Tags: Minimal

Review: It has been 11 years since Solomun's last album, and few could have predicted the career arc he has enjoyed since. The big man started out as an underground favourite. His Diynamic label was famous for bringing colour back to dance music after the bleak minimal years. He made 'fairground tech house' as it was called. He then became a huge draw at Ibiza's premium VIP clubs and appeared in Grand Theft Auto. This album takes him to major label Sony and features Hollywood names like Jamie Foxx. It is melodic, accessible house from one of electronic music's most famous names.

Review: Up next on DJ Kicks' acclaimed mix series is Numbers doyen and Glaswegian iconJackmaster. In his own words, the 24-track mix sees the charismatic Scot 'delivering an honest journey, unearthing a serious passion for the obscure boundaries of house and techno.' This double LP lifts out eight of the tracks most other DJs will want to get their mitts on, and joins the dots between his hometown of Glasgow with Denis Sulta's festival destroying bass driven epic "MSNJ", then NYC; with Eli Escobar's gutsy EBM-flavoured 'Tension (vinyl mix)". Berlin's status as a dance music mecca is referenced with Dutch transplant Anno Stamm's dark house stomper "A Night Out With Therese" and the legend himself Ricardo Villalobos, with his minimal techno classic from 1996 "Logohitz". DJ Kicks throw in a CD of the mix too!

Review: Since releasing his debut album 12 years ago, Solomun has become one of the world's most popular tech-house artists - a DJ/producer with a wonky but accessible style tailor-made for big rooms and debauched afterparties. His change in status is reflected on belated second album Nobody is Not Loved, which appears via major label MBG packed with guest stars including Jamie Foxx, Zoot Woman and Planningtorock. Wisely given his DJ roots, the Hamburg-based producer has made the set a non-stop mix that gently increases in intensity before mellowing out again right at the end. Highlights include the minimal-meets-deep soulpop opener 'Ocean', the Isolee-influenced melodic shuffle of 'The Center Will Hold', the tech-house-goes-electroclash sleaze of 'Tuk Tuk' and the moody, new wave-inspired darkness of 'Kreatur der Nacht'.