Tags: Tech House

Review: Constant Black is one of the numerous labels in UK artist Burnski's orbit. He's been a man on form on all fronts in recent years and here he snaps up Retrospect for a trio of super slick and funky minimal house cuts. 'Ay-up!' is a cheeky opener with subtle northern welcomes hidden in the mix as the lithe bass and 2-step tinged drums do their thang. It's reet good. 'Schneebly' gets more pacey and balmy, with silky and oily bass and kinetic drum work all underpinned by a sick bass tone. Last of all comes '4 U' which has something of an upright garage skip and downright irresistible groove. These are high functioning, charismatic cuts to pump up any floor.

Review: Mint Condition is exceptionally good at reissuing genuinely buried treasure, with their frequent vintage UK deep house and formative tech-house selections being particularly potent. They've hit the spot once more here, too, raiding the vaults of legendary UK tech-house imprint Oblong and returning with a killer 2002 single from Spincycle (AKA Dave Clements and Andy Davies). A-side 'Making Faces' is a great example of London tech-house from the period - all starry, echoing synthesiser motifs, dreamy chords, smooth bass and hypnotic beats - while flip-side 'Twister' sees them reach for bowel-bothering hoover bass, speed garage-influenced drums and undulating, Swag-style melodic motifs.

Review: DXNBY has dropped only one record as far as we can tell, and that was back in 2021 on the Accussi Records label. Now He's back on the fledgling TRMNL with Ozone, a clear luminous 12" with two tech originals and a remix. The title cut is an effervescing cut with fizzy synths and metallic drums underpinned by a pumped-up, garage-leaning beat that never stops shuffling. 'No Return' is more compact but no less physical and again taps into garage styles but with a minimal tech aesthetic. Last of all, 'Ozone' (Marsolo remix) is more cosmic with layers of synth taking into new realms.

Review: ACME is Jerome Isma-Ae and WJ Henze and they first wrote their 'Soul Of Life' EP in 1998, back when tech house was still new and exciting. It was one of the genre's biggest tunes at the time and has remained ever popular in the years since for the way it draws on sped garage and techno for its vibes. This faithful reissue offers up the tune in three related but distinctive parts so that you have whatever you need at whatever point in the night you may be. We like 'Part II' with its more balmy and heady cosmic chords.

Review: Naarm-based producer Sam Alfred shows no signs of slowing down as we continue to be impressed by the material coming out of Australia right now. After releasing the energetic 'Suzuka' EP, completing a sold-out headline tour and playing a packed set at MODE Festival, he's now back with more full flavour beats. This one disk off with a real house anthem inspired by 90s club music with punchy piano, airy synths, and a driving cowbell rhythm. 'Care 4 U' has carefree garage house vibes a la salute, 'Keep It' brings some euro dance and trance energy and 'Distance' is a peak-time acid-laced pumper. Brilliant stuff.