Back catalogue: Progressive House

Review: A Trifle Too Far, the collaboration between Essex natives Simon Ward and Tony Grimley, crafted this forward-thinking duo of tracks, inspired by their explorations of the acid house scene and rave culture. Catch Your Ear and Meringueatang embody the innovative spirit of early 90s prog-house. Engineered by Evren Omer of Strategy Records and Matt Clayden of X-Gate Records, respectively, these tracks remain a rare and exhilarating find. Mint Condition is reviving the essence of classic house and techno with their latest reissue: the elusive 1992 EP 'Catch Your Ear/Meringueatang' from A Trifle Too Far. This release is a thrilling addition for collectors and DJs, rekindling the excitement of a bygone era.

Review: Acapulco Heat is a new duo from Acapulco made up of Felipe Valenzuela and new comer Ossios. They share a love of colourful shirts and making "sensual moves in the shade of palm trees" and here offer up a set of cuts designed to encourage dancefloor mindfulness. 'Intellectuelle' is a crispy tech house groove with thudding kicks and enough detail to keep the mind as locked as the heels. 'Gonna Do & Do It More Now' is a highlight on the flip - a trippy synth line buzzes about over flappy drum programming that suspends you in the groove. The one and only Titonton Duvante offers a remix that has a darker heart.

Review: Accented Measures Series (AMS) is a still relatively new series that has been compiled and arranged by Accented Measures and is designed to deal in unreleased and new music from some of the scene's key names. The Space Drift Remixes EP is next up the series with a combination of 90s vibes and modern grooves. '97NY' (TC80 remix) is heads down and raw as you like tech. 'Aeons' (Pedro Goya remix) rather spins you out on more silky cosmic pads and the Miles Ellis remix of 'Bad Sector' is thudding tech with rigid drums and washes of sugary synth. 'Space Draft' (Karaba remix) begins some serenity and smoothness to the final cut.

Review: Two toolroom essentials from Rob Amboule, former London stalwart come Frankfurt familiar. Where years of collecting and playing gradually evolved into Rob making music of his own, it wasn't long before he made the move permanent, settling in around the Main. A late stopover in Paris has now domino effected this new one: 'Wovv Tools' brings 'Melortra' and 'Kopuie', equal parts dance-incenting and vagus nerve-soothing. The B is especially brilliant, cycling through generative hypnotic whirls and sweller padwork.

Review: Friendsome Records and Ams how up for a fourth time here with a new EP that is a perfect blend of sunshine and otherworldly atmospheres. Inspired by nature, to which Ams is reportedly deeply connected, and influenced by progressive house and trippy electronic music, this 12" showcases her true style and might be her best work yet with proggy vibes, old-school UK tech-house influences and dynamic rhythms. 'Bol B' is a fine start with chunky drums and lush layers of synth, 'Control Freak' is a psychedelic wonder and 'Clair De Lune' brings blissed-out ambience before the stunning melodies of closer 'Sunrises'.

Review: The Cosmic Soup label did some mighty fine work in bringing Howard Dodd's work as Doc Bozique and Anoesis back into ear shot. Dodd released a fair clutch of wiggy, trance-inflected house and techno back in the wild old days of the mid-90s, and so it's no surprise to hear his music finding new relevance at a time when that sound is so warmly received on dancefloors all over the place. This release for German label Spray pulls together a few different bits from 1994, ranging from 'Heavy Water' and 'Diact' from The Anoesis EP to 'Trouble Down Groove' from Eight Day Music. Bringing the relevance with the current zeitgeist in no uncertain times, we're also treated to a remix courtesy of a scene leader in this field, D. Tiffany.

Review: Musek return for another V/A release, flaunting their artists' variegated hitmaking capacities. Fronting the release is a wonderful rework of Stockholm trio Art Fact's 'Rain In The South' from 1989, to which Francesco Farfa and Hamsa bring extra electronic-bodyweight to an originally dripping synth tune. A mystical mood is continually proferred across 'Mystic Perc' through to 'Blue Yes' by Roberto Manolio, traversing chime tinglings, acid breaks and dreamy vocals: "pretty blue eyes... you're mesmerised... don't look to hard... you may never come back from that..."

Review: Edinburgh's Neptune Discs bring crazed happy-acid hard trance come progressive disco to the fold, welcoming four fresh faces to their roster in so doing. Biodive, Astro, Dylan Forbes and Glen S all work impressive atmosses and well-integrated pad flavours around primal progressions, centring on a unified vibe of tunnelling rave intensity. The tone quietens on 'Tranquility', an emanative favourite of ours, whose pulsatory lead blurt sounds like a lighthouse through benevolent mist.

Review: Atimpuri emerges from the Italian prog techno scene with Present Magnificus, a sublime new EP for the small but already well formed Spaziotempo (or 'space time') label. Giordano is already known amongst those who know as a fine DJ and producer, as the uninitiated will now discover with this top label debut. He explores fusing of an array of styles form techno to prog, trance to Italo, breakbeat to electro on an EP that is thoroughly of the moment. all the sounds are sci-fi in design and futuristic in mood with compelling grooves and plenty of great designs that work as well on head as they do heel.

Review: Having dipped into the label's bulging archives earlier in the year to offer up a freshly remastered edition of 'Klarky Kat' by Gumbo (a rare collaboration between label bosses Attaboy and Swag's Chris Duckenfield), Toko has returned to the vaults for another essential reissue. 'In Too Deep' hails from 1997, when it marked the fifth release on the Sheffield-based imprint. Reflective of the sound played at legendary Sheffield deep and tech-house party Scuba, the title track is a sultry and saucer-eyed affair, with sustained synth-strings, tactile riffs and luscious melodic motifs wrapping around an hypnotic deep house-meets-tech-house groove. In contrast, 'In Deeper' is a much more minimalistic, tech-tinged affair, close in sound and tone to Swag productions of the period - all deep, undulating bass, effects-laden weirdo noises and locked-in beats.

Review: A releaser that crackles with an energy that could only emanate from the shadowy corners of the Swedish electronic underground. Anna Kohlin, label co-head and architect of hypnotic soundscapes, guides us through a diverse sonic landscape, her own 'What Time Is It?' leading the charge. Built from the evocative textures of the Roland JV-1080, it shimmers with a sunrise glow, ethereal pads interweaving with delicate melodies. Kohlin, a master of contrasts, doesn't shy away from the shadows, injecting her creation with sharper, dynamic elements that add a touch of grit to the dreamlike atmosphere. Eric OS throws down a challenge with 'Timeout', a sonic time capsule that transports us back to the early 2000s. Analogue warmth collides with the raw energy of digital sound, vintage synths intertwining with crisp beats in a nostalgic yet undeniably fresh sonic tapestry. Baby Rollen, armed with a looped double bass sample and the crisp snap of a 909, crafts a hypnotic groove with 'TwentyTwenty Home'. A warm 303 bassline snakes through the mix, adding a touch of acid-tinged euphoria to the already infectious rhythm. Basement Space and Mans Glaeser, never ones to shy away from the unconventional, deliver 'Space Glaezer', a sonic maze that twists and turns through intricate textures and unexpected rhythmic shifts. Kohlin's curation is nothing short of masterful, showcasing the diverse and ever-evolving landscape of the Swedish electronic music scene. Inside Out 002 is a testament to the power of electronic music to transport, inspire, and defy expectations.

Review: Rebirth kicks off its 2024 with a remix EP that serves as "a tribute to the Brescian music scene in its many facets and declinations." The full original project is a complete 12-track album that brings together many different sounds, scenes and generations, with the best bits now assembled on this new 12". The revered deep house master Fred P opens up with some texture spiritual synth depths, K-Lone brings some nice house swing to his version of 'Paline' and edit maestro Rahsaan also keeps it paired back and late night on his soulful take on 'Scent Of An Old Life'. A great reimagining of some moving musical adventures, then.

Review: Neptune Discs bowl headfirst into a future cybernet on their ninth V/A volume. Christening this latest record a “Neptune Disc”, we’d not be surprised if it indeed was true that a hidden alien civilization resident on the farthest known planet in the solar system was, in fact, using copies of this record as currency. From the opening filterswept FM declensions of ‘Emerald Canopy’, to the closing saws and oral acid resonances of ‘Donald Llg’, this retrofitted vision of the 2090s propels us towards a altered, proto-temporal conscious state, twining intricate vocal hooks round endlessly pulsating acid lines.

Review: Re-United nobly unveil their second release, 'Shock', a sharp, stylish repossession of the talents of one Paolo Driver and Alberto Bof. A perfectomundo blend of classic trance tranches and modern jam-house, the release also houses a remix by Niki B on 'The Spring', with profound implications to follow. Said closing remix is especially swarthy and down-under, evoking catlike slinks down alleys in the night with its slower-burning, electrostatic moves.

Review: Berlin's Exit Strategy began their 12"s game releasing EPs in browned sleeves, shortly before branching out into digital-vinyl combo releases with original artwork in the 2020s. Now with over ten years of experience under their belts, they welcome five new artists for a playful bricolage in deep and minimal techno, privileging elite, razor-sharp additive sound design and future-soulful vocal tasters. Ivory's opener 'Rain' epitomises this, while Jimi Jules squelchifies the same formula, and Aera's 'Future Holdings' rolls out the same logic to its ultimate conclusion, veering towards complex, 3D-graphic melodic techno composed entirely of climbing saws.

Review: Prog house legend Sasha collaborates with Newcastle's Artche on a stunning new track, 'Hold On,' which blends dramatic, sweeping synths with deep, moody basslines and emotional vocals. The original version is a cinematic journey, building with profound melodies and lush chords that create an expansive, atmospheric vibe. The track is both sophisticated and impactful, with its grand architecture tugging at the heartstrings. The 'Artche Mix' offers a different twist, working in airy, dusty broken beats while keeping the original's vocals and synths. This version introduces a fresh rhythm and texture, yet still retains the emotional core of the track. Both mixes highlight the collaborative synergy between Sasha and Artche, showcasing their ability to craft deeply emotive, melodic dance music.

Review: While most party DJs lament their wedding gigs while lauding their fun cool jobs, Wedding Acid Group - the openers of this latest V/A by Undersound Recordings - marks a point of going beyond mere cultural Stockholm syndrome, not just making light of our matrimonial masters, but redirecting those cheugy energies into a killer beatific-corrosive intro.AThen come three more riveting uplifts of a blissful and bouncey variety, from 'Do As I Say' by Albert Ess to 'Singlestranded' by Systelman to 'Love2' by J. Mono, seguing from industrial anvil clankage to a nightbus-bound house closer.

Review: As the artist alias kind of suggests, Abyssy takes a deep dive into the unknown depths of the human spirit. It finds the artist returning to Simona Faraone's label after several years and finds him exploring electronic sounds of the 70s and 80s, blending Berlin school minimalism with Detroit techno's soul and funk. It is a record that ranges in mood and tempo as it heads into oceanic depths where wispy pads and chattery percussive patterns collide in unusual ways. It's a largely abstract album of unusual sound designs and genuine electronic discovery that often has you wondering just how certain abounds have been made.

Review: Global Underground present the next release from the nextmost DJ to grace their City Series. ANNA's dynamic sound encompasses multiple styles and genres, from ambient through house to techno, and encapsulates the effortless chic and vibrant nightlife of one of the coolest cities in Europe - Lisbon. This modish Portuguese metropolis has always enjoyed a certain notoriety, but this has perhaps not been felt so intently more than in the last five years or so. ANNA now fleshes out Lisbon's essence, capturing its descending narrow streets, castellated jetties and glorious sunsets with a progressive house, trance and techno mix that satisfies all possible ends of a newfangled tourist's dream.

Review: In the mid-90s, Audio Science released two CD-only albums, Aural X-Perience and Hypnotic, both of which gained critical acclaim and have since achieved cult status. This new double album on the Rezpektiva label brings together standout tracks from those revered recordings. It begins with the slow motion and psyched-out prog of 'Tales Of The Unknown' and takes in highlights like the slick house punch of 'Strings In The Night' as well as an unreleased Chill mix of 'Tales Of The Unknown' which brings new cosmic energy to the lush original. A great reminder of one of the 90s' finest innovators.