The SOS collective, the epic combination of DJs Demi, Desyn Masiello and Omid 16B, tackle the thirteenth release in the increasingly impressive Balance compilation series. Their work spans three discs, fifty-six tracks and three hours, fifty-one minutes and eighteen seconds – but two years after their smash three-hour Essential Mix for Radio 1, does SOS live up to its reputation?

The first mix’s blend of modern and vintage EDM moves easily and lingers sweetly. And judging by the ominously thunderous (literally) intro “Seagull,” it is fair to say that this mix is the ultimate ‘calm before the storm.’ SOS weave…

I spoke with John briefly amidst the frenzy of his North American Club Tour with Sasha; it was like watching a volcano aroused from dormancy. His enthusiasm, coupled with genuine giddiness, for this album flowed from his words like fresh magma. I had heard the album a few times by this point, and so could thus share his enthusiasm – but putting the fourth Transitions journey into words is an exercise in frustration. John spoke of the album earlier in the year, saying “Really happy with this one. I have spent lots of time on it with loads of edits…

Mark Farina’s surprising appearance on the fortieth disc of the Fabric series is galactically vibrant (if familiar) terrain for the veteran west coast/Chicago house DJ. The last Fabric mix to be as inspired by the high heels, disco balls and bright lights of bouncy feel-good house may trace its way back to Tony Humphries’ Fabric 04. And so, much like a 40th Anniversary, the 40th Fabric release is something truly special in the context of its predecessors.

Fabric 40 is a colorful expose of Mark Farina’s classically unique trademarks: Up-bow flurries of flute, soulful jazz guitar and jubilant cowbells illustrate…

Hailing from the gritty city of New York, and with a disproportionately strong taste for minimal techno, Robert Hood is one unsung hero whose name should have become household as early as 1992. Masterminding the M-Plant (and, by extension, Drama and Duet) labels has given him the experience necessary to mix an album such as Fabric 39. In Hood’s words, “A set from Fabric is the only way I want to go. This mix has to be about the club… any project I do, I like to read like a book… It has to have continuity to take you on…

The Master’s Series Part 10 simply has to be Dave Seaman’s most cohesive, polished and inspired double-mix album since, though perhaps a stretch, his groundbreaking opus – The Master’s Series Part 1 (2000′s Awakening). Given the quality of the aforementioned album, such a bold statement has not been made in haste. The music, however, clearly speaks for itself.

The first disc expands upon the modernized electro-house theory Seaman presented us on the fourth “Therapy Sessions.” The tracklist is peppered with exciting new tracks and well-respected artists. Moreover, disc one finally finds Seaman adhering to a purposeful and determinable path; many,…

After successful ’3D’ outings by Progressive and House giants Satoshi Tomiie and Faithless, Renaissance taps into the marvelously talented mind of Tom Middleton – better known (aside from his solo work over the years) as one half of the cosmic digital-duo The Jedi Knights, whose 1996 record “New School Science” wrecked ’90s conventionality and rightfully earned its place amongst the most revered electronic albums to have surfaced during the 1990′s. But, twelve years later, what has Tom Middleton got to offer the electronic masses?

The answer, as evidenced by Renaissance: 3D, lies almost beyond words. The first disc, “Club,” is…

As the At The Controls series continues to churn out fantastic minimal tech-house gems, one begins to wonder. Could AtC be for the new wave of tech-house what Global Underground is for only the best in progressive trance/house? The ever-impressive artists selected to compile for AtC would seem to suggest so. Agoria follows Claude Vonstroke’s AtC and genuinely impresses me with the quality of both discs. AtC 4 is quite different from the others in the series, however; one can classify the first three as shining examples of several of the top players in the minimal tech-house genre. Agoria’s release…