Agt Vinyl & CDs

Review: AGT is back on their own self titled label for a fifth time and a fine fifth transmission. 'Sun D' is a four tracker that sits in between the worlds of house, tech and minimal with its own unique style. 'Track 1' is a bouncy one that has fleshy leads and fulsome bass all bouncing along at a fair old lick. 'Track 2' has cosmic flair with its flashy arps lighting up the percussive drums and surging forwards on waves of good time vibes. 'Track 3' is another full bodied party cut with lithe synths and big stabs then 'Track 4' closes out with a hefty house thump and garage-influenced snares that get the floor going.

Review: E.T.I might not be the best-known act to emerge from the breaks and acid-loving San Francisco scene of the 1990s, but their slim catalogue is nevertheless full of gems. The people behind AGT Records are clearly fans, because they've decided to reissue one of the trio's most potent singles, 1999's 'Lookout'. What we get is the same two mixes featured on the hard-to-find original release: the chunky, funky bass-propelled, breakbeat house masterclass that is the 'Tha Luv Bomb' mix (listen out for the wonderfully drowsy, loved-up synth riffs), and the pacey, P-funk-influenced 'On Tha Fly' mix, where short vocoder vocal snippets, crispy funk guitar licks and boisterous bass catch the ear.

Review: The tech house revival of recent years sure has turned up plenty of good new music but it's still hard to beat that OG tackle from the first wave back in the late 90s and early 2000s. To that end, here comes a great reissue of a George T EP that dropped at the dawn of the new millennium and has aged well. 'Baby' is one of those super warm and breezy cuts where the machines speak to your soul and a carefree groove rolls for days. 'Bass Chase' is more gritty, the coarse drums and hits softened slightly by the bass down below. There is a slower, more cosmic feel to the dusty drum loops of 'Lunar Pursuits' while 'Silver' has an infectious skip that will get any 'floor upright and marching.

Review: The notes with this one say, "Made at the Riverview Mental Hospital by Hansel J. Tripwire on a typewriter, a calculator, and a Commodore 64," so that's that. First up is 'Iamarobotiamafraidofspoons' which is a distorted, brain-frying techno monster with everything supersized, twisted and drawn out. 'Filthy Transmissions From The Plant Spoc' is a muscular tune that demands your attention. The banging drums are underpinned with growling bass. Prickly synth twitches pan about the mix with detuned chord sounds and robotic but funky vocals. It's the sound of a party on another planet.

Review: Split across three tracks, Nev's 'Deep Beep', originally released in 1991, posits 3 important existential questions. These questions come to us in sonic, not just track-titular form. The NY producer weaves techy, yet not overthought, acid funk with breaksy bloop and 8-bar breakstyle on 'How Deep Can You Creep?', while the question of 'How Deep Can You Sleep?' becomes irrelevant when we're woken violently by scything hats and dreamy keys. The question of 'How Deep Can You Bleep?' is the most fundamental quandary of them all; the jankier the bleep bloops, the better, as evidenced by this one's breakdown.

Review: Second time around for Transparent Sound single 'Orson's House', a classic chunk of driving, sub-heavy tech-house that first appeared in 2001. The duo's original 'Mix 1' and 'Mix 2' versions - here featured on the flip - are classic examples of the early British tech-house sound, which fused the sub-heavy strut of early UK techno with the sci-fi sounds of Motor City techno and the swinging machine drums of house music. Those looking for a more fully formed, funk-fuelled take should check the A-side 'James Harrison Subfunk Mix', where spacey pads, tweaking acid lines and alien-sounding lead lines ride a chunkier, more energetic groove.