Review: Out of Australia Andy Hart's Voyage label has been drawing up a new picture of exotic new age and electronic sounds since 2014 with a highlight of releases from Uluru, Albrecht La'Brooy, and most recently Rings Around Saturn. The label now introduces the sweet, sublime and subtle ambient sounds of newcomer Huerta in what could be considered a crowning release of the label so far. This superb debut album presents a swathe of sweet, twinkling synths and mellow undertones of warms pads and smooth leads that dive into an unknown world of wildlife flitted with sketches of house, breakbeats, percussion and tribalistic dub. Take a trip into the undergrowth a new age future music.
Review: There were slim pickings in 2016 for fans of Steve Huerta. After a prolific few years, the Los Angeles-based producer seemed to take a step back, releasing just one 12" single in 12 months. Happily, LK Tapes - his first outing on Brooklyn's Let's Play House - was worth the wait. Rich, melodious, woozy and analogue-rich, its' four loved-up tracks are amongst the producer's best work to date. Highlights are plentiful, from the woozy, sunset-friendly chords, glistening melodies and Larry Heard bottom-end of "LK Tape Track" and hazy, toaster-warm shuffle of "Lindos", to the fuzzy analogue beats, tactile chords and dream house sensibilities of sublime opener "Umbanda".
Review: Steve Huerta's first single for Amadeus, 2014's Apotheke, was widely praised for its' fusion of bumpin' deep house grooves and trippy, tech-tinged sounds. In contrast, Apache Line begins with "Mandala", a breezy, warm and lightly melodious deep house cut that benefits greatly from some intricate synth-work throughout. The deep and musically rich vibe continues on the Kaidi Tatham style broken beat-meets-jazz-funk flex of "EisTee", before Youandewan lends a hand on the bumpin', late night shuffle of "Apache Line". Youandewan gets a chance to go solo, too, completing a fine EP with the deliciously hypnotic, ocean-deep throb of "Yo Endlos".
Review: Germany's Dirt Crew have always put out top quality house and techno over the years, with the likes of Adultnapper and Ricardo Villalobos sprouting up on their catalogue from time to time. However, they're also experts in delivering music by new and interesting talent out there in the field such as this latest collaborative EP by Urulu and Steve Huerta, who between them have seen an impressive run of form over the last few years. If you're into swinging, percussive-fuelled dub house the this is the ticket for you, and these guys mean business when it comes to the dancefloor. We're particularly find of Urulu's "Laura Don't Touch That", a discofried house bomb that just keeps on givin'.
Review: Urulu, previously best known for his work on Exploited, here joins forces with fellow Los Angeles native Steve Huerta for a bumpin' trip into subterranean deep house territory. The EP's one collaborative track, "Things I Didn't Mean", comes on like classic Todd Edwards (circa that remix of St Germain's "Alabama Blues") given a 2013 deep house makeover (think bold basslines, skipping garage drums and cut-up vocal edits). Urulu's woozy "Be There" snakes between the speakers on a wave of distant vocals and lazy analogue drums, while Huerta's "Long Way Home" is decidedly baggy - all R&B vocal samples, warm pads and hazy pianos. A decent package is completed by a tough Revenge rework of "Be There".
Review: Congratulations to Germany's Dirt Crew Recordings, which marks a century of releases with a celebratory volume of the popular Deep Love compilation series. As befits the momentous occasion, the 11 tracks on offer are all exclusive and previously unreleased. Predictably, there's plenty to enjoy, from the dusty, crackly deep house warmth of Felix Leifur's "Feels Like", and classic U.S garage swing of Ponty Mython's "New York, New York", to the sweet, jazz-flecked haziness of Harry Wolfman's "Rainbow Set", and Huerta's dreamy, glassy-eyed Balearic deep house cut, "Blvrd". Throw in fine contributions from big hitters Detroit Swindle, Nachtbraker and The Revenge, and you have an undeniably essential collection.
Review: Waze & Oddysey's W&O Streetracks imprint pulls together the likes of Eliphino, Ejeca, Citizen and XXXY for its first (unmixed) compilation released this Winter, W&O Streettracks Vol 1. Having clocked up eight releases on Street Tracks, it's the ideal time to throw down a milestone and document the sound of the label in one package and W&O Street Tracks does so with panache. The result of Waze & Oddyssey's plunge into their address book is a 12 track compilation that neatly reflects modern house music. Ejeca, Citizen and W&O themselves sit alongside newcomers like Mediman and Sage Caswell while the emergent talents of New Jack City and Eliphino make for a nicely profiled piece of work.
