ARMAND VAN HELDEN Vinyl & CDs

Review: NEM 100.1 Vol 1 isn't your standard deep house compilation. With heavyweight contributors like Danny Howard, Nicole Moudaber, and Armand Van Helden, this release feels like a meeting of minds with a shared purpose: to push familiar boundaries into unexpected places. Danny Howard and Eli & Fur's If You Were sets the tone with a blend of understated house rhythms and finely layered vocals. There's nothing overblown here - it's precise, refined, and confident in its restraint. PAX and Rui Da Silva's Touch Me follows, reviving the iconic anthem with modern production sensibilities. The track is driven by its deep, chugging bassline and stabs of melody that feel like a nod to the original, but also refreshing in their approach. Nicole Moudaber brings a more atmospheric element to the fold with Rise Up, featuring the London Community Gospel Choir. It's expansive, combining gospel depth with Moudaber's signature techno edge, resulting in a track that demands attention without feeling heavy-handed. Closing things out is Armand Van Helden and Mark Knight's Down to Earthia production that melds classic house tropes with a contemporary spin. Its punchy, syncopated rhythm and laid-back groove avoid the typical tropes, instead offering something warm, slightly off-kilter, and entirely captivating. This is a collection that doesn't fall into the trap of overused house formulasiit's bold without overstating, intricate without being pretentious. A strong reminder that these artists still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Review: KooKoo offers up a sampler of what it is all about here and it spans some big-name house talents and equally big tunes. Mark Knight & Armand Van Helden open up with 'Don't Abuse It' (extended) which is a full-throttle house sound with diva vocals and plenty of raw fills. Cloud One's 'Disco Juice' (Fabrikate rework) brings some 70s disco energy to modern production and Full Intention's 'Sky's The Limit' is a celebratory house cut with loose grooves and freewheeling pads. Last of all is the party-starting disco house pumper 'Plain Outta Luck' from Ewan McVicar.