Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Mark Grusane presence on Disctechno brings with it a compilation of five unique house tracks from Chicago and Detroit-based producers, as you will probably have guessed from the title. The A-side features DJ Slush's synth-driven 'Memory Blank' and Deon Jamar's bass-heavy 'AYYYO' which offer different but both killer sounds. The B-side opens with Jordan Zawideh's reverb-drenched 'Axolotls' followed by Grusane's intense, atonal 'The Recoil' and concludes with Thomas Xu's groovy 'School Street.' All of these are the sort of off-kilter sounds you would expect of these revered and enduring electric hotbeds. Raw, stripped-down and authentic, this is the contemporary Midwest underground.

Review: Andrew Macari's next offering comes on the small but already well-formed Vessel Recordings label and it delves into some super deep house sounds. 'U Hold Me Tight' is a shuffling, gently percussive number with swaying drums and the sort of groove to lock you in. 'Don't Make Me Wait' is a slower groove with drums that drag their heels in an intriguing way then 'Hana's Jazz Cafe' gets more funky with some playful swing. 'Curiously' shuts down with a nice raw and dusty sound topped with some freaky vocals.

Review: For a long time Gary Martin was referred to as an "unsung hero" of Detroit techno, but with the DET 313 label, run with Yossi Amoyal, he's finally cemented a fearsome reputation as one of the Motor City's finest. With such reputations come the exchange of the proverbial "silly money" for the more hard to find recordings, thus the existence of this double 12" which collects eight of Martin's efforts from the mid to late 90s into one package available for a slightly more sensible exchange of currency. Among the highlights are the Latin-enhanced beats of 'Manhattan', two mixes of the sublime 'In Rythem' complete with a gospel preacher in full flow and a seven minute extended remaster of 'I'll Be Back I Promise' from Yossi Amoyal. It's no surprise to see Martin's work picked up and played by the likes of Ben Klock, given his unique take on rhythm, but there's plenty of soulfulness going on here as well.

Review: Known in Tokyo's underground for filling her DJ sets with an enticing blend of house, new wave and disco, Mayurashka's Studio Barnhus debut is - as the label point out -full of sonic illusions: immediately accessible and enticing tracks which are nevertheless filled with quirky sonic details. There's plenty to admire throughout, from the breathlessly dark and driving peak-time jack of 'Cool Stop' and the lightly disco-infused peak-time tactility of 'Cosmic Rising', to the percussive, wildly pitched-down chug of 'Fatties' and the effects-laden, tribal house-on-the-moon insanity of 'Mountain Pads'. Throw in the low-slung dystopian dub disco madness of 'Appex' and you have a genuinely brilliant label debut.

Review: Tresor is celebrating 30 years in the game with a series of special reissue projects. This one really goes way back to almost the start, when Juan Atkins was already defining the early techno sound. For this one he linked up with Moritz von Oswald and Thomas Fehlmann in 1992 for a second iteration of the 3 Men in Berlin project. The monumental results join the dots between Detroit and Berlin across a collection of timeless cuts that meld bassline funk, hypnotic minimalism and soulful machine sounds into propulsive, emotive dance floor joy. The unbridled energy and cosmic elegance of 'Jazz Is The Teacher' might just be the highlight.

Review: If you were into house and techno around this time a decade ago, you surely wouldn't have been able to avoid Maceo Plex's acclaimed debut album Life Index. The Valencia-based, Miami native finally hit the big time after many years as an underground artist, with this impressive merging of minimal/tech house with disco/soul-funk influences that would go on to be constant throughout his work ever since. This worthy reissue as part of Record Store Day 2021 features all the hits that soundtracked a rather memorable 2011, such as the lo-slung rolling funk of 'Sleazy E', the druggy and sax-led euphoria of 'Silo' and the blissed-out summertime groove of 'Dexter's Flight'.

Review: Following up great efforts by the likes of Van Bonn & Luis Baltes, Unknown and Shadow-Area, here is the debut LP from Hamburg's Achim Maerz on Berlin-based Freund der Familie. Relief features a wide selections of moods and grooves; from the cavernous and glacial deep house of 'Black Hole', the contemplative ambient journey of 'Dream', plus there's more deepness of the emotive variety offered up on 'Changing Weather', the understated late night mood of 'Memories' and the mesmerising closer 'On The Way' awash in dazzling layers of rich synth tones in the vein of classic Chicago sounds. Mastering by Sven Weisemann.

Review: Portuguese house wizard Joao Manata, who goes by the name of Manata, steps up here with his first solo release on the Nugs On Board vinyl-only label, and in the process marks five successful years. Manata has become a prominent name in Portugal's underground scene and so has naturally also expanded out to now perform extensively across Europe. His debut LP features nine tracks with each telling a unique story. The title track transports you to the nostalgic roots of electronic music with its catchy old-school synths and captivating vocals. Other standouts include the deep and pulsating electronic drums of 'Unforgettable Bonanza', outlier acid tech of 'Fastest Plane On Earth' and serene dub class of 'Flamingo Nights.' A quality album, for sure.

Review: French multi-instrumentalist and producer Mezerg (real name Marc Mezergue) is something of a one-off - a synthesizer, drums and theremin-sporting one-man band who has even invented his own unique instrument, a combined keyboard/electronic drum kit known as the "piano boom boom". He's perhaps best-known as a live performer but has received plenty of plaudits for previous releases, most notably 2021 debut LP Chez Mezerg. Vol Retarde de 42 Mn is that album's belated sequel and sees the Frenchman develop his existing trademark sound - a musically mixed-up blend of classic synth sounds, analogue electronics, warm basslines and unfussy beats that variously draws influence from titans of French electronic dance music (Justice, Jean-Michel Jarre etc), electro and, most frequently, colourful nu-disco.