Review:
Having only released occasional EPs over the last few years, Home Taping is Killing Music appears to behave got its mojo back. This EP from recent G.A.M.M contributor Love Drop appears a few months after a fine single from Klic ("Disco Music", which was backed by killer re-rubs by Dicky Trisco and Tuff City Kids). The original version of "Don't Look Back" is a dubby and hypnotic affair, with delay-laden synths, Clavinet lines and disco snippets riding a metronomic mid-tempo house groove. Dicky Trisco does his best Revenge impression via a smooth, groovy and deep revision, before Dan Shake throws everything but the kitchen sink at the track on a killer "Dancefloor Dub "laden with layered percussion hits and mazy Moog solos.
Review:
In the words of Paper Disco, episode six of their floor-friendly "Trash The Wax" series delivers "plenty of party pumping offerings". Predictably, proof of the set's club-ready status arrives via Hi-FI Sean's compilation opening remix of IPG v Hot Toddy's "Slow Motion Cowboy", which delivers a funk-fuelled riot of delay-laden guitars, funk rock attitude and sizzling dub disco grooves. Naturally, the rest of the collection is similarly strong. Highlights include a rare production outing from Bill Brewster (the throbbing, off-kilter Italo-disco him of "4 U Blue"), the Balearic Italo-disco bliss of Richard Norris's "Glow", the dreamy, arpeggio-driven nu-disco warmth of Kooky and Damoon's "Walk Back Into My Life" and Sheffield stalwart Solid State's deep, epic revision of "Remnants" by Speed For Lovers.
Review:
According to our meticulous records, "My Hood" is the first collaborative single from sometime Relief Records and Monologue Music producer LEON, and recent Hot Creations signing Dennis Cruz. It sees them drag hip-house into the 21st century, layering a swaggering half rapped, half sung vocal atop a rubbery, driving backing track rich in fuzzy bass, rolling percussion and deliciously odd electronic noises. While good, we'd argue that Ewan Pearson's accompanying reworks are even better. Both the "Remix" and "Dub" versions operate at a slower, more chugging tempo, with the experienced producer wrapping mind-altering, psychedelic electronics and delay-laden dub-disco guitars atop a chunky, Italo-disco influenced groove. The "Dub" is naturally the more intoxicating of the two, though it's a close run thing.
Review:
Given that each of their previous releases has been on-point, it's little surprise to find that Fouk's latest EP is packed full of warm, sample-heavy, disco-flecked deep house treats. We'd argue that the headline attraction is bouncy opener "Organ Freeman", a tasty workout that layers fresh organ solos over a house groove built around rubbery bass and obscure disco-funk samples, though the wilder and more driving "Wrong Way" pushes it close. Elsewhere, "Butterfunk" is a lolloping trip into mid-tempo deep house/disco/jazz-funk fusion, while closer "Winter" is a loved-up chunk of deep space instrumental hip-hop with added boogie synths.
Review:
Originally released back in 2012 on Croatian imprint Burek, "Leko" by Bulgarian hardware maverick KiNK returns to the label with some fantastic remixes for today's dancefloors. While his sound might be more on the techno tip these days, there's no doubt that his penchant for catchy melodies and amazing chord progressions were something he had a true knack for even back then. He hands in a couple more perspectives here: from the gritty and harder hitting Kink's Bass Shake version, though to the mellow and dreamy Kink version featuring the angelic vocals of Rachel Row. Finally the Berlin-Hamburg alliance known as Session Victim step in for an always welcome appearance: their exploration further into the deep is evocative and life-affirming.
Review:
For those who like their house deep, groovy and emotion-rich, Dessous's back catalogue is a veritable goldmine. It is rather vast, though, so it's good to see the Steve Bug-helmed imprint giving us a few pointers via this excellent compilation. Check, for example, the drowsy chords, undulating bass and jazzy drums of Thierry Tomas's "Piu Piu", the basement-bothering tech-tinged chunkiness of James Dexter's "120" and the ultra-deep late night hyonotism of Chocky's "Self-Knowledge (Dub)", where hazy and trippy synthesizer motifs ebb and flow over a locked-in groove. Further highlights come in the shape of Tom Flynn's fuzzy and far-out "Pluck" and a brilliant mid-tempo Genius of Time rub of Vincenzo's "106 Downtown" full of gentle acid lines and freaky electronic noises.
Review:
Crazy P main man James Baron returns under his Ron Basejam alias, with more liquid nu-disco jams. Started as a casual side project 12 years ago, Baron wanted to 'capture the more diverse and quirky sides of his musical tastes', creating underground music that he incorporates with character, personality and humour. The After The Rain EP sees him return to Bristol institution Futureboogie, for the first time since 2016's "The Carrington Spirituals". Featuring the very soulful and near spiritual title track, the lo-slung funk attack of "The French Exit " and the late night acid express of "Raise" (featuring some vocals reminiscent of the legendary Daryl Pandy) among others - each one is a a sure shot and will light up the dancefloor.
Review:
Dortmund based producer Mr. Fries returns to Wolf Music for his third outing for the London label, with yet more sample heavy/MPC saturated cuts that follows up a terrific EP on Philpot. WOLFEP 045 opens with the sexy late night mood lighting of "Nocturnal" with its creamy Rhodes melody and dusty drums, the funky "Work" and its bass driven/Moodymann influenced groove, and the sunny open-air deepness of "Getright" which you could imagine hearing at a outdoor party on a summer Sunday in Berlin. Speaking of which, the fine EP closes out in blissed-out style with the very Money $ex/Tartelet sounding urban blues of "Thesimplethings" nailing that deep sound of the German capital.
Review:
There's no high concept behind Midnight Riot's latest compilation of label favourites and unheard cuts, just a desire to deliver "summer burners" to "make your body move". As usual, label boss Yam Who has gathered together a selection of original productions, re-edits and remixes that prioritize frenzied limb shaking. Highlights include a deliciously deep and woozy, Joey Negro style M+M rub of Soulpersona's "Sunset City", a bouncy, boogie-meets-nu-disco revision of Hypnotic Lovers' "Chemistry" by Birdee, the sax-laden disco-funk shuffle of Stephen King's "Hold On To You", some soaring peak-time disco edit business from Alan Dixon and a suitably cheery, talkbox-sporting rework of an underground disco classic by long-serving edit crew Drop Out Orchestra.
Review:
Philpot co-founder Soulphiction has been MIA for a while now, making it an utter pleasure to have him back on our charts with some effective new house swingers. He's landed on Local Talk, one of the very best in its class, and "Bizzness" kicks off with a funky-ass bassline and some freaky vocal chops, while "Cart People" lingers at a steadier sort of tempo, filtered through mounds of dubbed-out haze. "Slow Glow" is an experiment in percussion, also meandering its wavy synths on an off-kilter mode, and "Sweet Dreams" works the drum-machine in and out of the groove, ending up with another off-balance house experiment for the deeper minds out there on the floor!
Review:
London scene stalwart Tom Szirtes is back on Freerange, a label he's no stranger to - he's only had nearly a couple of dozen appearances for Jimpster and Co. over the years! The Dark Energy boss is in top form as always on his new State Of Emergency EP, serving up three deeply compelling grooves on the emotive tip. Features the deep down and dusty title track with its subtle acid flourishes, the sensual late night mood lighting of "Out At Night" and ending with the bittersweet boogie-down antics of "Three Of A Kind".
Review:
The Alma Negra collective are based in Basel, Switzerland and are made up of Miajica, Dario Rohrbach and Dersu Figueria. They have appeared on some great labels such as Lumberjacks In Hell, Basic Fingers and of course Heist - this will be their second appearance for Detroit Swindle's imprint since last year's Endless Summer EP. The new Conversation EP features more sweltering grooves by the trio: from the soulful and entrancing title track which is rich on the hypnotic tribal polyrhythms - it also receives a wonderful rework by Amsterdam's Awanto 3 later on too. Not to mention the sultry deep house of "This Is The Place" which takes it cues from the mighty Kenny Dixon Jr or the sexy late-night groove of "From The Heart" which is perfect to enjoy on what is left of these long summer evenings.
Review:
More dusty yet sun-drenched happy house from Stockholm's Studio Barnhus, presenting their first ever label compilation. Volym 1 is curated by label bosses Axel Boman, Kornel Kovacs and Petter Nordkvist - who serve up some deep and joyous cuts from some label staples and newcomers alike. Or, in the words of the label: a mix of "Stockholm newcomers and superstar friends." Highlights on this fine collection of pop-inflected hybrids not limited to: wunderkind Baba Stiltz's lo-slung weirdo-pop displayed on "L.O.V.E.", co-chief Kovacs' emotive journey into the deep "On Roofs", Hamburg veteran DJ Koze with his inimitable style displayed yet again on "Hawaiian Souldier" and Catalan hero John Talabot doing what he does oh so well on the balearic house epic "The Change".
Review:
Not content with co-founding the Steel City Dance Discs imprint, Mall Grab has decided to launch another label: Looking For Trouble. Naturally, the label's debut release comes from the man himself, who serves up another quartet of killer cuts. He first pushes his crunchy house percussion up to techno tempo and reaches for glassy synthesizer melodies on fine opener "Liverpool Street in the Rain", before peppering a warm and woozy deep house groove with punchy hip-hop vocal samples on "Bust". Those hankering after some up-tempo filthiness should check the doom-laden rave stabs and full-throttle ghetto-house rhythms of "Looking For Trouble" - one of the producer's dirtiest and most thrill-packed cuts to date - while "Get Impetuous" is a bustling chunk of late night hip-house revivalism.
Review:
Fresh from turning in a killer remix of the Soup Dragons "I'm Free" alongside Midnight Riot boss Yam Who, Alan Dixon returns to the label with a feisty four-track missive. He fires from the word go, with bounding, energy-packed opener "All We Need Is Dance" delivering a brilliantly bouncy revision of a shirts-off, turn-of-the-'80s San Francisco disco smasher. The thrills don't stop there, either. "Let Ya Feet Rock" is a thrilling combination of elastic slap bass, synth-fired disco-boogie instrumentation and sturdy beats, "Dance Across The Floor" is a seductive 129 BPM deep disco workout, and "Forever" is a riotous re-edit of a stone cold classic that sounds like an end-of-night anthem in the making.
Review:
Three cheers for Stefan Riesen's Morris Audio imprint, which has now notched up a century of releases after two decades in the game. By way of celebration, Riesen has decided to release a clutch of EPs containing a wealth of previously unheard gems. Part one begins with the Motor City influenced deep house jack of Iron Curtis's "Ultraviolett [100 Mix]", where shimmering chords slowly rise above sturdy beats and a wonderfully raw analogue bassline. Anna Wall and Corbi join forces for the sinewy deep house sensuality of "Tower of Babble" - all dreamy chords, lilting melodies and fuzzy analogue bass - before Repika serves up the hypnotic deep space chords and bustling bottom end grooves of "Don't Break". Arguably best of all, though, is the all-action contemporary Chicago house funkiness of Elvis Cassetta's "Lethargy Zero".
Review:
On their Deep Love 2018 compilation, you'll find label stalwarts to newcomers alike for respected Berlin imprint Dirt Crew. Their seventh compilation in the series, the label claims that it is the most complete in terms of sound and flow - and will blend in perfectly with that laid back, late summer mood. From moments of dusty and chilled-out deepness courtesy of Lorenz Rhode or Felix Leifur, lo-slung acid jams like Ponty Mython's "It's All Understood" or funked-up disco house like Frenchman S3A's "Modern Soul". Elsewhere, we have got the kind of slinky and sensual tech-house you've come to expect from the label - best exemplified by Canadian Dan Only or Jaxx Madicine's particularly sublime "Blue Bird". Essentially, it's more of the fine quality you've come to expect from this house music institution.
Review:
By now we should know that Chaos In The CBD barely gets it wrong. In fact, we can't think of one duff moment in their rapidly expanding discography. Certainly, there's much to set the pulse racing throughout the Multiverse EP, which happens to be their first missive of 2018. We're particularly enjoying the Adonis-goes-deep bassline, becalmed chords, druggy acid lines and bongo-laden beats of opener "Multiverse" and the humid tropical house hustle of B-side opener "Kaitaia Fire" - deep and woozy, yet percussively adventurous - but the whole EP is superb. The other two cuts, "Double Dribble" and "Drum Therapy", are altogether deeper and calmer, with the latter also feeling wonderfully hypnotic in tone, too.
Review:
"Where The One Is", the lead cut from Art of Tones' latest Local Talk release, sounds like a peak-time anthem in the making. Seemingly crafted using a mixture of cut-up Philadelphia soul samples, jammed-out new disco instrumentation and jazzy, ambidextrous house beats, it feels a little like a tooled-up, slightly more low-slung version of Blackjoy classic "Moustache". You'll find more low-slung, disco-fired, Clavinet-sporting heaviness where "Double Wheelin" provides further guaranteed peak-time pressure. As for "Reprise Du Fonk", it appears to be a quick-fire dub of "Where The One Is" featuring even more elastic bass guitar, jazz-wise guitar licks and life-affirming electro piano solos.
Review:
Suol's weekly open-air parties at IPSE, Hallo Montag, have become a summer fixture in Berlin over the past few years. Like the parties, the accompanying series of EPs showcase "sunny tracks" from the label's roster of artists and like-minded guests. This second part of the 2018 edition contains some suitably bright and breezy cuts, with Jimpster's "Lightshine" - a carnival-ready chunk of deep house dancefloor bliss rich in dreamy chords and Latin percussion hits - standing out. There's plenty to gently warm the soul elsewhere across the EP, though, from the snappy, low-slung grooves, toasty chords and CeCe Rogers vocals of Atjazz's remix of Chopstick and JohnJon's "What Is House Music", to the sparkling, life-affirming goodness of Zepherin Saint's "Take You There (featuring Divinity)".
Review:
Notching up a decade of releases requires something suitably celebratory. That's exactly what Germany's admired Quintessentials has served up on this tenth birthday compilation. It comes packed with previously unheard cuts of the highest quality, from the sun-bright swing of Borrowed Identity's UK garage-meets-deep house opener "For You", to the atmospheric, synth-heavy chug of Ooft's "Freak-E-Groove", the smoky late night jazz-house of Loz Goddard's "Leaves", and the foreboding, jazz-funk-biting sample-house dustiness of S3A's "Searching". Also worth checking are the drowst chords and bumpin' beats of KRL's "Baltimore" and the low-slung, gospel-influenced deep house pump of 4004's "Continuous Dialogue".
Review:
Next up on Lee Burridge's renowned daydream house imprint is French progressive house veteran Sebastien Leger. Although not having as prolific an output as he did throughout the late '90s/early '00s, it's all been about quality not quantity in recent times - first signalled by a tremendous return to form a couple of years back with his Jelly Bean EP for Systematic Recordings. Given Leger's experience in creating in deep, mellowed and entrancing sounds, there was no doubt in our minds that he could nail that perfect groove for All Day I Dream - and these three tracks are just perfect for drifting on a dancefloor atop a rooftop party downtown. The first track is an ode to the label and it's chief (if we've ever heard one) titled "Rocket To Lee's Little Cloud", followed by similarly slinky and melodic tech-house journeys like "Satellite" and the absolutely majestic "Underwater" which is as immersive as the title suggests.
Review:
Since 2015, Tel Aviv twosome Rabo & Snob has been delivering annual releases on re-edit stable Whiskey Disco. Here they make the transfer to one of Sleazy McQueen's other imprints, Lovedancing, with some tasty original productions. "Yawumna", featuring Somma Idrisu, effortlessly underpins jangly acoustic guitars and African vocals with a metronomic nu-disco groove, while "Afia", featuring vocalist Azizaa, sounds like an unlikely fusion of Afrobeat and Adonis's "No Way Back". Art of Tones provides an organ-laden, sunshine-soaked Afro-house revision of "Yawumna", while Jacques Renault provides a suitably chunky dub of "Ifa" for those late night moments.
Review:
While gospel has always been a strong influence in the worlds of house and disco, the volume of spiritually charged dancefloor tracks has rocketed in recent times. Hence this fine compilation from Midnight Riot and "gospel supremo" the Showfa, which gathers together new, recent and overlooked gospel-fired dancefloor jams. We're particularly enjoying Yam Who and Alan Dixon's brilliant new version of the Soup Dragons' "I'm Free" - think classic, Balearic-era baggy house with more prominence given to the London Gospel Choir's vocals and Dixon's wild organ lines - Le Visiteur's low-slung re-edit of an old gospel-disco gem ("Let The Sunshine") and the rubbery boogie-gospel-goes-filter-house excitement of Benjamin Ferreira's "What U Will". That said, there's barely a duffer to be found amongst the 19 tracks on show, with the emphasis rightly on celebratory positivity throughout.
Review:
Since going solo following years spent collaborating with fellow Stockholm resident Mr Tophat, Art Alfie has delivered some superb material, not least a fine debut album for Studio Barnhus that expertly showcased his quirky approach to electronic music. His audio eccentricities are writ large across this Toy Tonics outing, from woozy and soft-focus opener "Downstreamed" - all dub-flecked, slow motion beats, lilting melodies and slowly shifting chords - to the bounding dub disco/deep house fusion of "Bondkatten". Fellow Swedes Mount Liberation Unlimited provide a superb "Ethereal Teen Dream" re-make of "Downstreamed", craftily re-imagining Art Alfie's original version as a defiantly dubby blend of Scandolearic bliss and hypnotic deep house.
Review:
Granada-based twosome Mordisco make their first appearance on historic Manchester label Paperdisco following previous outings on My Favourite Robot, Midnight Riot, NDYD Records and Spa in Disco. The Spanish duo kicks things off with "Musica De Baille", a bouncy, percussion and delay-rich slab of tropical nu-disco/chunky house fusion that rises and falls in all the right places. The duo's ability to craft slowly building, life-affirming goodness is further confirmed by second track "Nahual", where jangling piano riffs, swirling chords and sampled choral vocals triumphantly rise above a foreboding, shuffling house groove.
Review:
If you've heard any of Young Marco's sets over the last six months you'll have heard these two scintillating South African house edits. His version of Madlaks' "Jikovonunu" - a jaunty, breakbeat-driven, piano-rich hands-in-the-air workout featuring squeezable synth bass and the repeated vocal phrase "we dance forever" - is already approaching anthem status and has a track record of inciting dancefloors whenever it has been played. That said, the Dutch producer's "fix" of Hot Slot Machine's later "Rhythm", a more obviously turn-of-the-90s New York house influenced chunk of peak-time cheeriness featuring ear-catching synth-strings and a ballsy acid bassline, is equally as potent if played at the right time.
Review:
Less than a month after Joey Negro dropped the original version of "Distorting Space Time" - a Lonnie Liston-Smith inspired chunk of intergalactic party disco rich in trippy instrumentation - as part of the vinyl-only Space Time EP, we're treated to a digital edition containing a trio of tasty reworks. Top of the pile is deep house don Ron Trent's sublime revision, which is not only typically warm, woozy and percussion rich, but also makes great use of dub delays and Joey Nergo's spacey FX. Elsewhere, Fouk successfully breaks up the beats on a formidably jazzy and bass-heavy interpretation, while Negro's own "Space Funk" take sits somewhere between luscious turn-of-the-80s jazz-funk and starlit electrofunk. The producer's use of crunchy Clavinet lines and talkbox scat vocals is particularly alluring.
Review:
When it comes to crafting lengthy, disco fired dancefloor treats, DJ Koze has previous form. His "Extended Disco Version" of Lapsley's "Operator" quickly became a White Isle anthem in the summer of 2016, and we fully expect "Pick Up" to be one of the disco-house hits of 2018. Based around spine-tingling samples from a heart-felt, orchestrated 1970s disco treat - think Tom Trago's "Use Me Again", and you're close - the veteran producer slowly builds the pressure before really letting loose in the closing stages. Then "The Love Truck" is an altogether deeper, dubbier and dreamier affair, seemingly designed for leisurely warm-up sets and gentle, early morning shuffling.
Review:
Will Saul recently said that he's feeling more inspired, production wise, than he has done for years. He's certainly stepped up his release schedule this year, and this second EP of 2018 boasts some seriously good material. "By Your Side", in particular, offers a unique blend of breakbeat-influenced electro drums, picturesque electronics, swirling vocal samples and pleasingly dirty acid bass. Those vocal samples are naturally jettisoned on the arguably superior Dub Mix, which somehow seems even more loved-up and saucer-eyed. Elsewhere, "H.O.F" peppers a thrusting and dirty late night groove with stretched-out organ chords and more intensely picturesque electronic motifs, while "Directors Suite (Evil Acid Mix)" is a fiendishly sweaty and intense slab of electro/ragged acid house fusion.
Review:
UK born, Berlin based producer Matt Karmil first appeared on our radar a few years ago, with his brilliant Fight EP on Mule Musiq sublabel Endless Flight. Testament to his diverse sound, he's since appeared on Bristol bass institution Idle Hands, Swedish oddball house heroes Studio Barnhus and Norway's Smalltown Supersound. It's the latter where he's explored his more disco leaning side - and that's on display here on the Sourced EP. From the slo-mo and sultry deepness of "I Love It", "KO" with its smoky late-night jazz bar vibe and the funky title track - where the drummer gets wicked beneath a bass driven and evocative groove.
Review:
Edinburgh's Athens Of The North are back with more reliable edit action by some undisputed groove experts. First up we have Milan based duo Dirty Channels of Hot Creations and Crosstown Rebels fame, who team up with Berlin based rising star Danny Russell on the familiar soul funk of "Watchin' Out". It works a relentless groove before dropping into a hook that you'll be hearing a lot of this Summer.
Next up is Ken Frazelle with his one and only tune from back in '82 - "Today Is The Day". It gets a re-rub by local legend Linkwood of Firecracker fame which works that properly lo-slung boogie-down vibe to the max.
Review:
We were full of praise for Fouk's last outing on Outplay, November 2017's Butterfunk EP, so hopes are naturally high for the duo's first release since. We shouldn't have worried. Like its predecessor, Mating Call is something of a triumph. The title track - a subtly Afro-fired chunk of warm-hearted deep house/disco fusion - is probably our pick of the bunch, though the other two tracks are similarly enjoyable. Choose between the grunting, low-slung funk-house rhythm, tweaked James Brown samples and restless bass of "Just Feel Good" and "Down Below", a more straightforward trip into woozy and sun-kissed dancefloor deep house territory that should get more than a few spins from DJs this summer.
Review:
By now, we should all know what to expect from Berlin underground royalty Till Von Sein, namely high quality, floor-friendly material that joins the dots between dusty deep house and celebratory disco. It's the latter influence that comes to the fore on this party-hearty EP, with opener "Say Say Say" delivering a driving, funk-fuelled chunk of loopy disco-house built around samples from a lesser-known late '70s cut. In contrast, "Shadrach" is a wonderfully percussive and low-slung slab of sweaty Latin jazz-house, while "Impala" sees him pepper a jaunty, piano-heavy disco-house groove with seriously snaking saxophone lines. Those looking for something altogether dreamier and more loved-up should check closer "Baden Powell Dr", whose fluid piano solos and meandering nu-disco synths help create a particularly saucer-eyed mood.
Review:
If your fame is built on delivering rock solid dancefloor cuts, should your subsequent albums stick to the same approach or mix it up a little? It's a conundrum that many artists have struggled with over the years. Smartly, Detroit Swindle has decided to hedge their bets with High Life following 2014's Boxed Out. As full length albums go, it's a bit of a peach, and sees the acclaimed Dutch duo flit between sensuous, home-listening fare, jaunty, instrumental-laden workouts (see the cheery, smoky pop-soul of Tom Misch hook-up "Yes, No, Maybe" and Afro-fired bounce of "Call of the Wild" featuring fellow Dutch combo Jungle By Night) and tried-and-tasty club tracks (Seven Davis Jr collaboration "Flavourism", the driving disco-house of "Freeqy Polly" and "Cut U Loose").
