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SoundCloud’s 2026 Music Intelligence Report clocked minimal tech house streams up 19% in the US over the past year. Ascending alum Josh Baker is among a group of artists from throughout the UK who are playing a key role in driving the sound’s transatlantic surge. Among these tastemaking acts, though, there’s a real variety of sounds.
The artists that make up this particular scene and community span minimal tech, deep tech and tech house, with some bleeding into garage house and others sitting closer to festival main-stage electronic music. In 2026, minimal tech house is less a genre than it is an umbrella: a useful shorthand for a wave of UK and European producers operating around 125 to 132 BPM, playing at a host of similar venues and club nights (like Ibiza’s DC10 and Amnesia; Manchester’s Warehouse Project and London’s fabric, to name a few) and increasingly sharing a growing, American-based audience.
The sound’s origins reach back to the early ‘90s, when tech house first emerged in London on labels like Wiggle, at club nights such as Heart & Soul, and in the famed Croydon music store Swag Records. Around the same time in Detroit, minimal techno, one of the genre’s other parents, was being created by Robert Hood and Daniel Bell as a stripped-down reaction to rave excess. By the late ‘90s, that minimalism had made its way into house music.
Cologne’s Kompakt Records, Frankfurt’s Perlon, and producers including Ricardo Villalobos, Wolfgang Voigt and Akufen developed microhouse (sometimes also called minimal house), which reduced house to glitchy fragments, chopped vocal stabs and negative space. By the mid-2000s, artists in Bucharest had picked up the torch, stretching microhouse into the longer, more hypnotic Rominimal form (see label [a:rpia:r] and its crew, Raresh, Rhadoo and Petre Inspirescu). Back in London, DJ/producer Enzo Siragusa was moving in another direction, channeling the energy of rave and jungle into his long-lived, pivotal club night FUSE, which would go on to support producers including East End Dubs, Rich NxT and Seb Zito. Elsewhere in the city, a parallel scene was forming around Rinse FM and the UK funky circuit, where DJ Mark Radford was making vocal-led, jazzy, garage-influenced records and struggling to name the sound. He kept describing it as “a cross between deep house and tech.” Deep tech stuck, and his label, Audio Rehab, became its home. A different lineage to FUSE, but the two have ended up under the same “minimal/deep tech” genre tag and on the same DC10 Ibiza lineups.
The clearest way to map today’s scene is across two axes: how vocal a track is, and where it works on a line-up. At the grimy-club end, drums and basslines lead, vocals are chopped or absent, and the goal is groove rather than singalong. Enzo Siragusa’s FUSE camp is a reference point, alongside East End Dubs and Brazilian producer InntRaw, whose “Freak Bugs” cuts closer to the lineage than others that fall under the minimal tech house designation. At the festival end sits the vocal-forward sound: Josh Baker’s collaborations with Omar+ (like “Back It Up”), LIGHTLEAK’s groovy Hottrax cuts like “Shelter (Funky Heroes)” and Rossi.’s recent run, to name a few. Elsewhere in the scene is the deep tech pocket, where jazzy minor chords and 2-step-inflected percussion build on top of the tech house foundation. Amsterdam’s Chris Stussy, Hamburg’s Sidney Charles and Cologne’s Kolter all work in that zone.
The nuance here is that the same scene is producing, on one side, the most commercial face of tech house heard in years (as exemplified by Coachella sets, BBC Radio 1 daytime play and more), and on the other, there’s a self-conscious return to sparser, vinyl-first restraint. Artists meander between the two sides of the coin, so labels are doing a lot of the scene’s curatorial work. Solid Grooves, founded by Michael Bibi and PAWSA in 2015, runs from clubbier minimal cuts to festival-ready hooks, with a long-running Thursday residency at Ibiza’s DC10. EASTENDERZ, run by East End Dubs since 2014, leans minimal and vinyl-first, with releases from Max Dean, Marsolo and ALISHA. Chris Stussy’s Up The Stuss, founded 2020, covers the wider spectrum of groove-led house. Hot Creations, Jamie Jones’s label since 2010, sits in the broader tech house lane, from peak-time bangers to warmer, more melodic territory. And Josh Baker’s You&Me runs from radio-friendly to instrumental club banger.
Dive into this collection of tracks — featuring Jamback, Franky Rizardo, SLAMM, Lola Palmer, AYYBO, Brunello and more — for an introduction to minimal tech house
LISTEN TO THE MINIMAL TECH HOUSE PLAYLIST ON SOUNDCLOUD NOW
Chris Stussy, “Desire”
Dutch DJ/producer Chris Stussy is one of the biggest new names in the tech house scene. His debut album, ‘Lost, Found & Forgotten…’ dropped in April 2026.
East End Dubs, “Rapture”
British DJ/producer East End Dubs runs the celebrated tech house party series and record label Eastenderz.
Sidney Charles, “Carlitos 909”
Known for his groovy style of deep tech, German DJ/producer Sidney Charles gets minimal on this track, taken from a 2025 compilation for ADE.
Kolter, “Gangster Boogie”
As well as releasing on Shall Not Fade and Chris Stussy’s Up The Stuss, Cologne-based Kolter runs his own label, HOOVE. His latest EP is April 2026’s ‘What did you come for?’
Franky Rizardo, “Shinjuku”
Frank Rizardo expands his deep tech grooves on this March 2026 track, which leans on garage organ riffs and a synth line inspired by Japanese lutes.
Josh Baker, Omar+, “Back It Up”
Leaning into pop melodies for massive crossover appeal, Josh Baker and Omar+ dropped this earworm dancefloor track in 2025 on Three Six Zero Recordings. You can learn more about Josh Baker’s artist journey so far in his Ascending feature.
Max Dean, Luke Dean, Locky, “Can’t Decide”
On a more minimal house tip, this triple collaboration between Max Dean, Luke Dean and Locky is a slow-burning club banger.
Rossi., “Don’t Touch That Dial”
Known for his work with Irish dance vocalist and Ascending artist alum Jazzy, Rossi. is an artist to watch in the minimal tech house scene. This January 2025 track was released via his own imprint, Homegrown.
LIGHTLEAK, “Shelter (Funky Heroes)”
California’s LIGHTLEAK was inspired by Amsterdam’s tech house scene, and the pedigree shows on this track for Jamie Jones’ Hottrax. Learn more about LIGHTLEAK through his 2025 Creator Spotlight feature.
Brunello, Connan, “The Clown’s Corridor”
DJ/producer Brunello leads his own label, Mellow Circus Records. His latest EP, ‘Lost In The Mellow Circus,’ dropped on classic house label Nervous Records in November 2025.
SLAMM, Dan Molinari, “P!NK”
Miami-based minimal tech duo SLAMM collaborates with Dan Molinari for this 2025 on CHASEWEST’s Chaste Records.
InntRaw, “Freak Bugs”
Brazilian DJ/producer InntRaw is bringing a fresh perspective on tech house. His latest EP is September 2025’s ‘Raw Cutz Vol. 3.’
Lola Palmer, “Step Forward”
Born in Ukraine and based in the Netherlands, Lola Palmer is a lover of classic house, and it shows on her uplifting tracks. This one dropped on Get Traum in January 2025.
Tomike, “Illusion”
Dublin-born, London-based DJ, producer and vocalist Tomike grew up on soul music, and that spirit comes through on her deep, melodic tracks.
ALISHA, Julian Fijma, “Shake Your Body”
Eastenderz affiliate ALISHA works with Dutch DJ/producer Julian Fijma on this October 2025 track for NeXup Recz.
Dale Howard, “House Mentality (Extended Mix)”
On this track, taken from the March 2026 EP of the same name, British DJ/producer Dale Howard flexes his minimal tech house style.
AYYBO, Discip, “4 Ya Mind”
Coming through the established tech house label Solid Grooves, this September 2025 track from American DJ/producers AYYBO and Discip brings saxophone and catchy vocal chops into the mix.
Discip, “Mind Games”
Miami-based Argentine DJ/producer Discip has been co-signed by heavyweights Marco Carola, Michael Bibi and Jamie Jones.
Kieran Morgan, “I Like It”
British, Paris-based DJ/producer Kieran Morgan brings a hip house influence into this 2024 track on You&Me Records.
Robbie Doherty, “Get Back”
Breakthrough Belfast producer Robbie Doherty dropped this heater on his own Avenu Records label to close out 2025.
Marsolo, “Step By Step”
Dutch DJ/producer Marsolo was championed by Chris Stussy, Enzo Siragusa and Josh Baker after he dropped this breakthrough track in January 2025.
Jamback, “Positive”
Dropping on established house label Circoloco Records, this gritty 2025 banger comes from Dutch artist Jamback.
Flex, “So Fine”
British house act Flex, whose Nate Dogg flip “6 In The Morning” blew up in 2024, just dropped his latest EP, April 2026’s ‘SNK001,’ on the brand new Stiffnekz record label.
SOSA, “Be Without You (Extended Mix)”
A rising name in the UK tech house scene, Liverpool’s SOSA develops his sound on this latest, groovy track.
Annina, “Ma Donna”
La Zic Records dropped this latest track by Annina on their latest installment of the tech house series, ‘ZODIAC CIRCUS III.’