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: Throne of Blood continues its 16th anniversary celebrations with this tripped out four-tracker. Pleasure Planet's "Sisters" revolves around a resonating bass and tight percussion, with the production duo adding in some spaced out tones and bleeps for good measure. Danse Alice's "Shivers (extended AdLib version)" favours a different approach; led by fuzzy guitars and a doomy groove, it sounds like a paean to Factory Records. Man Power ups the tempo and intensity levels on "We're Not Computers, Sebastian" to deliver an acid-soaked club banger, while Teleseen's "Sacambu" explores a deep house sound while maintaining a scuffled groove and half-heard vocal samples.
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: Gabriel Cyr AKA Teleseen has built his rising reputation on an ability to craft sonically inventive, retro-futurist house tracks that variously incorporate such diverse influences as post-dubstep style UK experimentalism, Batacuda, dub, ambient and new beat. He's at it again on this first outing for Heist Recordings, first combining heavily processed vocal samples and Brazilian percussion with pin-sharp synth riffs and proto-house grooves on 'Exposures', before reaching for more organic drum sounds on the sparkling, sun-baked house positivity of 'Dekalb' and the African juju-goes-electro wonder that it standout 'Transfer'. The latter is dizzyingly good and really rather hard to describe. The EP also boasts a club-ready bonus in the shape of Black Loops' sturdy deep house take on 'Exposures'.
Review: Teleseen aka Gabriel Cyr has been slowly making a name for himself through Brooklyn's Percepts label, a project designed to showcase some of the more minimalistic aspects of dub techno and beyond. His third EP comes on 100% Silk and it's a veritable mashup of genres and styles, influences and moods, something which is made immediately clear from the passage between the jazzed-out samba vibes of "Sombras" and the more contemporary, bass-conscious house of "The Cataract Of Sand". The gear shifts again for "Arenas", a truly bizarre bump n' grind of jacking beats and growling bass lines, but it's "Obsidian Chords" which stands out, as a little masterpiece in subtlety thanks to its convoluted percussion and delicate sampling characteristics. "The Empty Quarter" is also sure to set you panties in a twist but "The Jewel Of Ash" really ties things off with style and panache, leaving us yearning for more beat debaucheries from Teleseen!
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