Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: As the artist alias kind of suggests, Abyssy takes a deep dive into the unknown depths of the human spirit. It finds the artist returning to Simona Faraone's label after several years and finds him exploring electronic sounds of the 70s and 80s, blending Berlin school minimalism with Detroit techno's soul and funk. It is a record that ranges in mood and tempo as it heads into oceanic depths where wispy pads and chattery percussive patterns collide in unusual ways. It's a largely abstract album of unusual sound designs and genuine electronic discovery that often has you wondering just how certain abounds have been made.

Review: Parisian house music producer and artist Agoria (Sebastien Devaud) channels his delight at the 20th Century so far into a new album, theming it after illumination and individual self-becoming. In a rare case of an artist penning a short LP-accompanying manifesto - doubling up as a thankful testament to the opportunity to travel the world for the past 30 years, and to experience the richness of diversity in sound and culture - Agoria is quick to wax spiritual: "the metamorphosis is coming", "the light that chases away the shadow". Building on the now towering Detroit-influenced house and techno discography amassed since 1999, Unshadow is a feature-packed compendium, bringing a newfound, downtempo, graceful serenity to the artist's already varied discography.

Review: For those who value digging deep into the folds of original UK tech house, Mark Ambrose has been a cult favourite for a long time. Now, as the sound continues to enjoy favourable conditions amongst those who like to play long and winding sets stretching out into infinity, Repeat are doing the right thing and combing through Ambrose's considerable back catalogue from the late 90s to piece together some of the most sought after gems. Sharks be damned, now we can get our hands on some of these prized items, like the wall-shaking, dubby as hell 'Zulu Groove' and sumptuously groovy sunriser 'Free Your Mind'. No matter how much tech house gets made these days, they don't make it like they used to.

Review: Repeat continue their exploration of Mark Ambrose's imperious tech house legacy with another double pack that will delight diggers and dismay sharks in equal measure. 'Harmony (Sun Mix)' is a truly dreamy cut that will go down a treat as we head towards sunnier dancefloor moments across the Northern Hemisphere. 'My Soul Your Soul' has a deadly broken beat edge to the drum programming, while 'Destiny Angel' creates a starry-eyed disco-house fusion that has to be heard to be believed. The quality and ingenuity spilling out of every one of these tracks is a marvel, and as a collection this release helps cement Ambrose's position as one of the finest artists to emerge from the mid 90s UK scene.

Review: Multi Culti presents a captivating full-length release from Peruvian artist Aristidez, cofounder of Lima's Casa Locasa and the nonprofit label Behua Icara, which supports indigenous culture. Now based in Berlin, Aristidez has been steadily building his reputation with releases on labels like Calypso, Disque-Discos, and Kebrada, as well as notable remixes for Amplio Espectro and Playground Records. His music, praised by Matias Aguayo and the late Andrew Weatherall, stands out for its deep rhythmic sensibility and subtle nods to indigenous influences, all while avoiding cliches. This album showcases Aristidez's ability to blend a wide array of electronic influences into a cohesive, hypnotic experience. Across its seven tracks, listeners are treated to a sonic journey that spans breakbeat-driven 90s rave, 80s proto-trance, cult dub, and downtempo grooves. Tracks like 'Gastonia Dub' and 'Make Flutes With My Bones' reveal a mastery of rhythm and atmosphere, creating an immersive, kaleidoscopic soundscape that is both danceable and introspective. This collection is a testament to Aristidez's skill in crafting timeless electronic music that resonates with both the dancefloor and the discerning listener.

Review: Viken Arman is Alone Together on his superb new album for the French label Denature. The artist himself is obsessed with freedom and his sound sits somewhere in a nether region between house, jazz, hip-hop and minimal. Carefully layered and precisely structured as it takes listens on a colourful and kalaedescopic journey through different moods and grooves with plenty of worldly influences, it's the sort of deftly designed album that works both at home and in the club and packs in plenty of profound moments of emotion.

Review: Arutani's third album Who We Used To Be is a meditation on times passed and alternate lives lost, filtered through the decorative lenses of deep, minimal, tech and dub. As if to paint a character portrait of the artist himself, this is a measured, calm, light, mindful and modest album, replete with bulging concave chord undulations and synaptic percussive snaps for balance. Everything from electro's usual dotted rhythmic pattern to progressive house's woodblocky felicities are checked off here, plus the glissando'ing lead on 'In Case You Wondered What I've Been Doing' is a special highlight.

Review: Parisian minimal house hero Lowris launched Aeternum Music back in 2013 with Jennifer and like fellow local Cabanne, has been quite influential in the resurgence of the quirky and experimental sub genre known as microhouse: which still holds a flame to seminal late noughties work by Force Inc and Perlon. They've presented great work by local Le Loup, Romanian impresario Nu Zau and Russian up and comer Denis Kaznacheev. Now the label's ninth release comes courtesy of upstart Ashac; who presents a full length release which presents a great snapshot of the current it sound in minimal that crossover over from rreducitonist mini-funk grooves into eletcro territory. On the first disc you've got quirky and bumpin' blip-blurp grooves like "Jazz Machines'n'skulls" or "Bad Drummer" which would make even Dimbiman stand up and notice, Motor city influenced electro-funk on "Mistery sciences" or tracks wich sonically describe that perfect space between like on "Time Traveller" which nails it just as well as Saverio Celestri or Binh have too of late.

Review: Wild Pitch Club is next up in the excellent and ling running Running Back Mastermix series. It's a legendary space that has very much defined the Frankfurt and wider german scene and was also something of a predecessor venue to the new well-loved Robert Johnson. That club was itself a place where Panorama Bar's very own nd_baumecker really made waves and it is they alongside co-founder Ata who have curated these tunes. The venue was hooked on the US sounds and often hosted the likes of Robert Hood and Claude Young to Kerri Chandler all of which shows in the sounds of the tunes.

Review: DDS has tapped up the mysterious and enigmatic Japanese dub techno stylist Shinichi Atobe for another album. Discipline is his seventh for the label and each of those has been as faultless as the next - happily, this keeps up that impeccable run which started with a debut on the Chain Reaction label in 2001. The eight cuts on the record offer up delay-laden steppers, swaggering 909 rhythms, plenty of evocative pads and subtle backlit synths that bring a future feel to the soulful, authentic grooves.

Review: In the mid-90s, Audio Science released two CD-only albums, Aural X-Perience and Hypnotic, both of which gained critical acclaim and have since achieved cult status. This new double album on the Rezpektiva label brings together standout tracks from those revered recordings. It begins with the slow motion and psyched-out prog of 'Tales Of The Unknown' and takes in highlights like the slick house punch of 'Strings In The Night' as well as an unreleased Chill mix of 'Tales Of The Unknown' which brings new cosmic energy to the lush original. A great reminder of one of the 90s' finest innovators.

Review: Jonny Dillon is Automatic Tasty and One Foot in the Rave is his debut album on Winthorpe Records. An influential name in acid-driven electronic music, Jonny has spent over 15 years with labels like Acid Waxa, Further Electronix and CPU and knocks it out of the park once more with this new eight-track LP. It's immediately recognisable as his work thanks to its sonic blueprints, melodic acid grooves, bleepy funk and warm analogue textures. Tracks like 'The Apocalypse is Now' and 'Raymond Tuesday's Big Day Out' bring upfront energy, while 'Starry Night' and 'Ringfort' infuse subtle psychedelia to make this a captivating braindance workout.

Review: LILA mainstay Ayaavaaki and ambient veteran Purl speak different languages but used a translator to convey ideas to one another as they made this record. And they very much foment their own unique musical language on Ancient Skies, an album that blends ambient, drone and space music into richly layered soundscapes that are constantly on the move. Each piece is meticulously crafted and suspense you up amongst the clouds, hazing on at the smeared pads and swirling solar winds that prop you up. It's a record that would work as well in the depths of winter as a bright spring day such is the cathartic effect of the sounds. Beautiful, thought-provoking and innovative, this is as good an ambient record as we have heard all year.

Review: Berlin tech house heavyweights team up here on 'You Are Safe' a collaboration between &ME, Adam Port and Rampa on their Keinemusik imprint. The city natives hand in a collection of deep and evocative cuts, that are brought to life by some exceptional studio engineering, sitting somewhere between the sleek late night grooves of local imprint Souvenir as much as it does Innervisions with its melodic and futurist edge. Highlights on here include the hi-tech soul of "Civilist" calling to mind the sonic grooves of Toto Chiavetta or Ame, the sultry r'n'b of "Up & Down" featuring London songstress Chiara Noriko or the slinky moodlighting of "Bumper" featuring frequent collaborator Nomi Ruiz of Hercules & Love Affair fame. Keinemusik came to life in 2009, naming an existing friendship linked by the interests of six members - five DJs and one graphic designer/painter. Five releases per year have been released ever since, solely laid down by members of the crew.