Review: We've banged on about how much we enjoy Felipe Gordon's work before, noting that nearly everything he touches turns to musical gold. Predictably, his first outing on Clone's Royal Oak offshoot is superb, too. Opener 'Impresiones Acidas' is particularly impressive: a near-perfect fusion of hazy deep house, Tourist-era St Germain jazz-house and undulating, near psychedelic acid lines. It comes accompanied by a TB-303-free take, 'Impressiones' (where the original's luscious jazz guitar solos get more of an airing) and two bonus cuts: the sunshine-ready, jazzual deep house wonder of slowly shifting loop jam 'Can't You See' and the chunkier, piano-sporting deep house heaviness of 'Displacing Resolution'. In a word: impeccable!
Review: Publicity-shy London artist Make a Dance caused a stir earlier this year via the excellent 'I Need Somebody' single on Classic, which followed a handful of excursions on their own M.A.D imprint. The Make a Dance track featured on their personal imprint's latest release - first multi-artist affair - is similarly impressive, adding throbbing Italo-disco synths, sparkling electronic melodies and trippy acid lines to a rubbery disco bassline and breathless drums. Yet the EP's other four tracks are equally as admirable. For proof, check the heavyweight acid house hedonism of Andy Ash's 'Drums 4 Acid', the thickset disco-house-goes-lo-fi-house thump of 'Allegro 4 Strings' by Hard Drive Library, the deep space bleep & bass revivalism of 'Forgotten Groove' by Tom Carruthers and the infectious, warehouse-ready nu-disco of 'Thas It' by Asa Tate.
Review: House music royalty par excellence, Honey Dijon is finally gracing us with a second album after she turned her artistry up a notch with 2017's The Best of Both Worlds. Once again shoring up with her spiritual home Classic, Black Girl Magic finds Dijon celebrating love in every sense of the word, and lead single 'Show Me Some Love' is a fine case in point. There's that twitchy, freaky energy she instinctively brings to the floor, plus some smouldering vocal turns from Channel Tres and Sadie Walker. Elsewhere on the album you'll find breakthrough talents and established legends aplenty, all pulled together into Dijon's sexy, funked-up strain of tech house.
Review: In which UK scene stalwart Pete Herbert remixes five tracks by other people and one of his own, to predictably fine effect. The EP opens with the understated synth-y throb of 'Pourquoi', before 'Back To Bahia' takes us down a slightly housier path. 'Orange Chika' then takes a left turn into classic Balearic territory - complete, from the two minute mark, with uplifting piano riff - before the remaining three tracks play us out on a more straight-up disco tip. It's all superbly executed - as you'd expect from Herbert - but leading the charge for me is the big, bad funker that is 'Revnorev'.
Review: This impressively expansive collection from experienced remixer Valique showcases some of the best downtempo and Balearic edits from his popular V's Edits series. There's certainly plenty to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing throughout, from a chugging, ten-minute take on Pink Floyd ('Brickwall') and a pleasingly squelchy take on Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams' 'Lose Yourself To Dance' (here renamed 'Lose Your Elf'), to a chunky dub-house re-imagining of Jimmy Cliff classic 'The Harder They Come' and a loopy, hypnotic, mid-tempo disco-rock revision of T-Rex ('Jewelry'). Throw in party-hearty takes on cuts from Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys (an odd but impactful reimagining of 'Good Vibrations') and you have a great value compilation.
Ministry Of Funk - "Lies" (Deep Disco mix) - (6:01)
Ministry Of Funk - "Sara" (Soul Deep mix) - (6:17)
Disco Incorporated - "Freedom" (Good Vibes mix) - (7:02)
Ministry Of Funk - "Love Fun" (Deep Piano mix) - (6:41)
Review: Here's an EP that's sure to divide listeners, because 'Old Is Cool III' consists of four bootlegs of Fleetwood Mac classics... and people do love having OPINIONS, don't they? So there will be rock snobs who complain that "they've ruined it", and there'll be dance music snobs who say "what's this AOR rubbish?". Thankfully we can dismiss both cohorts as idiots, because a) Ministry Of Funk go about their re-editing duties with more finesse than most, b) most people stop at 'Dreams' but here you also get 'Little Lies', 'You Make Loving Fun' and 'Sara', and most importantly c) Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks have two of the greatest voices ever committed to tape. So nyer.
Review: Razor 'N' Tape Reserve's latest release is a label debut from Nenor, an Israeli producer previously best known for being one half of Mahogani Music-signed duo Rabo & Snob. He begins by offering up two cuts featuring vocalist Jenny Penkin: the attractive nu-disco/deep house fusion of 'How Can I Be Free' and the giddy nostalgic rush of revivalist number 'Do You Remember', which joins the dots between rushing piano house and late '80s Larry Heard productions. Red Axes provide a fantastic rework of the latter cut, retaining some of the dreamier and more life-affirming elements while also giving it their usual chunky grooves and psychedelic tinge. Elsewhere, 'Gonna Take My Time' is a locked-in late night delight full of sharp stabs, and 'Work That' is a restless, energy-packed late-night delight.
Cor.Ece & JKriv - "Dance To Keep From Crying" (extended mix) - (7:58) 121 BPM
Cor.Ece & Danny Kane - "What's The Word" (original mix) - (4:51) 117 BPM
Cor.Ece & Dave Giles II - "Possibly Impossible" (Crackazat dub) - (5:08) 122 BPM
Cor.Ece & Dave Giles II - "Possibly Impossible" (extended mix) - (6:47) 120 BPM
Cor.Ece & Danny Kane - "What's The Word" (Bad Colours remix) - (3:50) 121 BPM
Review: Sometime Honey Dijon collaborator Cor.Ece impressed us back in the summer with the 'Dance To Keep From Crying EP'. This speedy sequel sports a mixture of extended takes of tracks from that set, and remixes of others. The extended take on the title track, made in cahoots with Razor N Tape co-founder J Kriv, is simply gorgeous: a fine mix of proto-house, boogie and nu-disco sounds topped off with a genuinely soulful lead vocal. Acid-flecked, piano-sporting soulful deep house cut 'What's The Word' (with Danny Kane) is tastefully extended before Bad Colours delivers a sub-heavy, Todd Edwards-inspired revision. Dave Giles II hook-up 'Possibly Impossible', a squelchy bass-propelled nu-disco-meets-house number, is not only extended by also remixed by Crackazat, who gives it a jazzy, Rhodes-laden, Afro-tinged deep house flavour.
Review: The German house & techno DJ and music producer Damiano Von Erckert pretty much bucks every trend and trope you can imagine. He makes loose, dusty house music with heart-on-sleeve emotions even though he hails from Cologne, where sleek techno label Kompakt also hails from. He also dresses much more like a 60s French film star than a modern DJ and producer. Anyway, his new album on Aus is his best yet - it's got the loose-limbed and soulful house jams and the blissed out and deep rollers but also some more cosmic forays into smooth techno and spangled disco.
Review: Those who were clubbing back in the late '90s may well remember Losoul's 'Open Door', an ever-building, 11-minute disco-sampling loop jam that was championed by both house and techno DJs. The track was hugely popular and ended up getting licensed and reissued, with fresh remixes, in the Netherlands and USA. This expanded reissue from Running Back boasts both tracks from the original 12" ('Open Door' and the epic minimal house workout '00000000'), previously unreleased jam 'D1' (a more sparse and laidback affair) and two of the best remixes of the title track from 'back in the day': Theo Parrish's mesmerising, deep and locked-in revision (still one of his most potent reworks) and a jazzy, warning and sub-heavy take from Dutch producer Gerd.
Review: Dam Swindle's Keep On Swindling series, which marks their tenth birthday, offers an enticing mix of remastered back catalogue favourites, obscurities, brand-new cuts and fresh remixes of classic tracks. This expansive second volume in the series is full-to-bursting with club-ready treats. Check first the gospel-influenced, handclap-heavy peak-time house stomp of 'Good Woman', before turning your attention to 'Call of the Wild', an often-overlooked collaboration with LA Afrobeat orchestra Jungle By Night that cannily combines the best of both artists' trademark sounds. Other highlights across the EP include the Dutch duo's percussion-rich tropical house takes on Gaoule Mizik's 'A La Tikni', Arp Frique's Afro-cosmic take on 'Yes, No, Maybe', and Lauryn Ash's tidy deep house flip of Lorenz Rhode hook-up 'High Life'.
Review: The guitar riff from 'Let's Lovedance Tonight', a 1979 disco hit for Gary's Gang, is probably better known to most as 'Can't Get Enough' by Soulsearchers. Here, though, Russian nu-disco stalwart Sunner Soul marries it to a sizeable chunk of the famous 'My Loleatta' monologue, and calls the results of his labours 'It's Just Cool'. A simple affair, then, but it'll do the do where it counts. The accompanying 'Disco Medley', meanwhile, is a horn- and string-drenched disco workout that lifts another three-word chunk of the same acapella - one that Fierce Ruling Diva fans may find familiar...
Review: Two contrasting yet complementary cuts make up this latest EP from nu-disco regular Sunner Soul, which is brought to you by Vintage Music. 'Disco Power' itself is a fairly upbeat and driving disco workout that's topped by several competing vocal samples, not least the "yes yes y'all don't stop" line from Common's 'I Used To Love H.E.R' - better known to house lovers, perhaps, from Da Mongoloids' Strictly classic 'Spark Da Meth' - while 'Vision Of Disco' operates in similar territory but falls more into the eyes-down and shuffling bracket, and comes topped with a whispered male "visions of paradise" vocal.
Review: Following releases on Djebali, Blind Vision Dubs and Shelvd, Alex Ranerro returns to Bondage Music for the first time in two years. The Slovenian producer has predictably brought the goods, too, delivering tracks that blur the boundaries between tech-house, deep house and more trance-inducing sonic flavours. The undoubted highlight is title track 'Fragments', a shuffling, undulating and atmospheric chunk of peak-tine tech-house toughness marked out by an addictive bassline, echoing electronic motifs, chiming synth sounds and smooth beats. Lola Palmer remixes, delivering an algother deeper, dreamier and more tactile interpretation, before label chiefs Pornbugs rework previous single 'Radiation', delivering a darker, more hypnotic and pleasingly bass-heavy take. Bonus cut 'Encode', an East End Dubz style late-night workout, completes a solid package.
Review: As a general rule, any release with the name of UK disco stalwart Sunner Soul on it is unlikely to disappoint, and this new three-tracker for Vintage Music certainly doesn't. We kick off with 'Cordial Disco Wave', a midtempo instrumental number that's dripping in 70s-style strings and flutes, and that has a distinctly Nu Yorican feel in the percussion department. 'Boogie Down' then injects some serious dancefloor energy with its nagging piano hook, wailing sax and chorus'd vox, before the EP is completed by 'Fly With The Magic', a more musically involved, near-instrumental jam that veers more towards funk/jazz-funk than the rest.
Adana Twins - "Feel The Acid" (feat Jasmine Azarian) - (8:26) 124 BPM
Maya Evers - "Don't Walk" - (7:28) 123 BPM
Upercent - "Picot" - (5:38) 120 BPM
Volar - "The Covenant" - (6:57) 121 BPM
Xinobi - "Too Early Too Late" - (6:31) 123 BPM
Hardt Antoine - "Protektor" - (6:03) 122 BPM
Review: TAU bosses Adana Twins have always used the label's annual Spektrum compilations to showcase the quality and variety of the imprint's output, with tracks coming from both established artists and new signings. They've stuck to the same principles on volume four in the series, resulting in another strong collection of guaranteed dancefloor hits and pleasant surprises. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the psychedelic, post-tech-house trip of AIKON's 'Magenta', the deep space electro shuffle of 'Forever Mornings' by Echnonomist, and the bouncy, acid house-goes-boompty sweatiness of SXF's 'Workshop 5', to the throbbing Itali-disco revivalism of GUMM's 'Heroes Call', the sleazy TB-303 insanity of Adana Twins' 'Feel The Acid', and the fuzzy, hypnotic Berlin house haziness of 'The Covenant' by Volar.
Review: Kerri Chandler's first album of original productions since 2008 is an epic in every sense of the word: a vast, 24-track excursion recorded on location in a multitude of clubs around the world, with each track inspired by, and specifically designed to sound best inside, each of the selected venues. It's basically a love letter to some of his favourite clubs, created with guest vocalists and musicians, and is little less than a deep house masterpiece. There are far too many highlights to mention, but our current favourites include the bassbin-rattling bump of 'Subbie (Jackpot Mix) [Sub Club]', the heart-aching soulful house brilliance of 'Back To Earth [Knockdown Center]', the sax-sporting funkiness of 'The Morning Heat [La Grange]', the sunrise-ready beauty of 'Who Knows [Barbarellas]' and the Berlin-friendly deep house hypnotism of 'Sunrise [Watergate]'.
Review: It's been a while since Balearic nu-disco don Pete Herbert last released a solo single, so this surprise EP is more than welcome. The long-serving, Ibiza-based producer is in fine form from the get-go, with title track 'Far Flung' offering an excitable and joyous mix of hands-in-the-air piano riffs, dirty bass, flashes of Balearic guitar an poolside synth melodies. That track is first given the remix by Gold Suite, who turn it into a drowsy, mid-tempo Balearic soundscape, before In Flagrantri re-imagine it as a boisterous, low-slung piano-house anthem. Elsewhere, 'Dear Hector' is a retro-futurist, squelchy bass propelled Italian style deep house treat, 'Early One Evening' is an organic, Rhodes-powered chunk of colourful nu-disco loveliness, and 'South Seas' is a sparkling, sun-kissed treat.
Review: The fifth volume in Running Back's ongoing multi-artist EP series, 'One Swallow Doesn't Make a Summer', is certainly action-packed. It features five tracks from a mix of label regulars and talented newcomers. Michael Davidson dons the Moritz alias for the EP-opening neo Italo-disco shimmer of mid-tempo gem 'Flying Saucer', before debutant Amount peppers a druggy, tribal-tinged cosmic groove with weirdo chords and Jew's Harp sounds. Elsewhere, Storken and JStraaf join forces for the moody, percussively intricate minimal house haziness of 'Tunghugg', Archie Ward goes deep into sparse, post-electro territory on 'Pizza Girl' and Jonus Eric submerges us in a bath of loved-up pads, gentle acid-lines and ultra-deep house grooves on standout 'Fairlight'.
Review: Kapote and Kosmo Kint's various collaborative tracks on Toy Tonics are all top-drawer, so hopes are naturally high for his epic, action-packed remix EP. The headline reworks come from Detroit deep house legend Andres, who delivers vocal and instrumental takes on 'Misbehave' that place Kint's slick, soulful lead vocal atop an attractive bed of rubbery bass guitar, crunchy mid-tempo house drums, lilting lead lines and colourful chords. Elsewhere, Tom Jarmey offers a funky, shuffling, post-electro nu-disco rework of the same track, while Coeo drops vocal and instrumental versions of two distinctive mixes of 'Strangers': a rolling, retro-futurist 'House' take (all fluid and jazzy synth bass, sustained synth-strings and warming electric piano riffs) and a 'Garage Mix' underpinned by an Armand Van Helden style 'dark garage' bassline.
Review: It's Dirtybird's favourite time of year when their annual flagship event returns for another weekend long campout. As always, they have a brand new soundtrack for the 2022 edition featuring 10 new jams from a wide range of artists on the label. Berlin-based Kevin Knapp kicks things off with the druggy afterhours bounce of "Dope Kid Central", label staple Justin Jay teams up with Lindsay Lohand on the lo-slung and bass-driven groove of "Want", while legend Mark Farina teams up with Homero Espinosa on the emotive 303 acid of "Falling Forward" and 2phargon serves up the wonky dancefloor drama of "Petrol" among many more.
Review: Given that pretty much all of Lazy Days' output is pleasingly sunny and warm, you'd expect this 10-track collection of summer-friendly jams to be particularly hot, humid and life-affirming. Check first the sunset-ready, piano-sporting shuffle of Shur-I-Kan and Joakim's 'Beats, Strings & Nothing Gold', before admiring the intergalactic, stargazing throb of Versatirds legend I:Cube's 'Parisian Sleaze' mix of Fred Everything's 'Barbarella'. The quality threshold remains pleasingly high throughout, with further highlights appearing thick and fast. Manual Sahagun's surprisingly jazzy and Balearic 'Rest In Sax', Atjazz's slick rework of Fred Everything and Robert Owens' 'I'll Take You In' and Prins Thomas' epic 'Discomiks' of Fred Everything's 'Here' are all superb.
Review: Life & Death chief Manfredi Romano aka DJ Tennis makes a surprising appearance on Aus Music this week with a wonderful three-tracker. "Repeater" is a slinky and hypnotic expression in dancefloor drama, this is melodic house just the way we like it. It's backed by second offering "Nobody" an evocative and saucer-eyed breakbeat number that makes a perfect soundtrack to the inevitable sunrise. On the remix is the ever reliable Swede DJ Seinfeld whose dark and steely techno rendition gives the track an undeniably aggressive edge.
Review: It's been a long time coming, but we couldn't be more excited to finally dive into a fresh new two-track display from UK bass heavyweights My Nu Leng, two of the most forward thinking producers to emerge from the UK during the original bass boom. We open up with a serious sizzler as '4ME' combines a bulbous selection of hard hitting bass bounces and stripped back drum chunks, linked with catchy vocal overlays and a smooth atmospheric backdrop for a tidy rave experience. On the flip to this, we hear a big bag of tasty drum processing and tight rhythmic designs, with pulsating kick drums fusing with grizzly atmospheric synthetics to give us another moody roller. Both of these spell a great return for the Bristol veterans, who we are sure are setting up for a very exciting 2023.
Review: The house scene in India has grown massively over the past 10 years or so, and there's arguably no one who's done more to drive that growth than Wind Horse Records boss Hamza Rahimtula. Now Selekta Recordings bring us his debut full-length under his real name, which packs 11 fairly straight-up deep house and disco jams - so be aware that if you're looking for sitars, bhangra beats, vocal ragas or Bollywood samples, you're out of luck (try Todh Teri). Easily the equal of anything coming out of Chicago, Detroit, the UK or Berlin, if there's any justice then 'Groove Guru' should be the album that really puts Hamza - and, by extension, the whole Indian scene - on the world house map.
Review: Victor Shan has long been one of Germany's premier rave revivalists, with a trademark sound - best exemplified by his periodic outings on Running Back - that evokes mental images of turn-of-the-90s warehouse parties and smoke-filled basement bashes. His belated return to Gerd Janson's imprint once again pushes this sonic aesthetic to the fore, with the title referencing the Chicago venue of the same name that helped birth house music. It's full-throttle, hands-in-the-air music from the off, where stab-happy, breakbeat-powered stomper 'Abfahrt' is followed by the 'Apache'-sampling excitement of 'Strobe Light' and the surging, Italo-style arpeggiated bass of 'Volume Up'. The fun continues via the moody 'Textura', the lusciously loved-up 'R8000' and the classic Chicago house flex of 'Shifter'.
Review: We're not sure about the specific inspirations behind Ian Pooley's Studio A series on Radio Slave's Rekids imprint, but it feels like an exercise in getting the most from different bits of kit that have long been resident in his recording space. Regardless, this third EP in the series boasts some genuinely cracking cuts. Perhaps the headline attraction is 'SP12 Electric Mistress', an analogue-rich exercise in skewed, post acid-house jack with added Yorkshire bleeps that comes accompanied by a raw, discordant and mind-mangling, acid-flecked '303 Mix'. Elsewhere, 'PSS 480' is a thumping, driving, bass-heavy old school jack-track, while 'Viola' offers a tantalising mix of bustling techno drums, sci-fi synth-strings and creepy riffs.
Review: There's plenty to get excited about on this selection of 'lost mixes' from the vast back catalogue of Toy Tonics' parent label, Gomma. Check first Pete Herbert and Tristan Dan Cunha's retro-futurist, proto-house-meets-Balearic nu-disco rework of The Glimmers' 'U Rocked My World', before moving on to In Flagranti's all-action, peak-time ready take on Golden Bug's 'LookLookLook'. The Ep continues via a now 22 year-old rework of Leroy Hanghofer's 'Pin' by Jacques Lu Cont and John Burillo - a brilliantly low-slung house workout featuring punk-funk bass and colourful boogie synth flourishes - before concluding with a killer dub disco take on the KDMS' 'Never Stop Believing' courtesy of NYC disco original Nicky Siano.
Review: Bristol's Addison Groove is back and getting well funky on this one! The Groove boss and 50Weapons staple gets some low slung party vibes into full effect on "F1nk" - a wicked tool that's looped to perfection. Next up, he goes deeper into the night on the hypnotic and very exotic polyrhythmicity of "Sudoeste" which features good mate Bim Sanga - it follows up their excellent Where Are The People EP on Bags Inc. last year. This one was our pick of the two and is perfect for those heads-down or 'get weird' moments on the dancefloor. Tip!
Review: Earlier in the year, Peter and James Isaacs delivered arguably their strongest release to date: a fine four-tracker on Permanent Vacation that offered a perfectly formed summary of their nostalgia-meets-futurism inspired trademark sound. They continue where they left off on 'Bassian Plain', adding echoing, Yello style samples, raygun-powered synth sounds and fizzing lead lines to a colossal synth bassline, hard-wired acid lines and effects-laden drum machine beats. They add a touch of alien-sounding nu-disco colour to the TB-303 heavy acid house blueprint on 'The Isthmus of Kra', before Alex Kassian re-imagines 'Bassian Plain' as a deep, dreamy, colourful and all-action slab of breakbeat house heaviness.
