Minimal/Tech House charts

Review: German beat maker Fabe has emerged over recent years as one of tech house's most skilled groove smiths. His drums and bass are always seductive no matter their style. Here he links up with Burnski aka Instinct's Constant Sound label for four more irresistible nuggets. 'The Greater Good' is super quick as it glides over rippling bass with silky chords, then 'Newbie Bounce' has a more weighty groove. There is elastic funk and US swing in the shuffling goodness of 'Flow Groover' then 'On Edge' closes out with bulky deep house beats and late-night synth work of the highest order.

Review: Representing the newer generation of the Mannheim sound, esteemed DJ/producer Fabian Winkels makes a worthy addition to legendary local label Cecille with the Sober Up EP. Fabe's particular brand of minimal house is on display once again, yet more optmised for main room dancefloors this time around. We particularly enjoyed the trippy and swing-fueled minimal funk of opening cut 'Solid & Straight', as well as the rolling, vocal-led tech house of 'At The Bar' or 'Frozen Cake' which are sure to rock dancefloors on The White Isle as much as they will in Berlin, while the deep and emotive B-side cut is aimed squarely at the afterhours dancefloor.

Review: Mannheim tech house machine Fabe has been on an unstoppable roll in the past few years, notching up top drawer releases for respected labels like Shall Not Fade, Constant Sound and Cecille. Now he brings that heat to PIV Limited, resulting in a set of workouts which will get any party pumped up in all the right ways. 'Skip & Tap' is a twitchy, freaky workout peppered with fine detail and a relentless groove, while 'Street Scale' has dirty drums and a tweaked sound palette all of its own. 'Shout Out The Box' toys with playful synth lines and a heavy swing which calls to mind the sound of SlapFunk Records and then Alexander Skancke steps up for a remix of 'Step & Tap' which heads into more streamlined, heads-down territory.