Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Random Factor's 'On The Air' EP is a hugely sought-after classic by those who know. It came on Ralph Lawson's ever-reliable 20/20 Vision and now, as it turns 25 years old, he has decided it is the right time to get it remastered and reissued. 'On The Air' is first up on this fine EP from Carl Finlow and it has serene synths that bring to mind Detroit techno soul over pulsing bass and slick drums. 'Lockdown' has a raw vocoder vocal over punchy drums and twitchy synth stabs and 'Undercurrent' is another weapon that has more than withstood the test of time as it bumps along on funky drums and is overlaid with more playful synth patterns. 'Disconnect' is a crunchy and 8-bit closer with pixelated synths and screwy acid lines. Superb.

Review: Reboot has been committed to the art of minimal tech house for a long time now, and his sound evolves with the same measured elegance as his DJ sets. There's space for balmy deep house chords and disco loops in the stew now, but crisp functionality and tracky immersion remains the order of the day as 'Make You Move' locks into to its seductive arrangement. 'Alternate' toys with swirling, dubby synth work around the steadfast beat, while 'Unstop' piles on a little more hand-drum action for a dense, engrossing rhythm workout - whichever mood you're after and however long you want to ride them, these tracks won't let you down in the mix.

Review: Parisian producer Franck Roger lands on Nu Groove with 'Cosmic Tree' EP, a four-track outing of deep house perfectly at home on the legendary NYC label. Still going strong almost 35 years after its inception, it's nice to see the label is still welcoming fresh talent: Roger delivers a sultry, sauna-dunked steam on 'Part Of My Soul', one of the most contented-sounding house tracks we've heard in a while, thanks in part to the vocal stylings of Rimarkable; then there's the more repetitious ardour of 'Radik'Hall', 'Cosmic Funk' and 'The Music', all of which revel in the purely seductive potentialities of deep house production. "The music just turns me on!"

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


We're never short of new Ricardo Villalobos material and he's generous with his time as a mixer, but this project offers something different from the Chilean mad scientist of minimal. A Mountain Of One are a duo who deal in Balearic-leaning pop with a subtle charm and an adventurous spirit, and they initially approached Villalobos for a single remix of one of their tracks. As a fan of their sound, Villalobos ran with the project and it wound up as a full remix album of seven different versions. On the earlier tracks Ricardo takes a surprisingly light touch, while the later stages find us knee deep in the mesmerising roll of his minimal house, shot through with dubbed out ingredients from the original songs. It's surprising and satisfying in equal measure, showing Villalobos at his best and quite the scoop for A Mountain Of One.