Permanent Vacation Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: German mainstay Johannes Albert returns after a six-year hiatus with his third club album, Private Dancer, and it's worth the wait. As expected, it is a deep dive into refined house music full of maturing production, warm textures, subtle grooves and emotive undertones. The standout title track features longtime collaborator Iron Curtis, and together they craft a hypnotic blend of classic deep house with modern minimalism. Highlights include the gentle grooves and percussion of 'L'Chaim', the steamy nocturnal soul of 'The Night (Moves On' and 'Follow The Strings', which is a more punchy heater. It's the sound of a seasoned producer delivering understated dancefloor gold.

Review: 'Selected Label Works 11' from Permanent Vacation offers a top-tier selection of deep house gems that span Balearic, leftfield and nostalgic 90s influences. Clint's 'Bliss Science' opens with a classic piano house sound, boosted by a heavy 90s-style techno break, capturing a warm, nostalgic vibe. Aldonna's 'Pisa 97' takes a more melodic techno route, showing off crisp production and a dreamy progression that feels perfectly suited for deep listening. Sam Goku's 'Walking Drums' is tribal and atmospheric, punctuated by a wicked drop that infuses energy into its hypnotic rhythm. Rosa Red's 'Rhapsody', reworked by Known Artist, delivers a futuristic, epic trance sound reminiscent of early 90s rave euphoria. Rounding out the compilation, Third Son & Baldo's 'This Is Your Brain On Music' leans into late-night acid trance and techno, creating a deep, pulsing vibe for darker hours. This compilation is a deep house journey brimming with genre-spanning textures and rich grooves.

Review: Auckland-born, London-based duo Manuel Darquart draw from the silkier ends of Italo, house and Balearic breaks on their latest five-tracker for Munich label Permanent Vacation. The opener, 'Sunshine Coast', cruises through airy pads and FM piano with the warmth of a lost VHS holiday clip, while 'Soft Energy' folds ambient textures into a weightless groove built for sunrise slots. Things get tougher on 'Global Business', which hits a sweet spot between acid and electro-funk, and 'Fantacity' continues in a similar mode - dense but clean, with a breaksy snap underlining the chords. 'Forza' wraps it all up with a slow-builder that sits somewhere between high-definition trance and plush downtempo. The palette feels nostalgically late 80s, but there's no pastiche here - just a well-gauged, detail-rich record that knows exactly when to lean in and when to hold back.

Review: It's 12 years since Dresden-born, Leipzig-based Martin Enke first made waves under the Trickform alias, and four years since he launched the Lake People project. Given his production vintage, it's surprising Purposefully Uncertain Field is his debut album. In turns uncomfortable, blissful, woozy and melancholic, it sees Enke confidently join the dots between shuffling Germanic deep house, early '90s "intelligent techno" (see the brilliant "Cooping"), yearning tech-house, aqueous ambience (the swirling "Bora" and glacial "Distance"), clanking drum tracks ("Glease") and loose-limbed IDM ("Drifting Red"). Throughout, there's a curiously distant sense of atmosphere, with detached melodies and ghostly pads riding tight, bubbling rhythms.

Review: Some six years into his career, Neil "Mano Le Tough" Mannion is showing distinct signs of artistic development. While Trails, his sophomore set, follows a similar formula to its' 2013 predecessor, Changing Days, it's a much more intricate, experimental and effervescent affair that makes great use of live instrumentation and his own impassioned vocals. So, while there are nods towards smoky, eyes-closed deep house - see "Half Closed Eyes", "I See Myself In You" and the sparkling "Sometimes Lost" - the album is dominated by downtempo electronica compositions. These variously draw on the drowsy bliss of James Blake, post-dubstep melancholia, post-rock/electronica fusion, and the hazy world of Balearica, suggesting that Mannion is making the best of his growing confidence.

Review: New Jackson delivers the much-anticipated successor to 2017's From Night To Night in there form of OOPS!... POP on Permanent Vacation. This concise triumph in techno pop comprises nine tracks that elevate his signature electronic sounds to anthemic heights. David Kitt, a sonic polymath with a colourful career, has been working as New Jackson since 2011. This full length showcases Kitt's evolution over five years and three countries, distilling his studio methodology into a leaner, more euphoric body of work. Collaborating with a stellar cast, including Rita Lynn and Donnacha Costello, Kitt crafts an album that effortlessly combines dynamism and spontaneity, drawing from a century of influences. From the mesmerising opener to the climactic "With The Night At Our Feet', this album is a testament to Kitt's widescreen approach.

Review: There are two things Permanent Vacation do so very well; uncover and release music from the quirkier end of the electronic spectrum and commission some equally interesting producers to remix their output. This latest EP from the Munich based emporium epitomises those qualities perfectly with material from last year's Pollyester album Earthly Powers remixed by the likes of Baris K, Pional and Prins Thomas. It's the latter who kicks proceedings off with a trademark Diskomiks of "Concierge D'Amour" which presents the track as a taut, snapping disco burner which makes full usage of the excitable vocals of Polina Lapkovskaya. The label bosses also remix this track, wisely veering off into deep house territory on a rearrangement that is structured perfectly for early hours mood setting. Madrid based producer Pional serves further notice of his flourishing potential with a remix of "Voices" that has a touch of vintage Soft Cell to it, whilst Baris K's rendition is built around a throbbing electronic bassline and plenty of Eurasian instrumental flourishes.

Review: Munich duo Rhode & Brown return to Permanent Vacation with a sun-drenched, floor-focused four-tracker that leans into deep house with a West Coast twist. 'Hop On' kicks things off with a warm, rubbery groove and breezy pads-effortless and driving in equal measure. 'Glimpse' follows in hazier form, its soft synth stabs and percussive shuffle dialling the energy inward. On the flip, standout cut 'Underwater Bounce' delivers exactly what it promises: a playful low-end strut, bubbly textures, and late-summer looseness. DJ Popup's remix sharpens the edges slightly, smoothing the original into a sleeker, heads-down roller with just enough lift. It's an EP built for long blends and outdoor sets-unfussy, melodic, and full of swing.

Review: Snecker offers up some advice on How To Dream here and that is certainly something that is easier to do when lost in the artist's music. This new outing on Permanent Vacation is a real exploration of the outer reaches of the cosmos with 'Kicking & Screaming' laced up with balmy pads and warming solar winds as the crisp hits drive the drums forward. 'High Noon' is adrift amongst the stars with weird sound effects and alien life forms scurrying about the mix then the title cut locks you into a beat that rocks back and forth and has a steamy male vocal bringing some funk. 'Flat Footed Laurence' is the best of the lot - a mid-tempo groove that provides a great foundation for some playful synth work.

Review: As head of the Diskokaine imprint, Wolfram Eckert has graced the public with the delightful sounds of Sally Shapiro as well as maintaining a wonderfully infuriating website - you need to check this out! In a production career that has seen the Swede trade under a surfeit of aliases for labels such as Creme, Gomma and IDJ Gigolos, Eckert has focused on the Wolfram name to deliver a stellar album forthcoming on Permanent Vacation. Entitled Marflow, the album features a stellar cast of guests including Legowelt, Shapiro, House of House, disco legend Paul Parker and mid nineties one hit wonder Haddaway. Permanent Vacation indulge in some appetite whetting here with another collaborative effort between Wolfram and Andy and Kim Ann of Hercules and Love Affair, notable for some fine remixes from fellow Swedish icons Tiedye and Axel Boman, with the former's balearic rock cover version most ingenious.