ABACUS レコード& CD

Review: This three-track release from a legendary Toronto house producer is a cream example in deep house sophistication. 'Kickstarter (Mainpass)' opens with jazzy, melodic elegance, its slick, clean production exuding class and warmth. The track's deep grooves and epic progression make it very appealing for DJ's. 'Music For Table Tennis' shifts gears with an electro-tinged beat, enveloping listeners in a lush, deep soundscape that radiates beauty and warmth. Closing the EP, 'Now Is Your Time (A Lost Story)' featuring Jenifa Mayanja, blends deep house and techno into an atmospheric masterpiece. The production here is next level, with intricate textures and a hypnotic flow. Rooted in the spirit of New York house but imbued with a contemporary finesse, this is a refined and essential deep house release.

Review: While much of the material they release is brand spanking new, Phonogramme is not averse to reissuing choice gems from the 1990s. That's the case here, as the French deep house label offers a new edited - pressed to striking pink marbled wax - of Analog Trks Vol 1, a 1997 EP from former Prescription Records artist Abacus (real name Austin Bascom). This edition varies from the original, featuring two of the four cuts and a previously unreleased take of another. Check first 'We Cookin' Now', a deliciously deep, slow-building masterpiece of smoky late night sonics, stripped-back percussion, Chez Damier motifs and subterranean bass, before admiring the tech-tinged deep house bounce of 'Opinion Rated R'. Rounding things off is 'Black Thanxx (Instrumental)', a kind of deep house/deep acid fusion workout rich in spacey chords, analogue bass and prototype tech-house bleeps.

Review: Deep house originator Abacus is back in the game having revived his Re:Think label "with a new vision & energy." The first EP, Analogue Stories Vol 1, is a bold one that opens with a monologue from a classic New York movie about street gang warriors. It sets a moody tone which then leads into warm deep house grooves. 'Spaceflight' rides on loose, jumbled drums, toms and basslines that are topped with sustained cosmic chords and 'In4mation' then brings heady and wispy melodies that encourage you to dream as the soul-drenched grooves roll on. 'Blaktronics' shuts down with a more prickly percussive edge. It's a welcome return for this master of the form.

Review: Prescription and Guidance mainstay Abacus has already done enough to assure his eternal legacy in the story of deep house. But thankfully he is still turning out superbly deep sounds that are as profound and emotive as they are heady and escapist. Here he is back on Phonogramme with 'Analogue Stories Vol. 2' which comes on a unique semi-transparent 12'' vinyl. The beats are warm and humid, thickly coated with a diffuse synth hue as the rooted drums roll on smoothly. 'How U Do It' is out pick - a musical odyssey with layers of instrumentation, piano and percussion all topped off with a Moodyman vocal sample.

Review: Multi-artist EPs have all been all the rage of late, though few can boast quite as strong a line-up of artists as this one from dependable French deep house label Phongramme. It begins with a gorgeous chunk of detail-heavy, sun-splashed electronic deep house brilliance courtesy of Abacus (an artist whose discography also contains outings on Prescription, Innermood and NDATL Muzik) and ends with a vibraphone-solo sporting shuffler from the effervescent Byron The Aquarius and Computer Jay ('When The Freaks Come Out'). Sandwiched in between you'll find two more must-have workouts: the bumpin', brilliant and spiritually uplifting 'States of Motion' by Fred P, and a typically dusty, jazzy and warming number by Colombian hero Felipe Gordon ('The Gordon Way').