Review: Any new album from deep house pioneer and all-round legend Larry Heard is good news, but especially so when it's credited to his best-known and best-loved alias, Mr Fingers. Around The Sun Pt 1 is Heard's first album under the alias for four years and, unsurprisingly, it's as musically expansive, evocative, and atmospheric as they come. Naturally, it's rooted in the warming, dreamy, subtly jazz-flecked deep house style he's been tweaking and improving over decades, with occasional forays into sun-kissed downtempo grooves ('Touch The Sky'), angular acid tracks, Heard's take on dub house (the deliciously deep, micro-house influenced 'Marrakesh') and summery Balearic house ('Shimmer'). All in all, it's another masterpiece from deep house's most significant pioneer.
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.
Toolroom Ibiza 2022 (Tech House mix) - (59:21) 126 BPM
Review: Big room house specialists Toolroom have been responsible for countless White Isle anthems over the years, something that makes their annual Toolroom Ibiza compilations a must-check for those seeking future floor-fillers. Their latest edition is something of a beast, featuring no less than 50 full-length, unmixed tracks and a couple of themed, non-stop DJ mixes (one gathers the set's deep, funky and electro house cuts, the other the tech-house tracks). Naturally there are far too many highlights to list here, but our current favourites includeMason Maynard's subtly DJ Mujava-inspired 'Light My Fire', the piano-powered rush of GotSome and Georgia Meek's 'Dead End', the twisted tech-house weight of Iglesias and Classmatic's 'Freak', and the warped, mind-mangling late-night shuffle of De La Swing and Rendher's 'Voodoo Step'.
Review: This is the first in a series of Five Eps from label co-owner Laurent Garnier, and this release gets off to a great start with "Sake Stars Fever". Redolent of classic material like "Sound of the Big Babou" and "Crispy Bacon", the track revolves around an epic, all-encompassing bass that seethes with tension. Garnier builds brittle percussion and a jittery rhythm around this core element to give it the necessary dance floor clout. In contrast, "Let The People Faire La Fete" is a deeper track that builds gradually, using doubled up claps and insistent stabs to reach a seductive crescendo. As always with Garnier, satisfaction is always guaranteed.
Review: Fresh from the release of his rather good - and decidedly Balearic - debut solo album on Leng, Athenian scene stalwart Lex reunites with regular studio buddy Locke for a more club-ready, deep house-fired EP on Delusions of Grandeur. The pair's hybrid electronic/organic sound comes to the fore on '7 Day Path', where a dubby deep house groove is laden with heavy hand percussion, spacey synths and decidedly intergalactic chords. 'I See No Ball', featuring Locomotives, is a druggy, hypnotic and dubby blend of arpeggio-driven Italo-disco and organ-rich deep house, while 'Catch Up With The Sun' is the kind of relaxed, groovy and summery affair that could have graced Lex's recent album. Also worth checking out is DJ Rocca's remix of '7th Path', which reimagines it as a squelchy chunk of nu-disco/deep house fusion.
Review: No single-track salvo from Eli Escobar this time round, but rather a two-track missive packed to the rafters with peak-time potential. Leading the charge is 'Just Work', a stomping but hypnotic affair in which sampled handclaps and blues vocal snippets work (sorry) together with looped stabs, cymbal-heavy machine drums and twinkling piano solos to create a heady late-night mood. 'Typical Sax Song' is a touch more laid-back but still energetic enough to get people going on the dancefloor, with Escobar adding woozy synths and hazy sax solos to a loose-limbed house beat and rubbery, delay-laden electronic bassline.
Review: No less a personage than dance music historian extraordinaire Bill Brewster is the man wearing the 'selecter' hat for this five-track V/A offering from Stretford-based Sprechen. Andy Buchan's 'Reasons' is a reworking of Ian Dury classic 'Reasons To Be Cheerful', Yum Yum Club's 'An Acid Love Feel Track' bites Donna Summer and Yootis's 'Preach' takes liberties with the Peech Boys' 'Don't Make Me Wait'; that suggests the other two cuts may also be re-edits, though if that's true we couldn't tell you what of! All the same, these are five reliable workouts that'll get contemporary disco floors shimmying for sure.
Review: Released last year, 'I Go' saw Peggy Gou in Italo-disco-influenced synth-pop mode, with psychedelic acid lines, sweet South Korean vocals and attractive melodies rising above a Bobby Orlando-esque bassline. Here the track is given a new lease of life by a trio of high-profile producers. Belgian behemoths Soulwax do a terrific job in re-inventing the track as a retro-futurist, warehouse-ready house epic - all muscular sequenced bass, bustling drums, rave-igniting stabs and hands-in-the-air intent. DJ Koze does a lovely job of re-framing 'I Go' as a bubbly, bright and breezy nu-disco number, while Maurice Fulton delivers one of those killer re-rubs based around his funky, cut-up bass guitar lines, Nile Rodgers guitar licks and sparse-but-snappy percussion.
Review: Five years after his Tribute To Eddie 12" of remodelled disco heaters, Live Ones boss Lorca (AKA London-based producer Sam Crossman) is back with a couple of edits-not-edits inspired by all-round disco, boogie and early US garage legend Larry Levan. 'Larry's Bomb', a swirling, filter-sporting, MPC-driven cut-up of a vintage peak-time disco banger, opens the EP in fine style, with Lorca adding a few spoken word samples from documentaries exploring Levan's legacy in celebration of the Paradise Garage resident's immeasurable impact on underground dance music culture. He takes a similar approach on the slowly building - and undeniably far more bass-heavy - 'Look What You Do', throwing cowbells and hissing cymbals into the mix for extra percussive pressure.
Review: Mask-sporting techno titan Redshape (real name Sebastian Kramer) can usually be relied upon to deliver the goods, particularly when it comes to the warmly nostalgic, timeless-sounding outings he delivers on Running Back. There's a definite "back-to-the-future" feel to 'Release Me (Base Mix)', a jacking slab of acid house/techno fusion piled high with psychedelic TB-303 lines, booming bass and creepy, held-note chords. He explores the track's vintage Chicago House influences further on the more stomping, acid-fired 'Windy Mix', before opting for a warmer and bouncier techno sound on 'Bonuz Me' (check the melodious, looped riffs and synth-strings). Closing cut 'Second Ten', meanwhile, sounds like vintage Mr Fingers updated for the Berlin techno generation.
Review: Soon Kerri Chandler will drop his first album in 14 years, Spaces & Places, a set recorded "on location" with the veteran producer taking a mobile studio to some of the world's most lauded and inspiring clubs. This album sampler boasts vocal and instrumental takes on two of the hottest tracks from the set. First up is 'Never Thought', a wonderfully rolling, bumping and extra-percussive affair recorded at London's Printworks that's rich in deep analogue bass, layered drums and effortless piano motifs. 'You Get Lost In It', a more melodious, warming and soulful number, sounds tailor-made not only for the Warehouse Project in Manchester, where it was recorded, but also 4am dancefloors the world over.
Review: Going by the volume of tracks on show, it would be fair to say that Masterworks Music's "Bag of Tricks" is not a little handbag, but more like a Mary Poppins style bottomless carpetbag. The label's latest rummage through its seemingly endless contents has been a successful one, with the 20 showcased cuts including a wealth of fine fusions of disco, house, boogie, electro and 80s soul. It's uniformly dancefloor-focused, with highlights including the Afro-house/disco-tech fusion of JB Dizzy, the driving, spaced-out disco-house grooves of Mike Woods, the loose-limbed, off-the-wall edits of Chewy Rubs, the sweet disco-soul bounce of RocknRolla Soundsystem, the delay-laden synth sing-along styles of Rayko and the hot-to-trot brilliance of Downunder Disco.
Review: Mexican merchants of dark disco, Duro, return this week with label co-chief Mateo Gonzalez aka Theus Mago, teaming up with Tyu (Tony Ullmann) on new offering "Piel De Oso" featuring Spanish rapper Livia. The entrancing, slo-mo exotica of the title track is complimented by some great remixes by Rina X Benji up first, who pick up the pace with some added snare rolls reminiscent of a certain Plastikman anthem, while Moisees & Zea's perspective takes the track into the peak time with pumping bass and a tighter rhythm section.
Review: It's testament to Ben J Worrall's skill as a musician and producer that his soulful, jazzy deep house productions can be mentioned in the same breath as those by all-time-greats Larry Heard and Ron Trent. Yet unlike those producers, he's yet to deliver an album so good that it will be considered a true great. Until now, that is. Evergreen, his first set for Freerange, is simply sublime: an unapologetically soulful, life-affirming set that blends effortlessly brilliant vocals and jazz-funk inspired instrumentation (think incredible horn arrangements, smooth bass, twinkling keys and glistening guitars) with the luscious, often Latin-tinged deep house beats that have long been his calling card. If there's any justice, it will end of being regarded as one of the electronic albums of 2022.
Review: It may have taken a while - his massive debut single 'Hyph Mngo' was released 12 years ago - but Joy Orbison has finally got round to recording his debut album. It's a highly personal affair, peppered with speech snippets from various family members (including his mum, dad, sister, cousins and famous uncle Ray Keith). It's a device that works well, providing a unifying thread throughout a woozy, musically eclectic concoction that sees the now veteran UK producer give his distinct spin on ambient, slow house, two-step garage, deep house, post-dubstep beats, dubbed-out soundscapes, British bass music, experimental electronica, cutting edge deep D&B and much more besides. It's perhaps not the all-out assault on the dancefloor some may have expected, but it is a genuinely brilliant and entertaining album.
Alan Fitzpatrick & DJ Deeon - "Shake That Thang" - (4:37) 130 BPM
Alan Fitzpatrick & DJ Deeon - "Shake That Thang" (DJOKO remix) - (6:29) 130 BPM
Learning To Love - (7:02) 130 BPM
Review: Over the last 15 years, few producers have released quite as much high-quality dancefloor fare as Alan Fitzpatrick. Somewhat predictably, his latest EP - a label debut for Bristol-based imprint Shall Not Fade - is another must-check missive. He's scored something of a coup, too, by recruiting Chicago 'ghetto-dance' legend DJ Deeon to add his evocative spoken word vocals to 'Shake That Thing', a deliciously spacey chunk of analogue house brilliance whose evocative chords and restless rhythm track will bring joy to many dancefloors this summer. Rising star DJOKO remixes, doffing a cap to the early 2000s work of UK tech-house stalwarts Swag on a deliciously swinging, loose-limbed rub. Fitzpatrick then delivers a bouncy, life-affirming chunk of disco-house hedonism, 'Learning to Love', which is pure pleasure from start to finish.
Review: Balearic veteran James Bright - formerly one-half of Lux alongside Steve 'Afterlife' Miller - flexes his electronic muscles on this three-tracker for Sprechen. 'These Machines' itself kicks things off, fusing elements of Italo and vintage acid into an angular concoction that's sure to inspire the thowing of a few shapes out on the floor. 'Vibration' then takes us into proper Balearic territory, being a piano-sprinkled head-nodder powered along by a pleasingly chunky bassline, while 'Hot Metropolis' offers up a more contemplative, late-night variation on the overall synth-y theme. Forward-thinking stuff as ever from the Manchester label.
Review: A very solid four-tracker here from Mr C Rubs, opening with the chunky 'Afro Disco', which isn't particularly Afro-flavoured musically but does feature a snatch of sampled tribal speech by way of a vocal. 'Music To Move' then brings the peaktime disco-house stomper vibes, before 'Respect & Harmony' takes us into chunkier pastures. And then we come to what for this reviewer is the EP standout by far - 'Strictly Rockers', wherein a monster bass throb provides the musical backbone around which assorted FX, piano licks, shakers, vocal snips and more interwine for seven slinky, sinuous minutes.
Review: La Collectionneuse is David Lieske aka Carsten Jost's third artist album on his Dial imprint, and it sees him continue to map out an understated but distinctive vision. All ten tracks are numbered and named after the release, with "La Collectionneuse 1" and "4" both led by stripped back grooves, and "2" and "3" venturing into deeper, US style house thanks to their shuffling drums and reflective textures. Jost's long-documented affinity with techno's more esoteric side is also audible here - "7" is a slow-building affair punctuated by subtle claps and shimmering melodies - while showing his flexible production skills, on "9", the German producer brings atmospheric sounds to bear on a warbling electro rhythm.
Review: Phonica White were waiting for the right track for Scottish producer Austin Ato's follow-up to 2017's Song For Mr Lewis EP. When they heard the sweltering disco inferno of 'When Love is Tender', they knew it was the one. With its classic Philly vibe complete with soulful vocals, funky bass, flanged drum loops and a roaring sax line - there's everything you need right here. For more late night mood music, Ato has you covered on the second offering "All Night Long" which again features a stirring string section, although things are much more low slung, complete with deep and dusty beats.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from Heist Recordings' annual Round-Up EPs, namely label regulars and selected guests remixing each other. JKriv and Peter Matson do a terrific job in turning Fouk's 'Money' into a squelchy, TB-303-fired slab of nu-disco/retro-futurist house fusion, before Makez re-imagines Mariana Trench's 'Wake Up' as a jazz-funk flavoured broken beat number and Fouk re-frames a Lore of the Samurai track as a gorgeous slab of house-not-house sunshine. Elsewhere, Mariana Trench gives Felipe Gordon's 'Highly Corrosive Acid' a driving, riff-heavy deep house spin, Felipe Gordon opts for a drowsy and eccentric mid-tempo house sound on his version of JKriv and Peter Matson's 'New Friend', and Lore of the Samurai's rework of Makez's 'City of All' is a hypnotic, tech-tinged treat.
Review: Having lent a couple of the label's finest moments previously such as the Sipoor and Sound Test EPs, not to mention a killer self-titled full length last year, esteemed Israeli duo Red Axes return to Phantasy with another bunch of leftfield club tracks on the Some Lights EP. Features the tunnelling, acid house-inspired stomp of the title track, which leads into the transcendental and psychedelic dark disco journey of "Skulls" and proving there's plenty in the duo's sonic repertoire, they close it out on a low slung tip with the deep down and dirty "Professor Grasstov".
Review: CircoLoco Records is a new record label forged in partnership with the iconic video game creators Rockstar Games. After four editions of colour coded releases, we now have the entire collection of 20 tracks compiled here in one package. From the Black edition there's the tunneling techno of Adam Beyer's powerful "Break It Up", from the Violet edition you have Margaret Dygas' majestic broken beat journey "Wishing Well", TINI with the neon-lit disco of "What If, Then What?" featuring Amiture (Green) and Sama Abdulhadi with the steely and hypnotic techno of "Reverie" taken from the Blue series - plus many more.
Review: As Eli Escobar let's it be known in "The Formula" that he's 'got something for you' as the sweet chorale chimes. There's a subtle Osunlade vibe to this album, the American's first, and Rhodes be flaying on "Visions" as they vamp to a climax like a Bootsy Collins solo. It's all stripped back business of "NY So Hi" - get down to this! And for some quality, sustained loops check out "Thank You Les". "Up All Night" is a dubbed-out, cool-as, disco-tinged burner and there's a whole load to discover here in a debut album rich with the type of soul you can only get from the streets of the big apple.
Review: Last year saw Greek edit wunderkind C Da Afro drop two joints on Cardiology amongst a whole load of discofied party fodder for the likes of SpinCat, Sound Exhibitions and more besides. Now he's back on Cardiology with even more goodies to share with the people in the place, leading in with intention through the rabble rousing 'Get On Your Feet'. He's working the filter hard on 'The Solution', teasing the funk until that sweet release on the drop. 'Disco Gang' whips up Backlash's classic '81 stomper 'Hang With The Gang' and gives it a gentle house injection, while 'Doing The Boogie' burrows deep into the groove for a simmering cut to keep the crowd loose and limber.
Review: Church and All My Thoughts founder Seb Wildlood may not be the most prolific producer around, but he's certainly kept up a steady stream of largely inspired, atmospheric and musically rich releases over the last few years. Do You Feel It Too is officially the London-based producer's fourth album, and arguably his strongest to date. Melodious, dreamy and atmospheric, its' 10 tracks variously touch on Balearic-inspired deep house, deep vocal two-step garage, future jazz, deep drum & bass, tactile post synth-pop electronica, classy nu-disco and giddy old school revivalism (see the gorgeous, retro-futurist house of 'For Emotional Use Only'). In other words, it's a deliciously colourful, accessible and enjoyable collection of dancefloor-friendly cuts.
Teach You (Erobique remix extended version) - (5:39) 123 BPM
Come On (Piano mix) - (5:06) 126 BPM
Electric Boulevard - (5:55) 131 BPM
Review: Thanks to a righteous debut EP that brilliantly joined the dots between Moroder style machine-disco and shirts-off Italo-disco, hopes are sky-high for this speedy sequel from rising star Gome (real name Stefan Lindblom). Interestingly, he's altered the blueprint a touch this time round, mining boogie and piano house for inspiration. He kicks things off with the pleasingly sleazy, P-funk fuelled electrofunk workout 'Teach You', whose risqu? spoken word vocals are as seductive as they come, before following it up with the sparser, slap-bass sporting 'Erobique Remix'. Elsewhere, 'Come On (Piano Mix)' is a giddy and rushing slab of old school piano house/acid house fusion, while 'Electric Boulevard' is a deep, TB-303 and vocoder-sporting electro number.
Izolo (feat Khonaye - Lost Desert & Lee Burridge remix) - (8:24) 120 BPM
Izolo (feat Khonaye) - (6:22) 120 BPM
Review: Following a string of admired releases on Anjunadeep, African electronic music collective Bantwanas returns to All Day I Dream after a near three-year absence. They're in fine form, too, delivering two typically tactile, dreamy, tech-house-tinged deep house numbers. Totle track 'Ixesha' is full to bursting with poignant piano motifs, sweet female vocals and atmospheric field recordings, while 'Izolo' is a sunnier, more sparkling affair rich in marimba and kalimba melodies, warming chords and shuffling drums. Lee Burridge joins forces with Lost Desert to provide remixes of both cuts: a more minimalistic, stripped-back tech-house take on 'Ixesha', and a hypnotic, dreamy, locked-in version of 'Izolo' that impressively enhances the track's inherent beauty.
Review: 18 months after their first Delusions of Grandeur outing - the rather good Disco Permanente EP - Mexican duo Soul of Hex return to the Freerange Records offshoot with another confident and ear-catching EP. Our pick of a very strong bunch is striding opener 'Say It Again', a weighty, percussion-rich slab of late-night dub disco rich in fluid bass guitar, echoing vocal snippets, layered drums and crisp guitar licks (think Trevor Jackson's Playgroup project and you're close). The fun continues on 'Pharoah Machine', a squelchy and sparkling slab of rolling late-night house, while 'Dreams' is a formidably drowsy, warming and saucer-eyed slab of after-hours deep house brilliance.
Review: Next up on Steve Bug's Poker Flat is Swiss minimal veteran Dachshund. Many will remember his prolific output in the mid-to-late noughties in addition to running the Clapper imprint, while these days you can hear him collaborating with fellow Genevans like Chaton and Quenum on Sol Selectas and Crosstown Rebels, respectfully. This one is titled "Division"; a serving of hypnotic dub house cyclicality in the vein of Basic Channel, complimented by additional offerings such as "Corruption" - a groovy minimal funk tool that harks back to the output of his earlier days - and the deep rolling tech house of "Only" that's perfectly geared for main room warm-up action.
Review: Since debuting in 2013, Mike Katz has released a lot of music as Harvey Sutherland, flitting between interconnected styles (disco, deep house, jazz-funk, nu-boogie, U.S garage and Italo-disco included) without ever laying down an album of all-new music. Boy, then, is a significant milestone in Katz's career and offers an exploration of what he calls "neurotic funk" - a boundary-blurring fusion of jammed-out analogue electronics and live instrumentation that draws on a multitude of musical styles without neatly sitting in any one pigeonhole. Highlights include the squelchy boogie-soul revivalism of eye-catching DAM-Funk collaboration 'Feeling of Love', the sparkling jazz-funk-goes-boogie sunshine of 'Age of Acceleration', the simmering soul of 'Holding Pattern' (which features his first ever lead vocal) and the futurist post-punk/new wave flex of 'Type A'. In a word: brilliant.
Review: Fresh from the release of his latest killer collaboration with regular studio buddy Mike Fot on SlothBoogie - the must-check Spliff Jamz Volume 2 - Scruscru goes solo via his first EP for emerging St Petersburg label Craft Music. Aiming to get dancers leaping from foot to foot as if walking on boiling hot sand, the Russian producer first fuses scorching Latin horns, carnival disco percussion and chunky house beats on party-starting opener 'Fiesta 24/7', before re-imaging an obscure Latin track as a mambo-house monster on the equally celebratory (and pleasingly acid-soaked 'El Rayero'). Title track 'Hot Sand' is a trumpet-sporting slab of tactile, sunset-friendly deep house warmth, while 'Musique D'ameublement' is a pedal steel-sporting, mid-tempo sample house chugger.
