Review: This joint EP from legendary New York producer Satoshi Tomiie and Italian scene stalwart Giuseppe Tuccillo originally appeared on vinyl way back in 2017, as part of Holic Trax's fifth birthday celebrations. It's fantastic that "To Ray" has finally landed on digital download, because all three tracks are genuine floor-slayers. Opener "Do It" gets the right balance between wiggling late-night funkiness and muscular, Twilo era hypnotism, with the experienced duo adding "French Kiss" style synth stabs and squelchy electronic sounds to a rock-solid bed of sweaty house beats and thickset synth-bass. "To Ray" takes jackin' Chicago acid in a wonky, sub-heavy direction with predictably impressive results, while "You Know" is a deeper, woozier and more spaced-out number perfect for those 5am "heads down" moments.
Review: Colin McBean is one of the few modern producers who has an utterly distinctive sound. It's audible on every track he makes, with his resonating kicks and tough bass always standing out. On this release, McBean steers his Mr G sound in a slightly deeper direction than usual. While "Soba Shioyaki" does feature his trademark kicks and powerful low end, it also resounds to shimmering filters and dreamy chords. That other trademark Mr G element, the vocal snippet, also looms large here as it rides the insistent bass. On "Komorebi", he opts for a similar approach, albeit with deep synths moving and a dreamy string sequence moving effortlessly through his unique rhythm and drums.
Review: HOLIC Trax was founded in 2012 by Berlin based DJ/Producer Tomoki Tamura and now serves up its 21st release. Following up great releases by Satoshi Tomiie, Ivan Iacobucci, Dan Curtin and Mr G, he's back with Ibiza-based Italian Tuccillo here (Visionquest).The Los Amigos EP featuers the trippy minimal tech house tool "G Capsule", followed by the intoxicating and reduced bounce of "Pierrot" with its slight middle eastern flair and finally the dirty lowdown jack of "Playhead".
You Got Me Going Crazy (Berlin dub) - (7:23) 126 BPM
You Got Me Going Crazy - (7:07) 126 BPM
You Got Me Going Crazy (Acapella) - (0:52) 116 BPM
Review: By now Holic Trax is one of the most assured house labels of the day. As such it makes sense that they turn to another well regarded house producer in Brett Johnson for their next EP. Johnson is an American who has excelled at every dance style over the years. With a classical bent to his tunes, he likes bump and groove and always serves up no nonsense jams on labels like Classic, Housewax and Visionquest. Here he excels with three new tracks as well as one collaboration with tech house legend CPEN. Sumptuous "Slow Tide" is the slick opener and is the sort of soulful, expertly produced jam only a veteran could come up with. Smooth synths have a real sense of feeling, skipping drums bring the groove and a rich bassline recalls the work of Chi town great, Boo Williams. The delicious "Music" is then more direct and physical, with scratchy perc and epic drums punching out a busy pattern. Glass tinkles and smeared pads soften the edges of this deep but jacking track The standout "You Got Me Going Crazy (Berlin Dub)" then finds Brett teaming up with cult figure CPEN to excellent effect. It is a trippy and freaky late night tech cut with slinky lines, spooky vocals and real electronic funk in its bones. Sure to set ?floors on fire, it gets followed up by the joyous house skip, modern soul and bendy machine funk of "Don't Forget to Smile".
Review: After the success of the first release by Ivan Iacobucci, Holic Trax sublabel Monoklo now enlists Berlin-based Martin Lewis for three hot tracks featuring a remix from label boss man and Japanese don Tomoki Tamura. No nonsense opener 'The Wax' is a supple, rubbery roller with sparse stabs accompanying the infectious groove. "Poetry" then sinks down into a more warming and human groove, with smeared synths bringing colour and heat to a loose house groove, before Lewis shows his skills at choppy techno with "Drumcatch". Tomoki Tamura also remixes this latter track, stripping it right back to a suggestive, infectious final groove with feather light percussion, skewed chords and involving sub bass that laps at the heels of the track.
Review: No nonsense house stable Holic Trax turn to accomplished producer and DJ Ekkohaus for their next EP. The Greek producer has been leading the house scene from the front for more than a decade now.Up first here is "Corner People" with a prying synth line that burrows deep into the night as blobs and droplets of colour rain down next to it. The underlying drums are slick and smooth and the overall effect is brilliantly hypnotic. The fantastically fresh "Shout It Out" then goes fast and deep into a world of liquid pads and spiralling chords. Whispered vocals add a sensual heat and the swiftness of the groove cannot fail to carry you away in fine fashion. "New Tricks" has meaty, roughhewn drums driving it along and is nice and frayed and analogue around the edges. Curious stabs and rattling, DIY perc sounds percolate up through the mix on this most macho of deep house tracks. Lastly, vinyl only effort "Because of You" is a slick, syrupy deep house cut with wavy, bendy tones, terrifically playful melodies and a charming sense of colour littering it from start to finish.
The Other Side (Tomoki Tamura edit) - (6:32) 123 BPM
Atuler (feat Djebali) - (7:04) 123 BPM
Review: When it first appeared on vinyl two years ago, the Island Jam EP simply flew off the shelves, becoming one of Holic Trax's best selling releases. It's good that digital DJs can now own a copy of the EP, which sees label regular Tuccillo join forces with John Dimas and Djebali. The latter makes his presence felt on EP highlight "Autler", a thrillingly bass-heavy bumper that seemingly draws influence from the glitch-driven grooves of Parisian tech-house and the rolling swing of classic U.S garage. There's a similar feel to the slightly more tactile - but no less warehouse-friendly - Dimas hook-up "A View From", while label boss Tomoki Tamura turns another Tuccillo/John Dimas jam, "The Other Side", into a restless chunk of deep space acid house.
Flowers From Your Grave (T2 edit) - (6:34) 123 BPM
Let's Stay Together - (6:38) 127 BPM
Night Walking - (5:55) 120 BPM
Review: Holic Trax has established itself as a respected, no nonsense outlet for quality house and
techno and that carries on here with a new EP from Keita Sano. Keita Sano, based in Okayama, Japan, has previously released on labels such as NYC's Mister Saturday Night and Hugo Capablanca's Discos Capablanca. Up first, 'Flowers From Your Grave' is a gritty number with tough drums, Detroit inspired pads and plenty of physicality in the groove. Crisp and dynamic, it's a robust house cut, for sure. 'Let's Stay Together' is a more party sounding offering with atmospheric ambience in the back ground as streaming Rhodes chords and organic percussion set a Moodymann style vibe front and centre. Then comes 'Night Walking', which flips the script again, this time sinking down into a warm, propulsive deep house vibe with bold but soft edged chords, driving drums and engaging hand claps. This is a fine EP that is sure to make a big impact on the dance floor.
Review: Tomoki Tamura's label welcomes Ivan Iacobucci for some stripped back, loopy house and techno. "Router" is the most repetitive of these three track; it revolves simply around shuffling drums, a pulsating bass that, oddly enough, seems inspired by 2-step and some fuzzy background noise. That Iacobucci manages to make it sound interesting for close to 10 minutes is quite a feat. "Stakhanovite" is dreamier and looser, with a focus on lithe break beats, live drum loops and jazzy chords. Finally, there's "Anorak", which represents a different sound again, with its pulsing bass and acid under-currents. The common bond here again is the repetitive arranging and hypnotic sensibility it, like the other tracks, exudes.
Review: Rick Wade delivers three deep originals on Holic Trax this March with a Tomoki Tamura edit in tow. One swift look at Rick Wade's staggering back catalogue, from a career spanning more than 20 years, will attest to the Detroit-based producers raw talent in the studio, crafting grooveladen rhythms into cuts that exemplify the word deep. In his latest EP, 'Tech Breed', Rick demonstrates his inimitable production prowess across three expertly forged tracks. Straight from the off you can hear Wade's knack for creating synergy between analog gear and digital software as the title track ensues with an undulating groove that's quickly accompanied by subterranean synths for mesmerizing results. With 'Groovy' the percussion shifts to bongos, whilst ethereal atmospherics and otherworldly notes maintain a mood both arcane and dusky. The tone then shifts in 'Whoa Children' with a sharp injection of funk triggered by soulful vocals and a pulsing bassline - its sultry, smooth and guaranteed to get your body moving. In a sentence, the cuts offered up here ooze soul and vibrancy in a deep way that only Rick Wade can purvey, three warm and groovy cuts that will no doubt be finding their way into many a record bag this year. Holic Trax head honcho Tomoki Tamura delivers an equally dynamic club tool for the final offering on this excellent EP.
Review: Nightdrivers deliver three first-rate cuts on Holic Trax for the 'Quando Party Dove Vai ?' EP. Following on from Burnski's 'The Hours' EP which saw love from names like Mr G, Catz 'N' Dogz, Detroit Swindle and Eats Everything, Holic Trax returns this February with Nightdrivers' 'Quando Party Dove Vai ?'. Since delivering their debut release on Bosconi Records back in 2013 the Berlin-based duo Nightdrivers have been going from strength to strength stacking up further releases on Claap, their own Nightdrivers label and now Holic Trax. To get things underway the light pads of 'Resta Pure Dove Sei' give the opening track a floaty quality while the weighty percussion and subtle rhythms build proceedings into a steady and infectious groove. Nightdrivers appear to go up a gear as the EP progresses with the rippling drums and dynamic arrangements of 'La Ronde Suite (But Not For Me)' while 'Fast Cars' maintains the lively vibe of its predecessor and frenetically bubbles along over busy modulations, wacky intonations and infectious licks to dish up a suitably punchy close to this bouncy EP.
Review: Sierra Sam is the kind of producer who releases on the right kind of labels. That is, his own brand of shady deep house has appeared on everything from Upon You to Supplemental Facts and even Contexterrior. This time he lands on the comparatively rougher-edged Holic Trax - home to EPs by the likes of Mr.G, Rick Wade, Chris Carrier - with four slices of glitchy, rustproof house music. The title track "Sage" is a beautifully unexpected 4/4 journey accompanied by breaks wild sonics, while "We Would" is jazzier, and "One More" head into techy mode thanks to its slice-n-dice percussion stabs and minimalistic melodies. There's also a Tomoki Tamura and Sierra Sage remix of "Essence", a starry excursion into deep beats, woozy cowbells and fuzzy low-ends.
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