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

JASPER VAN’T HOF’s PILI PILI / SELECTED WORKS 1984 – 2002 / NUNORTHERN SOUL

NuNorthern Soul dives into the infinite crates again and this time resurfaces with the wild, electro-acoustic grooves of Jasper Van’t Hof’s Pili Pili. Frankly, it’s about time too: this is Afro-fusion at its most unhinged and glorious with big drums, bigger synths and melodies that zig-zag between jazz club, desert wind and interstellar lounge. From the percussion riot of ‘Ile’ to the kalimba-kissed bliss of ‘Soubatcha’, this 6-track snapshot is a reminder that Dutch pianist Van’t Hof and his pan-continental crew were cooking up cosmic crossover madness decades before ‘fusion’ became a lame Spotify playlist. It’s vibrant, weird, joyous and a technicolour history lesson that absolutely slaps.

FAMILY AFFAIR VOL. 5 / RAZOR-N-TAPE

Razor-N-Tape has now long been a byword for dance floor quality. The record store, online radio station, and label all deal in fad-free explorations of authentic house, disco, Afro, Brazilian, plus plenty in between, from their home in Brooklyn. There is no better way to get a taste of what they’re all about than with their annual Family Affair compilations, and Volume 5 is another doozy. From production wizard Recloose‘s deep house and funky licks to Tesfa Williams‘ jazzy melodies and sophisticated broken beats on ‘Breeze‘, via the Anoraak edit of Mpharanyana‘s global grooves on ‘Disco‘, this is music with real heart and even more class. 

THE FUNKIN’ MACHINE / NAPOLETANITE / STAR CREATURE

Chicago’s Star Creature goes full Mediterranean heatwave with this 6-track blast of cosmic disco, jazz-funk and Neapolitan soul. Napoletanite hits like a shot of espresso direct to the bloodstream. With guest magic from Daniel Monaco and Jeroen Verberne plus vocals delivered in that goosebump-raising Neapolitan dialect, this is a groove soaked in sunlight and swagger. Forget lazy Italo disco comparisons – this is hotter, wilder more romantic than that. The Funkin Machine grabs you by the hips and forces you to move. It’s a wonderfully steamy blend of passion and funk that is as catchy as a cold. Thankfully, there is no remedy. 

ARP FRIQUE & THE PERPETUAL SINGERS / ALPHA & OMEGA / COLORFUL WORLD

Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers are back, and with a sizeable bang in the form of this 4-track thunderbolt. It’s gospel fire meets cosmic funk – wired tight burning analogue heat – as Brandon Delagraentiss, Mariseya and the legendary Rocq-E Harrell deliver vocals that feel less like a feature and more like a summoning. Arp Frique’s signature ARP-driven pulse is everywhere – pushing his blend of disco, gospel and global groove into wilder, sharper territory. It’s the same energy that’s lit up festival stages across Europe and helps make this a strictly no-sitting-down record. It’s sweaty, spiritual and makes you feel alive.

KIBBI GIBBON / FRAGMENTS / STAR CREATURE

Kibbi Gibbon blasts back from the future here with a debut LP that feels like Balearic beach yoga beamed through a busted spacecraft. It finds producer Georgy Whistler, a low-key legend of Germany’s head-nod underground, teaming up with La Bananasenza and sax-whisperer Marco Podobnik to form a band built for horizontal dancing and lunar cocktails. Fragments is boogie-fried and sunset-ready, silky smooth but as sugary and colourful as an old 8-bit video game soundtrack. All 7 tracks are defined by their DX7 haze, Prophet-8 sparkle and Fender-slick funk with Star Creature’s signature cosmic wink. Breezy, spaced-out jazz-boogie for moonlit playfulness. 

MDA GROOVES /  RIOMANTIC / UNIVERSO POSITIVO

No one is exactly quite sure who MDA Grooves is, but what is not in doubt is that 2025 has been their year. The last 12 months have seen them drop a steady stream of seriously good house sounds infused with the colour and soul of various Latin American styles. This latest on Universo Positivo is another one that keeps high summer vibes flowing even as I type this in the creeping darkness of a winter afternoon. ‘Riomantic‘ is wonderfully carefree and breezy in its shuffle, ‘Cristo Rei‘ brings whistles, loon birds and elastic kicks and ‘Caparica Sunset‘ struts into the night with brassy top lines and house grooves that are ready to party. 

MADE / ET HELVETES RABALDER / PAPER RECORDINGS

Paper‘s links to Norway run deep, and this is not MAde‘s first outing on the great label, so we shouldn’t be shocked that it is another winner. ‘Tylen Fra Sande’ leans into `90s techno, with bright, flashy stabs and a stripped back but pounding groove, which Sweden’s Storken then completely rebuilds with live bass as a swaggering deep house cut. MAde’s other original, ‘Spillopper I By’n‘ slows the heart but ups the romance with blissed out downtempo and smudged Erykah Badu samples. Kappekoff closes the package by beefing up the bottom end and setting his sights on a distant galaxy. 

DECLAN MCDERMOTT / DOIN’ IT ALL 4 U / DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

Berlin-by-way-of-Australia newcomer Declan McDermott finds a fitting home on Delusions Of Grandeur for an EP that feels like house music made by someone who actually touches instruments rather than fiddles with settings. ‘Doin It All 4 U‘ is a vocoder-smudged, Rhodes-soaked cruiser with bite in the bass and pain in the vocal hook. Tom Trago slaps it into peak-time shape by adding enough low-end swagger to rattle a Funktion-One, while Lovetempo drags it through a cosmic boogie wormhole as his 808s purr and Moogs glow. Closer ‘Dani‘ flips the script and heads into late-night jazz-house bliss with Luxonous‘ floating sax over a liquid bassline that harks back to early Chicago. Stylish and soulful stuff for those who like the more sensuous end of the spectrum. 

NIGHTSTEPPAZ / GETTING INTO THE GROOVE / VIBE ME TO THE MOON

New York house man Nightsteppaz is starting to pick up the attention he deserves after a run of impeccable releases over several years. This return to Vibe Be To The Moon  offers up a pacey house bump-n-grind with Getting Into The Groove. It’s got an expansive, cosmic scale and underlapping bass that brings the pressure and never lets up. The effect is that you always feel like you’re going higher, especially once the synths arrive and signal a proper take off. UK tech house titan Bushwacka! remixes, layering in some uneasy key refrains that are unresolved and keep you on edge as distant sirens only up the sense of paranoia. Two tracky, useful tools. 

UNKNOWN ARTIST / TRENTSETTER / SHADOW  PRESSINGS

Shadow Pressings draws on Chicago and Detroit flavours for its musical thrills and prefers not to reveal who cooks them up. To the music, then: ‘Trentsetter‘ is a vibe-setter – elastic bass and dusty hi hats are enough to get you locked in as smeared chords inject subtle soul. ‘Unreleased Slices‘ is a busy patchwork of samples – toms, open cymbal hits, dry claps and vocal fragments, all ride off-grid, but coalesce into something weirdly irresistible. ‘Dreamed Up Ecstasy‘ is the definition of stripped back deep house, designed to perfection and raw as you like. ‘Am I‘ is the same but with classic M1 organ and a spoken word that takes it back to the Windy City’s earliest house experiments. Ageless and perfect for true heads. 

FRITS WENTINK / REMIXED / WOLF MUSIC

Dutchman Frits Wentink is a Wolf Music regular who here has 4 of his classic jams reworked. Berlin house favourite Ian Pooley reworks ‘About You‘ into a mid-tempo but heavy house jam awash with sugary chords and jazzy noodles, while also stripping it back with a raw Bonus Beats version. Prince Palmer brings a touch of US garage and ups the brightness with busy chord stabs, while Dominic Oswald‘s melodic touches are much more wispy and zippy. All marry infectious grooves with elegant melodic flair that makes these so much more than standard set fillers.