Review: Four varied deep house cuts from Australian producer T Pollard make up the 'Sun Daze EP'. First up is 'Get Enough', a midtempo, experimental number with nods to the LA beats scene. 'Doesn't Matter What People Say' has a more laidback, dreamy feel, while title track 'Sun Daze' itself comes laden with sci-fi FX and a ponderous slo-mo bassline, and would make a fine intro track for your next mix. But if it's more traditionally styled bumping deep house for the dancefloor you're after, then The Posse's remix of 'Doesn't Matter...' is the one to head for, with its Balearic/Italo-house piano riff and overall sunrise-friendly vibes.
Review: Ooft! has been plenty busy over the years, both as an artist and label manager, and so it seems crazy that it's taken up until now for him to release his debut album. Whatever the case, the wait for Intricacies Of Modern Life has been well worth it, as the FOTO Recordings main man lets his imagination run wild in all the most fruitful corners of the deep house spectrum. There are bombastic moments like "Proteus Maximus", low slung Balearic chuggery a la "DSRV", peppy Motor City-flavoured beatdowns like "Keep On Pushin" and plenty more besides. Favouring the heady, warm up mood over anything too peak time, this is a record to be savoured like a fine wine.
Review: Any chef will tell you that tasty dishes can be made from offal, so it's little surprise to find that the quartet of "Off Cuts" served up on this Ooft! EP tend towards the delicious. Check, for example, the loved-up, riff-heavy house bliss of "High Hopes", where a marrow-rich chord sauce is lightly drizzled over a sparse and unfussy machine groove, or the retro-futurist sweetbread that is low-slung late night throb-job "Inner Space". Arguably even better is the sugary-sweet slo-mo bliss of tropical dream house shuffler "Choogles", while standout opener "Erotic Ashtray" layers saucer-eyed spoken word samples over an intensely blissful and dreamy deep house groove. It sounds like a long-lost Dream II Science track, which is no bad thing in our book.
Review: Marseille's finest DJ Steef steps up to the plate for the next Foto release, supplying three hefty house tracks of varying tempo's and moods. Main jam 'Shaking' kicks off proceedings with a chopped-up break and kicking groove before a piano-laden mid-section sends the temperature rising. Next up Freeters hits heavy on the pitch-down vibe with some wonky electronics underpinned by a solid 4/4 low end. Over on the flip big bossman The Revenge hits back with a trademark stripped-out mix of Shaking which is heavy on the machine funk. Rounding things off Mojica Tribe is an altogether deeper number with smooth pads and an ethereal atmosphere.
Review: Foto comes through once more with 3 tracks from label boss OOFT! Dub 4 Daze gets the delay units set to long to create a trippy house number, whilst on the flip Enter The Dragon is a more direct jam targeted at the floor with plenty of stabs and hihats. Rounding things off Father Father pitches things down for the erection section.
Review: Glasgow's OOFT! are definitely on to a winner in their disco-reviving love of sample-tastic house music, not least with EPs released for the excellent Instruments of Rapture and Wolf Music stables. They're back on the case with this sleek two-tracker for their own FOTO Recordings, and it's a game of two distinct halves. "Memories" serves as a functional tech-house number, but the real treat is in the filtered, looped vocal hooks and drawn out build-ups on "Billy" - the chord change is a timely move to lift the track out of the fog, creating a genuine slice of easy-grooving euphoria along the way.
Riding In My Imaginary Jeep (original mix) - (6:52) 117 BPM
Sir Shina - (6:59) 106 BPM
Riding In My Imaginary Jeep (OOFT! remix) - (7:30) 120 BPM
Riding In My Imaginary Jeep (OOFT! Deep dub) - (7:01) 119 BPM
Review: Ever since the release of the fabulous Trust Skynet EP, Deep Space Orchestra have been tipped as 'ones to watch' by many of the deep house community's biggest names. Listening to this second EP, and their debut on Foto, it's not hard to see why. Their productions sound cosily deep and melodic, yet their basslines are tough and their beats boast a distinctive swing. This is particularly noticeable on the title track and accompanying remix from FOTO boss OOFT - both have the sort of stargazing quality that used to be the sole preserve of Detroit's finest. Even more impressive is the experimental "Sic Shina", an ocean-deep roller that somehow melds jazz beats, Afro vocals and deep house with stunning results.
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