Back Catalogue

Review: The new I:Cube album is a rapid-fire collection of tracks woven together (there's a clue in that title you know) which takes the manner of a live set. The idea is essentially to bring the dance music album back to its raison d'etre, the dancefloor. To keep things interesting, the tracks are whipped through with a wonderful irreverence, as cheeky radio interludes and impulsive switch-ups keep things from staying too formulaic. Rather than some vision of a smooth, linear DJ set, this album instead takes the stance of creating pleasure through disorientation. Mr Chaix is a master of alluring grooves, and he uses that gift to really mess with your head when he changes tack, as between the edgy bleeps of "Y.O.U.R.O.C.K." and the light-hearted disco stomper "Get The Fever". Those surprise moves keep you engaged through all 23 tracks of this joyous beast. Chaix's lack of pretension is one of his greatest strengths; the I:Cube way is a direct and satisfying one. At no point is it cheesy or hackneyed, but it never tries to be too clever for its own good. With a live feel to match that immediacy, the "M" Megamix is a triumphant statement of what a dance music album should feel like. It might not be a comprehensive answer, but it certainly puts paid to all those "collection of singles" efforts out there.

Review: Having operated on the fringes of deep and tech-house since the mid '90s, DJ booker-turned-producer Till Von Sein is finally ready to drop his debut album. It's hugely entertaining, deviating from his usual club-friendly deep house style to take in a myriad of styles and influences. While a smattering of piano-laden deep house grooves remain (see "Sumthin Good", "Monday" and the low-end heavy "61"), the German producer also finds space to include excursions into springy disco ("Ltd"), sleazy jazz breaks ("Out of Love"), Detroit-influenced early techno futurism ("Non Existent Love") and smacked-out downtempo blissfulness (the post-dubstep influenced "Neptune"). Well worth checking out.

Review: The tireless peeps at Rush Hour launch the Vault Series, in which the Dutch imprint rummages for overlooked and unreleased tracks sitting in a big shed out the back of their Amsterdam-based record store. They kick things off in consummate style, with the hitherto unknown (to us, anyway) Duster Valentine dropping the ace "(My Back Is) Against Wall", which features a killer sample of "The Pressure" by Sound of Blackness. A thick set drum loop works for your attention below the vocals, occasional keys and dusty groove - highly recommended. The heads out there will be delighted to see Aardvarck's instantly recognisable party jam "(Just Washed) That Pig" from a few years back given a sorely needed extension!

Review: Leeds-based Last Magpie thinks of himself as something a musical magpie, pinching bits and pieces from various genres to create something new and fresh. "(Who Knows) Where Love Goes" sets the tone, lacing borrowed vocals over a skittering groove that sits somewhere between chunky deep house, fluid '80s electro and UKG. "Pilau Rice", meanwhile, sounds like an unholy marriage between woozy Detroit deep house, Chicago boompty and Futureboogie-ish Bristol grooves. "Don't Know Why", adds a little vintage piano house flavour into the pot (while retaining the electro-influenced beats), while the brilliantly named "Club Whore" somehow manages to fuse swingtime horns, dizzy vocals and bumpin' house.