Needwant Vinyl & CDs

Review: The lads and lasses behind the Needwant label are getting generous in their old age. This 12" sampler for their 5th anniversary compilation, for example, comes with a code to download not only the fresh remixes presented here, but also the 19-track collection itself. The material here is predictably strong, with Urulu's murky, spacious and stripped back take on Maxxi Soundsystem's "Make Or Break" vying for "top dog" honours with The Revenge's strobe-friendly, nu-disco-goes-vintage house revision of James Fox's "Holding On". Elsewhere, Mark E provides a typically woozy, deep and melodious rework of his own "We Could Love", while Nicholas turns Kim Ann Foxman's "Hypnotic Dance" into a "Good Life" style '89 house anthem.

Review: With this superb EP, Geoff Wright AKA Kemback is finally fulfilling the promise shown on his previous outings for Omena and DBA Dubs. In short, the "Moving Through Clouds EP" contains the Bristol-based producer's best material to date. Check the string-laden majesty of opener "I Need You", where sumptuous violins and dreamy vocal samples tumble down over a bustling house groove, and the melancholic, slowly-shifting deep house bliss of "Moving Through Clouds". Equally as impressive is the loved-up, bass-heavy hustle of "Stepping Back", a gorgeous fusion of "Pacific State" style dreaminess, early New Jersey deep house and more forthright breakbeat-house bottom-end. The flipside remixes are tasty, too, with Soulphiction's subtly acid-flecked but similarly sumptuous revision of "I Need You" and Kim Brown's dusty, atmospheric lo-fi remix of the title track.

Review: Alex "Kiwi" Warren has barely put a foot wrong in recent times, with a superb DJ Rocca collaboration and some fine EPs on Disco Halal, Cin Cin and Paradise Palms. Here he adds another record label to the CV via a second outing on Needwant. In its original form, "Kiya" is a baggy, sunrise-ready house cut drive forwards by low-slung bass, chiming melodies, layered percussion, twinkling pianos and choice snatches of vocal apparently borrowed from an old African record. The "Rave Mix" is a more driving excursion smothered in intergalactic motifs and trance-like synth sounds, while the Brian Ring revision is looser, sparser and altogether more glassy-eyed. Warren rounds things off via the "Dreamscape Mix", a stunning ambient interpretation for those who like their sounds swirling and beat free.

Review: Last year saw Needwant expand the Future Disco remit to include Poolside, a compilation that was aimed at sound tracking your summer time reclined by a pool or indeed the Croatian coastline, mai tai in hand. Given the wide success, it's little surprise that Sean Brosnan's label have put together a second edition, now snappily titled Poolside Sounds Laidback Sunshine House. Musically, this 27 track selection adheres to it's title to a tee; the first CD is mixed and lays down 17 cuts that start off gentle and slowly eek up the tempo - look out for the early jam from rising producer Kiwi and the contributions from Axel Boman! The second CD gathers together ten tracks from the CD for those looking for a swift spot of CDJing to escape the poolside heat.

Review: Needwant come through with the latest instalment of their Future Disco compilations with the focus squarely on sound tracking your summer - presumably the part spent lounging by a pool or indeed the Croatian coastline as opposed to meekly traipsing around a city centre berating the "British Summer." If you've attended a Needwant party in recent months you'll know what to expect on this double disc selection, with a finely chosen smorgasbord of summer jams that saunters between contemporary disco and dewy eyed laid back house. Disc one is a smooth ride of a mix taking in the likes of Ray Mang, Classix, Mario Basanov and Maxxi Soundsystem, whilst the second disc holds 11 unmixed tracks for those who fancy a swift spot of CDJing to escape the poolside heat.