Review: Over the last couple of years, Tserg has dedicated his time to releasing cassettes that gleefully blur the boundaries between heady ambience and picturesque deep house. While these were rather good, they weren't particularly accessible releases. This EP, his first solo single since 2018, is therefore a very welcome release. It's rather good, too, with Tserg drifting between ghostly late-night deepness ('Futoure', with its drifting chords, subtle piano motifs and stripped-back drums), sunrise-ready deep breaks bliss ('Come to a Grinding Halt'), saucer-eyed, sun-kissed wonder ('We Are Found'), immersive deep house box jams ('Phases') and chunkier, up-tempo ambient techno/deep house fusion ('CG (Off Balance)').
Review: Last time he appeared on local label A Friend In Need, Lootbeg was operating in cahoots with fellow Leipzig resident Bajazo. Here he returns to solo action with his seventh missive for the popular and reliable imprint. He begins with a dash of shimmering, sci-fi flavoured deep house/tech-house fusion (the ear-pleasing melodiousness of "The Illusion of Gravity"), before wrapping deep synth-pop melodies and chords around a rolling house beat on "Make A Change". Sleazy but deep house retro-futurism is the order of the day on immersive treat "Towards The Dreams", while "Salat Live" is a tactile slab of undulating deep house acid. Also similarly impressive is bumping closing cut "Sem", where dubbed-out synth riffs and stirring chords ride sweaty drums and a headline-grabbing bassline.
Review: Lepizig crew A Friend In Need regular serve up compilation style EPs featuring tasty tracks from a select group of like-minded local and international producers. Here they go further, delivering an expansive, 11-track collection that could well be the imprint's strongest release to date. After beginning with a chunk of sparkling ambient brilliance by Afinns, the set flits between deliciously dreamy, groovy and tactile mid-tempo fare (mostly courtesy of slo-mo specialists such as Heion, loop-master 78 Edits, MermaidS, La Tumerie and Buzz Compass) and more peak-time-friendly tackle that similarly fuses elements of swirling deep house, rubbery disco and glassy-eyed boogie. These cuts are particularly potent, with the contributions by Mono & Luvless, Lootbeg and Quadrakey standing out.
Review: While it has become increasingly fashionable to champion hissing, crackle-heavy deep house, Leipzig label A Friend In Need has been repping the style longer than most. Here they enhance their credentials via a fine nine-track compilation. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the pitched-down Detroit techno/hazy deep house futurism of AEZKVLAP's "Ande" and the acid-flecked Balearic house hiss of Lootbeg's "Cheeeers" [sic], to the Larry Heard-on-happy pills bliss of Rowvn's "Is It Real", to the dirt-encrusted, redlined fuzz of Blinds' "South Memphis", which reminded us a little of Shall Not Fade's most memorable moments.
Review: There's no denying that Lootbeg has been in fine form of late, with 12" singles on Tieffrequent and Tooman Records only enhancing his reputation as a producer on the rise. Predictably, the Leipzig man is at the top of his game on this EP for A Friend in Need. Opener "Cheeeers" offers the perfect balance between raw, distorted drums, wiggly acid lines and the lilting, string-laden sheen of classic deep house, though acid-fired electro cut "Goodbye Galaxy - Gg17428" - all filtered late night stabs and thrillingly rough rhythms - is arguably even better. Elsewhere, he serves up a thrillingly muscular chunk of TB-303 techno (the fittingly titled "Mental") and does his best Drexciya impression on the heavy-but-poignant "Goodbye Galaxy - Gg17421".
Review: Forget Berlin: it's all about neighbouring Leipzig these days and local imprint A Friend In Need are here to prove it on Leipzig Only 02. "Blinds" is up first with the classic Larry Heard vibe of "Cloud City" which was a pretty awesome exercise in deepness if we do say. There's nothing daggy about Napoleon Dynamite's uplifting nu-disco jam "Altei" which would make even Jay Shepheard stand up and notice. Label head honchos Lootbeg & Nova Casa serve up what could be the EPs finest moment on "Introduction" which was wonderfully emotive and bittersweet, with its life affirming strings, melancholic keys and dusty drums. Finally Zacharias goes chasing the ghosts in the analogue machines to stunning effect on "Across The Cosmic Gardens".
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