Review: Having previously released 10th anniversary 'best of' and 'hidden gems' collections, Heist Recordings' founders Dam Swindle complete the trilogy via a well-curated set of remixes from the label's bulging archives. Our picks of a very strong bunch include Cinthie's nostalgic, solo-laden piano house rework of Dam Swindle's 'Call of the Wild' (featuring Jungle By Night), Kush Jones' ultra-deep hybrid house/garage rub of Byron The Aquarius's 'I Love Yo', a deliciously off-kilter and drum-machine driven re-make of Adriyano courtesy of Jamie 3:26, and a typically epic, lusciously loved-up Prins Thomas 'Diskomiks' of Dam Swindle and Jitwam's 'Coffee in the Morning'. Throw in sublime reworks by Kai Alce, Dj Boring, Kassian and Alma Negra, and you have a genuinely must-have compilation.
Review: As part of Heist Recordings' ongoing 10th birthday celebrations, label founders Dam Swindle have decided to showcase some of the 'Hidden Gems' lurking in the imprint's back catalogue. It's a smart move, because there's plenty of high-grade dancefloor heat to be found across the 15 under-celebrated tracks on show. For proof, check the squelchy synth-bass, rushing piano riffs and classic house vibes of Fouk's 'Truffles', the gorgeous sci-fi techno melodiousness of Lord of the Samurai's 'Space Designer', the sun-splashed, jazz-flecked excellence of Crackazat's 'We Know', the low-slung, drum machine driven headiness of Adesse Versions' 'Push It Along' and the drowsy, soul-flecked late-night deepness pf Marina Trench and Sabrina Bellaouel's 'Wake Up'.
Review: The release of the latest volume of 'The Round Up' - an EP in which Heist Recordings contributors remix each other - has become an annual institution. 2023's edition - the ninth in the series to date - is naturally an impressive, all-action affair. Label bosses Dam Swindle kick things off by turning Crackazat's inherently jazzy 'Demucha' into a glossy, funk-fuelled disco-house roller, before Byron The Aquarius adds a gently glassy-eyed, dreamy tinged to that duo's 'Good Woman'. Crazkazat joins the dots between string-laden disco-house and classy US style deep house on his take on Orlando Voorn's 'Be With You', while Voorn delivers a breathless, electro-goes-techno-funk tweak on Makez's 'La Grand Folie'. Elsewhere, Nebraska shuffles his way through an attractive, soul-flecked revision of Nebraska, and Makez delivers a fizzing, hands-aloft techno rework of Nebraska.
Review: While there's plenty of subtle variation within the now vast catalogue of Nebraska, by and large you know you're getting good quality deep house. Naturally that's what's on offer on the producer's latest Heist Recordings outlet, which sees him confidently skip between interestingly programmed, pleasingly inventive vocal deep house jazziness ('Chant De Oisseuax', which its twinkling Fender Rhodes flourishes, enveloping chords and French vocals), jaunty dancefloor joyousness (the retro-futurism of 'Skelp Tune'), string-laden disco-house cheeriness ('Cop Show'), and percussively dense but surprisingly breezy brilliance (the hard-to-describe but undeniably fine 'Henri Rousseau').
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from Heist Recordings' annual Round Up releases - label artists remixing each other, basically - so we'll crack on and talk about the music on offer. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, with our picks including Alma Negra's deliciously percussive and groovy take on Scan 7's gospel-tinged Motor City gem 'All For Me', Scan 7's breezy, Latin-tinged Detroit house revision of Crackazat's 'Class One', Crackazat's Ethio-jazz-goes-sunshine house rework of Alma Negra's 'Dakar Disco', and Kassian's driving, warehouse-ready remix of Nebraska's 'Dip & Flip', which makes great use of thumping beats, undulating electronics and a seriously dirty analogue bassline. As the old saying goes, this seventh volume in The Round Up series really is "all killer, no filler".
Review: Although he delivered two editions of his ongoing, vinyl only "Disco Dubs" re-edit series on Friends & Relations, 2019 was a relatively quiet year for Alistair Gibbs AKA Nebraska. Here he begins 2020 in fine style with his first EP for Heist Recordings in almost three years. Title track "Y'Miss Me Baby" delivers a suitably strong start and see Gibbbs wrap twinkling lead lines, rich electric piano chords, talkbox vocals and P-funk synths around a hazy jazz-funk bassline and unfussy dancefloor drums. Giovanni Damico riffs on the jazz-funk and P-funk influences further on his instrumental boogie style "Jam remix". Elsewhere, "Dip & Flip" is an all-action, filter-heavy disco-house loop jam, while "Xiao Long Bao" is a warm, deep, humid and undeniably jazzy sample-house roller tailor made for sunny afternoons.
Dam Swindle - "Can't Hold It" (Nachtbraker Swing) - (6:27) 126 BPM
Review: Predictably, the latest volume in Heist's Roundup series, in which label artists remix each other's tracks, is another must-heave collection of club cuts. Check, for example, Fouk's tasty interpretation of Nachtbraker's "Hamdi" - a glorious fusion of rubbery disco, sparkling electrofunk and percussion-laden deep house - the Afro-fired Alma Negra deep house remix of Nebraska's "Big Plate Chicken" and the toasty peak-time warmth of the latter's fine revision of Fouk's "With Lasers". Elsewhere, label bosses Detroit Swindle deliver a lusciously loved-up and melodious, peak-time take on Parker Madicine's "Heartbreaker" and Nachtbraker turns the Swindlers' "Can't Hold It" into a dub-fired chunk of hot-stepping deep house goodness.
Review: Heist Recordings brings down the curtain on another successful year with their now traditional Roundup release, an expansive EP featuring "family remixes" of material released over the previous 12 months. As usual, there's much to enjoy, from the cheery, disco-tinged goodtime bump of Detroit Swindle's rework of Obas Nenoor's "Wakee", to Frits Wentink's jazzy, lo-fi, swinging deep house remake of Detroit Swindle's "Future Imperfect". Other highlights include a skuzzy, acid-fired interpretation of Nebraska's "It Won't Be Long" by Nachtbraker, and Nebraska's sunny, jammed-out fix-up of Frits Wentink's "Rising Sun, Falling Coconut". Best of all, though, is Ouer's remix of Nachtbraker's "Pollo Con Pollo", which boasts twinkling electric piano solos riding a thrusting analogue bassline and breezy disco guitars.
Review: Nebraska has been a busy boy of late, delivering killer material on both Mister Saturday Night and Delusions of Grandeur. Here he dons his favourite balaclava and joins Detroit Swindle's Heist. He begins with the groovy, loose and low-slung disco-house bump of "Khan's Bargain", which is also brilliantly remixed by obscure boogie specialist Tom Noble. The tempo increases dramatically on the wide-eyed deep house sprint of "The Blues", before Nebraska enhances his Balearic house credentials thanks to the blissful synthesizer arpeggio lines and swirling chords of "It Won't Be Long". The spacey, string-drenched shuffle of "Varkala" draws a fine EP to a close.
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