December: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Mike Dunn 'My House From All Angles' (Blackball Muzik)

One of the true originals of Chicago house music, producer and DJ Mike Dunn was a resident at Frankie Knuckles’ Warehouse, and he’s just kept on keeping on ever since. True to the club spirit, Dunn’s career has been based on 12” releases: extraordinarily, his second album, ‘My House From All Angles’, comes some 27 years after his first effort. Almost nothing has changed in the interim: it’s all about drum machine, acid riff, repeated vocal, the odd disco loop – job’s a good ‘un. Kids a third of Dunn’s age go mad trying to create retro house, but he does it effortlessly, because it’s all he’s ever needed to do. After all, it’s not broken, so why bother fixing it? Joe Muggs

7/10

Amp Fiddler 'Amp Dog Knights' (Mahogani Music)

After last year’s underwhelming album of club-focused sounds, Amp Fiddler is back to doing what he does best: serving up sweet soul, feel-good “fonk” (as he calls it) and lush deep house, all littered with his own instrumentation and, variously, buttery or more gritty vocal work. Guests Moodymann, J Dilla and Andres add even more weight to an LP that’s as authentic as they come, and puts the criminally underrated Fiddler on a par with Curtis Mayfield and George Clinton. Cuddly slow jams such as ‘Keep Comin’ sit next to the raw beats of ‘Grandma’s Radio’ and the woozy chords of ‘No Politics.’ The LP’s golden hues, low-slung bass riffs and twinkling melodic richness will soften the heart of anyone. Kristan J Caryl

9/10

Kerri Chandler 'DJ-Kicks' (!K7)

He might be one of deep house’s most enduring names, but Kerri Chandler’s DJ-Kicks release crosses boundaries – musical, temporal and physical. There’s a classic around every corner here: its broad opening sweep takes in opulent, soulful jazz, before T La Rock’s raw, old-school hip hop landmark ‘It’s Yours’ jolts you out of your reverie, ahead of a notch of twinkling disco. Cuts such as James Mason’s ‘Sweet Power Of Your Embrace’ are full of the DNA of deep house; they’re soulful and melodic, but with gritty undertones. Chandler employs a multitude of weapons throughout, and the ensuing experience is like a Sunday morning stroll through New York City; you can almost touch the skyscrapers. Stephen Worthy

7/10

AK/DK 'Patterns Harmonics' (Little Miss Echo)

The wild drum-and-synth live attack of British duo AK/DK has earnt them a rabid following. Their second album, ‘Patterns Harmonics’, captures that buzz in the recording studio: sitting between Public Service Broadcasting and lost Mute outfit Add N To (X), their sound is punky, retro-electronic and seriously pop. Tracks such as the self-explanatory ‘Disco(n)tent’ and stomping ‘Words For Sale’ are catchy as hell, while the boundless energy of ‘Atomic DNA’ and single ‘Morphology’ are equally effective. There are quieter moments – most notably the two ‘Modulaargh’ instrumentals – but, for the most part, ‘Patterns Harmonics’ blows the listener away through the sheer pizzazz of its imagination. Thomas H Green

8/10

Playgroup 'Previously Unreleased Vol 2' (Yes Wave)

Trevor Jackson’s work-rate around the turn of the millennium was, quite frankly, terrifying: as well as being an influential designer, he made loads of the era’s defining tunes, linking the saucy synth action of electroclash with hip hop, dub, post-punk, mutant disco and more uncategorisable sounds. This new compilation now brings us up to a total of 50 previously unreleased tracks from that period, and by all accounts there’s more still hidden in the archive. Even more boggling, these 20 are relentlessly brilliant: a collection of the absolute best sort of backstreet, small-club, lights-down-low sleazy experimentalism you could ever hope to hear. Make sure you cop it right this instant, without further delay. Joe Muggs

9/10

Damiano von Erckert 'In Case You Don’t Know What To Play' (AVA.)

Damiano von Erckert’s fourth LP in as many years encompasses everything he’s done before and then some, with its 10 impeccable genre studies all tied together with his trademark loose style. Kicking off with clacking hip hop and swirling vocal samples, it pays tribute to his unnamed hero (Moodymann, obviously), then dips into pulsing, spacey techno. Betraying his passion for record collecting, there are a couple of earthy and drum-led African beats, some Rhodes-laced funk jams and many different types of house, from party-starting and piano-laced to deep and romantic. Ultimately, this album is a joy-filled treasure trove for both DJs and dancers. Kristan J Caryl

8/10

Jori Hulkkonen 'Don’t Believe In Happiness' (My Favorite Robot)

Jori Hulkkonen is one of dance music’s hardy perennials. The Finnish producer has explored many styles over many albums, from house to electroclash. His new outing combines an occasional dancefloor pulse with floaty, ambient ballads such as ‘New Ideologies’ and the poppy title track, which bears a passing resemblance to Bryan Ferry’s more electronic solo fare. Elsewhere, Hulkkonen embraces a sci-fi electro feel for ‘I Am the Night’, and gently trips onto the dancefloor with ‘Tintan Terdel’ and the lush, bubbling ‘Sometimes You Win, But Not very Often’. The album is a warm and welcoming sound bath; it may not be a groundbreaker, but it’s pleasing to the ear. Thomas H Green

7/10

Andrew Hung 'Realisationship' (Lex Records)

Andrew Hung has moved as far away from his Fuck Buttons roots as is possibly imaginable. Once immersed in the nebulous electronic noise of the duo’s respective outside projects – Hung’s Dawn Hunger and bandmate Ben Power’s Blanck Mass – those two offshoots peaked with being featured in the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. Hung’s new undertaking, however, is something else entirely: recorded and produced by himself, it’s a bizarre turn into wobbly indie rock. Reminiscent of a clumsier kind of guitar-drums-bass (plus synths) arrangement, the only remnant of Hung’s Fuck Buttons days is the privileging of drums in the mix. The rest of this unexpected foray is a trip into a post-punk and synth-pop past that needs no repeating. Steph Kretowicz

5/10

Anja Schneider 'SoMe' (Sous)

Anja Schneider’s first album in nine years (and also her first since leaving Mobilee) is a seamless, soulful blend of underground house and techno. The album’s biggest track – the rave piano-pounding ‘All I See’ – looks destined to be a huge club anthem this winter, while the richly melodic ‘Sanctuary’ featuring bearded Stereo MC Rob Birch is another standout cut, with barbed lyrics and a deft, bubbling techno underbelly. A clutch of on-point club missiles then take the album home, before it finishes on a Massive Attack-like moment of haze and clarity. Only the trumpet-fuelled d’n’b interlude ‘WMF’ sounds a little bit out of place, but that’s just a minor quibble: ‘SoMe’ is a pertinent reminder that there’s still beauty in idiosyncrasy. Ralph Moore

8/10

Galcher Lustwerk 'Dark Bliss' (White Material)

Galcher alerted press to his debut album just days before he uploaded it to Bandcamp – a characteristically low-key move from an artist who seems uncomfortable with the cult stardom he’s fostered ever since he released that production mix in 2013. Whether he likes it or not, an LP (eight tracks, in this case) from one of this decade’s best deep house producers is a big deal, and fans will be gagging for what he’s served up on ‘Dark Bliss’: steady cruisin’ kicks, delicious pads and smoky lyrics that tell of the different shades of romance found in long nights and bright mornings. It’s duskier and less optimistic (“I’ve got a red rose and I’m a throw it in the trash”) than previous productions, but classic Lustwerk all the same. Seb Wheeler

7/10