Review: House Hippo drops a fat one to get its life underway, and who finer than house authority Terry Farley to be behind it alongside Wade Teo. This limited 12" distills a wide range of house sub genres from garage to New York to soulful. 'Come On Now' is a nice breezy opener with swirling, filtered synth loops bringing a nice French touch vibe to rolling beats, then 'Harry Hippy' gets more cut up and raw. 'Dexter' goes deeper with shakers and muted piano chords colouring the drums and last of all is the deepest of them all - a late night and smoky sound for heady escape.
Review: Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes is a pioneering force in techno who was there in the early days but is often rather written out of the story meaning plenty of his peers get more acclaim. His beats tan up on their own though and here he is all these years later still serving them up. This one is a reissue of his iconic 'The Truth' EP originally released in 1995. 'The Truth' is a funky and full-blooded house sound with snappy percussion and melodic bass. 'Planet Claire' picks up the speed with tightly programmed beats that float above the floor and 'Freestyle' brings some future machine soul. 'CBR' shuts down with more inventive percussion and analogue machine goodness.
Review: Anacalypto Records' search for Fairytails led to an unexpected treasure-a forgotten 1994 DAT revealing four original tracks and two unreleased gems. They chose two classics for Side A and the newfound tracks for Side B. Opening with 'Fairytail Track 3', deep basslines and soaring strings create a mesmerising dancefloor spell and then 'Track 4' continues the magic with crisp snares and dreamy pads. On the flip, 'Track 5' delivers joyous chords and lively piano, while 'Track 6' glows with rave energy. This remastered EP revives four trance-infused house gems that will spread real enchantment across any 'floor.
Review: Inspired by "cosmic vibes and alien sounds", Cut Line Records is a freshly minted imprint founded by New York-based producers Majak and Diego Knows. Wisely, they've decided to set their stall out via a multi-artist EP that offers more than a few hints about what we can expect to hear in the months and years ahead. Naturally, they contribute, rounding off the EP via the collaborative 'Electrik Funk', a smooth, spacey and sub-heavy slab of tech-house funk marked out by cut-up vocal snippets, intergalactic-sounding motifs and rubbery beats. There's plenty to set the pulse racing across the rest of the EP though, from the acid-flecked tech-house funkiness of Pedro Goya's 'Celeste', to the star-fall haziness of Digital Pimps electro roller 'Warning Bells', via the electro-goes-breakbeat shuffle of 'Alien Vision' by Frankula and St Xose.
Silat Beksi & Soyro - "Shout In 30 Seconds" (7:22)
Last Pines - "Sway" (7:04)
Fedo - "Lena Told" (6:42)
Review: Juuz Records box up, package and release the fifth edition in their vinyl only series. Silat Beksi, Soyro, RWN and Zlatnichi are the latest artists to be spotlit, and all of them deliver a seamless minimal techno experience, teeming with tics and fidgets, the four-piece sonic equivalent of a gut microbiome. Usually, we like to home in on the oddest tunes and we'll certainly indulge the impulse here; Silat Beksi and Soyro's 'Shout In 30 Seconds' makes impressive use of gurgly, subharmonic dream-voices, swabbed across the otherwise sticklike mix, like glue holding a skeleton together. Equal technical and ambisonic itches are scratched on Fedo's closing 'Lena Told', whose transitional vocal scramblings play back like furtive rumours spread through a fragile transmission chain.
Review: US house legend Dennis Ferrer's debut album The World As I See It was a masterclass in soulful, emotive house music that really cut rherough when it arrived in 2007. Blending gospel, Afrobeat, and deep NYC roots, Ferrer avoided big-name features in favour of fresh vocal talent while delivering heartfelt tracks like 'Run Free' and 'How Can I Let Go.' The iconic 'Son of Raw' and 'Underground Is My Home' bring dancefloor fire, while 'Change the World' and 'Dem People Go' showcase Ferrer's cultural depth. With rich percussion, fat basslines and sincerity throughout, this isn't just a house albumiit's a powerful work that transcends the club and still bangs today.
Review: In some ways, the work of Figi (AKA Dutch producer Vigi Auke Weemhoff) is reflective of the Netherlands' vibrant, colourful and mixed-up dance scene - one where synthesisers are frequently foregrounded and the rhythms of house, techno, Italo-disco and boogie are mixed and matched in a variety of retro-futurist ways. Certainly, that kaleidoscopic blend is at the heart of the artist's latest album, Fig 1. Rooted in vaporwave, Hi-NRG and Italo-style synth sounds, it's a confident and sonically sparkling set that puts melodic motifs and catchy riffs at the heart of the action. For proof, check standouts 'Belka-Strelka' (an acid-flecked, drum machine-driven chunk of 80s elctro-disco), 'Fig 1', the Klakson-style electro hustle of 'ADSL' and the ultra-deep, dreamy, Endorphins-releasing wonder that is 'Ornex'.
Review: Since his debut with Schema Records in 2001, Gerardo Frisina has poured his soul into modernising styles such as Latin jazz, funk, and soul. In Sight Vol. 1 now introduces a fresh batch of such cosmo-futuristic moodsetters, continuing a trend that was first set in motion with his debut Moving Ahead (2020). Now the new album, preluded by singles 'Mindoro' and 'Desejar', hears seven tracks, including a cinematic bossa supernova 'O SoNho' as well as an exclusive cut from a rare and revered 10" deep cut from 2009. Frisina's attention to detail ensures the standout vibe of each composition, bringing a one-of-a-kind club-orientation to a rich atmospheric mantle.
Review: Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1 and Freiland are landmark examples of 1990s minimalist concept techno. Studio 1 defined a stripped-down, hypnotic approach, while Freiland explored a more experimental, textured sound. This release features two discs with each of those differing approaches served up, but the second compiles the best of Freiland into a continuous set. Both showcase Voigt's pioneering vision and knack for marrying great precision with an absorbing atmosphere in a way that remains influential today. Essential listening for techno-purists and fans of the avant-garde.
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