Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Amulanga, operating out of Thailand, emphasise beauteous atmospheric progressive house, pairing each compilation with exquisite, extra-worldly sci-fi themes. Their latest, sixth vinyl V/A hears additions from Dulus, Acrobat, Ilias Katalenos & Plecta, Taleman and Shri & Alej, each track a seamless infusion of living, writhing organic sound. More than just music, the aim is to imply a narrative, shuttling and transforming listeners over and beyond centrifugal, interplanetary orbits - not just dancefloors.

Review: Some may argue that Dimitri From Paris and Tom Moulton have already provided the definitive remixes of Ron Hall, the Muthafunkaz and Marc Evans' 2006 gem "The Way You Love Me". This Glitterbox 12", which features alternative versions of those two legendary reworks, proves that they're wrong. Dimitri's "Glitterbox Retouch" of his Philadelphia International-inspired TSOP Version is a little more focused and tightly edited than its predecessor, but naturally incredibly similar. It's Moulton's "Philly Regrooved Mix", though, that's the real stunner. A near perfect example of Moulton's classic mixing skills, it sees the original disco mixer give space to each instrumental solo before unleashing the now oh-so-familiar vocal. The result is 13 minutes of unashamed disco bliss.

Review: New York soul quartet The Topics never found the spotlight they deserved during their short run across the 60s and early 70s, but this sharp 7" reissue offers a long-overdue glimpse at their brilliance. Both cuts originally surfaced in 1973 via Mercury, the only major label to back the group before they vanished into obscurity. 'Booking Up Baby' is a slick, string-laced dancer co-produced by Dennis Williams, best known for work with Teddy Pendergrass and the O'Jays. On the flip, Van McCoy's 'Giving Up' gets an opulent, emotionally rich treatmentidelivered with the polish and pain of top-shelf crossover soul. Both tracks ooze sophistication, driven by harmony-led vocals and lush instrumentation. Given the scarcity of original pressingsione recently went for L850ithis reissue is not only a collector's dream but a chance for wider ears to catch up with two underrated gems from the golden era of American soul.

Review: Originally released in 1997, this underground gem gets a welcome reissue which suggests its impact hasn't dulled a bit. This is classic late-90s techno - from New York's Trebbi via an Italian label - at its most urgent and hypnotic, with enough character and raw drive to still hit hard in today's dancefloors. The title track, 'Control' is an Italian stomper through and through in a heady, trance-tinged banger with tight sequencing and a relentless pulse. It surges with a kind of controlled chaos with that turn-of-the-century energy where techno and trance often blurred lines. It sounds remarkably fresh with tight production and timeless structure. Side-B begins with 'Liquid Rain', diving into tribal techno territory with percussive swagger and a rolling, humid groove. It's a slow-burner, but one that pays off in deep, body-moving momentum. Closer 'Interface' strips things back into a proper warehouse tool i functional, fierce and full of grit. This reissue is more than nostalgia i it's a reminder of how enduring and versatile this sound can be.

Review: Razor-N-Tape's white label series serves up its first-ever various artists collection here, and it opens with Windy City master Glenn Underground. His 'Happy House' is a joyous disco stomper with florid strings and lung-busting vocals. Rahaan adds his own edit to 'Be Cool', which is a jazzy dancer with magnificent guitar work and brassy horns. 'Hot Damn' (JKriv edit) keeps the love flowing with funky disco house energy and an air of hands in the air celebration and The Patchouli Brothers flip 'Love Explosion' into a strident, front foot wafered and pumping disco funker with gorgeous vocals. There I so much sunshine and joy in these tunes that they melt even the stoniest of hearts.

Review: Detroit vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Javonntte is contracted by Marcel Vogel and Tim Jules for the smooth, disco-splashed house cut 'Just Because', now hearing a long-awaited 12" release on Lumberjacks In Hell, the clav-loving label named after the 2018 Vogel release of the same name. Known for his deep musicality and effortless brio, Javonntte's soulful touch now drops anchor on the original's groove, letting open the possibility for the three distinct remixes by Floyd Vader, Lyma and Stefan Ringer to follow. There come etched a future-leaning electro r&b cut, a Portlandian Yoruba house hitter, and a complementary post-boogie bust-up respectively.

Review: Greg Wilson and The Reynolds first teamed up in 2015 for 'Summer Came My Way' as a vocoder-topped summer twinkler, backed up by sweltering handclaps and gutting electric pianistic held notes. The Merseyside DJ and producer is alleged, at least as far as Discogs bios go, to have pioneered the UK electro scene, though his collaborative sensibility with twins Katherine and Carmel Reynolds here proved otherwise downbeat but munificent in emotion, compared to electro's later superlatively harsh, snappy, two-step snarings. The Balearic soul of 'Summer Came My Way' as deserving of its new ambient version, and it is the real highlight here, manifesting before us dazzlingly with its scatted lyrics and acid torsions.

Review: A decade has now passed since long-serving British DJ Pete Tong joined forces with arranger/conductor Jules Buckley to create covers of classic dance anthems with the help of the latter's expansive Heritage Orchestra collective. Since then, there have been countless concerts and albums - the latter frequently featuring vocal performances from high-profile artists. This tenth anniversary 'best of' collection is therefore welcome. There are some new standalone 'edits' of tracks previously featured on medleys - see 'Finally' (featuring Jessie Ware), 'Man With The Red Face', 'Yeke Yeke' and the sweeping, soaring 'Cafe Del Mar' - but otherwise you're getting fan favourites and familiar anthems, including tasty versions of Orbital's 'Belfast', Adamski's 'Killer' (featuring original singer and now superstar Seal), Joe Smooth's 'Promised Land' and Robert Miles' 'Children'.

Review: After spending much of the last five years confined to the United States, Ron Trent is off on tour this year. As a way of re-introducing himself - not the deep house legend needed to do that of course - he has partnered with Rush Hour to release Lift Off, a fresh double album of previously unheard music. More defiantly dancefloor-centric than his previous album, the decidedly cosmic and downtempo 'What Do The Stars Say To You' (as WARM), the two-disc set sees the Chicagoan combine his usual percussively-layered grooves, warming basslines and colourful synth sounds with nods to all manner of musical influences old and new. The results are uniformly superb, with our picks of a very strong bunch including the spacey future-boogie of Leroy Burgess collaboration 'Let Me See You Shining', the spaced-out, slow-motion epic that is 'Woman of Color', the AM radio-friendly Balearic pop of 'Just Another Love Song' and the undeniably gorgeous 'Street Wave'.