Kyodai

Played by: Juno Recommends Funky House

Review: Local Talk has always been good at offering up themed compilations showcasing different aspects of the label's output. The latest, as the title suggests, offers up some seriously good nuggets - mostly made in recent times - that draw huge inspiration from house music of the 1990s. There's much to admire throughout the 12 tracks on show, from the undulating TB-303 bass, sparkling piano motifs and glassy-eyed pads of Deymare's '1990' and Gerd's terrific 'Deep Mix' of Mateo & Matos's Masters at Work tribute 'Maw Basics', to the organ-rich roll of Terrence Parker's 'Unconditional' and the breakbeat-driven deep house funkiness of Kiko Navarro's 'Dope High'. Kyodai's 'Breaking (90s Dub)', a mid-90s NYC meets New Jersey style gem, and S3A's breathless 'Sleepness 909', are also superb.

Played by: Black Pomade

Played by: Juno Recommends Funky House

Review: For the latest release on their fast-rising Redolent imprint, DJ Chus and La Santa welcome the first-time musical tag team of Kyodai (a Spanish duo based in Berlin with many releases on Local Talk and Freerange to their name) and relative newcomer Osaba. In its original form, 'Aguita Sala' is a gloriously sun-soaked, timeless sounding sonic treat, with the trio effortlessly joining the dots between wide-eyed, flamenco-tinged Balearic builds, retro-futurist house grooves and the huggable, melody-rich warmth of Mediterranean deep house. It comes backed with a wealth of memorable remixes, with our picks including the sparkling and kaleidoscopic Afro-house meets Latin house brilliance of Kiko Navarro's version and the Balearic house gorgeousness of sometime Sonar Kollectiv and Music For Dreams contributor Be.Lanuit's EP-closing rework.

Played by: Vincent Inc, Juno Recommends Deep House, Fred Everything, Dave Mathmos

Review: Not content with delivering some of the most inspired original productions of the year (see his EPs on Shall Not Fade for starters), jazz-funk loving deep house star Felipe Gordon has now decided to showcase his talents as a remixer. He begins his first Reworks EP for Local Talk by taking on Kyodai's 'Breaking', delivering a fine revision that adds rubbery bass guitar, tight organ stabs, short vocal snippets and waves of delay-laden jazz piano solos to a rolling deep house groove. Gordon veers deeper into jazz-house territory on the accompanying remix of Fish Go Deep's 'Off Script', making the most of snaking clarinet and sax lines, sparkling synth stabs and a quality broken house beat. In a word: superb.

Played by: Juno Download, Tooli (Local Talk / Omena / 18437)

Review: Having released a debut album in 2017 via the GAMM label, Riddim Research Lab reveals itself again as some kind of enigmatic dub tribe with a curveball release finding its way to Swedish label Local Talk. This we can assume comes through Berlin duo Kyodai - who have collaborated with the likes of Basic Soul Unit, Mule Musiq, Freerange and Local Talk before. Together the pair deliver a largely instrumental number, strummed and dubbed out by warmer reggae vibes, a touch of disco and that tropicana flavour oozing from those sweet splashes of space echo and guitar. Get yer dubs, Local Talk.

Played by: Juno Recommends Minimal Tech

Review: Legendary German imprint Poker Flat continues into 2021 with the latest in their B Sides compilation series. As it says on the tin, Chapter Six presents the best of their back catalogue between releases numbered 126 to 150 - which were around 2012 - 2013. Starting off with label boss Steve Bug's 'Tell Me Why" taken from his album Noir, Alex Niggemann's expressive piece of mood music entitled 'Tangram" (The Deep End) from back in 2013, the sexy late night shuffle of Mihai Popoviciu's "Here", Carlos Sanchez getting deep down and dirty on the afterhours bounce of "Conclution", Hamburg heroes Kollektiv Turmstrasse lending a typically emotive and bittersweet vibe to their rework of Daniel Dexter's "Birds" and who could forget the low slung swagger of "Facebook" by Diynamic chief HOSH.

Played by: Juno Recommends Minimal Tech

Review: The Poker Flat filter sifts through its immense catalogue to pull up a fresh new 'best of' chapter. Tracks come Boris Dlugosch, Marco Resmann and Steve Bug to Vince Watson, TJ Kong and Alex Niggemann all deliver the goods, be burning italo basslines, techier dub techno and 80s synth to percussive melodies and other minimal actions. Simon Garcia goes deeper into tripper arpeggio mode with "Cavern" while the words of Theo Parrish feature in the Juno-106 house sounds of "Lectures". Get some extended minimal players from Mihai Popoviciu in "Call Me", with Detroit and Chichagoan sounds further permeating the compilation in "My Side". Dope.

Played by: Franky Rizardo

Review: Ten years of tech house powerhouse Exploited's exploits - pardon the pun! A born and bred Berliner, Shir Khan started the label in his home city in 2007. The imprint now plays host to a who's who in the current tech-house climate - including Adana Twins, Doctor Dru, Claptone, Joyce Muniz, Urulu and Cocolores to name a few. Its artists have been receiving full support from tastemakers such as Pete Tong, Soul Clap, Wolf & Lamb and Kraak & Smaak. All the usual suspects appear here: many golden oldies and even some newbie surprises too - perfect for the Christmas season and to forecast trends moving forward into 2018. To prove their relevance, they've served up a whopper of a compilation: over five dozen tracks showcasing their illustrious discography. We are certain that these are timeless grooves and will prove to be just as relevant another decade.

Some of these go as far back as 2009! Take for instance Malente & Dex feat. Analogik's "Gipsy Kings" which homed in that whole loopy latin house trend - popularised by similar tunes like "We No Speak Americano". Swedish electro house dons Zoo Brazil appear as well, with their 2012 dancefloor hit "Rock The House", then get deep and slinky with Moodymanc's 2013 sleeper hit "Joy" (Ralph Lawson Dub). They were even doing jazzy/dusty deep house as far back as 2011, like on Homework's "Whipped Cream". Remember Serge Santiago's remix of Murphy Jax's "Let's Get To It" featuring the inimitable Mike Dunn? It's here!

But when best describing the label's success thus far, we'd have to give honorable mentions to the true staples of the label. The legendary Chicagoan James Curd (formerly one half of the Greenskeepers) has kept on going from his new home of Adelaide, Australia and served up some of his best work in years. The emotive and bittersweet "Forever My Friend" is just one example. Likewise, Belgium's Compuphonic appears several times also - his recent hit from earlier this year "Metropolis" appears in all its soulful and evocative glory. Here's to another 10 guys, cheers!

Review: As the title suggests, Local Talk's latest compilation showcases some of the best remixes and alternate versions nestling in the Swedish label's bulging archives. A quick glance at the track listing confirms the presence of some serious studio talent, with Atjazz, Kai Alice and Kaytronik amongst those supplying superb re-rubs in their own distinct styles. Highlights include, but are not limited to, Alexader Lay-Far's bustling and fuzzy rework of his own collaboration with Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris ("Slope"), Glenn Underground's wonderfully positive and musically expansive deep house rub of Kiko Navarro's "Nea Kemeni" and Basic Soul Unit's thrillingly stab-heavy "Basement remix" of Kyodai's "Moving" - a prime slice of early morning sleaze that's been a little overlooked since it appeared a few years back.

Review: Since first pricking our consciousness six years ago, Kyodai has delivered a string of fine EPs for the likes of Freerange, Poker Flat, Mule Musiq and, most regularly, Local Talk. "The Clone" marks the Berlin-based twins first appearance on Exploited since 2014. It's something of a winner, with ear-pleasing piano riffs, elongated synth-strings and a TB-303 acid bassline wrapping themselves around crunchy, club-ready beats. As usual, there's clear progression throughout the track - a couple of breakdowns, new elements that drop in the second half of the track to emphasize its floor-filling potential etc. - and unfussy production that doesn't strive too hard to be clever.

Review: Since first pricking our consciousness six years ago, Kyodai has delivered a string of fine EPs for the likes of Freerange, Poker Flat, Mule Musiq and, most regularly, Local Talk. "The Clone" marks the Berlin-based twins first appearance on Exploited since 2014. It's something of a winner, with ear-pleasing piano riffs, elongated synth-strings and a TB-303 acid bassline wrapping themselves around crunchy, club-ready beats. As usual, there's clear progression throughout the track - a couple of breakdowns, new elements that drop in the second half of the track to emphasize its floor-filling potential etc. - and unfussy production that doesn't strive too hard to be clever.

Played by: Ben Pearce

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").

Played by: Lovebirds, Simon Mills (Bent/Napoleon), Djs: Most Charted - Deep House, Till Von Sein, Nachtbraker, Meggy, Larse

Played by: Alkalino, Juno Recommends Minimal Tech, Vhyce

Review: Starting out as a digital-only label before blossoming into the distinguished operation it is today, Audiojack's Gruuv label has been host to high-end work from names both familiar and unfamiliar over the years. In celebrating five years of sterling operation, the imprint hits volume three of its festivities with another killer selection of artists on offer. Oxia and Yannick Baudino team up for the plush, steady-rolling tech house funk of "Simple Life", while A1 Bassline brings a bouncy, tom-infused swinger to bear with the addictive "Hold". Tuff City Kids have their unabashed old skool hat on for the hooky chord stabs and breakbeat chops of "Taddler", and Kyodai mixes things up with a broken beat twist on euphoric deep house music.

Played by: Jazzawesz, OPOLOPO

Played by: Steve Lawler, Resident Advisor, Kyodai, Fedde Le Grand

Played by: Kisk, Dirtytwo, Juno Recommends Deep House, Tom (Shur-I-Kan) Szirtes, Kraak & Smaak DJs, Majora, Adam Moss, Kyodai, CHEZZ, Jazzawesz, Mark Knight

Review: Johan Cederberg, or otherwise known as HNNY (and strictly pronounced "honey"!), is Sweden's new house don and he's been at the forefront of Local Talk's impressive run of form as of late. For this latest release, Local Talk has put together nine edits by the man himself, all loosely based around the old-school Chicago house sound. You got slick, modernised edits of none other than Dj Steak, DJ Duke, Purple Velvet and Lee Webster, among others. In a nutshell, this is simply a bundle of great dance floor tracks, effective as either DJ tools or as stand-alone songs. Large up!

Played by: Kerem Akdag

Review: For those who lack the time and willpower to keep track of Local Talk's frenetic release schedule, the popular deep house label's Talking House series is something of a lifesaver. Like its' predecessors, this fourth installment was compiled by label bosses Mad Mats and Tooli, and gathers together 13 more highlights from their rapidly-expanding catalogue. Naturally, highlights come thick and fast, from the hip-hop meets classic deep house flex of Zoe Zoe's "Bust Them Wifes" and the classic Balearic house revivalism of Luke Solomon's "Lost Channels (Live Piano Version)", to the hustling percussion hits and constantly-rising electronics of Kyodai's "Konbanwa" and the delicious jazz-house bounce of Moodymanc's "Morning".

Played by: Le Hutin

Played by: Dave Lee ZR, Aashton, Freddy Love, HWah, BRENDON P, Usurp

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.

Played by: Aashton, Bassline Romance, Juno Recommends Deep House, Weedyman, Djs: Most Charted - Deep House, HWah, Kyodai, Usurp, Kerem Akdag

Review: As sure as night follows day, there will be at least one Kyodai release a year on Local Talk. Konbanwa is the Berlin-based Garayalde Oses brothers' third EP for the Swedish house imprint in as many years. The title track is particularly potent. Impressively, it chugs along in a foreboding manner - think tough, late night deep house with growling electronics - before breaking down into a piano-laden middle section that will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. It's then a piano-laden darkroom sprint to the finish. "So Special", meanwhile, brilliantly laces vocal samples from an NYC Peech Boys' Larry Levan-produced '80s disco classic over a chunky, rolling, classic-sounding US house groove.

Played by: Kyodai, Boean

Played by: Phonetica, Leyo, Pezzner, Santi Touch, Rundom Uolk, AFMB, Tim Vita & Oliver Gehrma

Review: Few deep house labels are quite as consistent as Germany's Room With A View. There's little in the way of following fads, either, just a desire to release high quality deep house from a range of established and little-known artists. This fourth label compilation more than proves our point. Across the 20 tracks, there's little ill-advised filler, just tracks full of seductive grooves and melodic positivity. Predictably, highlights are plentiful, from the hypnotic throb of Taron Trekka's "NennDas" and the joyous, piano-laden blast of Roberto Rodriguez's "Sixth Non Sense", to the spine-tingling soundscapes of Sahin Meyer's "Zulu Beer" and electrofunk-meets-piano house flex of Marlow's "Need U".