Review: San Soda, Luv Jam and the wonderfully named Schmitt Trigger team up for the King Elisedd EP on Crow Classic Cuts. We Play House starlet San Soda opens up with the understated euphoria of "Do It Like This", all pleasing late night chords, swirling synths and barely-there vocal cuts. It's one of his oldest tracks, and those who have witnessed a FCL or San Soda set in the past four years will know it well and no doubt be delighted to see it appears on digital. Then Luv Jam, who lays down reverberating chords and a ridiculously good bass line on "Fairytale Melody". It's stripped back, raw business that will please fans of Levon Vincent and the like. Finally, it's left to Schmitt Trigger on "Speichreich" to bathe a granite hard kick in white noise swooshes and deftly arranged clicks and clacks for a late night jam that strays cheekily into techno territory.
Schmitt Trigger - "Bethesda Bison" (Gnork's First Bison In Space mix) - (6:12) 122 BPM
Review: A change in the regular modus operandi for Crow Castle Cuts here as the excellent label introducer the CCCRAW series; tracks from the CCC archives are reworked in a live and raw fashion from a stellar cast of outsiders in Marquis Hawkes, In Fields and Zoovox. Hawkes is up first, paying homage to the label that's served him so well on a tuff 'Dixon Avenue Basement Jam mix of "Falcon Pass" by Studio Swiss - killer wubwub bassline on this one. London duo In Fields turn in a typically hypnotic acid drone 'Nip Replacement' version of Flypost's "Niple" whilst Lectric Sands duo Zoovox go all proto house on their excellent remix of Luv Jam's CCC classic "Romeo". Finally, Burek's rising talent Gnork lends the release some considered deep house caress with a 'First Bison In Space" rework of Schmitt Trigger's "Bethesda Bison".
Review: There's a complete lack of information as to the identity of LAHJ, the latest jammer to appear on the excellent Crow Castle Cuts label but we hope it stands for Live At Hugh Jenkins in homage to Offenbach institution Live At Robert Johnson. Regardless of source, the four tracks here more than match the calibre of previous CCC output, with title track "Miller SC" a wonderfully dark yet playful groover with some blinding organ stabs. "Womb" finds LAHJ dip into acid fried techno that feels like it was recorded straight to tape, whilst "The Tinley Effect" strips things back to a more minimal thrust that allows more of the analogue feel to seep through. This leaves "Gears & Greas" to close proceedings in a jerky, rhythmically unpredictable fashion that would appeal to the Pudel crowd.
Review: The typically packed Owain's Lagoon EP marks the final chapter in Crow Castle Cuts hugely enjoyable series which have touched on all corners of the techno and house spectrum. Luv Jam maintains his 100% appearance record on the series, opening up with "Turnipple" a sublime dusty house production that sets the tone nicely, with Schmitt Finger's "Bethsedia Bison" offering slightly more punch whilst still resolutely deep in its approach. Mr Tophat & Adam Stromstedt go star gazing on the expansive analogue cosmiche of "Tingeling," whilst "Valley Crucis Radio Party" demonstrates Cy in equally esoteric mood.
Review: Astonishingly, it has taken almost three years for Bryan Mooney's first outing as DJ Moonbeam to be made available as a digital download. We're delighted that it has though, because it's a fantastic mini album full of huggable deep space chords, fluttering new age synthesizer melodies, evocative background field recordings and surprisingly tactile drum machine rhythms. Interestingly, this edition boasts a completely different opening track, the bass-heavy, immersive and intergalactic deep house warmth of 'Do It Like This'. Elsewhere, it's as it was first time around, with highlights including the lusciously dubbed-out late night deep house of 'You're From The Future', the Detroit inspired deep techno of 'Coast', and the odd but inspired downtempo eccentricity of 'Waterside'.
Review: Having commenced their Raw black label imprint last winter with a split EP featuring the collective talents of Zoovox, Marquis Hawkes, Gnork, Luv Jam and more, the excellent Crow Castle Cuts label changes tack for this second transmission. Le Macchine are a Milanese trio formed of Cristian Croce, Luca Saponaro, and Nicola Mazzetti whose individual endeavours spread across a surfeit of projects and labels. Steadfast in their collective enthusiasm for hardware, Le Macchine drop five cuts here that feel soaked with analogue quality. Lead track "Machine" seems to contain untold levels of deep house potency and ensures this record is the sort that remains a constant in your DJ bag. The triplet of "Tape" experiments on the flip demonstrate the diversity of Le Macchine's production palette with "3" reminiscent of the Charles Manier stuff on Nation.
Review: First released on vinyl in 2017 as "Bonus Blurps", this tidy EP offers up a range of Gnork tracks, plus the Hungarian producer's wonderfully warm and melodious retro-futurist deep house remix of Schmidt Trigger's "Bethesda Bison" and two spacey ambient revisions of his work by Luv Jam. Highlights are plentiful, from the bass-heavy bounce of hybrid electro/deep house number "Sexxx In Space" and the bleeping bliss of "Planet EE 1 4 (Gnork's Secret Unreleased Mix)", to the hazy, dubbed-out hypnotism of early morning treat "Wat (Gnork's Secret Unreleased 4 Mix)".
Yasmin Lebonque - "The Castle Ooibonck" - (5:29) 130 BPM
Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt - "Place Of Love" - (5:30) 120 BPM
Dunder Karlsson - "Fet" - (7:15) 106 BPM
Review: Welsh label Crow Castle Cuts just about cram all the talent onto this release - the third in a series of four releases that has to date proved popular with fans of highly limited twelve inches that come replete with slick design and excellent house tracks. Now availabel on digital, Ap Gruffydd EP is no different, joining the dots on the many corners of the house and techno spectrum with aplomb. First you get wiggling acid techno from the ever excellent Luv Jam, explorations of mind scraping alien techno from the mysterious WAFF and sumptuously poised sampledelic analogue beatdown on Cy's brilliant "Queensbridge Chatta". The tempo veers even further south but the temperature remains ever warm with Yasmin Lebonque's "The Castle Ooibonck" whilst Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt introduce an off kilter tone with the heavenly "Place Of Love" dominated by the constant waves of epic chords. Tip!
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