CHEVALS レコード& CD

Review: Chevals, who brilliantly describes himself as a "French house producer, disco cutter and horse", came to our attention last year via a fine debut on Better Listen. You'll find further proof of his "rising star" status on this tasty, two-track contribution to Kolour LTD's 10-inch series. Both tracks are essentially re-edits, though there are enough additional touches and new musical elements to elevate them way beyond your average scalpel re-arrangement. The Frenchman kicks thing off with "I Can Prove It", a gently tooled-up and reworked version of a soaring, glassy-eyed disco-soul gem that will sound fantastic at this summer's open-air events. Flipside "Free Love" is an altogether more low-slung affair, with a fizzing, funk-fuelled groove building towards a rush-inducing Philadelphia Soul-goes-disco-house conclusion.

Review: Following up that awesome last release by Closed Paradise and one by Thatmanmonkz, the mysterious Parisian Chevals joins District Of Columbia based Better Listen for their eighth outing, after making his debut on NYC's Homage with a global affair. The sultry and bumpin' disco house of "Hot!" starts things burning up fairly quick on the A side, looped to perfection much like early Rick Wade or DJ Sneak. It is followed by the smooth, early evening boogie-down vibe of "Layover" featuring yet more come hither vocals and hypnotic xylophone action. On the flip, we have a surprise in the from of the blunted hip-hop joint that is "Homecoming" getting that gritty MPC feel on, with choice use of sampling.

Review: The second release on Homage comes from Chevals, and once again the vibe is quintessential deep house infused with more than a little soul stew. "See You When I Git My Heart Broken" has funk licks aplenty to keep the party popping, while "Please Don't" sees that as some kind of challenge to up the ante with even more sassy samples and sizzling strings. "Tres Racas" finds the Chevals getting a little more choppy in the drum department, and then "Big Man" finishes the EP off with a raucous African atmosphere to set the club alight.

Review: In case you don't speak French, House De France means House of France. It's a compilation that draws on Gallic talents and its second volume is another essential one. Marius & Cesar kick off with a lush, acid laced and dreamy bit of house music thanks spans multiple eras, and the a-side also offers acid jack from Crowd Control and zoned out, laid back grooves from Herr Krank. The vitality and variety continues on a trip of cuts on the reverse that range from playful and curious to dubbed out and heavy.