DJ Mag

Carl Craig
At Les (Christian Smith Mixes) (Tronic)
In which Carl Craig's off-kilter, ambient techno classic gets a thorough shake down by Christian Smith for his own Tronic label. Now, those ready to light torches and assemble the customary angry purist mob might be advised that C2 himself approves wholeheartedly, and frankly who wouldn't when the results sound like this. The Hypnotica Remix is subtle, yet firm, while the Tronic Treatment mix somehow elevates the track's already-epic status to something bordering transcendent. Quite a feat.

Tom Demac
Crewcuts & Curls (Murmur)
A dream team of remixers here for Murmur boss Geddes' fave track for his now two-year-old label. Originally out in 2009, 'Crewcuts & Curls' gets turned over by the inimitable Jamie Jones, who slices and dices the vocals, throwing in a bubbling, rolling bassline. Luke Solomon injects some wonky oddness, which combined with the bizarro vocals, makes for a rather twisted affair. Elsewhere, New Yorkers Wolf + Lamb have a crack at 'In Your Eyes', crafting a blissed out, late-night houser.

Lemon Popsicle
Chordelia (Moodmusic)
This axis of Germany collaboration (Lemon Popsicle hail from Wuppertal, Cologne and Berlin) is irresistible, a layered, building collage of deepness that swells and swells with hypnotic soul, punctuated with a blissful break about halfway through. Moodmusic boss Sasse keeps the lushness intact, opting for chunkier drums to underpin his 11 minute marathon mix, while Mihai Popviciu adds some skippy syncopation. Generously thrown in too are 'Start Again' (a subtly synth-tastic party starter) and 'Move On' (sturdy).

Andomat 3000
Hit Ze (FourTwenty)
Andreas Wiegand's title track here is humping, unforgivingly robust house music layered with bongos, aimed quite squarely at the dancefloor and pretty much inappropriate anywhere else. Diynamic's Solomun wades in taking things funkier, with a robot bassline, building to one of those drops he's so very good at. The Suelo version overdoses on bass (in a good way), but the star is the Ruthit remix. It's a bloody joy, and basically, if you don't like it, you don't like house music.

Martyn/roman Lindau
Berghain 04 (Ostgut Ton)
This latest instalment illustrating the sound of Berlin's party mecca Berghain for the multitudes to have been turned away at the door finds dubstep maestro Martyn deep in four-four mode, delivering an understated, reverb-heavy big room rave up, with old school stabs layered across a bottomless, rolling beat. Over, Roman Lindau drops in more darkness, punctuated with percussive synth sounds doubtless designed to bounce off the tiles in the Panorama Bar. Both are, as one might expect, ace.

Skwerl
Best I Can Do (Gigolo)
This dreamy slab of vocal resplendence from Sonar Kollektiv cohort Michael Beim, aka Skwerl, presents one of those arresting moments in house music, moments that have the power to bring together years of the genre's evolution into a single groove, acknowledging of its influences yet still totally forward-facing. Featuring a devastating vocal performance from Paul Randolph (Detroit native and collaborator with the likes of Amp Fiddler, Carl Craig, Recloose and Moodymann), Best I Can Do has the audacity to sound like a classic already, in the vein of male house vocal tracks Raze's 'Break 4 Love' or Round Two's heart-melting 'New Day'. It's not quite as good as either yet, but one day it just might be.