Review: Man (or woman) of mystery Hyenah is the latest DJ to contribute to the digital only Focus on Freerange compilation series. Like previous volumes, this features a selection of unmixed personal favourites from the Freerange Records catalogue, plus a continuous DJ mix. While the mix is entertaining, it's the quality of the unmixed cuts that make this an essential purchase. There's a smattering of deliciously soulful, bleary-eyed deep house treats (Andreas Saag, Swell Session vs Mark De Clive-Lowe), a swathe of chugging, late night tech-house treats (Dixon remixing Jimpster, Manoo remixing compiler Hyenah), and one of the most overlooked reworks of recent times (Genius of Time's fantastic rub of Kyodai's "Mi Rumba").
Review: In a bid to celebrate 16 years in business, Mallorca-based Garito Cade Bar has joined forces with the like-minded souls from Sweden's Local Talk imprint. The result is a collection compiled and mixed by resident DJ Nacho Velasco, featuring both well-known and previously unheard gems from Mad Mats and Tooli's well-loved label. While many people will have some of the better known material here - think Fred Everything's excellent "Brothers & Sisters (PM Atlantic)", HNNY's "Fr The Very Forst Time" and Kyodai's "Something Special" - it's the previously unheard selections that make it Music Joined Us worth investigating. Of these new cuts, it's Tommy Rawson's lusciously loose "7 Days" and Jesse Futerman's smouldering "Life Is A Gamble" - smoky soul re-made as Latin-tinged deep house - that stand out.
Review: Given the runaway success of Mad Mats and Tooli's Local Talk imprint - one of the first labels to go all-out on the '90s garage revival tip - it was probably inevitable that a compilation would appear at some point. Talking House Volume One presents a pleasing selection of label favourites (HNNY's "For The Very First Time", Will Maddams' "Stand In For Love", Gerd's remix of Mateo & Matos' "Maw Basics") and lesser-known gems (Fulbert's brilliantly uplifting "First Time House", Dirtytwo's Mood II Swing tribute "Moody", Andreas Saag's jazzy, string-laden "Back To Life"), with the odd unheard cut thrown in. Taken in context, it's excellent, and touches on many more vintage house and garage strands, whilst remaining current, than many similar releases.
Review: Amazingly, it's been eight long years since the release of Freerange's first Colour Series compilation ("Yellow"). A few things have changed in that time for Jimpster's label, but his commitment to musically rich deep house remains. That's much in evidence here, particularly on the contributions from Andre Lodemann, fast-rising starlet Mic Newman and Jimpster himself (whose woozy "Late Night Blues" is his best for some time). There's also a distinct old skool feel to some of the cuts, with Alexkid's percussive "Class of 95" and Milton Jackson's robust "DS1" offering plenty of vintage US house flavour. The real standout, though, is Arithmetic's' "Time", which sounds like a long lost deep house anthem.
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