Review: The second volume in Toy Tonics' occasional Jockey Jams series is something of a gift to DJs. Although naturally rooted in deep house, each of the showcased tracks offers something distinctively different. So, while Felipe Gordon's "Rinogal" is an funk-fuelled house bumper built around an elastic, acid-fired synth bassline and trippy late night effects, Metropolitan Soul Museum's "Saab" is a delicate, warm-up friendly fusion of lilting synths, bubbly electronics and the kind of twinkling pianos frequently found on vintage Italian dream house records. The eclecticism continues elsewhere, too, from the Adonis-via-Rimini thrills of Jacky Mingo's wonderfully positive "Brothers Cup", to the jazzy warmth of Black Loops and analogue house bleeps of Jad's "Overpriced Kaiser Chips".
Review: Colombian producer Felipe Gordon rarely fails to impress, as anyone who's checked his releases on Nomada, W&O Street Tracks, Nein and Toy Tonics will attest. It's perhaps not surprising, then, that this outing on Quintessentials is pretty darn tasty, too. It sees him confidently flitting between skewed, sample-rich, jazz-fuelled deepness (see Andres style opener "Su Casa, Mi Casa" and admirably wonky closer "Gangster Fass", which includes some mind-altering vari-speed flourishes) and more forthright cuts. Of these, it's the stripped-back, hip-house boompty of "Arpeggios Extendedos" that most impresses, though the Floating Points-meets-Red Rack'em vibe of "Ella VA" is also alluring.
Review: We've come accustomed to Nein Records delivering a constant stream of psychedelic chuggers that sit somewhere between kosmische, nu-dicso and pitched-down acid. Intriguingly, this rare solo outing from Mercury member Felipe Gordon begins with a chunk of undulating, up-tempo deep house/tech-house fusion, and the EP just gets more intense from there. The metallic "Revolution" is particularly potent, with Gordon dragging the throbbing Munich disco sound of Giorgio Moroder through a collapsing munitions factory. "Nintechno" is a distorted, 8-bit dancefloor thumper, while Losbikini turns opener "El Caracas" into wobbly nu-disco chugger.
Review: Fresh from fine recent outings on Lovedancing and Quintessentials, rising star Felipe Gordon releases his first EP on Toy Tonics, a label he's been loosely affiliated with since contributing a track to a compilation style EP last year. The centrepiece of the EP is clearly "Acid Party at Teusaquillo", a cut that cleverly combines classic deep house elements (woozy chords, spine-tingling pianos) with the jacking rhythms and mind-altering acid lines of early Chicago house. While the track arguably didn't need remixing, we're rather enjoying the deeper, jazzier interpretation from Retrogott and DJ Qualle, not to mention the enveloping warmth of Seb Wildblood's Detroit Techno-meets-deep house rework.
Girl U Don't Know How Beautiful U Actually Are - (7:21) 118 BPM
The Quint Garage - (5:48) 122 BPM
For Those Who Enjoy Being Alone - (5:01) 115 BPM
Review: Since making his first appearance on Quintessentials last year, Felipe Gordon has released even more impressive EPs on Toy Tonics, Exploited Ghetto and Razor 'N' Tape. The Colombian producer is naturally in tip-top form on this return to the long-running German label. He hits the ground running with "Sick Ass Chords", a fine fusion of loose-limbed, jazz-tinged deep house beats, hazy chords, dusty old samples and toasty bass, before getting deeper, woozier and even sweeter on the lolloping goodness of "Girl U Don't Know How Beautiful You Actually Are". "The Quint Garage" is a hazy slab of peak-time deep house warmth, while closing cut "For Those Who Enjoy Being Alone" sees Gordon pepper a shuffling jazz-house groove with sampled piano solos, drowsy electronics and jaunty electronic bass.
Deep Space Orchestra - "Quartley Report" - (6:19) 126 BPM
My Cat Snoop - "Ghetto Child" - (6:28) 124 BPM
Mella Dee - "Franco" - (5:31) 128 BPM
Review: As temperatures in the UK begin to plummet quicker than the leaves falling off the trees, W&O Street Tracks serves up something to warm even the chilliest of dancefloors. Their Autumn Sampler is an all-star affair, featuring four fresh cuts from friends and family. Felippe Gordon impresses with the cut-up, broken house strut of "Rola Frita" - all Syclops style wonky bass and sharply edited vocal samples - before Deep Space Orchestra deliver the thrusting, intergalactic house hustle of "Quarterly Report". Those looking for bombastic weightiness should check the boompty-influenced bounce of My Cat Snoop's "Ghetto Child", while Mella D's "Franco" fixes spacey synthesizer motifs to a surging, floor-friendly drum rhythm.
Review: Another set of Waze & Odyssey's always reliable Street Tracks served up again on their Autumn Sampler. On offer here is Colombian producer Felipe Gordon's deep and bouncy "Rola Frita", Liverpool's Deep Space Orchestra with the hi-tech soul of "Quarterly Report" which follows in the tradition of local legends Stephen Brown or Vince Watson then My Cat Snoop: otherwise known as Brighton's Gregg Ashley, who throws down the tough and gutsy techno stomp of "Ghetto Child" that sounds like a Hot Creations track on steroids. London's Mella Dee closes out the compilation with the early '90's techno zeitgeist of "Franco" complete with a gnarly Reese bassline for good measure.
Review: A fine four-track V/A sampler here from Sleazy McQueen's Lovedancing label. Felipe Gordon and Vagabundo Social Club's 'Basilio' opens proceedings on a deep Afro-tip, pairing garage-y organs with tribal beats, chants and a spoken vocal about colonialism, before Eddie's Stomp Mix gives the track a shot of dancefloor energy, complete with space disco stabs, jazz-funk synths and a new "I got it!" vocal. Sleazy & VSC's 'Chips Y Salsoul' is 70s barrio funk given a 21st Century house makeover, and then finally 'Be There' sits right on the deep house/nu-disco cusp with its soaring strings and vaguely Latin-sounding backbeat.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from Toolroom's "Poolside Ibiza" compilation strand, namely groovy nu-disco, house and laidback Balearic beats inspired by afternoons spent lounging by the water in stonking White Isle heat. Naturally, there are plenty of gems to be found amongst the 40 unmixed tunes selected by chosen DJs Moullinex and Xinobi, from their own collaborative post-punk/dub number "X Marks The Spot", to the slick '80s synth-pop dreaminess of Tensnake's fine remix of Xinobi's "Far Away Place" and the drowsy, Morricone-influenced soundscape weirdness of Simple Symmetry's remix of Moscoman's "I Ran". Throw in some seriously good cuts from Felipe Gordon, Donald Dust, Pin Up Club and Meera (whose carnival-ready boogie jam "Fine Without You" stands out), and you have a fine collection of summery cuts.
Review: Just in case you've forgotten Nomada Records - it has been 18 months since their last release, after all - the Bogata-based imprint has offered up this compilation style reminder of the label's established deep house charms. It's a very impressive - not to mention eclectic - return to action, all told, with highlights including the chopped-and-screwed deep house bump of Jonahlo's "Crudo", the wonky and blazed warmth of 4004's "Part 1, Part 2 and More" (think Rhythm Section International, and you're close) and the hybrid Italo-disco/disco-house/jazz-funk heaviness of Nico Saav's "Can't Do My Thing". We'd also recommend listening to the mid-tempo hip-house brilliance of Felipe Gordon's opener, and the heady, roll-another-fat-one blunted beats of Lucien Magual's "Lluvia".
Review: Some 12 months after we offered lavish praise for its predecessor, volume five in Shir Khan's "Exploited Ghetto Trax" compilation series arrives. As usual, he's selected some absolute bombs from the Exploited catalogue, enthusiastically sprinting between the drowsy deep house warmth of Kotelekk and Zadak's "The Big Feeling", the jazzy peak-time breakbeats of Enduro Disco, the heart-warming disco-house rush of Art LeRock's "When", the late night deep-tech hypnotism of Marcus Meinhardt's Innervisions-esque "House of Beats (Dub)" and the snappy early morning heaviness of Anti-Anti's warehouse-ready "Heat". There are naturally plenty more highlights elsewhere across the set, but for space reasons we can't champion them all. In a word: essential.
Review: It would be fair to say that Toy Tonics releases a lot of "Top Tracks", making this seventh digital-only label sampler a must-have for those who enjoy the twin delights of heartwarming deep house and celebratory contemporary disco. Some of the label's biggest dancefloor hits of recent times naturally make an appearance - see Ray Mang's fabulous remix of Phenomenal Handclap Band's "Judge Not", Pontchartrain's cheery and chiming remix of Felipe Gordon's "Tell Me Something True", Los Amigos Invisibles and Dimitri From Paris's cover of Chaz Jankel classic "Glad To Know You" and COEO's brilliant "Japanese Woman" - alongside some gems that may have passed you by. These include the impeccable deep house of FYI Chris's "Encounters", two brilliant contributions from Kapote and Mangabey's drowsy disco-house number "Just Luv Machine".
