 12"s as Get Fucked in the late 90s and early 00s, and now Repeat are taking us back to one of their finest moments. Their debut LP Dot To Dot is a quintessential demonstration of tech house at the turn of the millennium, shot through with a wonky humour which pointed to the impending minimal boom, but still rough and ready like the UK sound which had proliferated around parties like Wiggle. There's also a dash of the Viennese jazz twist you'd associate with labels like Cheap, and more heads down grooves than you can shake a nose bag at.

Review: Swiss label Drumpoet has been one of those super reliable outlets that serves up good quality deep house. It has now been doing so for 15 years and marks the occasion with a bumper triple vinyl collection featuring 13 cuts from all the label's finest associates. There is brilliantly left-of-centre minimal from Roman Flugel and Frank Weidermann to kick off, then melody-rich deep house from Bubble Wrap, and an absolute classic from the one and only Herbert who supplies 'Air.' Plenty more lushness comes from the likes of Fred Everything and Ripperton to make this a fine collection.

Review: We're told that inspiration for this bumper new double album of super fresh techno from the young New Palm label came in 2023 when the artists met up on the LA River armed with "a couple of generators, a Klipsch system, turntables, and a modular rig, for a day into night of music centred around various forms of dub." The results are superb, with Charles Edward opening up with the sparse, laid-back dub of 'Bogus August', Lena Deen keeping it deft with the ambient soundscapes of 'Either Ore' and Berndt's 'Solstice' exploring widescreen minimalism dub, with plenty more to love in between.

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: The late, great Nathan Coles is rightly hailed as UK tech house royalty - an originator in the scene who embodied its headsy, underground energy in the long and winding years before the sound broke through to its ubiquitous popularity it enjoys now. Of the many projects he turned his talent to, Get Fucked found him studio sparring with Nils Hess around the turn of the millennium on labels like Eukahouse. Now leading tech house reissue label Repeat have gathered together the best of the singles, and as you might well expect it's heavyweight, rolling gear for the late night marathon crew, crafted masterfully with grit and groove in equal measure.

Review: This compilation features music from artists who perform regularly at the Diane's Hunting Club annual gatherings. Heavily inspired by and indebted to the influence of the natural world and open spaces, this is music for motivation, movement, and meditation. Conoley Ospovat (Kimochi Sound) begins with a breezy slow-house theme, followed by some similarly slow but a much more tangled webs by sug (Hausu Mountain). Lokua contributes a melodic deep-space techno roller, Area (Kimochi Sound) offers gentle ambient rhythms, Mukqs (Hausu Mountain) produces a shimmering sunshine beat, and K-rAd closes out with an vast dub house journey. Enter the zone.

Review: Orbital remain titans of the global electronic scene which is no doubt why their self-titled album from 1991 now gets mastered and reissued for this year's Record Store Day. A pioneering work in electronic music, this landmark debut is a rich world of driving drums, hypnotic melodies, and intricate soundscapes. From the propulsive energy of the seminal 'Chime' to the dreamy ambience of 'Belfast,' each track showcases the duo's mastery of rhythm and texture. Orbital's use of innovative sampling techniques and atmospheric synths creates a distinct sonic universe that still stands them apart and helps make this a timeless classic that has influenced generations of electronic artists ever since.

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: Frost and Einzelkind's Pressure Traxx captures the evolution of minimal tech house over the past ten years, as the rigour of functional 4/4 gave way to different rhythms and motifs from the wider dance music lexicon. It was a smart move which helped reinvigorate the scene, and while they didn't do it on their own they absolutely fuelled the fire. Ten years in, their label is certainly due a retrospective which stretches out over eight sides of next-level workouts for long blends and marathon sets. The cast of characters hardly needs explaining - from Tobias and Villalobos to Edward and John Dimas, the quality never lets up and in one smartly arranged box set you're going to be gifted with the finest minimal in recent circulation.

Review: Alex Font is charged with serving up the MINIMALER Factory label's first release and an ambitious one it is too - Cross The Limits: Chapter 1 (we wonder how many chapters there might be?) is a minimal and tech house triple pack that offers a wealth of club-ready sounds. They are embellished with all manner of abstract details and creeping sound designs, from trippy pads to whispered vocals. Each one is intricately designed and carefully arranged to be in a constant state of flux that very much keeps you locked from start to finish. A trio of fine remixes from Dubtil, Franco Cinelli and Alexis Cabrera add further gravitas to this strong album.

Review: Innervisions is one of those house labels that has become synonymies with a certain lifestyle. It has a distinctive sound - emotional, synth-laced house, always with an artful edge. It always offers up well-crafted sounds, never more so than in its on going Secret Weapons series. This 16th volume is a bumper collection across four slabs of wax that takes in the deep, dramatic, rising tension of Ivory's 'Could You Feel The Love?', the more grizzled broken beats of David Kochs & John Falke and Hardt Antoine's slow burning synth house epic 'Inside Your Mind' as well as much more besides.

Review: Canadian artist Tiga and Scotsman Hudson Mohawke's creative bond thrives on, they say, a mutual love of "hardcore romance," which is a unique blend of euphoria, melancholy, and raw friendship power. From 2019 to 2023 in Los Angeles, their mutual inspirations shaped L'Ecstasy, which is their debut album on Tiga's Turbo label. It was originally envisioned for 6am rave catharsis but then the project evolved to embrace 90s rave influences. It features chill-out ambient tracks like 'Exit Warehouse at Dawn' and 'LMZNIN' but also bangs with more immediate anthems like 'IN ORDER 2,' 'VSOD,' and 'Ascending into the Clouds', all of which leave indelible marks. This album captures this accomplished pair's journey through sonic landscapes and celebrates the highs and lows of their musical kinship in a space of creative ecstasy.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Box damaged, split sleeves, product in perfect working order***


You can always rely on the Cocoon compilations to bring you a high level of quality control and an authoritative overview of the state of techno around the time of release. This mammoth six-LP set will give you a lot of music to work with, and it's featuring a dizzying cast of high-end operators starting with the mighty Stephen Brown. Each track gets a side of vinyl to itself, serving as a kind of statement for how much faith the label put in each of these 12 tracks. Amongst the best on this top-drawer comp are Daniel Avery's metallic, spellbinding 'Your Future Looks Different In The Light' and Carl Finlow's lithe electro workout 'Surface Control', but as you might well expect each track is one you'll turn to again and again to give your mix some spice.