Back in stock: Progressive House

Review: German progressive house duo Andhim specialize in bringing out the genre's sentimental side, and their latest single 'I Love You' is a masterful case in point. Describing their sound as "super house", the pair evidently only choose the most serene and gut-punching sounds and samples going in, and 'I Love You' exemplifies this, with its knife-edge, repetitive vocal and swellingly pink chords, which recall the French house climaxes of The Paradise or Daft Punk, and/or the more recent, well-rounded post-10s uplifts of Bicep. Of course, the B-side must provide the mirror image, on which the equally powerful emotion of hatred is explored. Hatred isn't exactly a house music go-to, but the psychologist in us feels compelled to remind the reader that love and hatred, aren't binary opposites, and are closer together than we often think!

Review: Having dipped into the label's bulging archives earlier in the year to offer up a freshly remastered edition of 'Klarky Kat' by Gumbo (a rare collaboration between label bosses Attaboy and Swag's Chris Duckenfield), Toko has returned to the vaults for another essential reissue. 'In Too Deep' hails from 1997, when it marked the fifth release on the Sheffield-based imprint. Reflective of the sound played at legendary Sheffield deep and tech-house party Scuba, the title track is a sultry and saucer-eyed affair, with sustained synth-strings, tactile riffs and luscious melodic motifs wrapping around an hypnotic deep house-meets-tech-house groove. In contrast, 'In Deeper' is a much more minimalistic, tech-tinged affair, close in sound and tone to Swag productions of the period - all deep, undulating bass, effects-laden weirdo noises and locked-in beats.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


Amsterdam based Patrice Baumel is a deep thinker with a unique signature sound. He has released on some of the most vital labels in the scene from Balance to Afterlife and has played every major club and festival in the world. He knows the Berlin scene inside out and now serves up his version of what it sounds like on his latest entry into the hallowed and long running Global Underground series. He runs his own HALO label and traverses the electronic spectrum from deep to melodic and back again here, always with a sense of control and storytelling of the sort that leaves crowds spellbound.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Just as it says on the tin, Balance Music presents a stunning mix by Tim Green, a prolific artist and DJ, with his skills in the latter department put on full display on this, his first ever mixtape here. Featuring eight exclusive tracks by Green himself, as well as a remix of Underworld's classic 'Two Months Off', this mix shows off Green's advneturousness, blending deep house, techno and ambient.

Review: In his previous work, and particularly on the Butter Sessions-released 2021 album 'Drinking From The Mirage', Western Australian producer Guy Contact has proved adept at evisiting the more melodious, hallucinatory and 'progressive' end of mid 1990s dance music. He continues that trend of his latest EP, which marks his debut for X-Kalay. Title track 'Out Of My Head (Into My Body)' sets the tone by channeling the spirit of Guerilla Records circa 1994 - all gentle, psychedelic acid lines, throbbing bass, shuffling beats, spacey chords and bubbly electronic motifs - before the Perth-based producer opts for a sunrise-ready breakbeat flex on the brilliant 'Sacred Mist'. Over on the reverse, 'Amygdala Tongue Wobble' is a trippy, trance-inducing treat complete with a spine-tingling breakdown, while 'Optimystic' is a warming, saucer-eyed downtempo treat. Loved-up lusciousness.

Review: Malta-based label Lost & Found has put a real spotlight on the hot little islands fertile music scene. Not up with a fine entry in the series is Khen who shows a mastery of synths and a penchant for lush melody that has your head amongst the stars. 'Levantine' (with Freedom Fighters) has delightfully delicate melodies that leave neon tails in their wake as the soft drums shuffle on. 'Angel's Share' is a little busier, with loopy drums and chords all intertwining to great and meditative effect and 'Cumulus' closes with wispy synth clouds, gently broken beats and a spine-tingling sense of serenity.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


This is ethereal, vocal house with and from an extra dimension, like a 3D apple in flatland. Moments welcome Israeli producers Guy Mantzur and Tamir Regev for a bluesy, moody house collab; the A-side welcomes Kamila of 'Children By No Name' fame, for a meditation on what she'd do about our love if she were us. The B, 'Moongazer', instantly rouses with its steel pans unifying perfectly with clippy tech house hats and handclaps.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Glossy, slapping explorations in minimal trance newly bowl down our way from Eli Nissan, who currently helms the Malta label Lost & Found. This new 12" is carries an optimistic, heavenly, and layered sound, sounding like what you might hear blasting from the local tech house club found in a lost elven grotto or alternate faerie world. 'Juanita', Nissan's collab with fellow artist Khen, is a slick prog house piece of choice, recalling the flowering worlds of Maurice Fulton.

Review: Your favourite lez-loonatics Roza & D. Tiff are back at it with the 'Tapestry Of Sound' Reloaded - revamped and ready to rock your local dancefloor. With three freaky sleek OG cuts from the dynamic duo, and a deliciously danceable remix from the progressive prince Olsvanger, you'd be a stupid boy to miss out on this one. Expect all the classique Step Ball Chain-isms & more; tongue-in-cheek techno; percussive paradise; and bass heavy bombs, with a few naughty noughties references for the 'true heads'.

Review: Pioneering psychedelic trance label Platipus is going all-out to celebrate its 30th birthday, with no less than 12 compilation style EPs scheduled for release this year. This is the second and, like its predecessor, sounds pleasingly current thanks to the trend towards harder and more psychedelic music. Len Faki kicks things off via a pleasingly weighty, hypnotic, chant-sporting rework of Union Jack's 'Cactus', before Chab channels the spirit and sound of dawn at a turn-of-the-millennium free party ('Sunrise'). Over on the reverse, Simon Berry and Luke Brancaccio deliver a deep, progressive house-influenced tech-trance interpretation of Martin Merkel's 'Little Wonder', while Star impresses with the driving, peak-time hedonism of 'Rock Rose'.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Born in Geneva but based in Argentina, Simon Vuarambon was last seen on Shanti Radio's in-house label back in 2017 with the incredible Ethiopian / Siberian 12". Now he makes a welcome return with 1996, a record which finds the producer embracing unabashed trance tones to the fullest. The title track in particular sounds like it would go down a storm with the likes of Armin Van Buuren, albeit with a house groove still detectable in the drums. 'Quimera' is a blissful, melancholic tripper loaded with epic synth tones, and 'Like Any Wonder' takes things deeper without losing that bombastic melodic touch.