Back catalogue: All genres

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Volume One of a label retrospective of pioneering early 90s Prog House label Interactive Test Compiled by Alex from Utopia Records and enigmatic Interactive Test founder Franco Falsini. Falsini, responsible for many of the underground classics on the label he founded in Florence in 1991 was first known for his 70s Italian Prog / Cosmic group Sensations Fix. A trailblazer who continued to push the boundaries of electronic music two decades later with Interactive Test, accompanied by the up-and-coming talents of Trance hero DJ Miki the Dolphin, his brother Riccardo and an host of cult Italian music producers. Here we start with 5 tracks from the archive, all highly collectable, remastered for DJs and psychedelic music enthusiastic alike from the best sources possible. Authentic and original dance sounds still hitting the spot in our times.

Review: 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.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record slightly warped***


A top value for money opportunity here, as Moiss Music deliver the latest in their sweet and sticky Jam series of various artist 12" line ups, bringing you no less than six bubbling, vivacious disco triumphs from six artists. Khemir's 'Disco Bandit' kicks off proceedings, a production that sounds like it was made by a band of around 45 musicians, a proper cavalcade of strings, brass, brazen disco thump and beautifully bold vocals. Wurzelholz's 'Prince' goes for a bit more economy but with a slinky funk bassline like that - not to mention the occasional exclamation from the purple overlord himself - it's equally devastating in dancefloor terms. Among the other highlights, 'Golden' by I Gemin has the feel of a lost Daft Punk flip tune and Cosmocomics' 'Glamorous Garcon', boasting 70s-style synth bubbles that are as cute as they are retro. Tasty as ever.

Review: Reborn Italo-disco label Fulltime Production's ongoing remix series, in which contemporary producers tackle gems from the vaults, reaches its tenth instalment. Da Lukas steps up first, re-imagining Rainbow Team's lightly funk-fuelled, string-laden 1982 disco jam 'Bite The Apple' as an action-packed disco-house anthem, before long-serving Italian producer Massimo Beradi turns Michael Baker's 1983 workout 'Don't You Want My Loving' into a hybrid boogie-soul/deep house treat. Over on side B, Souls Groove successfully 're-vibe' Say When's 'Save Me', an early house era European synth-pop anthem (and yes, you'll know it), while GAMM regular Black Truffle's take on Ma Gi C's 'Shampoo' is a gritty disco-funk delight.

Review: Analog Recital's new album fantastically collides the worlds of lo-fi house and jazz-synth sounds on Inner Tribe Records. Clearly drawing inspiration from early jazz-house production but adding new ideas to that, the record combines dynamic dancefloor rhythms with crusty drums reminiscent of classic hip-hop and live horns as well as traditional African drums. It features Adrian M Nation from Antigua and Barbuda and Millicent from South Africa on vocals, while Aussie Horatio Luna is on bass to make this a truly pan-global and richly musical affair. By merging live instrumentation with late-night club vibes in this way, Analog Recital really impresses.

Review: 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.

Review: The eighth instalment in Running Back's playful Hits! series arrives with a globetrotting batch of quirky dancefloor charmers, spanning interstellar disco, Italo throwbacks and Berlin School eccentricity. Kicking things off, Skatman leans into sleazy synth funk and smoky melodrama with 'What I Am Feelin'', a crooning synth-pop number pitched somewhere between space cabaret and Metro Area. Baron Von Traxian Australian prince of peaktime pompibrings glitzy melancholy with 'If I Only Knew', layering ascending Italo arps and soft pads over a chugging disco pulse. Janis Zielinski and Sowhy3 (both Berlin-based) turn in 'In Your Eyes' twiceifirst as a vocal daydream of euro-pop yearning, then as a sleek instrumental. Morphena's 'Venus Underworld' dials up the noir with icy stabs and new wave propulsion, while Zoe Zoe's 'Palikau Dzemperi' signs off with a Tangerine Dream-style glide repurposed for the club. There's no unifying concept, but as with earlier volumes, that's the point: a polychrome snapshot of Running Back's curious, cosmopolitan world.

Review: Much like vital Detroit label Moods & Grooves, The Solid Gold Playaz are a beloved force in the house scene. They tragically lost their co-founder Kenny Gino in 2021, but by then had already assured the legacy with deep house grooves that exude funk and class. In honour of Kenny's memory, surviving member Mike Theus carries on the journey with a new EP that, across four tracks, demonstrates real unity. Each one is built on nice lo-fi dusty drums, with undercooked synth lines bringing the unusual soul, bass adding the all-important low-end interest and plenty of smart samples finishing in style.

Review: Boston pair Soul Clap land on UK staple Crosstown rebels and bring their signature E-funk sound across a quarter of tunes that also draw on garage and deep house. 'Gone Stumblin' is effortlessly breezy with swirling, aloof vocals up top, a knotted bassline and dusty drums and percussion making a nice late-night vibe. The dub version is bigger, with twisted stabs and frazzled leads rewiring the energy and 'Unifying Force' is a swirling, gooey sound with an old school FM bassline and classic vocal sample bringing the heat. 'Gone Stumblin (bonus version)' is a second take on the original with some fun drum patterns and big raw snares to amp up the vibes.

Review: Originally pressed in 1997 on Manchester's Pleasure Records, this reissue of James Zeiter's 'Spacer IV' EP marks a detour from his dub-techno calling card into richer house-rooted terrain. A pivotal figure with deep ties to trance, ambient and the deeper ends of techno, Zeiter's work here sheds the fog of his more monolithic material, turning instead to emotional clarity and rhythmic warmth. 'Sirocco' is the opener and the standoutia halcyon blend of dubbed-out breaks and airy pads that drift and glimmer above a slow-motion acid line. 'Mono' edges further into house, with its loopy Detroit swing and sunset-kissed bassline nodding gently to Italian dream house. On the flip, 'Jetson' steps back into more familiar, trance-inflected territory: spacious, hypnotic and driven by crisp, propulsive drums. 'Dust' closes the set with writhing acid lines and spaced-out FX, balancing tension and lift with Zeiter's signature restraint. All four cuts, originally sequenced with just an Akai S950, ESQ-1 and a Novation Bass Station, still sound uniquely vitalimelodic but unshowy, club-focused but never rigid. Slush's remaster preserves the nuance while the full-fat 2x12" format gives these deep cuts the dynamic range they deserve. A stunning archival rescue from a true underground operator.

Review: Remarkably accomplished techno minimalisms from Hamburg producer Stimming, who's been dazzling his contemporaries with his highly touching works since the early 2000s. The artist's latest full-length LP follows the precedent single 'Keys Don't Match', with its stammering sound design and abeyant, textural purities, which echo the slow-building sublimities of DJ Koze, Apparat or the Keinemusik crew. With the condensate vocals of Dominique Fricot heard throughout, this one-of-a-kind record reminds us not to take or use the hackneyed phrase "unique production style" too lightly. His really is. As it was with 'Keys Don't Match', which clinched a 15-year first relationship through the metaphor of mismatched keys, the entire record, from 'The Origin' to 'Feeding Seagulls', has us stimming with intrigue.