Minimal House / Tech House

Review: In 1992, a trio of Italian house music producers brought to light one of house music's inherent contradictions: that a genre can be both ex-centric, and hold a stylistic centre. So far, house's haecceity, it's hearty essence, has held firm for nearly 50 odd years. And some records nail the inner sound of a sound, as though experiments need not only take place on the outskirts, beyond the walls, but also using the building blocks kept enclosed within the fortress. On this Groovin reissue, Davide Ruberto, Patrick Duvoisin and Ricky Montanari triply unveil the piano as one of the coremost ingredients of house music, with staccato chords standing right out on the titular 'Alright, Alright', of which there are four mixes here. Here's an unusual kind of rawness, blending as-do building blocks with a minimal but perfectible soul.

Review: Dan Piu is a master of minimal sounds whether leaning more towards house or techno. For this latest one on Birds out of Chile, he opens up with some nice balmy pads and hip-swinging claps under tiny 80s keyboards. It's whimsical and dreamy then 'Late Night Beef' picks up things a little with some more driven drums but plenty of celestial synths and 'Ganas De Verte (feat Natalia)' is another balmy and spaced-out minimal house sound for hi-fidelity systems. 'Kammgarn' shuts down with the most direct sound of the lot and some nice dub undercurrents.

Review: Burnski's Pilot label fires up the back burners once again here for some cruising tech house that oozes cool. Robin Graham is the man on the machines and his 'Like This" (Italo Summer mix) kicks off with some subtle prog vibes, a throwback bassline and bubbly synths that percolate through the mix to soothing effect. 'Set Me Free' has glistening and silvery hi-hats and a choppy groove with some big stabs and 'Enter 1' is the sort of cut you want to hear at the afters with its trippy melodic details and deft synth sequences dancing about the mix. 'Subject A' is a driving tech house number with plenty of astral synth sounds and fresh future feels.

Review: Tasteful Scandi label Sakskobing welcomes rising talent Mace, who we're told is a devoted house music enthusiast. This is his debut solo EP and was made in Germany, where Mace has spent years immersed in the dance and now explores all the many influences he has picked up in that time. The A-side is club-driven with the punchy drums of the title cut and space-tech energy of 'Energy', while the B-side embraces a deeper, more atmospheric sound with soothing pads, particularly on the new age bliss out that is 'Greetings From Italy' which more than nods to the great Don Carlos.

Review: SEGUIM Records is back with its second release, 'SEGUIM Edits Vol. II', navigating the many nostalgisms of the 80s through to the vivid reimaginings of the 90s. This time the imprint also doubles up as artist, bringing four mix versions of an untitled cut to the fold. The 'Visible' and 'Invisible' mixes first provide parallactic shifts on the same tune, with basslines and guitar licks shifting between the foreground and background, giving way to each other's various constitutive elements, like the forced perspective of a playing card. Meanwhile, the 'Al Ajillo' and 'Cardiac' mixes move into much ravier territory.