Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Faris Pashion returns with its first release since Autumn/Winter 2021, and despite the hiatus, it has lost none of its elusive house and disco magic. The new one is a two-track celebration of Italo disco and house that is sure to bring out the most high-energy struts on the dancefloor, or get spins for style cats at Milan Fashion Week. 'Ital Come Out' kicks off with some funky and percolating Italo melodies next to lush chords that speak of a balmy summer's evening dance in the open air. 'Say To Ya' then gets deep and silky with a gooey bassline and cosmic melodies next to a soul-stirring but subtle vocal that oozes cool and late-night charm.

Review: Now under new ownership (international dance music powerhouse Armada Music, fact fans), long-serving New York house imprint King Street Sounds is doing a good job in showcasing gems from its vast archives. This second label sampler contains four more genuine must-have cuts. First up, there's a chance to admire the deep, soulful house wonder that is Dennis Ferrer's 2008 hook-up with honeyed vocalist K.T. Brooks, 'How Do I Let Go'. It's followed by Masters at Work's deliciously loose, disco-influenced deep house revision of 'Give It Up' by Lil' Louis' Rain project (first released in 2000), Mood II Swing's DIY Soundsystem favourite 'Sunlight In My Eyes' (easily one of the greatest deep house jams of all time) and Lil' Louis's swinging garage-house rub of Kimra Lovelace's 'Misery'.

Review: The American female vocal trio First Choice released their rendition of 'Love and Happiness' in 1973. The track is a cover of Al Green's original released just a year earlier in 1972, but First Choice's version was perhaps helped along the way by a peak case of nominative determinism: for us, theirs is the first choice. Featured on their debut album, Armed and Extremely Dangerous, it stood out on the Philly soul girl gang's record as one of the records most propitious to sampling by house and techno musicians, such as Todd Terry and Jungle Brothers. But this time, the legacy of this preceptive soulful-house interplay is honoured by a newly reissued remix by the mysterious but titanic Chicago producer Ron Hardy, whose inclusion on the record is the real star here. Hardy's signature reel-to-reel fuzzes and presence-bled hues effect recollections of a pre-DAW production setup, and the resonances of dub (woodblocks, four-tone hooks, burly basslines) nest the original Al Green vocal nicely.

Review: Drop Music marks a quarter of a century of reliable and ever-on-point sounds with a special series of EPs that embodies what it's always been about, offering up both classics and never-before-released tunes. This one kicks off with 'Make A Move' which is chunky low-slung tech. It unfolds at a relatively slow tempo but that gives the fat acid gurgles time to really hit. Inland Knights then serves up the next three cuts, starting with the bass bin bothering sounds of 'Push It', the more silky tech loops of 'Long Time' and the vocal-laced acid-tech swagger of 'Same Talk.' Here's to the next 25 years.

Review: Z Records returns with a Hustle-tastic 12" to light up both your life and DJ sets. It's the boss himself Dave Lee who kicks off with his extended rework of a bonafide Brit Funk classic in the shape of Hi Tension's 'British Hustle'. Featuring David Josephs's signature vocals over the chugging Caribbean rhythm track, it's a song that's never received an extended club mix from the tapes since its first release in 1978. His second cut is a Re-Wriggle of a Funky Worm volume pumping classic that becomes a fat-bottomed house jam with stomping brass, ear-worm vocal hooks and Latin inspired keys. "On the flip' (as they say) is Foreal People's 'Tango Hustle' - a driving clav heavy, jazz funk workout complete with chanting dance instructions over various solos. Add in an acapella and some 'Hustle Beats' and you have a very muscular package.

Review: Swirl People revisit their roots with a nostalgic four track EP from their early days as Fortune Cookie. This collection - which is their third release on L.I.T.S. - features carefully selected tracks from their original 1996 releases on Marguerite, a small label run by a friend. Nearly three decades later, these still much sought-after tracks are finally being reissued. The EP opens with 'Glitter Girls,' which is characterised by a catchy bassline, followed by the deep groove of 'Um Bongo.' On the B-side, 'Galactic Snackbar' offers a retro-futuristic feel, while 'Frisko Heaven' wraps up the EP with classic disco-filtered house energy. Timeless tackle, for sure.

Review: French Affair was a German-French dance-pop band that emerged at the dawn of the new millennium and had some heart success between 2000 and 2023. 'My Heart Goes Boom (La Di Da Da)' is one of them and 'Sexy' is another. It gets reissued here with several different mixes making it more suitable to club play and is an irresistibly bold, upbeat tune that collides infectious house drums with catchy, sultry vocals. The production is polished, with deep basslines and crisp percussion and a smooth vocal delivery adding a layer of steamy allure. This one is both seductive and fun and perfect for playful sets in the sun.

Review: Toolroom's 'sampler' series, which rounds up previously digital-only releases and sticks them out on action-packed 12" EPs, reaches its sixteenth instalment. Given the format, you'll be unsurprised to discover that there's plenty of bona-fide peak-time heat on show, starting with Mark Knight and James Hurr's excitable, filter-heavy, string-laden disco-house bomb 'You Take Me Higher'. Friend Within offers a scintillating blend of heavy acid bass, glassy-eyed female vocal samples, weighty beats and subtle disco samples on the superb 'Chain', while Martin Ikin and Winnie Ama opt for even heavier drums, warped bass, creepy electronics and dead-eyed spoken word vocals on the sweat-soaked 'Control It'. To round things off, we're treated to the tech-tinged funky house bounce of Flashmob and Raumakustik's percussion -rich 'Club Talk'.

Review: Sultry purist disco house moods from Groove Culture Italy, welcoming four standalone originals to the first edition of their 'Groove Is In The Heart' series, three out of four of which are remixes of tunes that have already been released on the label. True to their form, this record welds the ways of classic disco and disco-house, opening with the melismatic vocal tones of 'Ease My Mind' by Fleur De Mur before moving into the slightly slower chic-funk of Derrick McKenzie and Angela Johnson's 'On My Way Out'. Things turn housier - as the outdoor shindig moves indoors at first sign of the crepuscular tide - with 'My Prayer', while House Freakers' 'Tease Me' rounds things off on a well-sidechained womper.

Review: On their fourth studio album, The Masters Plan, Robert and Lyric Hood - the father-daughter duo behind Floorplan - deliver a masterclass in house and techno that's as diverse as it is cohesive. Released on Luke Solomon's Classic Music Company, this 18-track odyssey showcases the Hoods' uncanny ability to blend the sacred and profane, the light and dark, into a sonic tapestry that's uniquely their own. From the opening chords, it's clear that Floorplan's Detroit roots run deep. The gospel-infused 'We Give Thee Honour' sets the tone, its uplifting vocals and rolling rhythms invoking the spiritual ecstasy of a Sunday morning service reimagined for the dancefloor. This spiritual thread weaves throughout the album, most notably on tracks featuring local Detroit vocalists like the soulful trio Dames Brown, Earthtone, and Lowell Pye. But make no mistake - The Masters Plan isn't all celestial bliss. The Hoods aren't afraid to get grimy, as evidenced by the pummelling beats of 'What A Friend'. Here, they demonstrate their mastery of techno's harder edge, crafting a track that wouldn't sound out of place in the sweatiest basement clubs of Berlin or London. It's this deft navigation between styles that makes 'The Masters Plan' so compelling. The dreamy house soundscapes of 'Feel It' provide moments of blissful respite, while collaborations like 'Fake & Unholy' with label-mate Honey Dijon inject a shot of pure dancefloor adrenaline. What's most striking about 'The Masters Plan' is how seamlessly Robert and Lyric blend their generational perspectives. Rather than a handicap, their age gap becomes a strength, allowing them to draw inspiration from decades of electronic music history while still pushing the sound forward. Ultimately,
The Masters Plan feels like both a celebration and an invitation.