Review: Reel People Music's annual Soulful, Deep & Dope compilations always deliver exactly what the title promises, namely club-focused jams of the most positive, musically expansive and spiritually enriching kind. This year's edition is a particularly potent collection, with 20 tried-and-tested tracks to devour. Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the tech-tinged deep house soulfulness of Mark Francis's remix of Opolopo and Angela Johnson's 'Stay This Way', and Glenn Underground's wonderfully musically expansive revision of Harold Matthews Jr and Sean McCabe's 'This Place', to the sunset-ready wonder of Matthew Brandy's 'Wish' (featuring an impeccable vocal performance by Josh Milan) and the soulful deep house brilliance of Atjazz and Shea Soul's inspired 'Home'.
Review: Volume 7 in the series but for once we can't really say "you should know what to expect by now" because what this compilation really goes to show is just what an eclectic and diverse camp the long-running Manchester label has become, with tracks on 'Paper Cuts #7' ranging from the near-ambient Balearica of Aniso Tropics' opener 'Apricot Memorex' to the self-explanatory synth-y stylings of La Guardia de la Luz's 'Trance Aleman de los 90s' via the uptempo strut of Jahn Solo's 'Disco'. So all we can really do is point you in the direction of some standout cuts, which for this reviewer would include D.S.D's luscious 'Just Can't Stop' and Benny Pitcher's 'Transatlantic Motion', which is like a little musical nod to the days when Paper comps were called 'Splinter'.
Review: Simma Black label boss ' Low Steppa and Crusy join forces once again on Defected Records' "Together" series, this time with "Bullerengue," a track that injects traditional Colombian and Panamanian sounds into the label's signature club-ready formula. Inspired by the vibrant rhythms of Bullerengue music, the track seamlessly blends driving house beats with captivating vocal samples. These vocal snippets, likely sourced from traditional recordings, add a layer of authenticity and cultural richness to the electronic soundscape.
Review: Soul Clap describe their latest offering as "expertly crafted R&B-tinged electronic music for a better tomorrow". A touch hyperbolic, perhaps but a fairly accurate description in many ways. There are four tracks, each of which is presented in full vocal and instrumental variations. The long-serving twosome first join forces with Life on Planets on 'Extravaganza', a percussively rubbery, sub-heavy shuffle topped off with impeccable lead vocals, before opting for a more colourful, synth-laden disco-meets-house flex on Ebony Houston hook-up 'Something in My Heart' (an acapella version of which is tucked away at the end of the EP). Life on Planets return on jungle-tempo breakbeat workout 'Rick Fredkin', before Saucy Lady and Greg Paulus lend a hand on the seductively sleazy and weighty EP highlight 'Keep Reaching'.
Review: On his latest EP for the prolific Heattraxx imprint, Chicago scene stalwart K-Alexi Shelby pays tribute to one of the Windy City's foundational house DJs, the late, great Music Box resident Ron Hardy. In its original mix form 'The Ron Hardy Memo' wraps hard-worked, cut-up disco samples and vocal snippets around a tough, low-slung, 4am-ready, filter-sporting deep house groove. It's a devastatingly simple idea, expertly executed for maximum dancefloor pressure. San Francisco sort Riva Starr remixes, beefing it up further to create one of the most energetic, rolling and sweat-soaked disco-house cuts of 2024 so far.
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