After last year's standout 'E2-E4' rework, in-form producer Alex Kassian returns to Test Pressing Records with the next instalment in the series i this time turning his attention to Spooky's 'Orange Coloured Liquid', taken from their 1993 debut album Gargantuam. Alongside acts like Underworld and Leftfield, UK duo Charlie May and Duncan Forbes helped shape the early 90s progressive house sound under their Spooky moniker. Now, decades later, Kassian delivers two versions designed to serve dancefloor and sunset respectively, with the rolling breaks of Part I beautifully complemented by the ambient swells of Part II. John Beltran dons his Placid Angles alias for a sumptuous remix pitched somewhere between the two, while the still-fresh original rounds out an essential EP i no surprise, given the calibre of those involved.

After five years mostly playing only in the US, Ron Trent returns to global touring in 2025 as well as droppinga new album Lift Off, which spans a decade of recordings and comes nearly 35 years since his groundbreaking debut. The new record is packed with rich rhythms, warm chords and heady percussion with diverse sounds and tempos from across a lifetime spent collecting, playing and making music. Standouts include the Wally Badarou-inspired 'Hot Ice,' samba-infused 'Woman of Color' and the deep house jazz of 'Jazz Funk.'

Originally scored in 1968 by a loose circle of New York garage-psych acts, this reissued soundtrack finally lifts the veil on one of the strangest period films of the late 60s. The E-Types lead the charge with no fewer than four versions of 'Put The Clock Back On The Wall', ranging from a bright, full-band cut to a warped instrumental and stereo acapella. The Bit' A Sweet contribute the hazy, lurching 'Is It On, Is It Off?'ia woozy gem full of phased guitar and tape wobbleiwhile 'LSD Got A Hold On Me' by Thee Neons dials up the paranoia with raw, fuzzed-out intensity. The Vagrants offer a tight, harmony-laced soul ballad in 'I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)', adding contrast to the acid-drenched proceedings. While the film itself, shot entirely in greyscale, veered closer to surreal documentary than narrative cinema, the music functions as a mood-setting anchor throughoutiequal parts camp, dread, and weird sunshine optimism. This marks the first official pressing of these tracks and serves as both a time capsule of New York's outsider rock fringe and a highly playable psyche compilation in its own right.

Have you ever wondered what might happen when you collide Mighty Ryeders' timeless rare-groove classic 'Evil Vibrations' and De La Soul's iconic hip-hop jam 'A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'' into one new tune? Well, wonder now more, because that's exactly what Groove-Diggers have done here. This fresh version blends the sampled parts of 'Evil Vibrations' with De La Soul's raps and vocals while Japanese hip-hop group FNCY have added their own new mic work into the mix as a way of paying tribute to De La Soul's original hit. Also included is a Japanese cover of 'Evil Vibrations' by Taiwanese jazz and neo-soul singer 9m88 which brings a whole different respective. A fun and sure-to-be effective package.

Hector Couto steps up on Cecille with Hot Stuff, a burning four-tracker roping in Chile's Alejandro Paz for a rework of his cult vocal cut 'El House', originally out on Comeme over a decade ago. Couto, a mainstay of modern European house with credits on Hot Creations, BPitch and Defected, revives his trademark low-slung swing, seasoning Paz's voice with sparse drums and deeper club intents. 'Camis House' rolls out woozy chords, sub-heavy basslines and apparitional voxes, before the flip 'Hot Stuff' ludicrizes the mood by way of looped soul chops and loose-lipped percussion. 'Red Velvet' rounds things off with slap bass, twitchy synth work and warm analogue textures; Couto sounds fully at home on Curly and Scholl's enduring Frankfurt imprint.

Techno is a misunderstood thing. Big stages and even bigger drums pounding out relentless and often unthoughtful loops really isn't where the genre is as a whole. One of the most varied sounds in the dance spectrum, defining the canon has always been pretty hard and zeitgeist counts for more than strict rules of arrangement, tempo and composition. Sixty is just the reassurance heads will need then. While some might argue we're closer to electro than anything, for the most part anyway, perhaps no more so than in the detailed and glitchy warmth of 'Micfrk' by Gherat, let's not get pedantic. Largely broken and off-centre beats of the deep, emotive and patient kind from innovators like Patricia and Fasme, frenetic and intense staccato snares via Oh Mr Jones, rave-y, hardcore infused emotive bombs via Novel 23 and James Shinra.

Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. We don't need to cite examples why. In contrast, retrospect is important and retro sounds are, today, often capable of making us think about how we saw the future in the past. In some cases, that means staring down the barrel of the big question: did we heed any warnings, or has all the artwork and movies and music that sought to raise flags over the disappearance of humanity and individuality at the hands of 'progress' been for nought? Summoning the spirit of Depeche Mode, Eurythmics and more, Orphia present a stunning synth album which is at once catchy and poppy, even dance floor ready, but saturated in a kind of melancholy and juxtaposition of electronic and human. Robotic rhythms topped with organic emotions, there's a feeling of spiralling headfirst into lightning paced chaos and disorientation as the collection plays out. And that's about as apt as things get right now.

Dusky techno disco tools on this fifth new one from Shadow Pressings, a UK outfit who've here nonetheless titularly alluded to the Chicago house scene. Of course, not all of us can afford to fly out to Illinois on a whim, and many of us prefer instead to let the city's long-release intoxicant effect run its course on the collective ear from a distance. The label-artist here proffers the gruffer stuff, from the grunting percs of 'Tears' through to the smoother high piquancies of 'Lost In The Dance', both of which nail that irreverent, not-too-much mood innate to all the best dance music.