Balance Music Vinyl & CDs

Review: As well as being a renowned mastering and mixing engineer at Calyx in Berlin, Hannes Bieger has more recently become a fixture in the progressive house scene, releasing on Poker Flat, Bedrock, Tronic and others. By way of confirming his rising artist profile, not to mention his impeccable taste and unique perspective, he's been invited to record an entry for the fabled Balance mix series. He's used the opportunity to create an all-exclusives mix which showcases his own work, that of established names like Gui Boratto and Rodriguez Jr and also a host of emergent talent he has discovered through his work as a mastering engineer.

Review: Following on from his recent BL16 release, Leeds based, French DJ Brawther is set to celebrate his five-year relationship with the imprint via a very special triple vinyl + CD release titled "Endless". Comprising a selection of highly in-demand tracks and a previously unreleased remix spanning from his early beginnings in 2009 until today, the release provides a fitting retrospective account of key highlights of the frenchman. "Endless" pays homage to the special relationship built over the years between Brawther and Chez Damier, one of House music's most inspiring souls and boss of Balance Recordings . Hand in hand, they have planned and programmed every single record together prior to this finale, with total freedom and trust for which "Endless" is the shining result. This master to disciple story embodies the true meaning behind the title "Endless", that of a life experience that flows ceaselessly from one generation to the next.

Review: Given the deep, dreamy and luscious sound of his productions, it's perhaps unsurprising that Brawther has been a regular contributor to Chez Damier and Ron Trent's Balance imprint. As Endless neatly proves, the Parisian producer has provided the label with some tremendous music since 2009, much of which could pass as authentic Damier material. The latter makes an appearance on the wonderful title track, but his trademark sound - fluid, quietly soulful, bumpin', hazy and dancefloor friendly - can be heard throughout this essential retrospective. Naturally, there's more than a little Trent flavour to some of the cuts, too - in particular the enveloping pads and twinkling pianos of "VXVXVX" - making this a sublime collection of sumptuous, ultra-deep house.

Review: Since debuting on Visionquest back in 2013, Clarian North has served up music on a wide variety of labels - Multi-Culti, Turbo and Kompakt included - all the while mixing vintage new wave influences with more contemporary dancefloor styles. For this long-awaited debut album, he's decided to flip the script a little, serving up a set of drowsy, stylish and left-of-centre cuts that mostly his explore his love of skewed synth-pop and Mascara-clad 1980s new wave. Of course, there are plenty of subtle nods towards other sounds and styles - a dash of spacey ambient here, a tear-jerking shoegaze pop gem there - amongst the DIY post-punk pop workouts, as well as a handful of tracks that move closer to his more familiar dancefloor sound.

Review: DJ and producer Tim Green comes through to the esteemed Balance mix series, for a whopping 19-track mix blend through techno, house, ambient, breakbeat and electro. Erring towards the ethereal and atmospheric - with all tracks carefully selected for their naturalism - this one marks a return for both label and artist, as the series hasn't put out any new ones prior to this in five years. Meanwhile, it also contains four new exclusives from Green, highlighting his talent at straddling the techno trunk's adjacent branches of minimal, textural and melodic.

Review: The mighty Balance series has been around for a while now and is one of the few remaining mix series that still managed to excite. Everyone who is everyone has made their own entry into it over the years and now it is the turn of Henry Saiz. His Balance 032 is a masterclass in balancing drive and emotion across no fewer than three CDs of tasteful progressive house. It marks a real high point for the Madrid-based artist and features the shimmering riffs of 'Kickboxer', his own collaboration with Imalgi.

Review: The long beloved Balance series of DJ mixes gathers two prominent figures in the history of dance music for this one episode - Dave Seaman & Quivver. The two are paired up for this double CD set that also features two new tracks to make this project even more appetising. Both Dave Seaman and John Graham aka Quivver have over 30 plus years in the business each, with DJ gigs and credits lists that go on for days to read and their experience shows here. Highlights include Dave's heavy driving remix of 'Low Burn' by Underworld, Ben Archbold's epic 'Psychedelic Halo' and Timo Maas's bass heavy remix of Polaroit's 'Apart'. Dave and Quivver's mixing is flawless as usual - their ability to take a handful of strong tracks and make an epic journey is something they have earned their stripes doing, now you can experience it from the comfort of your living room.