Review: Already an established member of Crowd Control's Happiness Therapy family thanks to contributions to some of the label's popular compilations, Baka G is finally ready to release her first EP. It's an entertaining and expansive affair all told, with the fast-rising DJ/producer delivering a sextet of tracks that all hover around the 128-130 BPM mark. Our picks include the rubbery deep disco-house bounce of 'Weekend', the driving, acid bass-propelled hedonism of 'Cooking Up', the jazzy piano house rush of 'Gimme' and the organ rich Italo-house/heavy disco-house fusion of 'Boogie Check'. Arguably best of all, though, is 'Alchemy', a genuinely hard-to-pigeonhole slab of glassy-eyed dancefloor dreaminess that boasts a genuinely brilliant bassline and some wild acid lines.
Review: Denyl Brook, the Lyonnaise producer, returns to his regular label home, Happiness Therapy, with an impressive EP that showcases his love for vintage piano house. The EP kicks off with the smile-inducing, hands-aloft opener 'My Lovin', followed by the more stomping 'If You Say', which features rubbery, all-action synth bass, tight acid lines, and woozy lead lines. 'Good Times' is another feel-good track that combines elastic bass, crunchy drums, and spacey melodies. 'Ford Anglia' is a breathless, heads-down, warehouse-ready peak-time workout, while 'Fellas It's Me' is a foreboding slab of late-night retro-futurism. The EP concludes with 'Awake', a percussively pounding but sonically sunny and dreamy affair that may well be the EP's most loved-up moment. This latest release could be Brook's most consistently impressive EP to date. Denyl Brook is definitely showing here why he is one of the French House rising talents.
Review: Should you be on the lookout for cheerfully joyous and positive floor-fillers, the latest edition of Happiness Therapy's popular Happy House series of compilations is well worth a listen. The 14 featured tracks come from a mixture of label regulars and newcomers, and there's enough variety across the collection to suit a variety of dancefloor moods and situations. For proof, we'd suggest bouncing between the celebratory piano-house rush of 'Promise Keeper' by Peter Palace, the garage-influenced deep house bump of Naux's 'Lemona (Missin' U)', the trad US garage-goes-deep house bounce of DJ Atlance's 'The Music In Me' and the disco-techno rush of 'Mr Magic' by Baka G.
Review: French label and party series Happiness Therapy return this week with a new release by Belgian DJ/producer Bass Toast, hot off releases on Le Ciel, Listen Festival and his own Cosmic Breeze Records. As the name may suggest, Happiness Therapy 11: "Obnoxious Groove" features some seriously rude beats, such as on the original mix with its early '90s classic house style of swing, while the deep and sexy Dream Mix gets more lo-slung ey still retaining that Stateside sound. There's one more original in the form of "To Sandy" channelling that classic Mr Fingers vibe of old.
Review: To mark the third birthday of his poular Happiness Therapy label, big cheese Simon Blondeau AKA Crowd Control has put together this collection of exclusive, previously unreleased tracks (many first-time collaborations) featuring a mixture of imprint regulars and guest contributors. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the intergalactic deep house bounce of DJOKO's 'Feel The Music', the sun-kissed, melody-rich dancefloor beauty of B From E's 'Pagan Mysteries' and the revivalist, turn-of-the-'90s New Jersey deep house warmth of Ricky Razu's 'In Dreams', to the spacey nu-disco/deep house fusion of Crowd Control and Minorah's 'The Loft', and the dubbed-out, slap-bass-sporting early morning deep house warmth of Dub Striker and Tour-Maubourg's 'Classico'.
Review: Unbelievably, four years have passed since Davide Disanto made his breakthrough via a fantastic EP on Let's Play House's white label series. He's delivered plenty of deep house goodness since then, though nothing as expansive as the House of Universe EP. He begins by smothering a chunky, retro-futurist New Jersey deep house groove with vibraphone-style solos on 'Nites Into Dreams', before reaching for seriously spacey synths, jaunty bass and bustling beats on 'interplanetar Solar'. 'Control' is darker and trippy in tone, with galactic electronics and bubby acid lines catching the ear, while 'I Can Feel It' is a breezy piano house jam full of subtle sonic references to the Burrell Brothers' Nu Groove-era work. Rydm Sectors remix that track, opting for sweaty, jackin' beats and plenty of positive piano riffs.
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