Ama Recordings is the label Mannheim’s Ray Okpara has been running since 2010 and for its 15th outing turns to Nekes and Steve Cock for five tracks of irresistible tech house. Nekes is the Greek born boss of Oslo, another tech house label known for its consistently engaging output, and the label where he has released most of his music to date. The Germany based producer’s first cut, ‘Thank You Neighbour’ is a rolling steely cut with tightly locked beats and bass, an involving electronic pulse at its heart and the sort of clipped groove that it is impossible to ignore. ‘Donmakoto’ is a slightly slower, deeper, warmer affair with low down bass, rubbery kicks and hooky little percussive wiggles that bring plenty of dynamic movement to the loopy drums below. Buyers of a digital persuasion will also get treated to digi-only bonus ‘Dagles’, a dubbed out roller with sonorous chords and stripped back design that really weaves its way under your skin. Steve Cock is another German producer with a reputation for crafting fine dancefloor bombs. They have come on labels like Cargo Edition and Avida Musik before now and manage to embody influences from a much wider musical sphere. Cock’s first jam is ‘Cycles’, which indeed rotates in catchy little circles, where flappy kicks under pin shimmying percussive patterns and various other loops drop in and out to hypnotic effect. Completing his brace of contributions is ‘Black Soul’, which rattles and rumbles as a non-descript male vocal mutters up top. It’s slowly building stuff that builds and builds the tension, eventually releasing it with some lush and liquid jazzy chords. It’s feel good stuff that demands to be played on a terrace under warm sun. With this EP Ray Okpara’s label re-establishes high quality levels for the tech house genre and reminds us just how essential a genre it is when done properly.