Review: UK producer Oliver Malin, AKA Romaal Kultan, serves up four forward-thinking deep house cuts for YAM Recordings. 'Isit' sits on the deep house/broken beat cusp, riding a stuttery electro rhythm with nagging garage-y organ chords, vocal microfragments, dreamy keys and a throbbing bassline. 'New Levels' is a sparse, deep garage-y pounder, all tuff kicks and hazy synth chords. 'High And Mighty' follows a similar MO to 'Isit' but built on an old-school funk/soul rhythm, while finally 'Turnin' is a stripped-back, percussion-led affair with jazzual overtones. If you like your deep house on the more cerebral side, you'll find plenty to enjoy on this EP.
Review: Ever-prolific Italian producer Laligna (Sound Exhibitions/Timewarp) comes to Greece's Kraak stable with this seven-track long-player. Recent EPs from Laligna have variously explored Afro-house, nu jazz and straight-up retro funk territories, so it's unsurprising that for this 'album proper' he's serving up a blend of all those influences and more. The dark, rumbling 'Galaxy Groove', for instance, fuses deep house and jazz-funk, while 'Alien Love' brings the Latin-tinged Balearica and the lively 'In The Fire' would work on soulful house and funk floors alike. Overall it's an enjoyable, largely instrumental listen, particularly for those who don't like to get stuck in any one groove for too long.
