Review: SBM is a new collaboration between Philpot co-founder Micahel Baumann (AKA Soulphiction) and the mysterious Blunted Monkz (an artist who has made just a handful of appearances on EPs and compilations since debuting in 2011). Happily, the quality threshold remains high throughout. Opener "Gotta Have It" sets the tone, serving up a rolling deep house cut built around low-slung dub disco bass, echoing vocal samples and layered percussion. "Tripolis Jam" is an even sweatier and more intensely percussive affair, with restless cowbells and heavier drum hits working in unison with a fuzzy, punk-funk bassline. Finally, they unveil the EP's undisputed banger, "Criticize", a woozy but energy-packed, jazzy deep house jam featuring vocal snippets from the Alexander O'Neal classic of the same name.
Review: Giant Cuts' Back To Jack series launches with an EP of revivalist house goodness from Phazon, one of the many aliases of Dirty Funker Paul Glancy. Title track "Freqbox" sets the tone, building slowly via waves of atmospheric chords and jaunty piano riffs, before morphing into an up-all-night assault of wild TB-303 acid lines and scattergun drum machine hits. The mentalist '303' lines come to the fore on the no-nonsense Phuture style jack attack that is "D Minor Experiments (Acid Mix)", before Glancy doffs a cap to Mr Lee, Richard Sen and early Bang The Party releases on EP highlight "This Ain't London".
Review: Stuttgart's Manmade Science has been with Philpot since the label's launch in the early 2000s, though this two-track marks their first appearance on the acclaimed imprint for four years. Happily, they slip straight back into the groove immediately, building a heady deep house chugger out of watery chords, sparse percussion, trippy vocal samples and a warm, stretched-out bassline. Suitably warmed up, they go for it on "House Keeping", cleverly utilizing ride cymbals to help propel a sub-heavy groove relentlessly forwards. By the time the camp, tongue-in-cheek spoken word vocal kicks in, you'll already be in the jackin' zone.
Review: By his impeccable standards, Michael Baumann has had a pretty quiet year, with EPs on Musik Krause and Circus Company his only releases of note. Here, he finishes the year in style, returning to the Philpot label he co-founded with another impressive pair of tunes. While the heady deep house warmth of "Obsidian Fields" is nominally the lead cut - think soul-flecked Rhodes chords, sun-flecked guitars and unfussy grooves - virtual flipside "Born Again" is arguably a stronger proposition. While it, too, features some typically tactile electric piano motifs, it's built around the kind of raw, distorted, broken techno rhythm he does so well. The track manages to simultaneously be tough and dreamy - a particularly attractive proposition.
Review: There's a raw, sweaty, back-in-the-day feel to this two-track taster of tracks from Philpot boss Soulphiction's live set. "Mind & Body" is built around formidably loose and organic sounding disco drums, complimented by a familiar extended vocal sample from a stone cold disco classic. Yet it also has warm keys and just the right amount of deep house pads. The results are electrifying, offering just the right balance between disco release and contemporary house chops. "Mind & Body", on the other hand, is deep house all the way - think undulating grooves, wide-eyed elecric piano chords, hissing cymbals and the most delicious "wet" electric bassline you'll hear all month. Stellar stuff, all told.
Review: It's been a while since Michael "Soulphiction" Baumann and Nick Reiff delivered any new Manmadescience material. This two-tracker isn't brand new, both tracks having been recorded way back in the early 2000s. Neither has been released before, though, so there's plenty for fans to get excited about. "The Blues 1997" is perhaps typical of their early work, fixing dubbed-out electronics, distant flutes and blasts of accordion with drifting blues vocals and hissing jazz-house grooves. The looser "Phase", meanwhile, sounds like an afro-centric deep house take on breezy dub disco - all jazzy guitars, loose percussion and heavy dub FX.
Review: Tim Toh's sound is an overtly confrontational one, taking what should be soft, organic sounds sources and driving them into the red in an approach that sounds like Detroit techno at its most antagonistic, but lashed to a house groove. "Pandemonium" staggers and lurches with ethnic percussion, creating a problem for beat-matchers everywhere. "Supercalifragilistic" is the real treat though, reining things in to create a heavily sliced jam with a jerky key line and nagging vocal chops. It's swung about as wide as possible, but everything is held together by a beautifully meandering line in Rhodes-y blues that belies Toh's musical knack.
Review: Lisbon-based producer Arttu Sellman hasn't released all that many records, but those he has put out are rarely less than essential. This second two-tracker for Philpot is another case in point. Both the title track and flipside "Upwards" bear the aural hallmarks and raw drum machine sounds of early house and techno. While the latter is a driving fusion of drifting vocal samples, fuzzy beats and brain-melting acid bass, it still retains the analogue swing and evocative feel of the immaculate title track. While neither track could be described as revolutionary, both offer an attractive package of spellbinding grooves and intoxicating analogue riffs.
Review: Freerotation is one of the UK festival circuit's best kept secrets, with this year's edition notable for about 15 sets from Move D. Inspired by events such as this, Philpot boss Soulphiction recorded these two tracks in honour of the festival whilst rehearsing for his live set at Freerotation this year. Raw, deep and emotive, the original version of "Freerotation" dovetails between drifting chords, delightfully light key refrains and juddering vocal swoops over the brittle jacking drums. Up next, the Jackmate dub features some nicely spaced vocals from Suzana Rozkosny and is a more rhythmically intricate counterpart to the original, unfurling into some brilliantly dubby key patterns and unannounced deviations into acid freakout status.
Review: Philpot boss Michael Baumann swaps hats on this pleasing two-tracker, offering tracks from both of his current musical projects. First up is "Full Swing" from collaborative 'live' project Missing Linkx, a delicious, surprisingly innocent concoction that gives deep house an organic twist thanks to some warm keys, simmering strings, jazzy trumpet, warped analogue bass and swinging beats that fall somewhere between 4/4 and broken beat. Flip for "Lovin' Dubbin' Feelin", a solo Soulphiction cut that promotes the same live approach to music-making but adds a faithfully dubby production sheen and a wonderfully bluesy vocal. As with "Full Swing", it's both effortlessly soulful and comfortingly loose.
Review: Those of you who, like us, revel in the return to prominence of piano driven house thumpers will have no doubt heard the 2009 anthem "Diskadenz" by some chap or chapette called Ike. The mysterious producer returns to the Philpot imprint for some 2011 heat, with the Supernatural EP. Dubby rhythms, bongos, shuffling hats and tense mechanical strings combine to hypnotic effect on "The Mole", which is marked by a killer spoken word vocal hook. "Supernatural" and "Ribbons" round off the release, with the soupy analogue chug of the latter the highlight here at Juno Download HQ.
Review: SoulPhiction and MK's collaborative project, The Missing Linkx, makes its second appearance on German imprint Philpot. Although not quite as anthemic as "Who To Call", new release "Got A Minute" displays a subtler side to this stunning project on three live pieces recorded with no edits, touches or reworkings - just raw music.
Review: The ever eccentric Krause Duo return to Philpot to deliver two hauntingly sinister tracks of minimal tech house. "Up" creeps along with moody basslines, spine chilling keys and a piano motif straight out of a 1930s silent horror film. "Spalter" takes the beat for more of a ride but the eerie keys still drench this menacing number. Truly unique dance material here from the boys.
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