New releases last eight weeks: Progressive House

Review: The trend for throwback house sounds littered with spaced out vibes and old school video game vibes slows no signs of slowing down. This second outing from the ONO label outtta the Netherlands offers up four more such tunes, this time from Guy Contact. 'Desert Portal' is a textbook example of this sub genre with its fleshy pads and phased bass, ten 'Aquavision' layers up post-rave breakbeats with ambient synths that are beautiful indeed. There is also room for the turbo bendy bass of 'Spinifex Track' and soft acid undulations of the new age 'There Is No Orb.'

Review: Kas:st is known for an array of music from uplifting jungle to cavernous techno. But on this remix bundle of their most recent EP 'A Magic World', every producer contributing their own interpretations to Kas:st's masterworks leans towards the latter. 'Outomorrow' gets an stairway-to-heaven style deep house remix from Anyma & Kevin, while our favourite has to be a loose tie between Radio Slave's deft rework of 'Never Looks Away' and Chris Avantgarde's version of 'Vtopia'. This is a wax slab of deep, emotive club cuts for the emotionally scarred.

Review: Glossy, slapping explorations in minimal trance newly bowl down our way from Eli Nissan, who currently helms the Malta label Lost & Found. This new 12" is carries an optimistic, heavenly, and layered sound, sounding like what you might hear blasting from the local tech house club found in a lost elven grotto or alternate faerie world. 'Juanita', Nissan's collab with fellow artist Khen, is a slick prog house piece of choice, recalling the flowering worlds of Maurice Fulton.

Review: Imagine! by Overlords of the UFO was a global US Progressive Trance hit when it was originally released in 1994 - number one on many underground dance charts for several weeks. Mixmag dubbed it "wicked" and other relevant mags gave it high accolades e.g. XLR8R. Imagine! is a collaboration between Anthony Barker and Lynn Serafinn, both trained musicians and analogue synth aficionados. Whirling Thru Time & Space Mix on Side A was inspired by a poem from 60's cult sci-fi author; Fredric Brown - and UFO Mix is a faster tempo remix of the former. Side B's Deeply Hypnotic Mix is a downtempo remix, incorporating some world music elements, and Surfin' UFO was a very limited licensed track that Billboard Magazine described positively and humorously as "campy and kitschy"

Review: Sasha & Digweed are known for their heavy hands in pop and trance, but the former's best known work has to be 'Xpander', which set him apart from his myriad remixes of Madonna, Moby and The Chemical Brothers back in the day. Now the 4-track EP version of 'Xpander' sees a double 12" reissue from Music On Vinyl, showing off Sasha's taste for advanced breaks-trance, psychic themes and everything in between.