Review: Si Murray and Chris Barker aka Deep Space Orchestra have been making some serious waves since they first began producing together in 2005. Releasing on a set of reputable labels such as Delusions of Grandeur and Drumpoet Community over the following few years, they now hold a stellar rep for their raw and groove ridden deep house. This time round, the pair have been snapped up by Quintessentials and frankly, we can't think of a more suitable artist-label partnership. The Bucktown Fever EP kick starts with the smooth and sophisticated "Bucktown"; rich, pumping and analogue, its driving rhythm and vintage charm make the EP a winner before we've even flipped over. Once we do however, "Arrakis" holds its own with delicate strings, simple chord sequences and sensual vocal snippets, bound together by tight hi-hats and a deep round bass. Lastly, "Don't Move" and its intriguing field recordings and expertly executed percussion tips an already outstanding EP into a timeless, classy piece of wax that we highly recommend.
Review: German deep house label Quintessentials celebrate their fifth birthday in 2019, and their first release of what will hopefully be a landmark year is this four-tracker from UK producer Andrew Scott, better known as NY*AK. 'After The Sun' is a soulful deep houser that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Om or Naked in the early 00s, 'Mind' is a slow-building, warm-up friendly affair with swirling pads, drifty vocal fragments and analogue keys, 'Vice' itself is a much livelier workout with drums from 80s Chicago and nods to early 90s ambient/dream house, while finally 'Onions' ploughs a jazzier furrow.
Review: Back on Quintessentials, Knarf Skipson merges the disciplines of house and hip-hop into two fresh and innovative tracks. "Dirty South" sees a tribal sentiment fighting its way into the amalgamation, whereas "Upper East" is a dub-lined appropriation of hip-hop. Sascha Dive, one of kings of raw, stripped back house music, turns in a killer mix here, with one eye firmly trained on the dancefloor.
Review: In its original form, KRL's hook-up with vocalist Janine Small, the bright and breezy "Never Leave", was the standout track on last year's superb "Third" EP on Quintessentials. Here the track is given a little spit and polish by pal Greymatter and recent Church signee Loz Goddard. The former makes the most of KLR's gorgeous synth riffs and Small's superb vocal, wrapping both around metronomic kick drums, crunchy TR-909 style snares and a formidably heavy, life-affirming analogue bassline. It is, like much of Greymatter's work, a warehouse-ready workout. As for Goddard, he opts for a loose and languid broken beat vibe, adding his own liquid synth flourishes, rumbling bass and jazzy percussion.
Review: 18 months after his first 12" release caused a bit of a commotion amongst deep house heads, mysterious producer Ibrahim dons The Zohar mask for another three-track exploration of late night pastures. The real killer here is "M.F.B.S (You Know)", a superbly crafted piano house jam that borrows heavily from the O'Jays "Backstabber". It's the production that impresses most. While others would have been tempted to gravitate towards filters, Ibrahim keeps it clean, building a sweet, swinging groove out of simple loop progressions and judicious use of samples. "Another Damn One" and "Second Chance" successfully explore deeper territory, coming on like Trus'me after a heavy night on prozac.
Review: If you like your deep house lovingly crafted and exquisitely musical, Quintessentials' Deep & Raw & Real rarely disappoints. This latest installment features four more fabulous cuts to contend with, each delivering a distinctly different take on deep house. Ricardo Miranda's "Rush Hour" is wonderfully sleepy, offering hissing cymbals and super-deep chords. Toby Tobias, meanwhile, works the filters and backwards effects on "Love Papers", a real string-drenched sweetie. NO MILK's "Bubble People" ups the atmosphere again thanks to some choice double bass loops and distant jazz piano, while Marcello Nepoltano's "All My Things" brilliantly recalls early St Germain and Aqua Bassino.
Review: Quintessentials return to their infrequent Deep Raw & Real series of global house with a typically stellar line up. Musical Freak Luke Solomon revisits his Lukatron pseudonym for some simple, no nonsense jacking business on "Aspect Ratio", little more than multiple layers of percussion and toasty bass patterns from which a spectral machine funk melody steadily emanates. Philpot type Radiq follows with the crisp future funk of "Lovin Pain" which finds its feet as soon as those hi-hats lock into groove with the heavy synth flourishes. Preston's finest Cottam gives us a taste of what to expect on his forthcoming Aus release with the liquid bump of "Work It" which finds the space to work in a cheeky R&B sample to great effect. Rising Finnish producer Deymare switches down the mood on "So Real", a saunter through slick bottom heavy beatdownisms which only serves to highlight the different shades of house music that characterise this impressive release.
Review: Some three years on from his last EP, a vinyl-only missive on Mysterious Works, Jank returns to action via a quietly impressive three-tracker on Quintessentials. We're particularly enjoying opener 'Has Gone', a thickset and heady house loop jam in which stretched-out, held note chords, sax samples and glassy-eyed boogie vocal snippets dance atop hypnotic beats and a killer analogue bassline. That said, others may prefer 'Ballad', a shuffling chunk of eyes-closed, jazz-fired deep house bliss, or the dreamy warmth of closing cut 'Misty', where reverb-laden electric piano chords, short female vocal snippets and tactile bass dance seductively with a rich, tactile bassline.
Review: Here's something of a surprise: a first single in six years from former Local Talk artist and man/woman of mystery Black Fan. First up we get to check out the artist's remixing skills, as he (or she) offers up a brand-new interpretation of Greymatter's 2011 jam 'Tesla', a mighty slab of sweaty, warehouse-ready euphoria that first appeared on a compilation style Wolf Music EP. As the mix title suggests, Black Fan has drawn enormous influence from the muscular, dark room-ready Sound Factory-era sound of Junior Vasquez, peppering a tough, driving groove with echoing synth riffs and Greymatter's glassy-eyed female vocal samples. In contrast 'Cuttlefish', an original Black Fan track, is a sparkling and colourful slab of electronica that sits somewhere between electro, deep house and IDM.
Review: Italian duo Nicholas & Simoncino continue their ascent from limited white label edits to further recognition with this split release for the Quintessentials imprint. If you've kept an ear near their recent endeavours, you'll be smart to the decidedly old school 90s vocal house flex that runs deep through the four tracks here. Nicholas takes the lead with two tracks which commence with "Holdin On" - heavy on the resplendent piano vibes, with big ivory flourishes sweeping across the bumping rhythm before an almighty vocal comes swooping in with Queenish aplomb. "On The Streets" is just as accomplished, leaning on some annoyingly familiar source material and containing a killer gospel breakdown. In contrast to the NJ garage style of the A Side, Simoncino serves up a double helping of Muzic Box worthy warehouse jams, with proto drum machine rhythms, big melodic washes and heavy analogue bass movements pervading both "Unknown" and "All Night".
Review: They may sound like the main characters of a forgotten kids TV show from the 80s, but British deep house types Ethyl & Flori are definitely letting their productions do the talking. Their EP for Freerange last year was a late night trip into low slung house territory which was stamped with their love of Detroit techno. Quintessentials Recordings, one of 2010's finest imprints for deep house business, have secured three more cuts of smooth warm house from the duo on this Paisley Riffs EP. "Malmoe" will get the plaudits here, deep jackin house for the early hours with what sounds like a cheeky K Dixon Jnr sample. "Those Eyes" is compelled along by an entrancing raw chord melody underpinned by simple drums. "Lenox Ave" gives Ethyl the chance to delve into his love for jazz, with a skittering percussion pattern playing off perfectly against warm pads and a deep piano melody.
Review: There was a fair amount of underground heat around Hitoshi Marakami's debut single as First Floor on Local Talk, an inspired, low-slung and deliciously dubby 2018 re-make of Serious Intention's proto-house classic "You Don't Know". This delayed follow-up is equally as impressive. In its original form, "Unrequited Feelings" is a pleasingly jazzy chunk of humid, saucer-eyed deep house rich in tribal style drum hits, jazz-funk bass, fluid piano lines and ethereal chords, while "Rhodes" is a perfectly pitched chunk of hazy deep house warmth smothered in tasty electric piano. Fellow Japanese producer Kez YM provides the standout remix, reimagining "Unrequited Feelings" as a pleasingly glassy-eyed slab of piano-house soulfulness, while Simon Hinter adds a little swing and tons of squelchy synth bass on an ear-pleasing revision of "Rhodes".
Review: Having spent the last six years hopping between such admired labels as Argot, NDATL, the Love Below and, most recently, People of Earth, Stefan Ringer is ready to add another much-loved imprint to his CV: Quintessentials. Opener 'Otw' delivers a predictably strong start to the EP, with Ringer adding (synthesizer) xylophone solos and jazzy synth stabs to the deepest and dreamiest of broken house grooves. 'Shakeyabody' is a more low-slung, late-night affair where manipulated spoken word vocals and fuzzy synth riffs ride another deliciously deep and locked-in gorove, while 'Evolution' boasts an attractive mix of sparse-but-jacking drum machine beats, ocean-deep chords and leisurely, early morning synth sounds.
Review: Who said clearing samples was a nightmare? Skipson - being a the good chap he is - sent the final version of "K's Editspot pt.1", which used Rob Mello samples, to the man himself for his blessing. Rob - also being a good chap - liked the new version so much he offered up a remix! And so the Mel Skipson Project was born, and thanks to Quintessentials both versions are now available to the public. Mello's tweak is pure sweat-drenched peak time fodder with killer vocals pressed up against an acidic Chi-town bassline - big tip. Skipson's version is not as incendiary, opting instead for sampled crowd noises, deep Motor City chords and a straight up house bump. Killer release!
Review: Gianni Siravo and Sven Lacoste have been making a bit of a name for themselves under the Azuni moniker, not least with last year's excellent "Here You Come" 12" on Drumpoet Community. Here they pop up on the usually reliable Quintessentials with more high calibre material. Lead cut "Do It To Me" is a beaut - a delicious, oven-ready mix of sugary NY house organs, buttery bass and crunchy beats. The spoken word jam "Feel It" (featuring Bolo) cranks out some classic strings and pianos, whilst "How Wonderful" offers another woozy but ultimately thrilling slice of organ deepness. Rob Mello remixes "Do It To Me", too, delivering a typically chunky interpretation.
Review: Berlin based deep house merchant Baaz returns to the Quintessential imprint after last year's well received Pass It On EP. All The Way sees Baaz in familiar territory, exploring the lower echelons of syncopated drums and hypnotic melody. "Paean For The Masters" is Baaz in peak time mood - with heavily percussive rhythms sitting atop soft pads and submerged chords. The tempo is slowed down on "Are You" with punchy drums infiltrated by burning vocal dubs and subtle synth melodies. Motor City retroism abounds on "Black Pattern" and "Drive Thru", where proper house patterns are melded with delicate basslines and understated synth flourishes.
Review: In order to enjoy Quintessentials' latest multi-artist effort, they recommend grabbing a steaming hot beverage and placing your behind in the comfiest armchair available." Of course, accidental spillage could be an issue as your limbs start moving to the bumpin' beats, trippy female vocals and spacey synth motifs of Walking Shoes' "Heroes (Chelly K Vox Mix)", or the bustling drums, dewy-eyed soul samples and heavy bass of "Feel Like Ding" by Effgee. Sinking into the armchair is likely when you hear the blissful Rhodes solos, woozy chords and MC house style beats of Marc Bianco's "Wet Scott" and the swinging, early Floating Points style warmth of Roy Vision's "Walking Trail".
Review: Los Goddard continues his steady rise up the deep house ranks. He's delivered some excellent material this year already, via EPs on Razor 'N' Tape Reserve and Dirt Crew Recordings (the latter in cahoots with Harry Wolfman). This EP on Quintessential may be his strongest to date. There's naturally much to admire, from the woozy, pitched down vocals, rich keys, woozy chord progressions and crunchy drums of "Slap Dancer", to the sensual dreaminess of rolling groover "Flavour". The EP's title track, a pitched-down shuffler complete with sustained note strings, bubbly acid lines, crispy drum machine handclaps and sumptuous chords, is also excellent.
Review: German imprint Quintessentials' mission statement is to keep underground house music on the map. It claims to hold a candle to those old house records: they love that raw yet soulful vibe. For their 56th (!) release they have tapped Mexican producer 4004, who has had releases also of late on FACES, Poetry In Motion and Late Night Jackin'. Smoky late night groove "No Dreams" gets things off to a good start with its smooth Rhodes, bumpy bassline and hypnotic bongo action. We particularly enjoyed the pumping NYC basement vibe of "Fanta Club" while "Black Alley Shuffle" gets back to the program in sexy and dusky fashion complete with some dusty rhythms, diva vocals and further mood lighting with the impressive use of filter sweeps.
Girl U Don't Know How Beautiful U Actually Are - (7:21) 118 BPM
The Quint Garage - (5:48) 122 BPM
For Those Who Enjoy Being Alone - (5:01) 115 BPM
Review: Since making his first appearance on Quintessentials last year, Felipe Gordon has released even more impressive EPs on Toy Tonics, Exploited Ghetto and Razor 'N' Tape. The Colombian producer is naturally in tip-top form on this return to the long-running German label. He hits the ground running with "Sick Ass Chords", a fine fusion of loose-limbed, jazz-tinged deep house beats, hazy chords, dusty old samples and toasty bass, before getting deeper, woozier and even sweeter on the lolloping goodness of "Girl U Don't Know How Beautiful You Actually Are". "The Quint Garage" is a hazy slab of peak-time deep house warmth, while closing cut "For Those Who Enjoy Being Alone" sees Gordon pepper a shuffling jazz-house groove with sampled piano solos, drowsy electronics and jaunty electronic bass.
Review: A warm welcome to Detroit producer Javonntte for his first Quintessentials release. Javonntte has been releasing his blend of pure deep house quality for years, and his new release How Is Club246 is another fine example of his great talent. First of all, the title is an homage to a club in Detroit, circa 1996. Javonntte's interpretation of this zeitgeist is quite diverse - from the opening track "Remember" which takes its cues from Kerri Chandler or Jovonn, whereas the title rack is a funk and bumpin' club tool for all you Chicago fans out there. The B-side goes deeper with "Worldmix" which is a deep, smoky and lo-slung groove for the late night and "Citylights" is a classic vocal deep house track. Club246 means proper house music - all night long.
Review: Colombian producer Felipe Gordon rarely fails to impress, as anyone who's checked his releases on Nomada, W&O Street Tracks, Nein and Toy Tonics will attest. It's perhaps not surprising, then, that this outing on Quintessentials is pretty darn tasty, too. It sees him confidently flitting between skewed, sample-rich, jazz-fuelled deepness (see Andres style opener "Su Casa, Mi Casa" and admirably wonky closer "Gangster Fass", which includes some mind-altering vari-speed flourishes) and more forthright cuts. Of these, it's the stripped-back, hip-house boompty of "Arpeggios Extendedos" that most impresses, though the Floating Points-meets-Red Rack'em vibe of "Ella VA" is also alluring.
Review: If grown-up deep house with oodles of dancefloor grunt is your thing, there's a fair chance that you already own a fair few EPs by Graham Luckhurst AKA Greymatter. His latest outing for Quintessentials naturally ticks similar boxes, even if it does open with two deliciously pitched-down workouts. "Sans Rouge" sounds like a jazz-flecked fusion of The Revenge's slow house jams and the cut-up sample-house antics of S3A, while "Royale" is a loopy, sharply edited head-nodder built around samples from a dewy-eyed disco-soul number. Peak-time thrills arrive via the thumping beats and heavily manipulated disco-soul loops of "Move Slow (12" Mix)" and Billy O, a tipsy but groovy slab of choppy MPC house that once again leans heavily on short, occasionally filtered loops from a sugary soul track.
Review: There was a classically warming, lights-down-low feel to Decent Rides previous EP on Apparel Music, with plenty of live instrumentation paired with dope grooves and swinging, MPC style deep house beats. There's a similarly hazy, musically vibrant feel to this follow-up Quintessentials. For proof, check opener 'No Popcorn', where sampled horns and eyes-closed vocal snippets (both sung and spoken) rising above a squelchy, acid style bassline, swirling chords and fluid house beats. 'Skin Care Routine' is a more classic-sounding chunk of sunrise-ready deep house warmth, while title track 'Stay High' is a more loose-limbed affair full of bubbly bass, woozy synthesizer motifs and skewed, eyes-closed chords.
Review: After a decade flitting between labels including Phil, Tenth Circle and Freerange, Simon Hinter found a new home last year on Quintessentials. Here he moves his feet further under the table via a fresh three-tracker packed to the rafters with quality cuts. Our pick of a very strong bunch is surging opener 'Pushin' On', where Alice Russell vocal samples, spaceylead lines and star-fall electronics twinkle away atop driving beats and a sequenced, Italo-disco style bassline. There's plenty of attractive audio goodness to be found elsewhere across the EP, with the hazy, twisted, cut-up disco-house chunkiness of 'Together' being followed by the locked-in, boompty-influenced shuffle of 'Trashcamp'.
Review: Notching up a decade of releases requires something suitably celebratory. That's exactly what Germany's admired Quintessentials has served up on this tenth birthday compilation. It comes packed with previously unheard cuts of the highest quality, from the sun-bright swing of Borrowed Identity's UK garage-meets-deep house opener "For You", to the atmospheric, synth-heavy chug of Ooft's "Freak-E-Groove", the smoky late night jazz-house of Loz Goddard's "Leaves", and the foreboding, jazz-funk-biting sample-house dustiness of S3A's "Searching". Also worth checking are the drowst chords and bumpin' beats of KRL's "Baltimore" and the low-slung, gospel-influenced deep house pump of 4004's "Continuous Dialogue".
Review: Detroit deep house producer Javonntte returns to German label Quintessentials with a four-track EP. '20 Million On The Planet' marries pounding drums to a Cevin Fisher-like "I wanna make 'em all dance" vocal, 'Detroit 9' is a jazzy, lounge-y affair underpinned by more of those whomping 4/4s, 'And We Vibe' - arguably the standout of the four tracks here - has strands of both jazz-funk and 80s boogie in its DNA, while the slightly pacier 'In My Soul' combines a dubwise bassline, a soulful one-line vocal and flamenco strains into a blissed-out cut that's got 'Ibiza sundown' written all over it.
Review: Following a high-profile diversion on DFTD earlier in the year, Soul of Hex returns to the welcoming arms of regular home Quintessentials. Surprisingly, the Mexican producer begins with a dash of Jazzamatazz-style instrumental hip-hop beat science ("Far Beyond The Sun") before settling into his usual tactile, jazz-flecked deep house grooves. While the opening head-nodder is quietly impressive, it's these club-ready box jams that stand out. Choose between the warped analogue bass, dusty electric piano stabs and hazy jazz vocal samples of "Helipop", the late '80s, basement bothering Chicago warehouse flavours of "Roundhouse Kick" and the similarly inclined, piano-heavy bounce of "Hardchord", which sounds like Mr Lee's "Get Busy" for the Twitter generation.
Review: Fresh from delivering a killer revision of Greymatter's 'Tesla' - a vintage, warehouse-ready house treat that the man or woman of mystery made even more muscular - Black Fan returns with a first full EP since 2015. There's much to admire across the four tracks on show, from the colourful, rave-era house retro-futurism of squelchy, riff-heavy opener 'Baby Needs a Fix', to the spacey, bleeping, pitched-down delights of intergalactic workout 'Tiger Fisted'. Sandwiched in between you'll find the stripped-back, late-night acid house pulse of 'Future RBVD' and the hazy, filter-heavy loop house hedonism of 'I'll Make You Hot'. A release well worthy of your attention.
Review: Fresh from the release of his rather good (but irritatingly under-reported) debut album on Still Music, Not at Home, long-serving deep house producer Andy Ash pitches up on Quintessentials. It's the Liverpool-based artist's first full EP for the German outfit following appearances on a couple of their compilation style singles. Our undisputed highlight is undoubtedly opener 'Lightbulb Transaction', where the Scouse selector contrasts a driving deep house groove with shimmering piano stabs, twinkling motifs, drowsy chords and echo-laden spoken word snippets. That said, we're also fans of both 'Repeaters', a jaunty and rhythmically off-kilter slab of deep house gold, and deliciously pitched-down slow house shuffler 'Revolving Shadows', which subtly doffs a cap to early Floating Points.
Review: 12 months on from the release of his debut album, Not At Home, producer turned painter Andy Ash returns with sophomore full-length All The Colours, a gorgeously kaleidoscopic collection of cuts that puts forward a particularly vivid and sonically detailed take on deep house. After beginning with the soul-fired, bleep-sporting, late '80s Chicago house revivalism of 'The Sound' (featuring superb vocals from Eric Riko), Ash giddily speeds through sparkling tributes to Fingers Inc (the acid-flecked brilliance of 'Life (featuring Faber)', percussively dense dancefloor deepness (the yearning 'I'm Here (feat Amber Kuti)'), loopy disco-house ('In The Village'), riff-sporting, saucer-eyed jack-tracks ('Os Talking'), bass-heavy haziness ('Mad Affection'), and the kind of immersive, sci-fi seeped deep house usually associated with producers from Detroit ('Another').
Review: To get us in the mood for the imminent release of Andy Ash's brand-new album, All The Colours, Quintessentials has decided to serve up a trio of reworks of tracks from the set. Alton Miller predictably steals the show with his terrific revision of boogie and prtoto-house influenced number 'I'm Here'. Built around rolling, loose-limbed house beats and a jazz-funk flavoured bassline, the rework sees Miller add Amber Kuti's Peech Boys-inspired vocals to a warm, rubbery backing track rich in deep space chords and colourful synth sounds. We also get two versions of Erik Rico hook-up 'The Sound': a throbbing, early Chicago House-inspired Black Fan revision heavy on bleeping lead lines and jacking machine drums, and a deliciously dreamy, tactile Dan Piu revision that channels the spirit of late '80s Fingers Inc. tracks.
Review: Although his earliest releases back in the mid 1990s were hard techno and acid trance affairs, Shaka has spent much of the last decade delivering deliciously warmed and carefully crafted deep house cuts for labels including Local Talk, Colour Ltd and his own Vibes & Grooves imprint. Here the Swiss veteran makes his bow on Quintessentials with four more finely-honed slabs of warming deep house perfection. Check first the woozy stabs, starry Rhodes solos, squelchy bass and crunchy machine drums of 'Hot Ingredients', before admiring the jazzy, Latin-tinged, organ-rich excellence of 'Four Flowers'. Elsewhere, 'I Can Tell That' sees Shaka opt for a deeper, smoother, early morning vibe, while 'We Gonna Get You' is a jazzy and shuffling delight.
Review: Buoyed by a string of highly regarded releases as Cosmic Garden and NLXLB, Cosmic Rhythm label founder Nicola Laporrchio dusts off his long-running Nico Lahs alias for a typically inspired Quintessentials label debut. He hits the ground running with the heads-down drive of 'Keep On Groovin'' where a metronomic analogue bassline, bleeping melodies and layered percussion catch the ear, before breaking up the beats on the jazzy deep house warmth of 'Freakin' Over on side B, 'Come Get Me' is an even deeper, classically dreamy affair with more than a few nods to the great Larry Heard, while title track 'Easy Loving You' is a languid, sample-rich shuffle that seems to make use of musical elements lifted from a groovy and organic dancefloor treat.
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