Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: The Yama Music label is slowly but surely building a fantastic discography. It has taken five years to get to release number six, but each one has always been worth the wait. This Various Artists collection sees the crew expand its roster with the likes of London's Frazer Campbell bringing his perfectly reduced and rolling dub techno sounds to 'How Hard Can It Be.' OddMann's 'Spazziale' is another dub heavy joint, but one with a slower tempo that encourages you to sink in deep and enjoy zoning out. Elsewhere, 'Osc2' is all about a brilliantly bulbous bassline that never stops evolving, and the Yama Music crew offer a rock solid, jacked up house cut full of muscularity.

Review: The Blind Box Series continues its quest into the heart of the minimal house scene with this stunning take from newcomer Oddmann (also spied recently on Half Baked). There's a whiff of electro running through "Pure-T" even as the drums kick with 4/4 precision, while "200hz" gets into a more classic shuffle with wonderfully delicate bleeps and squiggles filling in the space. One suspects there's some high end gear powering these rich, globulous sounds. "Tendax" is another utterly classy cut that uses some familiar tropes but cuts through the noise with an all important air of mystery that reaches beyond basic club fodder to impart a deeper, abstract message.

Review: Following previous outings on Blind Box and Half Baked, OddMann strike out on their own with a self-titled label to carry their crafty twists on the minimal house and techno formula. There's quite a tough, old-skool finish to "Track 1" on this no-nonsense 12", tapping up the early UK techno vibe in all its swooning pads and errant bleeps. "Track 2" is more aligned with the clean lines and head-nodding grooves of European minimal, but there's still plenty of space for surreal sound design in between the drums. "Track 3" dials up the swing and gets seriously funky, keeping things stripped back to let the DJ do their thing.

Review: London's Half Baked Records came to life in early 2013, as part of the HBF Agency - representing their renowned Sunday afternoon parties. The record label was created in order to complete their platform and as an output for the music of their residents, such as Robin Ordell and Greg Brockmann. As part of their eight year celebrations, they've roped in some legends and newbies alike for this celebratory EP. It's nice to hear Cynosure main man Mike Shannon return to some gutsier sounds, similar to the what he was producing a decade ago - the industrial influenced groove of "Gratiot Avenue" calls to mind his work with Dewalta on Indigo Raw a couple years back. Undersounds' Henry Hyde closes out the A side with the spacey swing fuelled breaks of "Green Flash". On the flip, Eklo head honcho Seuil continues with his new love of retro sounds on the funked-up Detroit tribute "Trois Bassins" while Oddmann return after their appearance on HB010 with the reduced and gloomy after hours deepness of "Hackney Weak".