Review: Adryiano Richter's trademark brand of dusty, sample-based deep house with strong funk/soul leanings has landed him a great reputation and releases on the likes of Heist, Soul Notes, his own Cestraw and current it label Shall Not Fade. This is actually his third release for the label in less than a year which is particularly impressive, we must say. The Dream With EP is possibly the German producer's finest offering yet; although probably only a child when the emerging sounds of French Touch came up in the late '90s, he's managed to recapture the zeitgeist incredibly well 20 years later. The funked-up soul power of "Got U Lovin" or the neon-lit rapture of the title track with their clever loops and crunchy SP1200 style drums would make legends like Cassius or Alan Braxe stand up and notice. The infectious DJ tool "All Damn Nite" calls to mind classic DJ Sneak or Phil Weeks.
Review: To kick-start what looks set to be a busy year for the Bristol-based label, Shall Not Fade's first missive of 2020 comes courtesy of Adryiano, an artist who has been on their roster since 2017. He begins in confident mood via the snappy, bass-heavy disco-house bump of "Want You To Feel", where rousing horn lines home into view in the second half of the cut to add extra excitement, before switching to a more bumping, U.S-influenced deep house sound on the superb "Just A Beat" (check the killer synth bassline). "Illusions of You (Afterwork Mix)" is a tough but ear-pleasing deep house box jam, while closing cut "Memor1e5" is a simple-but-effective fusion of ambient chords, crackling aural textures and driving drums.
Review: Last year, Big Miz delivered one of the most overlooked albums of the year - a rugged full-length debut full of wild machine music for dancefloors that like it raw and ragged. The Dixon Avenue Basement Jams regular treads similar territory on "Short Stories", an acid-fired four-tracker that marks his first appearance on Shall Not Fade. Choose between the twisted acid eletcro of "Barn Shot", the dark neo-trance throb of "Primordial Soup", the rubbery but alien-sounding deep house haziness of "Dance MF" and "Awake", a surprisingly bright and breezy affair that places restless, expansive and all-action classical style piano and synthesizer motifs atop a subtle but sturdy beat.
Review: For his first outing since the release of his superb debut album last year, Byron The Aquarius has chosen to throw his lot in with Shall Not Fade, a Bristol-based label that has consistently put out some of the best house music around over the last few years. The Atlanta-based artist has naturally delivered the goods, confidently strutting between crunchy analogue deep house jazziness (the synth-and-piano-laden opener "Feelings Is It Real"), 21st century broken house/jazz-funk fusion (the jacking drum machine fills, Kaidi Tatham synth motifs and acid squelch of "Age of Ultron (MDMA Mix)"), spacey deep techno futurism ("Techno Is Black (Respeck)"), woozy deep house warmth ("Falling In Love (Dub)") and intergalactic downtempo beats ("CyBoTrAx").
Review: Having spent much of the last year playing around with tropical rhythms and collaborating with African musicians, Tom "Contours" Burford seems to be coming of age as a producer. For proof, check this inspired EP for Shall Not Fade. It's nominally a deep house release, but the set's three original tracks are much more nuanced and imaginative than that. Check, for example, the polyrhythmic instrumental passages and layered tropical percussion that marks out the jazz-funk/house hybrid "Lisbon", or the humid-but-intergalactic sci-fi house of "5th Planet". Standout "North West" - all lilting horns, music box melodies and soft-touch percussion - comes accompanied by a fine remix by Kaidi Tatham, who delivers some Herbie Hancock-influenced broken beat business.
Review: While Shall Not Fade has succeeded in part by building a roster of up-and-coming artists, the Bristol-based imprint is not shy of serving up an EP from a familiar favourite now and then - hence this label debut from sometime Freerange, Lost Palms and Let's Play House artist Demuja. There are five fine tracks to enjoy, from the squelchy bass and sustained chords of atmospheric deep house bumper "Do It", to the warm and rolling peak-time positivity of bustling EP closer "Tokyo". Elsewhere, we'd suggest checking the sublime chord progressions and bustling beats of "Can't Stop" (a track that rekindles memories of Deep Dish classic "Stay Gold") and the piano laden, pitched down bliss of EP highlight "Those Who".
Review: Fresh from a gym-themed collaboration with former Wolf Music man Frits Wentink, DJ Boring returns to the warming bosom of Bristol-based Shall Not Fade. Surprisingly, it's his first outing for KGW's main label after a number of acclaimed releases on the imprint's Lost Palms offshoot. There's naturally plenty to enjoy throughout, from the glassy-eyed synthesizer positivity and hypnotic drums of sun-kissed opener "Exotic Feelin", to the heavy analogue bass, beefed-up tribal drums and 1990 style bleep melodies of peak-time slammer "Stuck in Russia". Elsewhere, "Found Love" finds our hero flitting between epic synthesizer breakdowns and a pleasingly jazzy synth-house groove, while "For Than" offers just the right balance between colourful, dream house style goodness and bumpin', Chicago style deep house bottom-end.
Review: With releases on Phonica and Echovolt to his credit, Earth Trax aka Bartosz Kruczyński now delivers his debut album for Shall Not Fade, the sister imprint of Lost Palms. It's a mesmerising affair that features the warbling acid of "Pandora's Box" and "Full Throttle" at one end of the spectrum and the atmospheric break beat techno of "I'm Not Afraid" and "Adhocracy" at the other. In between these two extremes sit irresistibly evocative cuts such as the rickety rhythms of "Fade Away" and the uplifting bass tones of "Copies Of Copies", making for a well-rounded and effortlessly executed debut album.
Review: Two weeks shy of 12 months since his last outing on Shall Not Fade, Rob Glassett dusts down the Fold alias and unveils his first single of 2019. As expected, Glassett starts in confident mood via the deep and drowsy "Some Common Sense", where a variety of vocal snippets and jazzy samples ride sweaty drums and a dubby bassline, before doffing a cap to vintage jazz-house on the sun-kissed breeziness of "Writers Anthem" (those of a certain vintage may recognize the main sample, which was used on a classic Ninja Tune release). "Onion Gravy" is a chunky, sample-rich deep house box jam of the sort popularized by S3A, while "Astral Planes" brilliantly joins the dots between intergalactic Detroit techno and dreamy, ultra-deep house.
Review: Hanna is Cleveland, Ohio's Warren Harris: a veteran producer with a career spanning 20 years who has released everywhere from Sublime, Track Mode, Paper Recordings and Sound Signature. He joins a growing list of underground heroes such as Rick Wade on the brilliantly created Shall Not Fade camp out of Bristol. Four soulful and emotive explorations in deepness await you On The Basis Of Deference EP. From the soothing urban blues of "In The Morning", "Psalms" with its creamy Rhodes chords and hypnotic vocals, or the bittersweet "Perhaps" which gets a remix by Cardiff veteran Earl Jeffers too.
Review: More throwback house sounds from the Shall Not Fade camp, this time courtesy of Irish producer Kettama (Unknown To The Unknown/Homage) who is really blowing up at the moment. The Eastside Ave EP clearly takes it cues from early '90s stateside sounds : the soulful and heartfelt bounce of the title track honouring the vibe of The Windy City, while "Majik" channels the vibe of classic Kerri Chandler. "In The Garage" sees him do his best impression of Mood II Swing, while "Falling Down" hammers the message home in timeless Jersey style.
Review: Man-of-the-moment Laurence Guy has been in a rich vein of form for a while now. In the last three years he's released must-have-music on Church, Monologues, Mule Musiq, Studio Barnhus and now Shall Not Fade. "The Sun Is Warm & Directly Above You" marks his first appearance on the latter imprint and contains three stunning tracks. Our pick of the bunch is undoubtedly the soft focus, slow-burn deep house emotion of the title track, a cut that sees him wrap yearning, high register male vocal samples, atmospheric vocal samples and atmospheric field recordings around a tactile, shuffling groove. "This Isn't My Best Life" offers a more energetic take on the same melancholic, piano-laden idea, while EP opener "Untitled Needs" is jazz-house for the Mall Grab generation.
Review: Two years on from an impressive first appearance on Lobster Theremin, Luz1e transfers to Shall Not Fade and notches up another rock solid label debut. She hits the ground round running with title track "Ridin", a bustling chunk of ghetto-house influenced breakbeat deepness full of warm chords and cut-up vocal snippets, before joining the dots between two-step garage, breakbeat and drowsy deepness on the arguably even better "Hyperfunk (Deep Break Cut)". She reaches for the alien, acid style electronics on the dreamy ghetto-tech rush of "Damn Boi", while "Early Reflections" is another ear-catching trip into woozy, glassy-eyed breakbeat territory complete with glacial pads and redlined analogue bass.
Review: Warehouse Music boss Ryan Aitchison aka Mella Dee has previously stated that the early days of South Yorkshire's rave scene in the '90s - particularly around his hometown of Doncaster - has had a lasting influence. It is this dedication to preserving the zetigets of UK electronic music's heyday which has found him a fitting home on current 'it' label Shall Not Fade - the London based operation being absolutely obsessed with all things retro. For the Not Here To Make Friends EP, Mella Dee channels the spirit of Jeff Mills seminal early releases on the banging techno of "Heavy Coupla Weeks" and particularly The Wizard's Waveform Transmissions series on the strobe lit energy of "Spring" (420 mix) while "Run That" heads further south by looking to Birmingham's influence (namely that of Regis and Surgeon) with its pounding cyclicality.
Review: For the best part of a decade, Nicholas Lammatteo has offered up warm and atmospheric deep house that draws inspiration from great European and American dancefloor records of the 1990s. He's at it again on his second outing for Shall Not Fade. Much of the EP is informed by the glassy-eyed, sunrise-ready wonder of turn-of-the-90s Italian dream house, particularly the Key-Tronic Ensemble style closer "Meditation" and the utterly gorgeous and dreamy "Rainforest", which is so authentic some dancers might believe it was released on DFC in 1990. Equally impressive are "Message From The East", a bass-heavy workout that layers typically dreamy synthesizer chords and gentle, eyes-closed melodies atop rolling breakbeats and tactile bass, and the flute-sampling, acid-bass-sporting breakbeat house shuffle of "Meridian Dream".
Review: Underrated legend of the Detroit underground Rick Wade returns, with a surprising appearance for meme house hipsters Shall Not Fade - following up some great ones by Adriyano, DJ Boring and Mall Grab in recent times. The Harmonie Park boss man delivers some proper house like the big man upstairs intended - soulful/emotive but most off all: deep! From the emotive late night bounce of "Oh Yeah", the bittersweet mood lighting of "Inner Most" perfect for dancing by yourself and the smooth "Zero Ningen" proving for something a bit more uplifting and absolutely life affirming.
