Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Like Father, Like Son sees Big Strick and his prodigious son Generation Next team up for a split 12" showcasing this pair of criminally underappreciated Detroit producers. "Rain Dance" sees the elder of the two deliver a deep techno journey filled with abstracted textures and organic chimes that sound, while the young Generation Next shows a remarkable maturity beyond his years on "And You Too", where sparse, subtle chords and the simplest of melodies drift by on a light rhythm. On "Like Father, Like Son" the two pair up for the most gently uplifting of deep piano jams. Just like pretty much everything on 7 Days Entertainment, this is some nigh on essential material.

Review: Razor-N-Tape's Family Affair series makes a welcome return here with a third great instalment. This series is something of an annual end-of-year tradition by now (OK, it's arriving a touch late) and this one hits as hard as any with five tracks taken from the full and standout compilation. It is two great remixes of classic RNT material that gets things underway with Ezel offering a dub of Cor.ece and Bruce Leroys sublime deep hose mix of Guinu, then JKriv's 'Better Than Her' is a fat bottomed bit of deep cut electro funk and elsewhere Kim Anh gets raw and cosmic, and Cody Currie's 'Ghost' is broken beat perfection.

Review: Tsuba's ten year anniversary - that's right, it has been that long already - has been marked with hit after hit from a wide selection of artists from across the house kingdom. In fact, for this 2nd instalment of the festivities, we have White Material frontman Galcher Lustwerk remixed by the inimitable Jimpster, with the latter putting a more starry-eyed mechanic onto the original; For Romeau complete the A-side with a vintage-sounding remix of "Pinball" by Williams. On the flip, Roy Comanchero drops the Chicago bass over a minimal sort of percussion groove on "Hypba". Kevin Griffiths adds a little acid to the jingly 707 beat of "Satori", and completes a stellar EP from the magnetic Tsuba.

Review: There is not much more to say about Chicago's Gemini apart from the fact that he was a true house legend who, until recently, remained largely in the deep underground of the city's music, and has inspired a new generation of producers. Sadly, although he's still kicking about somewhere in the States, the man doesn't make music anymore. However, it's difficult to say whether he could have done much more these days, given how futuristic and cutting-edge his music-making was back then, and how fresh and it still sounds today. For these reasons, Germany's Chiwax have reissued a number of his EP's by now, and Shadowlust is the latest in the series. Much like the previous instalments, these four cuts are classic Gemini delivering the pure house magic - from "Log In" to "Motion", the beats are swinging, the chords heavy and pads climactic. If you've copped the other recent reissues then this is a must, if you haven't even heard of Gemini then please do yourself a favour..!

Review: The sorely missed talents of Spencer Kincy have long been recognized as some of the most vital in the Chicago house story, and Chiwax have chosen to shed light on one of his lesser known but utterly essential releases that previously came to light on Earth Recordings. "R U Afraid?" is a moody workout with twitchy percussion, an insistent bassline and off-key stabs that wind up in a delightfully taut little shuffler. "Earth" is a touch more sassy with its playful slices of sax and forthright funk, and "Elevate Your Fellow Man" nudges closer to techy territory with its tightly wound loops of guitar licks and snappy drums. "Relaxing" takes a more esoteric trip into jazzy keys and brushed beats without losing any of the energy in the process.

Review: ** Repress of the reIssue ** Ooh if there's ever a deep house history lesson wrapped up in a 12" then it's this reissued Stomp The Beat EP from Gherkin Jerks aka the master Larry Heard. The Gherkin Jerks project originally surfaced back in 1988 with this 12" on the Chicago based Gherkin Records label, released anonymously at the request of Heard himself who viewed the Gherkin Jerks material as a creative experiment. Later revealed as the work of Larry Heard, original copies of Stomp The Beat rack up a pretty penny on Discogs so it's good work all round that the producer's Alleviated Records label has teamed up with Clone to release a digitally enhanced version. From the mind bending stereo panning of opening track "Don't Dis The Beat" it's easy to see why the Gherkin Jerks material has been so widely praised - Jamal Moss is a big fan - whilst the general off-key melodics and tough 909 arrangements of what follows still sound futuristic some 15 years on.

Review: Shout outs to Larry Heard for finally relenting to the numerous requests to reissue his highly prized Gherkin Jerks material through his own Alleviated label with some digitally enhancement help from the guys at Clone. The 1990 EP was the last of the two EPs that Heard anonymously released under the Gherkin Jerks name back in the late 80s as a creative experiment. Notably less unhinged than Stomp The Beat, the six percussively taut tracks here feel like Heard was reacting to the nascent strains of techno emanating from Detroit. Opener "Meltdown" for example is a rolling slab of pitched-down techno with sharp Motor City-esque synth stabs and nagging, incessant keys, whilst the interplanetary connotations are clear as crystal on tracks such as the beautifully chiming "Red Planet" and the pressurised funk of "Saturn V".

Review: Fresh off a 12" appearance on Dirt Crew alongside Harry Wolfman, Manchester-based DJ and producer Loz Goddard is back on a solo flex with the Drunken Monk EP for the Reserve sublabel from NYC edit crew Razor N Tape. Four tracks deep, this 12" has that slinky, glossy feel to it that sounds just right on Razor N Tape, with the Love Unlimited Orchestra does disco house shuffle of "Lovin'" the pick of the A-side cuts. Flip over and "Moovish" sees young Loz veer off into heavily filtered house territory, throwing in what sounds like some nifty RAMP sampling while he's at it. The appropriately-titled "Something Special" rounds out the 12" in fine style with a bit of a French Touch.

Review: Greymatter can probably be considered a Wolf Music stalwart, appearing on a couple of the London-based label's various artist 12?s, most memorably with the "Give It To Me Slow" cut that featured on WOLF 09. For the next release on Stu Clark and Matt Neale's label, Greymatter holds court for a solo EP, with the shimmering arpeggiated exotica of "Tisno" sharing space with basement house jam "Sweat" on the A-Side. On the flip you'll find the revving synths of "Pick & Roll" alongside a shuffling US garagey remix of "Sweat" from James Welsh.

Review: New from Sound Signature is "I Only Have Eyes For You", from the multi talented percussionist Jerrald James (aka Jerry The Cat). Jerry aptly demonstrates his own production prowess in covering the Flamingos' "I only Have Eyes For You". He smartly chose Genevieve Marantette to provide vocals on this piece, and she gives her best recorded performance to date.

Review: Sound Signature kick off the new year with a pleasing reissue of some smoky soul from Theo Parrish's outlet for his most jazzy tendencies. On "Seasons Of My Life" Billy Lo croons over a muted trumpet while a surprisingly rough stomp gets hammered out of a live kit. It's a dreamy, sunkissed jam with all the loose, free-flowing elements you would expect from something with Parrish's stamp on it. Marcellus Pittman helps out on "Feedback", as a sparser, meandering groove does the nasty with some restrained keys. For that Detroit beatdown flavour away from the dancefloor, this is as good as it gets.

Review: Big Strick's latest full-length offering on his own 7 Days Entertainment label is a family affair, mixing tracks from the veteran Detroit producer with similarly deep and woozy jams from his 16 year-old son Tre Strickland, AKA Generation Next. The father-and-son team's approach to house - wringing atmospheric soul from bubbling rhythms, warm chords and blazed melodies - is surprisingly similar, as shown by the two deep, jazz-flecked collaborations showcased here. Elsewhere, both impress with their individual contributions, with Strickland Junior's slap bass-infused deep head-nodder "Flynn's" and sweet, winding "Mo Money" standing out.

Review: Big Strick's latest full-length offering on his own 7 Days Entertainment label is a family affair, mixing tracks from the veteran Detroit producer with similarly deep and woozy jams from his 16 year-old son Tre Strickland, AKA Generation Next. The father-and-son team's approach to house - wringing atmospheric soul from bubbling rhythms, warm chords and blazed melodies - is surprisingly similar, as shown by the two deep, jazz-flecked collaborations showcased here. Elsewhere, both impress with their individual contributions, with Strickland Junior's slap bass-infused deep head-nodder "Flynn's" and sweet, winding "Mo Money" standing out.

Review: There's a strong argument to say that those artists who make an effort to develop their sound make the very best albums. The fabulously named Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts is clearly one of those artists. Since first causing waves back in the mid 2000s, he's moved from a maker of crunchy minimalism to someone whose sound is much harder to pin down. Twice Around the Sun, his third full length, shows further signs of development. While it remains rooted in his trademark atmospheric sound - a mix of loose, organic drums, tactile synths and pleasing melodies - it stylistically moves in a myriad of directions, touching on quirky lo-fi pop, strobe light techno, curious deepness and touchy-feely downtempo bliss.