Back catalogue: Funky/Club House

Review: Harmonics, the latest album from Hot Chip's Joe Goddard, is a celebration of warmth, instinct, and collaboration. Spanning 14 tracks, this record weaves through UK garage, house, hip-hop, pop and disco, bringing together a diverse array of voices. Eno Williams of Ibibio Sound Machine energises the afro-house groove of 'Progress,' while UK rapper Oranje adds flair to the starry-eyed 'When Love's Out of Fashion.' Hayden Thorpe's expressive vocals elevate the low-slung house track 'Summon,' and Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle lend their talents to the shimmering 'Heal Your Mind.' Goddard, known for his 2012 hit 'Gabriel,' revisits that focused energy here while capturing the carefree spirit of his earlier solo work. Tracks like 'Mountains' and 'Follow You' echo the Hot Chip sound, while collaborations with artists like Falle Nioke and Alabaster DePlume bring in elements of Afrobeat and jazz house. 'Destiny' and 'New World' showcase Goddard's mastery of house music, making Harmonics his most fun and genre-spanning solo album yet, proving his versatility in crafting compelling dance music.

Review: As well as writing plenty of his own chart-topping original hits and doing the same for plenty of other artists, iconic French dance music titan David Guetta also loves to turn out a cover or two. He did that last year with 'I'm Good (Blue)' with vocalist Bebe Rexha. The tune was a finalist for three BBMAs and spent 55 weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. It is of course a cover of the 1998 hit 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)' by Eiffel 65 and is as catchy as Covid.

Review: It was always going to be the case that Parlophone would press this one up to blue vinyl and so here it comes. As well as writing plenty of his own chart-topping original hits and doing the same for plenty of other artists, iconic French dance music titan David Guetta also loves to turn out a cover as he did last year with 'I'm Good (Blue)' alongside singer Bebe Rexha. It spent 55 weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and is pure bait for younger crowds.

Review: This new 12" is a compendium piece to Chocolate Star's recent 7" release and it comes in the form of more glorious disco goodness from Gary Davis. It kicks off with Warehouse Preservation Society's Full Mix of 'Red Gold & Green' featuring Davis. It's a stomping disco viber with loose-limbed percussion and dubbed vocals. Dvais's 'Heartbeats' then gets flipped by Knoe1 into an Acidsoul mix that is laced up with grilling 303s under the happy, tooting disco arps and fresh vocals. Canada's Elxandra then reworks a lesser known Davis house cut 'Skip & Scat' into a driving bit of full flavour deepness. It's a limited press on these rare cuts so do not sleep.

Review: Time-honoured, blue-crossed phono-phrenic audio pharmacists Positiva celebrate their 30th anniversary with the launch of a brand new sampler series. Simply titled 'Positiva', the new outing spans every sonic end-logic from slick UK garage to mesmeric trance, the throughline being the modern uplifter sound into which the label has settled; a far cry from their jet-propulsive Ibiza-rave garage house days of yore. Most of the tracks on this first edition of the series are already floating about out there, though they've never been compiled onto a single record before: Sammy Virji and Gorgon City complement each other well on the A-side's 'Voodoo' and 'If You Need It'; then Azari & III, Max Dean, Alan Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Spiteri spin things out ever further, into two warming, well-layered party-pushers driven by ecstatic vocals.

Review: After years spent doing his own thing on the Drab Queen imprint, Tom Kerridge AKA Girls of the Internet made his bow on Classic back in 2022. A few superb singles later and he's ready to release his first full-length excursion for the Luke Solomon-helmed imprint, his fourth in total. Heavy on club-ready songs - mostly delivered by guest vocalists including Anelisa Lamosa, Shiv, Aliysha Joy and ALLKNIGHT - When I Was Lost I Found Myself is a fully-formed vision that wraps deep house and light-touch tech-house grooves in soulful strings, neo-soul references and nods to disco, two-step garage, orchestrated soul jams and much more besides. There's plenty of playable material on show, but it works just as well as something to listen to in headphones, in the car or at home. A genuine triumph.

Review: Gorgon City are masters of big room, feelgood and summer-ready house music. And that is exactly what they serve up here and then some with the new album Reverie on EMI. This record has already been proceeded by lead single 'Biggest Regret (with Bbyafricka)' and the club-ready 'You Know It' last month while 'All That You Need' has also become a ubiquitous anthem this season. Now we get the full thing complete with filthy basslines, bouncing synth top lines and distorted vocal melodies that are catchy and sure to bring the good times to the largest of festival crowds.

Review: Peggy Gou's rise from fashion school student to underground DJ to world-renowned dance music star has been swift and remarkable. In that time she's played every major club and festival in the world, had some huge crossover hits and started her own label while also releasing on the likes of Ninja Tune. Now she steps up to XL with a highly anticipated debut album featuring epic previous singles such as 2023's chart-topping global hit '(It Goes Like) Nanana' and 'I Believe in Love Again', her wild Lenny Kravitz collaboration, as well as plenty of new tunes that span house, disco and more.

Peggy Gou "I hear you" slipmat also available

Review: Michael Grey is a London-based house talent who finally unveils his long awaited album, Optimism. This double-gatefold beauty on Optimism is a timeless listen that takes in myriad house styles. There are sample heavy mid-tempo rollers like 'Fly Away' as well as blissed out vocal cuts for loved up floors like 'You Got To Remember', sophisticated disco-tinged cuts like 'Where Do We Go From Here' and feel good summer anthems such as 'Don't Want Anybody'. What unifies them all is the high class produciton and lavish quality of the most uplifting music.

Review: English duo Groove Armada is a towering presence over British and world dance music. They have served up countless global hits as well as more underground sounds, and recently their vast back catalogue is back in the spotlight as Late Night Tales have reissued three of their most superb compilations. Off the back of that, now comes this greatest hits album which is billed as GA25: All The Hits & More to mark their quarter of a century in the game. Some of the tunes on it have had a touch-up edit to bring them bang up to date and many of these are still much loved from party starters like 'Superstylin' to more downtempo delights like 'At The River.'

Review: Groove Armada proven so adept at putting totters intimate late nigh sound tracks that they have made not one, not two, but three different entires into this legendary and long running series. And each one has its own equally special vibe. This one finds the pairing digging into the new York disco of Metro Area, the funk of Roy Ayers, the classic house of Mr Fingers and the gorgeousness of Shuggie Otis. It's as good an after the afterparty mix as you could wish to hear so we're delighted it is being reissue.

Review: Groove Armada might well be best known for their big beats, and fair enough. Their mastery of a smart sample and a compelling groove paired with catchy vocal hooks made that chart topping superstars who went on to tour the world endlessly before then disappearing and remerging on more underground labels like Hypercolour. But you don't get that good at sampling with being deep digging record fiends. And that is exactly what made them such a perfect fit for the Late Night Tales series which is all about offering up alternative sounds to accompany post-club comedowns. These collections were gateways into new musical worlds for many dance fans and they still stand up today so it's great to have them back in print.