Back catalogue: Funky/Club House

Review: Apparel Wax on Apparel Music records has recently started a 7" series of which this is the third instalment of. These 45 DJ friendly records are sure to be hits with house music DJs and fans both. The music does the talking as the tracks are simply called 'Track 1' and 'Track 2'. The first blends jazz, funk into a house instrumental frenzy that has all the makings of a classic late night success. The second one is quite unusual and unique, adding a broken almost jungle beat that goes great with the piano. This gives us some real early 90s UK rave flashbacks! This versatile 7" should go over great with those who hear it!

Review: The Plastik People label has been going along nicely for its first few releases, with label head Marc Cotterell stepping up and coming correct last time out. Now he calls upon various artists with Dave Charlesworth taking care of the a-side of Nice Ripe Cuts. He offers two super slick garage cuts that cannot fail to make their mark on the club and it's no different on the flipside except D Lux & Y No combine first for '25 Miles' and then S R offers the irresistible 'Pressure.' An essential 12" for anyone looking to bring some fresh garage flavours.

Review: Whatever you were expecting from an album named 'Superflous', forget it. An exploration into all the many paths of light that refract from the prism of house music, Bagarre commands the dancefloor with every track, placing specific emphasis on keys - a side of the genre that the mainstream has fallen out of love with in recent years. The silky smooth jazz house of 'Espirit Coubertin', a more classic NYC brand of vocal house (beset with 80s synth phrases) in 'Truman Flow' and a divulgence into some driving piano acid house with chopped up vocals in 'Annees Folles' to even a more modern, turn of the century approach with the big hit 'Eurovision' - I could go on. A wonderful and tight package, this LP almost feels like a compilation for how varied and versatile the tracks are. The packaging being one of the selling points of course, the carbon impact of the vinyl production promising to be compensated by a French organisation. You certainly don't have to feel bad about dancing to this now.

Review: The fast-rising Purveyor Underground Ltd kicks on again here with a sizzling seventh EP that is as rude as they come - in both meanings of the word - from Die Familia. It is his own East Side Gangster remix of 'U Dat Bitch' that kicks off with hard-hitting house kicks and sleazy vocals over a rugged bassline. 'House Music' (part 1 - Late Night edit) is just as raw but more deep and hypnotic with its ascending synth lines and steamy vocal coos. 'Organic (Like Weird)' might be the best of the lot - a quick and urgent house thumper with silky hi-hats and rolling bass getting you up on your toes amidst swirling pads and a melange of vocals.

Review: Jaisiel distills the magic of his previous releases on this colour and kaleidoscopic new outing It's A Pleasure which really has something for everyone. 'Nada Que Ver' is refracted new school electro-disco-tech with warm synth smears and vocoder vocals bring future vibes. The Lipelis ADHdance mix then reworks it into a pumping house cut with sensuous vocals and 'El Amanecer' (Tenerife '89 mix) is a blissed out and sun down Balearic sound. Last of all is 'Sobre Cien,' an old school broken beat jam that will get you partying like it was 1989.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***

After hitting on something of a formula with 'Only Human', this A-side banger is further proof that Four Tet is onto a rich vein of side hustle action with his KH alter ego. 'Looking At Your Pager' is a cheeky slice of '90s throwback-ism in jackin' house form, and in a heuristically Hebden-esque style, makes deft use of the hilariously autotuned opening verse heard in 3LW's girl band hit, 'No More'. It's a very clever tune; just as no-one uses pagers anymore, nor do people use the kind of dubstep wobbles heard underneath the track's clacking groove... Mr. KH makes them cool again!

Review: After hitting on something of a formula with 'Only Human', this A-side banger is further proof that Four Tet is onto a rich vein of side hustle action with his KH alter ego. 'Looking At Your Pager' is a cheeky slice of '90s throwback-ism in jackin' house form, and in a heuristically Hebden-esque style, makes deft use of the hilariously autotuned opening verse heard in 3LW's girl band hit, 'No More'. It's a very clever tune; just as no-one uses pagers anymore, nor do people use the kind of dubstep wobbles heard underneath the track's clacking groove... Mr. KH makes them cool again!

Review: Pawsa has a reputation for delivering perfect party-starting music, often via funky, sub-heavy takes on tech-house. Who better, then, to remix The Adventires of Stevie V's infectious 1989 anthem 'Dirty Cash' - arguably, Jungle Brothers' 'I'll House You' aside, the most famous hip-house record of all time. Pawsa's 'Extended Mix' (side A) retains the warehouse-ready vibe of the original, placing the vocals, stabs and some wiggly new acid lines atop a squelchy TB-303 bassline and pumping house beats. Over on the B-side there's another chance to savour David Morales' 'Sold Out' mix, a slower, deeper, dreamier and lightly breakbeat driven interpretation that naturally earned plenty of plays when it was first released way back in 1990.

Review: Pawsa and Adventures of Stevie V breathe new life into an iconic dance classic with an exhilarating update, a gesture of Pawsa's innovative production skills adding a fresh dimension to Adventures of Stevie V's timeless vocals. The 'Extended Mix' is a pulsating journey through house music's vibrant landscape, capturing the raw energy of the original while injecting a contemporary twist. On the flip, David Morales delivers a masterful remix, his 'Sold Out Mix' taking the track into deeper, more soulful territory. A real double-sided gem.

Review: Geoff Hibbert may be the only rave-era dance music producer of note to hail from Oadby, a small town just outside Leicester. He first burst through with a couple of bleep-influenced anthems as Cyclone, but his biggest club smash was actually 'Break of Dawn' as Rhythm On The Loose - a killer, piano-sporting, saucer-eyed breakbeat house number that made great use of vocal samples from First Choice disco classic 'Let No Man Put Asunder'. This timely reissue packages the 1991 original mix with a trio of later 1995 rubs. There's Hibbert's own remake, which turns it into a MK-influenced house jam, a gloriously up-beat, synth bass-powered Strike remix full of fizzing riffs and bouncy beats, and a throbbing, raw and trance-inducing Stonebridge revision.

Review: Slo Moshu's 'Bells Of NY' is one of house music's most revered anthems. It is an iconic 90s tune that blew up every club upon release, and came with bogus producer credits in order to create some mystique. Network ally Andrew Komi is actually the man herbed the beats, and he told all manner of fantastical stories to the UK press who phoned up to hear more about the seminal tune. Here it gets reissued with various different mixes, all of which are explosive. There are the chattery snares and big piano chords of the House 2 House mix, a raved up and turbo-bass version from Xen Mantra's Beefy Bells mix and more besides.

Review: Released on XL Recordings in 2004 and nominated for the year's Mercury Music Prize, Kush Kash was the third studio album from dance music pioneers Basement Jaxx. The album has its space in history having been the winner of the first ever GRAMMY award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. It is packed with great collaborators such as the one and only punk icon Siouxsie Sioux, king of London grime aka Dizzee Rascal on the superb 'Lucky Star', as well as more mellow vocals from Meshell and the lung-busting performance of rock 'n' soul diva Lisa Kekaula from the LA band The Bellrays on 'Good Luck.'

Review: The Chems, as they are affectionately known by fans, are breakbeat maestros that have been out in a field of one for many decades. Now they continue to serve up the most blistering big room beats, techno and electro fusions each time they play one of their famously spellbinding sets, as well as on this latest record which is presented here across six sides of vinyl. They are revealing all about their accomplished and decorated career in a new biography that arrives the same time as this new album, For The Beautiful Feeling. It's a high-octane sound full of maximal grooves and a mad guest spot from none other than Beck.

Review: Released in 1994, Deee-Lite's follow-up to their colossal hit 'Groove Is In The Heart' and the World Clique album that contained it finds the trio taking a more adventurous route of funky rhythms, electronic experimentation and blissful psychedelic vibes. Tracks like 'River of Freedom' tap into a carefree dancefloor energy, while 'Picnic In The Summertime' evokes sun-soaked nostalgia, its bouncy beat an effortless backdrop to the dreamy, carefree lyrics. Deee-Lite's willingness to explore genres and sounds is evident throughout, with samples from The Orb and Carl Craig, among others, meshing seamlessly with live instrumentation and infectious grooves. One of the album's defining features is its ability to balance quirk with cool. The smooth transition in 'Somebody,' where the track slows down into a human beatbox rhythm, exemplifies the experimental nature of the band. And then there's the entrancing 'Party Happening People,' a track full of playful vibes, layered synths, and an unmistakable 90s energy. This isn't just for fans of the groupiit's a record that captures the essence of the 90s club scene. A perfect soundtrack to the era's fashion and carefree spirit, its sounds still hit fresh today, reminding us of the euphoric, experimental days of early electronic music. For anyone who has ever found themselves lost in the vibe of house, techno, or the club, this collection is essential listening.

Review: Given that he cut his teeth as a DJ and producer in San Francisco during the early 90s, DJ Spun is in a perfect position to educate us on the city's breakbeat-driven 'rave' sound - a hybrid and hyper-local affair that blended the Bay Area's psychedelic sounds and loved-up ethos with elements of acid, hip-hop, hip-house, deep house and British breakbeat hardcore. The Beat By DJ Spun Volume 1 does a great job of highlighting largely lesser-known, breakbeat-powered cuts produced in the city between 1988 and '94. For proof, check out the dreamy, mid-tempo wonder of Single Cell Orchestra's 'Transmit Liberation', the funk-fuelled hedonism of Triple M's 'Prisoner of Passion (Funky Dub Mix)', the deep and dubby breaks of 'Based (Not So Free Mix)' by DJ Emma, and the sparse-and-squelchy post hip-house shuffle of Spins Inc's 'The New Frontier'.

Review: New York maestro and Loose Control Band member DJ Spun has served up a superb compilation for Above Board here. It is his third such collection and one that focusses on the specific subject of West Coast breaks, rave and electro funk from the late eighties to mid-cities. It was a fertile scene by this account and one that still sounds current today, right from the blistering open eats and trance-like synths of Tasti Box's 'San Francisco' to Deep2's old school house jacker 'Sphere' which closes out the double pack. In between are plenty of gems, not least the deep and dreamy sounds of Hawke's '3 Moods In A Purple Garden' (Robbie Hardkiss mix).

Review: Utah Saints, the debut album from the British electronic duo, was originally released in the U.S., followed by a UK release in 1993. This album played a pivotal role in establishing the band as household names in the burgeoning techno scene, reaching number ten on the UK Albums Chart. The singles 'Something Good', 'I Want You' and 'What Can You Do for Me' showed the band's crossover appeal, with 'Something Good becoming a staple on college radio in America. A standout on the album, 'Something Good', prominently samples Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting', lending it a nostalgic yet fresh vibe. Released as a single in May 1992, it soared to number four on the UK Singles Chart and captured attention on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart as well. The song also gained prominence during the BBC's coverage of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The album is full of great techno and dance music. This vinyl reissue features striking new artwork that beautifully balances modern aesthetics with a classic feel, ensuring it appeals to both new listeners and longtime fans. Utah Saints remains a defining work of its time, reflecting the innovative spirit of early 90s electronic music.