Roger Gerressen

Review: Roger Gerressen launched the Monoware project last year, via a split 12" on Sushitech that also contained a killer cut from Ion Ludwig. Here the experienced Dutch producer returns to the same label with a much more expansive proposition: the first Monoware full-length. While there's one foray into head-in-the-clouds, sofa-friendly deep dub territory (the delicious closing cut), the other tracks clearly take aim at the dancefloor. These club workouts are all rooted in techno, but various draw unfluence from crackly, lo-fi explorations, intergalactic broken techno, tech-jazz, toasty deep house and the blazed, metronomic pulse of dub techno. Happily, Gerressen barely puts a foot wrong throughout, serving up tracks that are as warm and otherworldly as they are sturdy and club-ready.

Review: Previously, Yoyaku Distribution's deep house-minded Aku imprint has delivered in-demand EPs from the likes of Janaret and Varhat. Here, the label serves up its first compilation style outing, showcasing tracks from a quartet of artists new to the imprint. Tartouffe type Roger Gerressen kicks things off with the tech-tinged spring deep house positivity of "Simian Acres", before Difid adds jammed-out, lo-fi keys and lucid electronics to a bustling bassline and swinging beats on "The Dream Place". Over on the flip, you'll find a metallic but funky analogue box jam by Boniface ("Pentelle") and the driving late night hustle of Robert David's tech-house-inspired "Pas Parol".