Back catalogue: House

Review: WORKSHOP 32 has been a long time coming - not least as this is Kassem Mosse's first solo outing on Workshop since 2014. And what a way to return, presenting a full-length album that reflects the evolution of the artist while not denying any of the ideas and sounds and styles that first made us fall in love with him all those moons ago. A broad and varied celebration of off-centre electronic music that has as much right to be on the dancefloor as it does on a movie soundtrack. So what does that sound like? Well, in the case of 'Track 2', it's a skeletal toybox tech workout, while 'Track 6' takes us into deep and surrealist house music. Elsewhere, ''Track 7' explodes into a carnival of percussion and bleep, 'Track 4' offers lunging curveball fours, bassline seeming to bore holes in the very ground you're stomping on. Always pared back, but never truly minimal, it's one of 2023's earliest classics.

Review: This is a new remix-release by Mothers Favorite Child, a soul-funk collective led by producer and multi-instrumentalist Paris Toon. With the original hearing MFC enlist the vocal lightwork of Portlandian singer Saeeda Wright, now comes a new remix of 'Purple Funk' - the first version was a cleanly produced, ecstatic track, and implictly dedicated to the legacy of one entirely unique musical stalwart and legend - Prince - as well as another friendly face, the late drummer John Blackwell. Now, however, Swedish remix darling Opolopo lends it a daring new spin, leaving much tight, airy headroom between the beats, and plenty of room for suspenseful, floorbound play.

Review: David Moufang's legacy of works is vast beyond compare, so it's not surprising in these reissue-rich times his work continues to enjoy a fresh outing. Of course that's equally down to the quality of what he's been making as Move D and otherwise since the early 90s, and there are some projects even getting a second independent reissue such as this rare gem from 1995, Solitaire. Originally released under that alias on Pete Namlook's seminal Fax +49 label, Solitaire also came out credited to Moufang himself in 2010, but now it's getting its first vinyl pressing courtesy of Mule Musiq in Japan. From the original long-form version of 'In/Out' to the wistful bubble bath wonderment of 'P.M.', it's quintessential 90s ambient techno made by one of the best to be doing it then and now.

Review: Second time around for David "Move D" Moufang and Benjamin Brunn's first full-length collaboration, a set of unsurprisingly deep, minimalistic house, techno and ambient workouts that first appeared in record stores way back in 2006. It's one of those albums that's arguably best listened to while flat on your back in an intoxicated state, despite the presence of such hypnotic, early morning club workouts as "On The Magic Bus" and the dreamy and delightful "O". You see, the majority of the album's eight tracks are spaced-out in the extreme and all the more alluring for it, as Moufang and Brunn expertly showcase their ability to create impeccable slices of hushed, otherworldly electronic minimalism.

Review: After recent releases on the Save Fabric album, Alola & Jack Trax, Mr.C has delved deep into his musical psyche to deliver an acid master-class that's influenced by Ska, Dub, Electro, Italo Disco, Acid House & Tech House, bringing his roots up to date with this massive modern production. Incidents is about things that can happen while clubbing. Down-tempo tracks Entry Search, A Civil Dose & Quick Exit will dub you out. Slightly quicker Acid Fever & Stand Up will completely groove you & dance tracks Do It For Me, Disco Rebellion, Shape Your Dreams, Raid, Ripple Effect & Master Of The Universe will make you dance like no-one's watching. Incidents is the complete electronic album that pulls all the punches, gives a nod to the past & yet has it's feet firmly embedded in the future. This is easily Mr.C's best solo work to date & essential listening.

Review: Any new album from deep house pioneer and all-round legend Larry Heard is good news, but especially so when it's credited to his best-known and best-loved alias, Mr Fingers. Around The Sun Pt 1 is Heard's first album under the alias for four years and, unsurprisingly, it's as musically expansive, evocative, and atmospheric as they come. Naturally, it's rooted in the warming, dreamy, subtly jazz-flecked deep house style he's been tweaking and improving over decades, with occasional forays into sun-kissed downtempo grooves ('Touch The Sky'), angular acid tracks, Heard's take on dub house (the deliciously deep, micro-house influenced 'Marrakesh') and summery Balearic house ('Shimmer'). All in all, it's another masterpiece from deep house's most significant pioneer.

Review: Larry Heard once said that he stumped upon his trademark dusty deep house sound rather by mistake - he was simply trying to recreate the instrumental disco of his childhood on the limited machinery he had available at the time. Either way, he went on to explore and exploit its most spiritual and spine-tinging aspects across a faultless discography that often looks to the cosmos for inspiration. That is true of this second volume of his Around The Sun album on his own Alleviated Records. It's another fine showcase of Chicago house, deep house, jazz and r&b that is utterly timeless.

Review: If you dig deep house - hell, electronic music full stop - then you should be rather excited by the arrival of Cerebral Hemispheres, the first Mr Fingers album for 26 years, and the first of any kind by the producer behind the alias, Larry Heard, since 2003. As you'd expect, the album is exceptionally good, with Heard's famous musicality and fluid keys-work coming to the fore throughout. While rooted in melodious, huggable deep house, Heard naturally uses the opportunity to veer off in the myriad of different directions, touching on jazz, dub, downtempo grooves, soul, samba, tech-soul, deep acid house and much more besides. It has the feel of a genuine future classic and could well be his strongest album to date. Given his track record, that's a bold claim, but Cerebral Hemispheres really is that good.

Review: Revered underground stalwarts Mr G and Duncan Forbes first came tother when Forbes was doing his Animated project. They bonded over music, regular record shopping trips and banter while eating duck and rice but it was only when they met at Glastonbury a few years ago that they decided to get in the studio together. Mow we have their first full-length collaborative album All Under One Moon and it was all done in one weekend at Duncan's studio with no real plan. What results is deep, atmospheric and high-class house and techno - would you expect much less?

Review: During the late 1990s, Japanese producer Yuji Takanouchi produced a trio of sublime EPs, most of which went largely overlooked at the time. He surprisingly returned to action a few years ago with a handful of similarly dreamy, loved-up productions, prompting R&S offshoot Apollo Records - who famously released his peerless ambient house 12", Southern Paradise, in 1997 - to put together this superb compilation. The genius of his productions, whether dancefloor leaning or more horizontal in ethos, always lay in the hazy colourfulness of his synthesizer melodies and life-affirming chord progressions. It's those traits, coupled with his firm grasp of deep house and intelligent techno aesthetics, which shine through on Brand New Day. "Pacific Jazz", "Nite" and "Ocean In Heaven", in particular, are stunning.

Review: The rhythms of this new LP from Musta are so loose and jangly their likely to shake your bones free from your own skeleton. They are part disco, part house, part tribal in make-up but the results are entirely new - ritualistic dances for late night sermons. The opener might be the best of the lot as 'Tamburi Parlanti' pairs lumpy drums and rugged guitar riffs with rising synth magic a la Theo Parrish. 'Timido' is another steamy bit of body music from deep in a humid jungle and that continues with 'Where Is Juanito'. The flipside is every bit as joyful, with spiritual Afro sounds and beatdown making for a vibrant and varied EP.

Review: The mysterious Medieval Man is joined by Thomass Jackson, Mytron & Ofofo and Barry Sunset on this new split EP from the fledgling Culted label. Their edit series tackles plenty of interesting dark disco source material with beguiling results. The freaky future sounds of Mytron & Ofofo's 'Machinenhimmel' opens up with phased bass and spooky leads. Barry Sunset's twisted sci-fi disco stomper 'Hit The Drums' then takes off to the cosmos and Thomass Jackson twists and turns on loose, jangling percussion that is underpinned by fat bottomed bass. The brilliantly entitled 'Humble Frodo' is a weird and wonderful closer.

Review: Hard to define, rule breaking and game-changing producer Theo Parrish is back with another of his challenging and superlative albums. This one - which naturally arrives on his own Sound Signature label - is a collaboration with Maurissa Rose that true sooth the soul. It s full of his usual deadly grooves, shamanistic percussive layers and jazz energies with plenty of his famous luscious, meditative loops. Add in the smooth vocals of Rose - which come in the form of a soulful stream of consciousness - and you have yet another unique album from this true maverick of the form.

Review: Theo Parrish and Maurissa Rose are Detroit musical veterans (even though Parrish was actually born in Chicago) and they have worked together on a number of superb singles in the last few years. After that fruitful start to their working relationship they finally flourish into a new full length that arrives soon in the form of Free Myself, It arrives, as you would expect, on triple vinyl on Parrish's own Sound Signature label, but also here as a CD. It is a lovely deep house exploration with smooth vocals of Rose - which come in the form of a soulful stream of consciousness - over Parrish's dusty, hypotonic beats.

Review: Theo Parrish is giving his new album with Maurissa Rose the full treatment - serving it up on his preferred vinyl, but also as a CD and here a cassette on his own label Sound Signature. It is a complete coming together of these two revered Detroit musical talents following a string of great singles with one another since 2019. As you can expect, the grooves are dusty, complex and rooted in house but with plenty of influences from soul, funk and jazz. The vocals from Rose are as smooth as you like and take the form of soulful streams of consciousness. Utterly vital.

Review: Rising star Scruscru has long been a fan of collaboration, so it's no surprise to see him joining forces with fellow Deeppa label-mates Jehan (a French house producer and hip-hop beat-maker) and Meowsn (a rising star from St Petersburg) for a first joint full-length excursion. JSM does a great job in combining their various talents and influences, shuffling. Between crackly, jazzy instrumental hip-hop beats ('Love Letter for Meowsn', 'Scru's Hustle'), sample-heavy jazz-house ('Classique'), bumpin' peak-time goodness ('Doin' Haws'), deeply soulful dancefloor loveliness ('Every Single Day'), woozy US style deep house ('Le Jazz, Le Rhythme') and funk-fuelled, dust-laden breakbeat house niceness ('Be With Me'), it's got it all.

Review: Truth Manifest Records release an LP by their very own head honchos here. Badriyyah Wazeerud Din and Malik Aston are the respective CEO and COO of the label, but don't let the necessary evil of corporate-speak distract you. The pair's main craft is putting a contemporary sheen on funk, combining the sound with elements of gospel, not to mention putting their back into competition-ousting vocal performances and swung harmonies. Theirs is an undeniably Detroit-endemic sound, sure to not just impress, but light soul-fires.

Notes: ""20 years ago, I dreamed a dream of creating a family of like-minded, crazy individuals from all corners of the planet. That dream was Crosstown Rebels. Over these years, I have forged beautiful friendships, discovered very talented artists and tried my best to help, advise and support some of the most colourful characters in dance music. It's been 20 years of madness, magic and music. Now it's been distilled into our own book to mark this milestone. I'm honestly surprised at how much I remembered!" - Damian Lazarus

For 20 years Crosstown Rebels has forged a path as one of the world's leading electronic music labels.

Established in 2003, Damian Lazarus' label manifesto has not changed. Discovering and nurturing new talent has always been the beating heart of the label, with a mission to soundtrack the future of the dancefloor and beyond. Introducing the world to the likes of Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Maceo Plex and Art Department was just the beginning. Today the roster is gloriously international, showcasing the truly global scene that Crosstown has shaped over the years.

Of course, there's the parties too. The early Slash & Burn and Rebel Rave parties paved the way for Damian to create two of the world's most cherished experiences, Get Lost and Day Zero, and in turn setting a benchmark for electronic music events worldwide.

Now the Crosstown Rebels story is told in a new 240 page book. 20 years of madness, magic and music. Starting right back before the beginning and taking us through to the present day, acclaimed electronic music writer Joe Muggs dives into the label's history, interviewing Damian at length and revealing Crosstown's story as never told before. The book brings together countless unseen photographs and artwork taken from the last two decades. It tells the story of how the dance underground battled and triumphed. This is a unique publication, not only for fans of Crosstown Rebels and Damian Lazarus, but also for anyone with an interest in independent label culture and the evolution of dance music over the last 20 years.

- Deluxe 240 page book
- Limited edition with only 400 copies on public sale
- De-bossed hardback cover, printed on FSC certified papers, with alternating paper stocks, book ribbon and G.F. Smith endpapers
- Foreword by Pete Tong MBE
- Comprehensive label discography
- Printed in the UK by PurePrint, the first CarbonNeutral printer in the world