SWALES レコード& CD

Review: Dobro is a house and disco edits label run by Belarusian DJ/producer Iner out of St Petersburg. For its fifth release, it's another various artists affair featuring a whopping six tracks with appearances from I Gemin on the dusty, boompty and off-kilter 'I Like 2 Party', Paul Rudder & OUI go ultra deep in the tradition of the Three Chairs sound on the emotive 'In The Sky For Our Love', while Bendrik serves up the mandatory late night mood music vibes on 'Chat House' and Swales provides the banger on the funky and tough rolling 'Blue Skies'.

Review: SlothBoogie is one of London's most highly respected underground electronic music crews, encompassing a DJ collective, record label, radio show and regular party series. For their third edition, they've roped in Aussie larrikin Jad & The with the saxed-up, balearic disco loops of "Debbie Does Delay" and Tender Games with the sultry and sunkissed lo-slung groove of "So Hot". On the flip, the crafty edit action continues with Swales "Feel This Way" and the label head honchos SlothBoogie themselves with some sexy boogie-down (!) action on "Acid Fantasy".

Review: Lisztomania is a small but already well-formed label that offers another finely curated VA EP here. Lisztolove Volume 1 has many shades of house on offer, all of it quality. Jeff The Fool's 'Don't Be Blue' is deep and laid back with a painful sense of longing in the samples, while Jerk Boy brings another brilliant bluesy sample to 'All My Love'. GMGN soundtracks an early evening dance on the Med at sundown and on the flip there's blissed-out piano loveliness, loopy, soul-drenched house and jazz-tinged tackle from Wurzelholz.

Review: Originally released back in 2020, The City EP by Mancunian deep house producer Swales gets a repress and deservedly so. Four fine tracks on this release from the Mutombo label out of Germany; whether it's the late night mood music of the title track, the absolutely emotive deepness of 'Keep Loving' or the low key funky house of 'Inside Your Love' (Swales' In Detroit edit) and it's brilliant vocal - the full release pays homage to house music in its truest sense.

Review: Having previously had the honour of kicking off Honey Butter's debut EP - a compilation style affair unleashed last November - Swales has finally been given an EP of his own on which to showcase his wares. The Manchester producer begins with the high grade orchestral disco-house bounce of "Night Cuisine", where razor-sharp strings and eyes-closed jazz guitar motifs recline over a chunky peak-time rhythm, before reaching for the loved-up chords and saucer-eyed disco strings on the decidedly feel-good flex of "Heat". Side B opens with the lilting, hug-a-stranger emotion of bespoke disco-house treat "Supernatural", while EP closer "Glow" is a loved-up turn on for those who like their peak-time disco grooves to be underpinned by seriously heavy kick-drums and off-the-shelf percussion hits.

Review: Honey Butter launches in a flurry of feel good deep house from lesser known producers with a keen ear for straight up groovers. Swales kicks the record off with the melancholic tones of "Pushin' Away", while Ari Bald sidles in with the wistful sample chops of "Hot 2 Cold". Sabie Blanc takes things to even dreamier heights on the B-side with the harp-embellished romanticism of "Musique D'Ascenseur", and then Eben Rees finishes the party off with some seriously funky licks on "Dirty Dishes". All in all, it's a formidable salvo of likeminded deep house jams that should work its way into the bags of all manner of soulfully-minded spinners.