This weeks house CDs reviewed

LOSOUL

Care Playhouse★★★★

It sounds like Peter Kremeier has come a long way since he enjoyed an unexpected hit with the playful Liesat the start of the decade. Gone are the entertaining call-and-response vocals and infectious grooves, replaced by an effort to return to his underground roots. The change is audible from the outset, on the shuddering, pared-back rhythms of Slightlyand the insistent, acid-drenched Up the Beach, which set an ominous tone. Thankfully, the German producer finds it hard to be serious for too long, and The Lords of Sanitysees him combining the analogue sounds of 1990s US minimalism with a growling bassline, and samples from an Obama speech. He's also conscious of a tendency towards warmer, less mechanical productions, which is echoed in the warm chords of Sunliteand on the mournful 10-minute closer, To Last. He may have become more sensible, but Kremeier still cares deeply about house music.

Download tracks: To Last, The Lords of Sanity, Sunlite