Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Fuse is one of those labels and parties that has a very distinctive sound and hardcore following for it. Spearheaded by Enzo Siracusa and now a real institution of the underground, here it looks to Admnti for three fresh new sounds. 'Vibrations' is kinetic future music that twists together wiry synths and tight tech drums into something irresistible. 'Infinite Function' is another brilliantly infectious mix of tech and dub that makes for high-speed groove-thrills and 'Original Sin' then takes a more spaced-out approach with warped acid lines. Malin Genie remixes the opener with a cool sense of deep house smoothness.

Review: RFXN kicks off life with a new single from David Agrella which has seen early support from Ricardo Villalobos. First off he offers up his own Acid Mix of 'Perro Balearico' and it's a supple, deep and dubby track with liquid synths and prog chords that sound both retro and future all at once. The original is a more dreamy and spaced-out sound for 5 am sessions. On the flip is a more punch but still silky and warmly melodic remix from Mario Liberti before last of all, Gabriel Rai gets darker. His drums hit harder and the synths are moodier as he takes dancers down a late-night path of mystery and intrigue.

Review: Brixton-based David Agrella returns after the success of his Baby Ford-remixed 'Modulo 02', with two tracks and a nifty remix of each to boot. 'I Felt It Coming' is a heady peak time track, with Underground Resistance-style drum machine handclaps and an addictive synth hook and all the suspense and drama of a Stephen King horror tale. Domenico Rosa's remix turns that frown upside down, converting it into a perky, cheeky and altogether lighter workout that nevertheless will keep feet on the dancefloor. 'Reflexion Nocturna' (Priori remix) kicks off the B-side with fizzling dub techno stealth, subtly embellished with a smidgeon of 'Funky Drummer' breakbeat, while Agrella's original closes proceedings with head down, echo-set Leftfield-style prog house skank. Not for nothing is this chap known as one of the techno scene's fastest rising new names.

Review: There's seemingly no end to the mind-blowing vaults of UK tech house titan Mark Ambrose. Even after the extensive three-volume run of reissues on Repeats, Rawax have found more of the South Coast legend's late 90s material that hasn't been reissued yet. Sharks be damned, the Cat Groove 12" is back within reach and remastered to bring the best out of the tracks. The title track is one of those artfully squashed, funk loop-riding jams that turns the heat up without any need for studio showboating - just the right ingredients. 'Floating Around' is a heady tripper crying out for the morning, while 'Hook Up' finds another soulful lick to place at the centre of a groove so crunchy it just has to come from an MPC. Hold tight for 'Warehouse Blues', which injects some nasty, pumping techno energy into the mix with a metallic bassline that comes on like Mr Fingers dipped in chrome.

Review: James Andrew has been a man rising up through the ranks for the last few years. He started this Nothing But Nice label between London and Berlin with his pal Charley and kicks off his 2024 with a fantastic fourth offering. 'Lambrini Bob' has it all - slick tech grooves, cosmic pads, minimal sound designs and a nice cool vibe. Brasseye-referncing 'Klarky Kat' ups the ante with more tightly stacked drums but still oodles of future funk and nice neon colour and 'The Excursion Of Dreams' then explores a world of jungle sound effects, tropical heat and 90s prog techno new age synths. 'Exotic Robotics' is the irresistibly groovy icing on this super cake.

Review: Keeping the house flavour bedded into minimal since the mid 00s, Audio Werner has long perfected a sleek, sublime style which maintains some 20 years in. On this new drop for Adam's Bite he's on superlative form, teasing out the most perfectly sustained double bass groove with just the barest of essentials for company on 'Deepozzarella' and then making everything sound so soulful in the process. 'Chordlift' opts for an airier tone, riding a more fractured groove that kicks tougher than most Audio Werner jams. 'Tension' completes the picture with the kind of subtly giddy roller which could truly take an afters in the stratosphere.

Review: Garderobe is a new vinyl only label headed up by Malis that debuts here with a new EP limited to just 250 copies. It is Bilalov who steps up with the three originals which all take a minimal approach to tech house. 'What' kicks off with a mix of deft synth modulations and distant eerie swirls and sleek skeletal rhythms underpinned with textbook sub bass. 'You' is a twitchy mix of abstract synthetic details and spangled synth lines while 'Think' gets deeper, more gloopy and off balance. The same cut gets treated to an Alci remix that ups the fidelity and weaves an intricate minimal rhythm that echoes the work of Ricardo Villalobos.

Review: Minimal production/DJ master Ricardo Villalobos enjoys a renown that lends him just about enough credo to release anything he likes whenever he likes and this latest pair of remixes of Paul Desenne's (in collaboration with Alonso Toro and Pedro Vasquez) 'Isiminaimanin' - the lead track from his gemlike Venezuelan gem of an album, Alzheimer - is a case in point. A furtive legend of the Venezuelan folk underground, Alzheimer, which was released back in 2001, expressed Desenne's talents and tastes, expansive outwards from his own Latin cello home-stretch and into further-afield wildernesses such as the Venezuelan cuatro (small guitar), Hawaiian bamboo clarinet, and electric cello - all instruments in constructing totemic, tribal, conceptual flights of fancy. It's this eclecticism on which Villalobos evidently feeds, with his two mixes expressing both fast and slow minimal-tech iterations of Desenne's mysticism.

Review: Anthony Georges Patrice's Ausblick label has trod a fine path over the course of its first five releases and the good work continues on its sixth outing which is a new various artists affair. It is Berlin based Ephem who kicks off with 'Dizzy' and all its bumpy beast and raw perc, then Koln's Hidden Sequence follows with 'Optical Drive' that is more stripped back and powered by warming sub bass. Anthony Georges Patrice himself then completes the hat trick with 'Easy To Love' (Tunnel Vision Mix) which over ten sublime minutes brings some more airy, double doit flavoured and has already been getting plays from Mosaic boss Steve O'Sullivan.

Review: Purple Print's musical universe expands once more here with a ninth outing on wax and a fine various artists selection to mark the occasion, with Minube appearing on each of these collabs. It's a wonky and afterparty-tinged minimal jaunt from him in solo mode to open up with as 'Zaha Zhivai' gets you locked into a slinky groove. He then inks with Rebreanu for the marching bleeps and squeaks of 'Bro Disch Tut' and with D I N he makes 'Wormhole', a dry and dusty final tech shuffler before a fine work with Andrey Djackonda in the form of the abstract funk of 'Can't Stop The Time' shuts down.

Review: Silat Beksi returns to RAWAX with his new release, 'Keep It Real'! On the A -Side we hear Beksi's trademark minimal techfunk with 'Impress Me', which delivers lilting stabs against a skeletal yet weighty beat backdrop. 'Keep It Real' errs on the breaksier side, while the B-Side hears a team-up with Aman aka. Marc Philipp & Florian Meffert for 'Rise' and 'Blondjob', two cloudbound numbers of the dreamy, luxurious, richly-detailed variety.

Review: As the artist alias kind of suggests, Abyssy takes a deep dive into the unknown depths of the human spirit. It finds the artist returning to Simona Faraone's label after several years and finds him exploring electronic sounds of the 70s and 80s, blending Berlin school minimalism with Detroit techno's soul and funk. It is a record that ranges in mood and tempo as it heads into oceanic depths where wispy pads and chattery percussive patterns collide in unusual ways. It's a largely abstract album of unusual sound designs and genuine electronic discovery that often has you wondering just how certain abounds have been made.

Review: Arutani's third album Who We Used To Be is a meditation on times passed and alternate lives lost, filtered through the decorative lenses of deep, minimal, tech and dub. As if to paint a character portrait of the artist himself, this is a measured, calm, light, mindful and modest album, replete with bulging concave chord undulations and synaptic percussive snaps for balance. Everything from electro's usual dotted rhythmic pattern to progressive house's woodblocky felicities are checked off here, plus the glissando'ing lead on 'In Case You Wondered What I've Been Doing' is a special highlight.