Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Berlin tech house heavyweights team up here on 'You Are Safe' a collaboration between &ME, Adam Port and Rampa on their Keinemusik imprint. The city natives hand in a collection of deep and evocative cuts, that are brought to life by some exceptional studio engineering, sitting somewhere between the sleek late night grooves of local imprint Souvenir as much as it does Innervisions with its melodic and futurist edge. Highlights on here include the hi-tech soul of "Civilist" calling to mind the sonic grooves of Toto Chiavetta or Ame, the sultry r'n'b of "Up & Down" featuring London songstress Chiara Noriko or the slinky moodlighting of "Bumper" featuring frequent collaborator Nomi Ruiz of Hercules & Love Affair fame. Keinemusik came to life in 2009, naming an existing friendship linked by the interests of six members - five DJs and one graphic designer/painter. Five releases per year have been released ever since, solely laid down by members of the crew.

Review: Mexico's Rebolledo has played an important part in Comeme's development over the years, and his nutty strain of electronic dance music fit perfectly in line with the label's tone of voice. Never straight enough to be categorised as house but always too structured to be labelled simply as ambient, Rebolledo is one of the few artist's truly making 'outsider' music these days. This latest album, Mondo Alterado, is perfect for anyone wanting something deep and mystical but that still carries enough weight and shape to be played to other human beings. In fact, a big part of the tunes on this LP verge onto the 'dance' side of things, but the producer has a distinct knack for making that sound constantly surprising, a sort of perennial sonic morphing that steers clear of any concrete genres. TIP!

Review: Percussion, rhythms and intricate polyrhythms have always laid down the foundations of Reboot's music ever since he first arrived on the scene three years ago. Since that debut, "Be Tougher / Letters" from back in 2007 on Luciano's Cadenza imprint, the talented German has made a fast and steep rise to becoming one of dance music's hottest properties. He has seen single and EP releases on Cocoon, Below, Love Letters from Oslo, Motivbank, Below and Ricardo Villalobos' Sei Es Drum imprint in addition to highly acclaimed mix CDs for Cocoon and Cécille. Shunyata, his first ever LP marks his return to Cadenza and keeps his ever flowing, tribal polyrhythms at the centre of its sound.


Its title is loosely translated from its Buddhist origins as ‘emptiness’ which is not used here in a negative sense but as a reference to the album’s state of impermanence and constant state of flux. Utilising the album format, Reboot manages to make the individual tracks start at one point and lead to somewhere completely different, keeping the entire record moving in a constant and kaleidoscopic motion. He builds these spiralling grooves or intricate polyrhythms by interconnecting instruments such as congas, bells, cymbals, woodblocks, shakers, steely drums and aluminium barrels, binding them together to weave an evolving groove. Added to that, stranger sound elements such as field recordings, cut up, distorted vocals, pings and gurgles permeate the percussion layers whilst a spongy bed of compressed bass fills the low end.


The focus is once more on the dancefloor as tracks like the peaktime "Hermano," the deepness of "Dreliach" the hypnotic "Me Show," and the darker vibes of "Save Me" all play testament to. However, there are also some more unexpected moments such as the skipping and melodic "Rambon," the spiralling "Down Pantha," the sedate opener "Uruana" and the sampled guitar that appears on "Sanchez Says." It's very structural nature makes Shunyata an album in the true sense of the word, demanding full and repeat listens to fully appreciate its beauty.

Review: The freshly minted Occult Vision label has a distinctively different ethos and approach. It was established to release full-length excursions (that's albums, kids) only, thus offering producers they work with the chance to stretch their musical legs (so to speak). For the label's debut, they've turned to long-serving Frankfurt producer Frank Heinrich. His first LP since 2016, On A Grind sees the German frequently blur the boundaries between tech-house and deep house, with solid and sub-heavy grooves being overlaid with a mixture of heady sonic textures, glassy-eyed vocal samples, glitchy percussion, twinkling keys and tipsy, mind-mangling musical motifs. Highlights include the jazzy tech-house dustiness of 'Tombant Jazz', the deep and heady shuffle of 'Sweat', the ragged, acid-fired hedonism of 'Outwork' and the sweat-soaked peak-time pump of the nostalgic title track.

Review: Ten year anniversary? Has it really already been ten years since Recondite's sophomore album 'Hinterland' came out?! Recondite almost single-handedly was responsible in many peoples eyes for the resurgence in techno during the early 2010s. After beating down the doors of Ghostly International for many years, the fans finally get their wish in the shape a new, shiny reissue. Coming on smokey black vinyl this time, nobody has a reason to not have this record in their collection. Included are legendary tracks like 'Stems', 'Clouded' and 'Leafs'. Many think that not only is this the best Recondite album but one of the best techno albums of the year 2013.

Review: Retrouve retrieve eight new future house retroversions for their resident PIV label, bringing brilliant syntheses of 80s inspo, speed garage, and hard dance groove-dynamism. So far having rocked dancefloors from Amsterdam's Thuishaven to Miami's Space, an electrifying past two years have fed the febrile fan anticipations going into this one. The sound is distinctive, with no pulse missing the mark, though the experimental ante is upped as the record progresses, as on the dark jacker with Midas Field, 'Gravel', whose textural palette hears the duo cross into an uncharted otic darkness.

Review: One of the "Godfathers of UK tech house" (there are many contenders for this unofficial crown), Eddie Richards began the Time Travel series to reposition this snappy sound in its most modern form. Ironically, this means travelling back in time, then revisiting the present with older, better tools. Tech house was born in London, and yet in terms of popularity and influence, it has transmigrated to the furthest-flung regions of Europe and Asia in quicktime. How can we possibly reintegrate its original sound, let alone refind it? A veteran of the unstoppable waterwheel that was Camden Palace, Richards makes as honest an attempt as you can hope for. He doesn't bother with track-titular profundity, instead embracing names like 'Dream2', 'Moody' and 'Eightone8', suggesting tech house, despite the "tech", should be an off-the-cuff sound, one not chiselled and burnished to perfection. 'Danger' and 'Tease' are proper blemished tech house mother-genes, while for the 'Love Is (Dub)' crosses into u-chambered dubtech territory, with a bespoke, rebarred hi-hat to boot.

Review: Rubicon marks the first physical edition of Galcher Lustwerk's driving-themed alias, Road Hog. Collecting tracks from seven releases spanning from 2014 to 2021, Rubicon serves as the project's Greatest Hits (for now). Including tracks from the Cleveland-dedicated album 'Tour De Hog' as well as the sharp toothed 'Spares' and 'More Spares' the pithy 'Haul Ass' plus some cinematic favorites from 'DWB' and 'On The Lam'. Originally meant to be digital only and listened to while driving, demand for certain tunes to be pressed to vinyl has risen with each release. From the Road to the Club, Lustwerk's got you covered.

Review: Frenchman Rodriguez Jnr moved from his native Paris to the sunny climes of Miami not long after the pandemic. He had already started recording the music that features on this new album before he left, and finished it off in the US. You can hear the influence of both settings as he cuts more loose than ever before. His signature synth craft and elegant melodies remain, but there are also collabs with hip-hop's Stereo MCs, his own partner Liset Alea who is an esteemed vocalist, and Giorgia Angiuli. It adds up to a super smooth and sophisticated album with plenty of earworms.

Review: Techno mainstay Marc Romboy has always made sounds that betray his love of space. He recently made that more explicit that ever with the start of a new compilation series titled Music From Space and after a fine first volume comes a second, called Dimension B. It features the music he has used to open his latest podcast and radio shows series, eight tracks in all from artists such as Thodoris Triantafillou, Til Fussman, Nicolas Masseyeff and Romboy himself. There is plenty to love her from sleek and serene outings from Captain Mustache to Kiberu's lush 'Your Eyes.'

Review: Rone's debut album made a big mark when it landed back in 2010. The record now celebrates its 15th anniversary with a special reissue on neon pink transparent bio-vinyl that will surely mean original and and plenty of new ears will once again fall under its spell. The groundbreaking record launched the French artist's career with its playful, dreamy journey through simmering techno and lush synth-scapes. Gentle rhythms and woozy melodies fill the stereo field to create an immersive experience perfect for sunny and hazy afternoon alike.