DJs: Most Charted - Deep House - Most Charted February 2012

Review: Amsterdam enclave Dekmantel have elected to toast the five year milestone in the best way possible with a series of highly collectable twelve inches featuring tracks from artists who have contributed in that period - be it performing at their killer parties or releasing music on the label. The series gets off to a veritable flyer with productions from Morphosis and Juju & Jordash either side of this wonderfully decorated twelve inch. The latter honorary Amsterdammers open proceedings with a Cosmic Dub update of the "African Flower" jam that featured on their 08 Aesthetic Audio split with Keith Worthy which naturally smoothes out the percussive klack of the original for a more sumptuous ride. It is matched by the jittering analogue behemoth that is Morphosis' "Pulse" with skin crawling organs lifted from the Hammer school of horror excellently riding the scattergun percussive rhythms of an increasingly rippling and dusty beatdown ride.

Review: Amongst the many new albums to get excited about in 2012, those of a gallic house persuasion will surely list Megamix, the forthcoming 4th studio long player from veteran French producer I:Cube highly on their want lists. More so once your ears have soaked in the three tracks on this Lucifer En Discotheque 12" - all of which feature on the forthcoming album on regular haunt Versatile Records. I:Cube fans will be familiar with the multi faceted sounds that feature here with lead track "Transpiration" a gloriously sweat filled paean to various stages in dance music history, seamlessly combining 90s era rave stabs with the percussive swagger of punk funk and his own leftfield inclinations. Alongside this "Jah Menta" proves to be equally experimental in its melodic approach as it does subterranean and scratchy in its rhythmic directions, whilst the title track is a driving synth wave oddity of the highest order.

Review: This rather deep sounding twelve inch from Messrs Glimpse, Giles Smith and Two Armadillos marks the latest dual release from French imprint Balance and London party collective Secret Sundaze. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" the lead track from Crosstown regular Glimpse and the perma dapper Giles Smith sets the tone, gently wading across the A Side on the back of an expertly placed rhythmic bump, with sumptuous melodic and soulful vocal embellishments proving both potent and hypnotic. Complementing this, Smith returns to his Two Armadillos project alongside Martin Dawson for the more upright, bassy crunch of "On The Run" which draws out some excellent dubby rhythms as it progresses. Balance's Jorge Caiado provides a finely judged remix of the A Side track dragging proceedings into deeper territory without loosing the soulful slant of the original.

Review: Fine Art is one of our favourite little labels here at Juno, with each release from the London via New York imprint a joy to behold both sonically and visually. The latest, from Auckland-based Hit It & Quit It radio host Frank Booker, contains two sublime excursions into low slung jazz-flecked house spread across two sides of 10" in vinyl. Title track "Hope" teases an infectious looped guitar lick with pan-pot percussion and occasional flourishes of piano, while "No Delay" delves deeper still, with oven-warm chords undulating hazily beneath the ebb and flow of live sounding drums and the most subtle of bass lines.

Review: After more or less owning 2011 with a surprise album, a collaboration with urban crooner Colonel Abrams, an ahead-of-the-game reissue of Marc Kinchen and the all-conquering "Here's Your Trance Now Dance", FXHE don Omar S kicks off a new year with Wayne County Hills Cops Pt 2 (where, we ask, was Part 1?), a hook-up with the mysterious OB IGNITT. The eponymous A-Side is characterised by the kind of glistening synths last seen on "Here's Your Trance...", with a rugged analogue bass line giving the track with the requisite bump. A tired cliche it may be, but this could easily soundtrack an 80s cop movie: clearly Omar has this in mind given the 12"'s title and the fact the record's centre label features a doctored image of Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop! On the flip, Omar S provides his own remix, drowning the synths in dubby textures and showering them with shuffling hats for a more heads-down take. Another killer 12" - business as usual at FXHE, then.

Review: The news of a new album from label boss Scuba is just the tip of the iceberg on what promises to be another watershed year for the Hotflush imprint. And they get off to an excellent start with this label debut from Belgian producer Locked Groove, displaying an obvious talent for the sort of floor fusing music Hotflush are becoming increasing renowned for. Lead track "Rooted" is notable for the effortless way in which it builds from the gliding textures of the early moments and morphs into a bumping rhythm lead brilliantly by the analogue bass and skittering syncopation before switching back again. Having premiered on Scuba's DJ-Kicks contribution, "Drowning" appears here, mercifully allowing us a chance to fully immerse in the plunging rhythms and foundation worrying kick drums. "Change" closes the EP, showing a talent for subtle mood filled arrangements too - all skittering rhythms, deft vocal samples and deep pad infractions.

Review: Irish label Apartment come through with a superlative second release: everything about this twelve inch breathes class and style and bodes well for whatever the imprint does in the future. Sometime Fine Art contributors TR One are at the helm for "Drum Dance", a decidedly dusty exploration of rough hewn house music, all gently placed analogue drum rhythms embellished by neat percussive elements and the steadily rising procession of woozily hypnotic chords that appear from the misty ether midway through. The beatdown sensation is only improved when you drop the RPM down to 33 for some lolloping slo mo house excellence. You couldn't ask for two more well chosen remixers than John Heckle and Juju & Jordash really, and both excel on the B Side. The former adopts a slower pace, filling the expanses with the kind of fidgety machine funk textures that would have Jamal Moss nodding in approval over a delightfully thick heaving kick. The latter Amsterdam based duo opt for a widescreen dub revision that veers brilliantly through moments of expansive delight and bass heavy house sludge with an ease we've come to expect from Juju & Jordash. Fans of amusing run out groove inscriptions will be satisfied by this twelve inch too.

Review: The inimitable Chicago Skyway makes a triumphant return to the Uzuri imprint with the Londinium EP which also features a stellar remix from Mr Hakim Murphy! Whilst it's clear from the track titles that conceptual inspiration was gathered from the humble city Juno calls home, musically Sean Hernandez is still rooted in his Midwest origins, although beneath the dizzying hypnotic melodies of lead track "London Streets" is the type of clacking wood block percussive nicks that you might hear on a Hessle Audio B Side. Hakim Murphy embellishes those percussive elements on a beefed up remix that evens the balance between the rhythmic inclinations and the waves of utopian sensation over a subtly effective analogue bass line. On the flip, "Traffic" makes for a suitably overstuffed percussive ride through vintage electro ideals whilst the harsh textures and sounds that permeate through "Noise" remain even closer to the title!

Review: It says something about the production qualities of Omar S that he can make a stripped-back drum track sound like an essential purchase. This limited 7" offers two deliciously simple but bombastically effective drum tracks that should appeal to those who like to pepper their mixes with cute percussive interludes. Both tracks are stripped-down, 808-heavy grooves based on a pair of collaborations with Kai Alce that first appeared on the Jive Time 12" in December 2010. The percussion is of course spot on, with plenty of repetitive claps, 808 cowbells and, on flipside "Incognigro (Bonus Beats)", the most subtle of deep house chords. Excellent.

Review: Swiss based Italian DJ Gianni Siravo has been slipping out house music in one form or another for a good few years now, most recently as part of Azuni (fans of Boe and Quintessentials will recognise the name). Undergoing a solo studio endeavour as Washerman, Siravo gets off to a flier with the double drop Kutz From The Basement EP for the Zurich label Drumpoet Community. As you'd expect from the title, the Washerman sound is focused on no nonsense house music primed for exposure in basement spaces. The simmering euphoria of A Side track "Basement Chord" is tempered brilliantly by the inherent dark, murky tones of flipside track "Basement Dub".

Review: Italian imprint Neroli borrow the talented Swiss born and Spanish based Skymark from Modern Sun Records for this five track EP that showcases his many ranges, traversing beyond deep house at times to incorporate jazz and funk. Lead track "Thank You (Ed)" eases you in, its gentle tones paying homage to larger than life Brazilian musician Ed Motta, and it doesn't prepare you for the undeniable funk of "Clavins Debauchery", one of few tracks to merge sleazy slap guitar with finely judged house tones. The remainder sees Skymark stick closer to the deep house template with three tracks featuring the vocal talents of Jair Santiago with the slow burning "Stay True To Myself" a clear highlight.

Review: Mad Mat's excellent Local Talk emporium reach out to neighbours Finland for some killer house tracks from the vastly under rated Deymare. Across a smattering of releases for the likes of Boe, Quintessentials and Morris Audio Citysport, Deymare has always demonstrated a real finesse for authentic sounding deep house, and the four tracks on his eponymous debut for Local Talk further showcase that. It's pretty hard not to get sucked in by the gloriously lifting piano tones of lead track "1990", which is built around solid rhythmic patterns and complemented by subtle melodic touches. From here Deymare gets tougher on the drum machine workouts "Time to Work" and seriously bumping "The Beat Is Back", whilst "Keep on Movin'" highlights the Finn's talent for crafting tracks rich in detail without sounding cluttered.