Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: For his latest trick, Karizma has decided to revisit 'Ya Dig', a killer cut from his 2013 album Wall Of Sound. Donning his Kaytronik guise, an alias often used for more tech-tinged (but no less soulful) productions, he delivers a remake rich in woozy, staccato synth sounds, lo-fi electronics, looped vocal snippets, flashes of soulfulness and beats as rubbery and righteous as you'd expect from the master of infectious rhythms. Over on the flip we get the previously unheard 'Feelin' Rite', where pal Osunlade's delay-laden vocals ride a crunchy, loose-limbed Afro-house beat and woozy, warming chords. It's the kind of track that you can get lost in, sonically, but is infectious and dancefloor-friendly enough to encourage proper heads-down dancing.

Review: Jonathan Kaspar returns to Damien Lazarus' Crosstown Rebels for another round of captivating and melodic techno by way of his latest EP 'We Come'. Already having graced the discographic annals of Cocoon and Kompakt, Kaspar's sound is now well established; his pushes and pulls adeptly between big room, dubby trance and broken-down electro and house, never quite placeable in the intermediary spaces between them. One could call it progressive house, but that would be underselling it; 'Flash Point' is the highlight here and the case in point, making masterful use of ducking and distortion to really flesh out the central syncopated stab as a focal point of the track. Nor should Paul Brenning's version of 'Transposed Sky' be missed for a second.

Review: The New Year has brought with it an influx of many new labels that are all eager to get your attention. This one, BinarySound, is well deserving of it as it offers up this cosmic tech house exploration courtesy of Kawaii San and Nathan Boost. It is San who opens up with his retro-future and fulsome cut 'Roller Derby' before getting a little deeper and bringing some subtle acid to 'What U Got.' Boost shows a different side to tech house with 'Whale Stuff' having a more playful feel and wispy pads that shine bright. 'Swingy Swang' closes out with clipped, kinetic tech funk and garage percussive patterns that are super nice.

Review: More proper tacker makes it way to vinyl here courtesy of the blow label who enlist four more producers of this latest various artists EP. Kitchen Plug's 'Cheat Code' marries the best of tech, garage, dub and house into a kinetic bit of body music that oozes warm and lo-fi soul. CYMKA brings kaleidoscopic colour and squelchy acid to 'Sweet Peach' then it's all pout old school piano rave madness from Batenko on 'Inside Summer 21'. Last of all is the searing electro funk of Les Hauts with 'Passing Clouds', a blisteringly quick trip into another dimension with some rueful chord work. Sensational EP.

Review: Kolter, hailing from Cologne, Germany, delivers a fresh - we don't use the word lightly - new four-tracker, 'That Was Fresh'. Centring nominally on the infamous literal breakbeat vocal sample, this EP plays out as a contemporary take on the breakdances and funk backbeats come electronic dance bangers of yore. Beginning with an impossible-missioned eponymous A-sider, before moving into flat beat electro house of 'This Is It' and the cascading metro-synths of 'Feel', before finally concluding on the retro trance rejoinder, 'I'm Fine, Thanks!', there's really something here for everyone.

Review: Under the border umbrella of the Yoyaku crew, Kord El makes a strong debut appearance with this first EP on Superbanger. The vibe on the record is instantly detectable as balmy, trippy tech house which stays on the subtle side of the trance spectrum and lets the groove take centre stage. 'Kryptonight' is a swirling, hazy mind warp peppered with samples and hypnotic chimes, anchored by the warmest of basslines. 'Grammy' is a slightly techier, dubbier affair for when the party's fired up a notch, and 'Stereo Solitude' plays around with breaks in a delicate fashion for maximum rolling effect. 'Phantone Zone' slips a little 303 into the soup, and makes it sound wholly natural in another prime slice of contemporary wigged-out house.

Review: Sunwaves superstar DJ and Romanian minimal king Kozo is next up on the No Time For Love label with more of his signature sounds. He has worked with the likes of a:rpia:r and RORA before now and in solo mode is just as accomplished. 'Continental ' is a silky and perfectly reduced brew of bass and drums that surges on endlessly, while 'East End Bull' kicks a little more with thudding drums and shimmering snares up top. 'That's What XI Said' brings a slower approach to tech house with lazy toms sprinkled over a smooth beat and last of all an Arapu remix ups the ante with a little more driven but no less warmth and soul.

Review: Cowbeats is back with more fresh future moosic to make you moove. This fourth edition of their self-titled various artists series is another one packed with gems. Kurilo's 'Son Of The Sun' manages to make stuff beats feel funky, while Riku Sugimoto has plenty of snap in his kick and hit combinations throughout 'Coffee On Me.' There is a more cosmic sense of cruising when Solidwood dials you in on his sublime 'Working With Suspect' and Rizzi & Lapucci go for cold, snappy tech house as they offer up 'Mind From Another Kind. Lastly, NND cuts loose on the melodic wild and freewheeling 'FunkyDrome.'

Review: Japan's Thinner Groove flesh out their distinctive aesthetic with every new release. This time around, they welcome none other than Lemmi Ash, KOOLMFL and Sonic Weapon for a collaborative three-track EP of lowercase minimal tech and textural vignettes. The aim of the game is best encapsulated in the label's commentary: "each track can add a distinctive touch to the night, as like completing your cocktail with lemon and/or lime". Each track indeed sounds to the ear akin to how a fruity garnish tastes, with Ash's 'Presence' bringing tart citrine breaks notes to a gracefully held glass vessel. KOOLMFL's 'Atonbow' is drier bitters, barely availing itself of its trembling chords and sampled vox after an ultra-snappy initiation featuring a mere bass and kick-clap. Thinner Groove know all too well that good music is like an excitation of the flavour palate, and that minimality is the thing that lets such flavours sit.

Review: Ohm and Kvadrant return to their spiritual home of Kontakt with more of that grandiose dub techno immersion they do so well, plumbing epic depths both within and beyond the functional demands of the dancefloor. 'Precious Little Diamond' kicks the record off in a steady-cruising form, guided by a smooth minimal tech house beat as the engine for some choice dub techno chords and mechanical hiccups. Deadbeat then takes the helm for a version which plunges into abstract echo chamber sonics he's spent decades perfecting before Levon Vincent completes the picture with a remix which heads into the outer limits of deep techno immersion.

Review: Ohm and Kvadrant continue to offer their services in the dub techno vein; clearly, this isn't their first Kontakt. 'Treasure Of Kings Garden' reflects a single fantasy: the muted pleasure of discovering a forbidden gem buried at the bottom of his royal majesty's grounds. We imagine Ohm and Kvadrant's king to be a tyrant; necessarily, in fact, his sadism is the exact measure against which this diamond's value can be measured. The three mixes of the sole track 'Precious Little Diamond' unfurl like different stages of bejewelled delight and respite, from the initial 4x4 discovery to Deadbeat's halfstep black market laundering, and followed shortly by Levon Vincent's impressively textural evocation of cathartic relief, on receipt of such requisitioned-then-resold royal riches.