Super selections and wonderful words by our favourite four-to-the-floor expert, The Insider. 

CUERPO DOCENTE / ESFERAS / DREAM CHIMNEY 

Cuerpo Docente formed in 2018, playing improvised sets on the experimental music circuit in Chile. Born out a vibrant and lively Santiago scene, the trio collectively draw from their backgrounds in DJing, composition, live improvisation, and list inspirations like Herbie Hancock, Larry Heard, and Theo Parish’s Rotating Assembly. Esferas is their showstopping debut on San Francisco’s Dream Chimney imprint. This music is synth-based and playful, at the same time, it is both subtle and restrained. Travelling through multiple genres – jazz, funk, dub, and a plenty of others – the band would have been very well placed at the recent We Out Here Festival. Fingers crossed for next year. By the way, they also sound boss in your headphones. Pick of the pack for me is Fulgor! 7/10

FLAMINGO PIER / BENEATH THE NEON / RAZOR-N-TAPE 

Flamingo Pier are a toe-tapping, ear-pleasing trio out of Auckland, who fuse a tropically tinged, indie-disco sound with heartwarming blue eyed soul vocals. Having spent time in London’s Hackney Wick, sucking up the canal side bars and the diverse UK beats, back on their home turf they have a solid reputation for throwing vibrant, fun-filled parties, both locally and on the nearby island of Waiheke. Off the back of three consecutive smashes on Miles Cleret’s Soundway Records, the 3 friends now land on Razor-N-Tape delivering an E.P. that builds on their trademark sound. 

Chicago house legend Glenn Underground takes things deeper and darker with his Stank Face Mix, while RNT label head Jkriv drops a version that turns the boogie dial up to 10 and features the voice of Afro-beat royalty, Steve Monite. There are sunshine vibes aplenty on this late summer stunner. These flamingos are flying high! 9/10

JACKIE MOORE / HOLDING BACK / A’S + BEES 

Bee-loving imprint, A`s + Bees continues to buzz, bringing us another stinger, by shining a spotlight on Jackie Moore’s cult cover, Holding Back. Jackie’s version, a sensuous slice of disco which first saw the light of day in 1983, gets the M+M treatment, with 2 mixes from legends John Morales and Sergio Munzabai. Re-work wizard Moplen, also weighs in, and squeezes together all the OG’s best bits, building the tension across seven sensational minutes of sweet-honeyed soulful loveliness. 50% of profits will be donated to the British Beekeepers Association! 8/10

FRITS WENTINK / REMEMBER THAT FEELING / WOLF MUSIC

Remember That Feeling is designed to intrigue you and destined to make dancers dance. Here we are presented with three cuts of garage house goodness – skippy and seductive, showcasing a sample wizardry and bounce that’s instantly recognisable as the work of Dutch studio magician, Frits Wentink aka Bobby Donny. Trying to put the Will & Ink label head, Frits, into a box is not an easy task as his productions are full of quirk and ridiculously hard to define sonics! Dusty, hazy, left of centre? Eccentric, sample-rich, MPC driven? Maybe, but what’s for certain is that he continues to blur lines and boundaries, and make crazy good, wonky house music that still really kicks. 11/10

JIMPSTER & CRACKAZAT / NATURAL CHILD / FREERANGE RECORDS

Few things hit the spot more that a Jimspter release, and here the Freerange Records frontman joins forces with rising star, Crackazat, for the Natural Child E.P. Two true industry leading lights, they deliver everything you would expect from a collaboration, and more. The E.P. covers a spectrum of moods, from soulful to atmospheric house, all the time blending Jimpster’s  time-honed sublime production techniques with Crackazat’s trademark jazzy piano chords. Crackazat, aka Ben Jacobs, showcased his songwriting and vocal skills on his own album, Evergreen, last year, and here we are treated to more of his strangely haunting, and emotional velvet tones. Spacious and simple, warm and comforting,  Natural Child will wrap you up in a blanket of sonic loveliness and sing you a deep house lullaby. 10/10