New releases last four weeks: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Superfriends is a new label project from German tech house duo Andhim. They take care of the first release and export outside the usual realms on opener 'Tosch (feat Piper Davis).' It has an air of DJ Koze's hazy nostalgia to it with gentle tumbling drums, broad bass notes and plenty of lo-fi texture. 'German Winter' is not as harsh and cold as the season it is named after, instead layering up subtly hopeful, sustained chords over a groove that's not too heavy, not too airy. 'Mond' brings smeared and smudged melodies, flutes and pianos together over a dubby, delightfully deep house low end. 'Horse Society' closes with the distant sound or bird tweets, a hooky percussive lead and plodding kicks for day-time open-air dancing.

Review: The fledgling WEorUS label rolls out more stylish, minimal and tech here from a trio of artists. Andrade goes first with 'Kubernetes,' a driving minimal house cut packed with hefty groove. It is followed by 'Content Security Policy' which is a slick, rhythm-forward roller that locks you into its flow. Flip to side-B and get swept into Dragosh's 'One Way,' a deep, hypnotic workout that's all tension and release and rounding off the trip is Fabrizio Siano's 'Control Your Emotions,' a poignant, late-night burner that delivers introspection through rhythm.

Review: Dark tech house's current Olympic torch-bearer, Inermu, present the seventh edition in their very own vari-prod vinyl series. A polysemous production outfit whose guises vary, this new one from Dexter James and Dominic Aquila presents a hard-nosed heater from the lockoff London crew. With most of their releases having been housed on black labels so far, this one is an exceptional whiteout, with lemni-skating delays and conga-happy tribal drives resounding across 'Tougher & Darker' and 'Music For Dark Rooms'. 'No Other' completes the record with a downtime B-side, with subtle pad swirls and taciturn talking drums working well as substitute basslines.

Review: Philadelphia producer and DJ Sweater makes a blistering debut on New York's BLKMARKET MUSIC with five cuts that blur the lines between breakbeat, tech-house and low-slung electro. It's a sound rooted as much in dusty record bins he works the counter at Impressions Philly as it is in the warehouse circuits that forged this connection back in 2021. 'The Answer' opens with choppy drums and cosmic static, before both versions of 'Twilight Zone' spin the same eerie motif into sleek machine funk ('Space Mix') and woozy stepper ('Broken Mix'). On the flip, 'Better Ask Somebody' dials up the groove with bumping mids and a ghosted vocal chop, while 'Contact In The Zone' sends things into sludgy, broken-rhythm hypnosis. A bold first outing that speaks in riddles but hits with intent.

Review: Bonafide and veteran Japanese house legend Satoshi Tommie is back with a second taste of his upcoming new album Magic Hour alongside a selection of fine remixes. First is a Freund der Familie Reshape of 'N01' which is deep, atmospheric and mid tempo techno, while the album's title cut then becomes a swamp, deep, menacing rework from Andrey Pushkarev. Freund der Familie Rewire Fix of 'Phase Space' makes it into a deft, loopy, stuttering workout for the mind and the Satoshi Tommie's Alternate Cut of 'Fast Track' is a killer slow track steeped in dub dynamics.