Back in stock: Minimal/Tech House

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.

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: There are not too many house and techno labels in the United States that can boast quite the discography and international success that the Brooklyn based Scissor & Thread label can. For over a decade now, the busy label has kept the quality up to the high standards the label set when starting. A big part of that quality is having Frank & Tony on board through the label's history. Ethos is their new full-length album that, spread across a double pack of wax, with tracks mostly kept under close guard, except the opener 'Olympia'. Make no mistake though, from the rumours and whispers we've heard already, it looks like being a big hit.

Review: Italian label Roof Club aims to raise both ceilings and roofs, and continue to do so with their latest EP from Guile. Mixing a contemporary minimal approach with classic 90s sounds, this one's a neat fusion of progressive house and trance, with sprinklings of cheesy freestyle and acid thrown in for good measure. The jokingly titled '90's Generator' is the real highlight, with its orchestral hits and licky leads.

Review: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.

Review: tINI has always been at the forefront of tech house, often with her own party brand, as well as killer productions and engaging sets at some of the scene's most tasteful parties. Here she steps up to the fledgling Mood Waves label for The View, and EP that finds her stretching herself into all new territory once more. 'Welcome Luz' is crunchy, stomping cosmic tech with sci-fi motifs. 'EX-PECT' has whimsical pads paired with more silvery and metallic drum sounds and after the more mechanical grace of the a-side, 'What's Her Name?' gets loose with rubbery bass and bendy synth leads while '2020' shuts down with some downtempo post club trippiness.

Review: The Off Grid label outta Germany serves up its third 12" here and opts for a four-tracker from various artists. TINI's 'WHAT WHAT' kicks off with a bumping house cut that's wired up with some spaced-out pads and warped synths. Rickie then gets all wonky and loose with his off-balance 'Explosion' which has blurts of bass and snappy low ends and GNMR's 'Controlled By Mefistofele' gets more wonky and textural with smeared and smudged sounds and a nice acid bassline. Session 4000 shuts down a high-impact and fresh EP with the astral and speed-out tech with 'C'est Wild'.