Back in stock: House

Review: Arutani's third album Who We Used To Be is a meditation on times passed and alternate lives lost, filtered through the decorative lenses of deep, minimal, tech and dub. As if to paint a character portrait of the artist himself, this is a measured, calm, light, mindful and modest album, replete with bulging concave chord undulations and synaptic percussive snaps for balance. Everything from electro's usual dotted rhythmic pattern to progressive house's woodblocky felicities are checked off here, plus the glissando'ing lead on 'In Case You Wondered What I've Been Doing' is a special highlight.

Review: The mysterious Creature is back with the seventh release on the blazing hot self-titled label. We have a clue who is behind this label but we aren't 100% sure who is making these impressive slabs of house music. For this edition, 'Singing' cleverly picks out a few lines from Moloko's 'Sing It Back' and turns it into dancefloor devastation. On the second side is the exceptionally dirty and sleezy grinder called 'Freaking'. Both, when used properly, should wreak havoc on the floor and make serious waves in the minimal techno world.

Review: Much loved doom monger emo kids Depeche Mode have always been ripe for remixing by new generations of electronic music artists and so it is that there 'My Favourite Stranger' gets a series of re-rubs here on Columbia. Tech house mainstay Boris Brejcha remixes first and elongates the grooves with mournful pads up top. The Ela Minus remix of the same tune brings some extra textured and darker moods and the best is saved till the last if you ask us. The Lond Island Sound remix is high speed and tinged with electro synth work as the moody vocals echo about the mix to trippy effect.

Review: Dark Entries welcome back the inimitable Doc Sleep aka Melissa Maristuen for a superb new album of ghostly and ethereal house and techno. This is a welcome follow-up to last year's ambient and IDM exploration, Birds, and shows another side that draws on Maristuen's years of queer clubbing. It fuses aspects of New York house, Berlin techno and West-coast breakbeats and is "a love letter to the West Coast's magnificent natural landscape, the light of the Pacific sunrise." That is reflected in the sublime synths and silky rhythms which manage to both move your body but also captivate your mind. It's another cracking album from the Doc.

Review: Anthony Georges Patrice's Ausblick label has trod a fine path over the course of its first five releases and the good work continues on its sixth outing which is a new various artists affair. It is Berlin based Ephem who kicks off with 'Dizzy' and all its bumpy beast and raw perc, then Koln's Hidden Sequence follows with 'Optical Drive' that is more stripped back and powered by warming sub bass. Anthony Georges Patrice himself then completes the hat trick with 'Easy To Love' (Tunnel Vision Mix) which over ten sublime minutes brings some more airy, double doit flavoured and has already been getting plays from Mosaic boss Steve O'Sullivan.

Review: This is the thirrd release by the amazing Italian producer Ivan Iacobucci for the Perlon label. The previous two were so well received, this next one was destined to come out sooner than later. Perlon fans know what to expect from their label of choice and Ivan delivers the goods. Those addictively quirky and fonky jackin' minimal techno jams. The title track is that and then some! We especially like the sexy jam 'Waiting For My Love'. Expect the unexpected when you flip over the record as 'Close the Door' is a full-on acid banger that combines high energy techno into what sounds like a video game soundtrack theme song! Closing things out is the wild sounding 'Fear & Madness in the Desert'. We are smiling at the thought of someone playing out these corkers to audience. Expect to see WTF typefaces everywhere!

Review: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.

Review: Ohm and Kvadrant return to their spiritual home of Kontakt with more of that grandiose dub techno immersion they do so well, plumbing epic depths both within and beyond the functional demands of the dancefloor. 'Precious Little Diamond' kicks the record off in a steady-cruising form, guided by a smooth minimal tech house beat as the engine for some choice dub techno chords and mechanical hiccups. Deadbeat then takes the helm for a version which plunges into abstract echo chamber sonics he's spent decades perfecting before Levon Vincent completes the picture with a remix which heads into the outer limits of deep techno immersion.

Review: Soon as you drop the needle on PH Project's opener 'Blue Yellow Twist' here we guarantee you will be twisting your face in mock disc guts. The bassline is a filthy and old-school gem with organ chord stabs and spoken word snippets adding the irresistible sense of naughty house funk. DMA then bangs the box with cosmic synths and hints of 90s post-rave, Pilot System cruise on a chunky bit of bass-driven house and Frozilla & TJ go deep on far-sighted chords and bubbly bass. This is unpretentious, functional but fun house music from a small but already well-formed label.

Review: Cologne's legendary Kompakt label has been rolling out these superb compilations for many years now. The 23rd instalment is another fine snapshot of the more matter and grown up end of the tech, minimal and techno spectrum with plenty of familiar faces as well s new school stars. Boss man Michel Mayer opens up with the bright melodies and swinging grooves of 'Talmi' before Jurgen Paape keeps it deep and delicious with more easy going grooves and keys. Elsewhere a Sofia Kourtesis remix if Perel brings more dancefloor ready sounds and Reinhard Voigt's 'Endlich XXL' (feat Eduard Weber) is a freaky one for the afters.