Back catalogue: Uplifting Trance

Review: In celebration of their tenth birthday, Selador marks the occasion in style with a four-track collaborative EP, featuring tracks from 3D, Robert Owens, Olivier Giacomotto, Quivver, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo, Argia, and Jepe. The opening track, 'Known Love', is a deep, pulasting house tune that feels like an instant classic, perhaps thanks to the soulful, pop-tinged vocals - think LCD soundsystem meets Four Tet. 'Snailblazer', the second track on the EP, takes a much darker turn, with a chugging, EBM-esque feel. Full-bodied and complete with obscured vocals, this is the kind of track to pull out your bag when it's time to really get stuck in. On the B-side, 'Napkin Knowledge' draws on the glistening synths of eurodance, yet still securing the melodies to a grounded bassline and rhythm section. 'Salitre' is the perfect closing track, rising up in a gleaming, ecstatic melody, before delicately returning to ground level. A varied yet firmly cohesive collaborative release - the perfect way for Selador to kick off their 2023 catalogue.

Review: Originally released in 1990 as the follow-up to Chime, Orbital's 'Omen' EP cemented the duo's reputation for innovation in early electronica. Now freshly remastered for the Orbital LEDs series, this reissue captures the moment they expanded their sonic palette by fusing trance, house and unexpected elements like an ABC sample. Tracks like 'Omen,' 'Open Mind' and '2 Deep' alongside alternate versions 'The Fool' and 'The Tower' showcase their evolving vision with tunes that still bang. Overseen by Phil and Paul Hartnoll, the remaster preserves the EP's original impact with renewed clarity that reaffirms 'Omen' as a pivotal and forward-thinking release in their early catalogue.

Review: Poet, librarian, Mancunian, father, husband, uncle, brother. Mike Garry is many things to many people, but tonight, Matthew, his voices guides our eyes upwards, inviting us to stargaze to one of Orbital's most emotionally resonant and timeless pieces of rave noise. Belfast Revisited would be one way to describe it, taking some of the classic and unmistakable elements of that anthem and turning it into something new. First and foremost freshness comes with the spoken word addition - a thoroughly positive, passionate and amorous declaration of unending love that could feel jarring depending on whether you always felt 'Belfast' was reflective and slightly melancholy, or not. Gone too are the breaks, replaced now by stadium-sized four-to-the-floor turning what was once the end of the night walking home at dawn into something that sounds way more 11PM at the concert.

Review: Multi Culti introduces Orchid's vibrant tribute to Spain's trance era on this album which merges Balearic allure with a rejection of modern techno's commercialism. Orchid, isolated in a psychedelic-deprived nation, yearns for the cultural fusion of sex, power, love, and sweetness found in Spanish-speaking music scenes. Techno Valencia beckons listeners to immerse themselves in a nostalgic journey, evoking the soulful resonance of a bygone musical era. Through exploration of archival sounds, Orchid resurrects the essence of pure musical expression, inviting a return to a time when music was deeply felt-a testament to passion and fun in an age of commercialisation.