"Thank god that minimal has kind of worn off. I was totally not a fan." It's easy to get Steffi worked up. Mention a producer she's fond of, a track's dance floor impact or perhaps the ("tasteless") minimal trend of mid '00s, and her dry Dutch tone acquires a hitherto unfound level of earnestness.

The words "Panorama Bar" get the same response. She's more than happy to talk about the initial hook-up that led to a beloved residency at the famed club. It was thanks in no small part to the long-standing DJ nd_baumecker, who extended an invitation to Steffi to audition a mix for the club's bosses. Although she felt the recording didn't hit home with them instantly, the club offered her a spot, leading to—after repeat return invitations—a quarterly, and then monthly, residency.

The less often discussed, but no less important, facet of the Steffi story is the Klakson label, which she runs in collaboration with Dutch producer Dexter. Housing the likes of Art Bleek, Fastgraph, Duplex and Putsch '79 since its inception back in 2000, the imprint has become synonymous with a sort of free-spirited eclecticism that takes its roots in Steffi's thoughtful, and broad-ranging sets.

In conversation, Steffi's relief at "the return of more authentic house music" is palpable. After all, DJs such as her may very well feel like cats that got the cream right now. A resurgent house scene has cast a fresh light on those selectors (Sneak, Theo Parrish, Pépé Bradock) who stuck to their guns and their sound during a decade which was most notable for its initially electro—and later reductionist—influences. So did Steffi ever become the victim of an enforced trend during those times? "No. I never did it. Never ever."

Jacob Korn - Supakrank [Dolly]

This is the first record on my new label and I selected it because it's just finished, I got the white labels today. I am very happy to work with Jacob on the first release. I met him through a friend of mine who said that I should really check out this guy because he is a really interesting guy and does good music. So I've been working on this release with him for quite a while because he sent me so many tracks, and I couldn't really work out which one I was going to put out. I don't think a label necessarily has to have a (big) name, because people are influenced by names far too much. I always find it very interesting to come up with something new, and if it hits me in my heart then it's good.

Mesak - Dadawheel [Klakson]

This is his fourth 12-inch taken for Klakson and is taken off the forthcoming album that we are going to release on digital only. He is one half of Mr. Velcro Fastener, the electro duo from Finland. Dexter was a big fan of his work and asked him [to work with them]. He said he couldn't do any Velcro stuff for us, but he would love to do some solo stuff. He sent us tons of tracks, and as a solo artist he turned out to be a very, very good producer. He makes really beautiful electronic music, like deep electro, and more... kind of like Warp stuff. It was exactly what we needed. So we started to work with him straight away. I think he was the fourth release on Klakson, so he has always been a part of us, and then we just kept him on. I think he is an amazing guy.

Tevo Howard - Passion Sound [Beautiful Granville Records]

I am an extremely big fan of his work and his label. I missed the first release —the Poppa Howard thing—and someone gave me the second release and I was like, "Oh my god—what is this?" There is a big old school touch to it, but it is also very now. It's very stripped down emotional, melancholic kind of stuff, and that is exactly what I'm into. Everything he does on his label I find it touches me so deep. You really need to time when you drop one of his records in your set because not everybody gets it straight away because it's not an easy record. But once you drop it at the right time, and it hits you back on the big sound system, it kind of knocks me over straight away; you have to pick yourself up from the floor. It's so full on what he does.

John Daly - Aurora [IRR]

Everything that John does works for me. I asked him the other day if he had ever made a bad record. I think John in the last three years is one of the biggest newcomers in the range of deep house and disco. I find what he does amazing. Every production is so well worked out. It has such a big tripping flow. I played with him in Ireland as well and I'm just really infatuated with his sound, and the way he comes across, and what he's doing. It's so nice to have producers around that actually care about deep music. It's also a challenge to play this on the dance floor. It has a banging beat and an easy bass line that people understand, but it has a lot of strings in it. It immediately goes a lot deeper when a producer uses a lot of strings so it's also about timing.

Rhythm Based Lovers - Boogie Vision/Snow Drift [Future Times]

I find this a really interesting project. I think it's Steve Summers who also did a release for the new Clone series. It's a really interesting mix between Chicago and old school electro funk, and there is a bit of a disco influence as well. There is a lot of piano lines and riffs in there, and little baselines that makes it a bit more leftfield than normal Chicago music. It's a very slow track and it has an almost kind of naïve piano melody in it. It's a really slow record but it really stands out straight away. If you pick these things up in a record shop and it's only a 7-inch, I'm always interested in these kind of gadgets, and then you start to search... as a vinyl freak you need to know what else is available. It's this music that you throw in when no one is expecting it.

Still Going - Untitled Love [DFA]

[This is a] very nice vocal; an almost cheesy kind of love song basically. I have been always following DFA because it's one of the last labels that represent a lot of pop music and there's always something good going on. I don't like everything that comes out DFA but they are always surprising you with something interesting. The first Still Going was a nice piano house track which I liked, and then this one came out and I listened to the long side, which was OK. Then I turned it around and there was this beautiful pop song, which was really nice, and exactly what I needed. I love vocals and this is such a romantic type of records. There is nothing wrong with a slower record at the end of the night.

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 (Theo Parrish remix) [DFA]

This was a very big bang in my living room. I spoke to ND (Baumecker) and he said he had new stuff that had been sent over as a promo, and he said that there's Theo Parish, LCD Soundsystem remix, which I thought was an interesting combination. He played it and I thought 'Oh my god.' The way the vocal comes in... it's really slow and there's this MPC kicking, dirty sound which is what he is well known for. I thought "Fuck, this must be a reason to rebook him at Panorama Bar." There are quite a few guys who remix LCD Soundsystem but they always stay in the poppy field. They either come up with a new bass line or make it slightly more polished but he just completely just takes it over to the other side and makes it dirty.

Lucretio - Where You [Restoration Records]

It's an amazing record. It's a guy who is a friend of mine, and another guy who runs Restoration Records. I didn't really know anything about the label, but when I met him he gave me a pile of Restoration records which just remind of old... raw up-tempo electro or Detroit techno. Everything is analogue. They record everything in one take and that's it, which is amazing. It's just a kick and a snare but it's really dirty, pumping, rough and that's basically what is so attractive for me. It's got this edgy Detroit kind of rocking vibe. It's just a live jam of someone who has a big feel for good raw dance music. Not many people know about the label. These guys don't sell a lot, but the stuff that is coming out is really sick.

NUfrequency feat. Ben Onono - Fallen Hero (MCDE mix) [Rebirth]

I wanted to pick this out because find him (MCDE) one of the best newcomers of last year. I think MCDE is pretty funky for a German guy! The stuff that he's being doing lately and his projects he's been remixing... it's all just very warm and very funky and has a cool disco vibe. This remix has an African kind of percussion. Usually he does more banging stuff but on this one he really holds it down. This track has a lot of integrity also because of the vocal and I'm just really amazed to see a guy like this because about 85% of what this guy brings out is just really good stuff and always worth checking out and I wanted to highlight him because I think he is very important—for Germany as well—(for) trying to get rid of that minimal thing.

Levon Vincent - Medium Is The Message [Novel Sound]

If you listen to his records it's not necessarily so retro but he brings something very powerful back onto the dance floor. The way he uses his chords: it makes noise. It's got power and it's got balls and it just brings back that rough, edgy sound. I'm really happy to see this coming out of America. They (the UQ crew) definitely bring a new kind of vibe into house music. Again, it's an old school touch – the way they use percussion. They might use a rim shot that we have heard before, but with the combination of drums and chords they have invented a totally new kind of Chicago. You can see the different kind moves on the dance floor. You can see the people coming back and dancing and bringing the boogie back in. I think that warmth, sexuality and funk are three aspects that are very important to bring back on the dance floor and this music has them all.