Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Marco Calderoni seems to have released just one thing and that was his How to Use The World Volume 2 EP back in 1991. Sound Metaphors Records has now remastered it and recompiled it for this all new pressing which sends you deep into his mix of ambient, house and Balearic across six sublime cuts. '7 Heavens' is the glistening opener with nice deep analogue beats, and 'Exploring The Unknown' carries on the same vibe before 'How 2 Use The Sky' is like a perfect post rave comedown. The second half is another scintillating mix of silvery, shiny synth lines and dusty analogue drums that sounds like little else before or since.

Review: Given that they started their ascent to EDM superstardom over a decade ago and have already released a string of genuine crossover anthems, this debut album from Camelphat is undeniably overdue. So, was it worth waiting for? If you like their brand of festival-friendly dance music hedonism, then you will genuinely love it. The assembled 21 tracks scattered across three action-packed slabs of wax draw influence from many interconnected styles - mostly electro-house, tech-house and techno, but also indie-dance, synth-pop, nu-disco and more bass-heavy flavours - and repackage them as distinctively Camelphat style productions, complete with contributions from numerous collaborators and guest vocalists (Noel Gallagher, Skream, Jake Bugg, Yannis Foals, Jem Cooke and Christoph all feature).

Review: Joseph Capriati has very quickly risen from underground techno player to top-tier titan. The Italian hails from Naples, a famous hotbed of minimalism that has spawned stars like Marco Carola. whose footsteps Capriati has followed in by securing his own Ibiza residency for his Metamorfosi party. The sort if sounds you can expect to hear on that label and at the events are well showcased here on his new mix of the legendary Global Underground series. From dark and driving techno to more emotional and melodic house, it's a colourful and widescreen ride that features a couple of his own fresh jams and many more from contemporary artists.

Review: UK producer Tom Carruthers really impresses with this full length for Rom Morelli's revered US imprint LIES. It is steeped in bleep traditions and old-school electronic sounds, but all with a fresh new perspective. Right off the bat, this record draws you in: there are early Chicago jack tracks like the opener 'Can You Feel It', melon-twisting deep cuts such as 'Cyclone' and chattery melodic jams like 'Fantasies' which all hark back to a different era. 'Forge' explores a mysterious world of interplanetary house, 'Quest For Rydm' echoes the sound of LFO and 'Channel Control' is pure dance floor heat. This is music for getting E'd up and losing yourself in the middle of a warehouse, and we love it.

Review: Carsten Jost is the DJ and Producer alias of David Lieske, co-founder of Dial Records. His latest collection of functional, ultra-utilitarian techno tracks here is essentially a slew of music for Moon exploration. Peaceful, raw and wonky techno tunes with a blue temperament are firmly arranged across 10 portions of wax; all carry the comparative sense of having less gravity weighing them down than techno made on Earth; it's techno made at 1.62 m/s² compared to our 9.807. Standouts include the alien voice cameos on 'IV' and the subterranean cave excursion that is 'VII'.

Review: The sea has always been integral to Japanese culture and is regarded as symbolising sustenance and spiritual depth. In this Deep Diver album, Charles A.D. draws on ancient diving and fishing traditions to create aquatic soundscapes that blend 90s house, Detroit techno, Japanese minimalism, New Age and Pacific jazz into something sublimely absorbing. The album ebbs and flows like the tides soon after opening with the title track which captures the sensation of deep-sea propulsion through rhythmic bubbles and slow-moving chords. Subsequent tracks, like 'Underwater Ruins' and 'Bubble Ring', fuse ambient and techno and highlight Charles A.D.'s mastery of minimalism.

Review: Paris-based electronic music duo Charonne top up their very own Velvet Spirit label with the freshly released 'Chungking Mansions', an EP named after a real Hong Kong manor in which a labyrinth of ghosts are said to live. Alsoa a thematic tribute to the disputed Chinese enclave's hidden sonic heart - presumably made after a recent visit by the pair - this electro house hummer is said to aim for simplicity in its purest form, always keeping the groove firmly in mind. Though that's not the only goal here: the likes of 'Heavy Metal' and 'Lunatic Boogie' bring squeezy pulsewidth sound design and filtered tone-temptations to our electrified ears, as if to suggest the feel of an excitable Wan Chai night out.

Review: The second instalment of Clayton's retrospective series, this double vinyl is a remastering of unreleased and hidden gems from the American programmer-cum-producer. Featuring staples in the San Franciscan's discography such as 'Box Selection' and 'W-Shape', which sees an exclusive remix in 'W-Shape revisited'. The result is a futuristic techno-house marvel, with it's minimal (occasionally ambient) tone, the composition is analytical in its construction. Each beat feels perfectly placed as dictated by a formula, a chemical blend of glitch, techno, and ambient house. This record is a must for fans of the 90s techno scene, especially in Detroit where you can hear the influences that those artists had on these tracks.

Review: Here is Confidence Man debut for Fabric's acclaimed Fabric Presents mix series, flaunting the lesser-heard DJing chops of this contemporary pop-dance duo. "Have confidence, man" is the central motto of the collaborative pair made up of Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, who first came up in Brisbane, Australia band found rapid acclaim for their easily assimilable blend of electro pop, dance and indie. Their debut mix for Fabric flexes an adroit ear for the vim-affirming ends of life, scouring the hidden depths of their well-threshed record crate of 90s rave and trance, with tunes by the likes of Joe Goddard, Jex Opolis, Wallace and Sweely all implying an innate, strutting, blue-steel-over-the-shoulder confidence, innate to all yet realised by few.

Review: Chicago artist Justin Kay was hugely prolific in his day and world under several different nom de plume. Now some of his best work is being revisited for a series of posthumous releases. He traversed several different sound worlds with equal aplomb from bright pop to sludge metal via IDM. Under his Cosmic AC alias he manages to mix up equal parts ambient bliss with breakbeat action, raw techno and emotive house. The standouts of this Continuations album come thick and fast from the high speed jungle breaks of 'Blue Whirl' to the jazzy downtempo delights of 'Hedge Clipper' and plenty in between. See also the majestic pop serenity of closer 'WTWIRDYMTBOWSA.'

Review: Courtesy's second studio album is another no-holds-barred deep dive into the heart of a minimal and tech house dance floor. Eschewing the usual ambient intro in favour of getting right down to business, things kick off with the surging comic-tech of 'I'm Happy I Am Not Susan Sontag', then the slamming drums of 'My Dazed Friend (feat Klo)' come with zoned out and alluring vocal musings. 'Let There Be LOVE! (feat Lyanne)' is another fast but smooth tech cruise with emotive vocal textures and 'Does Every Track Have To Be A Journey?' is a punchy tool which suggests not.

Review: Renowned producer, remixer, DJ and record label owner Carl Craig is one of the few artists who can truly claim to have shaped the sound of
modern electronic music. Making music since the tender age of 17, Craig has created everything from ambient soundscapes to jazz
during the past 20 years, but it's his work in dance music that is at his core. 'Sessions' is a long overdue album that brings together a personal
selection of Carl's incredible back catalogue, from his early work under the aliases Paperclip People and 69 to worldwide hits like 'Throw'
(recently covered live by LCD Soundsystem) and groundbreaking tracks like 'Bug in the Bassbin'. Alongside the classics, the two discs also showcase why Craig is still such a powerful force in music today with a diverse range of remixes for the likes of XPress 2, Theo Parrish and many others. For his rework for Junior Boys'. 'Like A Child' he was just nominated for a Grammy.
The selection also includes previously unreleased tracks, alternative versions of his own productions, as well as some exclusive unreleased
remixes. 'Sessions' reminds us of how exciting and unique Carl Craig's productions and remixes are and why he remains at the top of his game,
a retrospective of one of the world’s most influential and groundbreaking figures in electronic music.