Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: Back ion 2021, the relaunched Foliage Records imprint offered up a killer mix from NYC house legends Mood II Swing, the must-check Deep Rooted. Soon, the revitalised label will release a sequel, with long-serving British deep house don Atjazz at the helm. This sampler EP boasts six of the highlights from that set - all remixed and reworked by Atjazz himself. There's much to enjoy throughout, from the tense, slowly building deep-tech shuffle of Halo''s 'Glorty (Atjazz Galaxy Art Remix)'and the sun-splashed 6am bounce of Atjazz's remix of Dominique Fils-Aime's gorgeous 'Sun Rise', to the dreamy dancefloor wooziness of Ralf GUM's 'AWA' (re-imagined by Atjazz as an Osunlade-esque spiritual house workout) and the jazzy, bass-guitar-propelled broken house excellence of 'On The Road (Vocal Mix)', a three-way collab between Atjazz, Kelli Sae and The Realm.

Review: A San Francisco house producer who is taking jazz influenced house music to another level is Coflo aka Cody Ferreira 'Syncopatience' is a stunning deep house release that highlights his signature blend of soulful rhythms, intricate grooves, and rich musicality. Each track brims with personality, that blend clever and creative vocals and lyrics to a deeper level than just for the dancefloor. Side-1 starts off with 'Get Down, Show Love', a collaboration with Fenyan that exudes a hip, jazzy charm. Playful yet refined, it features catchy vocal work and a high-level jazz flair, effortlessly blending house with improvisational energy. Next, Coflo's remix of 'Cee.Side's Elektrify' brings atmospheric depth, wrapping Latin influences around a funky, sultry groove that's as hypnotic as it is danceable. Side-2 delivers Ecru, where Coflo, Steve Howerton, and Niya Wells craft a deeper, tech-tinged house cut with sharp, clever lyricism. Its polished production and layered instrumentation elevate it to a higher plane of jazzy house, demonstrating Coflo's versatility and artistry. 'Syncopatience' has the solution on how merge soulful textures with dancefloor energy in a unique way.

Review: MixCult Records' latest release offers an atmospheric journey through deep and dub techno, featuring standout artists like Eric Louis, Kirill Matveev, Genning, TM Shuffle and Nicolas Barnes. Eric Louis's 'Voice Memo' opens the compilation with a haunting blend of soft bass pulses and ethereal vocals, setting a reflective tone. Kirill Matveev's 'Never Losing That Track (Genning Remix)' layers sweeping synths over a driving beat, creating a euphoric yet wistful energy that's perfect for early-morning dancefloors. On the B-side, TM Shuffle's 'Artist' dives into the dub techno world, its solid groove grounding listeners. Nicolas Barnes wraps things up with 'Outro', an ambient masterpiece that fades into introspective calm.

Review: For the third release on the fast-rising Sounds of Style Records, label founder Bobby Hudson has turned to long-serving UK deep house don (and former Bent member) Nail Tolliday - a producer whose output is impressively consistent and rarely less than excellent. As if to the prove the point, Tolliday first slaps down a rubbery and sample-rich slab of soul-sampling deep house perfection - all chopped vocal snippets, sustained organ chords and irresistibly funky grooves - before opting for pots-and-pans percussion, chopped funky samples and copious amounts of dancefloor pressure on 'Hey'. Over on side B, 'Peanuts 3' is a mind-mangling disco-house-meets-wonky deep house roller underpinned by superbly sleazy sub-bass, while 'U Know What U Can Do' is sweet, woozy, soulful and informed by classic New Jersey garage-house.

Review: Naquil's produced a record that confidently straddles the line between chill-out grooves and driving, danceable rhythms. The opening track, 'Melod For Tre' (Jazz mix), teases with subtle jazz elements that are quickly swallowed up by a bubbling, deep house groove, before the 'Meltdown dub' shifts things into a darker, more atmospheric territory. 'State of Mind' arrives with a punch, its intricate percussion and bassline carrying the track with effortless cool. The final track, 'From Venus With Love,' brings everything full circle, with its ethereal synths and spacey feel, leaving you with a sense of calm satisfaction. It's a heady, immersive listen that balances complexity with accessibility.

Review: Last year, Kiko Navarro unveiled a regularly updated Spotify playlist, entitled TwentyFour, which he uses to showcase his favourote productions, reworks of other artists, an d remixes if his work. That playlist has now spawned the first of what we believe will be an ongoing series of EPs. The long-serving Spanish artist (and Afroterraneo Music founder) begins by showcasing his fine, pleasingly rolling re-edit of Blaze's hybrid soulful house/Earth Wind & Fire style disco classic, 'Breathe', before treating us to a superb, sample-heavy and piano-rich Tucillo remix of his own 'The First Time'. Over on side B, he serves up some bouncy disco-house action ('Jammin' All Night Long', with its female spoken word vocals, jazzy pianos and killer groove) and an authentic-sounding Afrobeat re-make of 'Isao' by DJ Fudge.

Review: Two Balearic musicians with no relation beyond chemistry, Kiko Navarro and Pere Navarro debut as a duo with three tracks that stitch together house and jazz with an intuitive ease. Kiko's Mallorca-honed sense of deep, groove-led house is given new colour by Pere's nimble trumpet work, rooted in his training and practice across Ibiza's jazz and club scenes. 'Byrd's Groove' opens with dusty swing, its crisp drum programming softened by Pere's sunny phrasing and melodic asides. 'Keepn On Loving Me' is the standout, built on a chunky low-end and looped vocal that moves like classic New Jersey house, with trumpet lines that smoulder and lift. 'Blown Flow' closes on a dubbier, more headsy tip i less peak-time, more sunrise session i giving a stylish finish to an impressively coherent first outing.

Review: Lisbon veteran Nebulaee makes his debut on Carpet & Snares, delivering four tracks that blend organic arrangements with quirky vocal samples. With a distinctive style that recalls the likes of Spencer Kincy, Nebulaee crafts tracks that balance minimal house vibes with a slightly eerie twist. Walking basslines ground the groove, while nimble percussion adds movement and energy. The harmonies shift from cheerful to creepy, drawing listeners into a playful yet slightly unsettling atmosphere. Every track here feels like a journey, with carefully layered sounds and a mischievous, ever-evolving tone.

Review: Hello to Metrica Recordings, a new label from Italy that wants to win hearts and minds with its take on minimal and tech house. It begins with an EP featuring Negs on all cuts but with various collaborators. Franz Di Maio is first on the classically inclined deep house of 'A Bright Spot', while 'Echoes Of Thoughts' is a solo cut with more early Chicago synths and dusty drums. Marco Spinetti steps up to help on the more marching and moody '1112' and two remixes of 'A Bright Spot' shut down with a blend of Balearic and Italo style.

Review: Toolroom's house imprint keeps the party pumping with another diverse selection of floor-filling weapons. Grant Nelson & Mark Knight lead the charge with 'Do It Y'all', a track that's been tearing up charts and dancefloors with its raw energy and irresistible rhythm for a while now. But this sampler doesn't simply rest on its laurels; it takes us on a winding path through the multifaceted sounds of house music. The Deepshakerz & Turntables Night Fever follow up with 'Oh Phunk!', a high-energy stomper fueled by a relentless rhythm section and soulful vocal samples that hark back to the golden age of house music. Richard Earnshaw, however, opts for a different approach, reimagining Fonda Rae's classic 'Touch Me' with a touch of soulful depth and emotion. Sebb Junior closes out the sampler with 'Makes Me Feel', a track brimming with bright melodies and feel-good vibes, showcasing the playful side of house music. This sampler is a showcase for the label's dedication to quality house music that offers listeners a diverse range of beats that are both good for the dancefloor and any discerning DJs.

Review: A predictably strong start to 2025 from long-serving US deep house producer Anthony Nicholson, who serves up two scintillating and subtly soulful 'Sound Theories' for us to enjoy. He begins with the stretched-out beacon of positivity that is 'Moondancing (The Rejoice)', where jazzy Clavinet licks, spacey chords, colourful synth solos and sun-bright piano motifs dance atop a pleasingly loose-limbed deep house groove. Flip-side 'Echoes of Music & You' is even deeper and squelchier, albeit with the same dizzyingly high level of intricate musicality and undeniably dancefloor friendly construction. In other words, it's another excellent two-tracker from the former Ron Trent collaborator.

Review: Picture a utopian twist on Akira, and you might land close to Nick Nikolov's vision for his NKLV project. With a nod to classic house elements, like bright piano riffs, he blends in the finely detailed sound design of IDM and ambient, adding a playful, French touch-inspired groove. Tracks like 'Speak to Me' and 'No More' dive straight into expressive, textured soundscapes, while the title cut 'Inbetween' radiates with serotonin-charged energy. Mixing the quirky beats of Basement Jaxx with KiNK's raw pulse, Nikolov crafts an escape filled with soul, spontaneity and unexpected joy.

Review: Cool house music retroactors Skylax return with a fresh one from North 90, billed as 'Liverpool's (newest) electronic sensation'. Yes - stadia fill, cameras flash, and pantaloons fly all around for this latest splash-act on the global euphoric house music circuit to perform for the masses once more. A supergroup like no other, their euphoric, lo-fi-style homages - the likes of 'I'll Say Yes', 'Fantasy' and 'Baracuda' - make clever use of cetacean pads and tape-warbly lilts to evoke the more underwater corners of post-punk-into-rave, recalling the nascent revivalist stylings of Real Lies, Saint Etienne or Bicep of decadal late. Yes - ring-roads whizz by dizzily, as comedowns are borne and afterses are spent imbibing yet more copious quantities of mystery powder; all while the watery wizardries of North 90 resound on the decks.

Review: Eli Cohen's New York label Alliance Upholstery is back for the first time in a long while with a new outing in the form of a reissue of 'Ethereal' by Beijing band Nova Heart, which originally came as part of their debut CD album back in 2012. The track is a collaboration between singer-songwriter Helen Feng and Roman DJ and producer Rodion and channels 80s synth-pop with a mid-tempo electronic tribal beat and a digital bassline which evokes Anna's 'Systems Breaking Down'. Remixes include Italomatic's uptempo, bass-driven twist, Ivan Berko's percussion-heavy rave and the late boss in his Magic Words guise making homage to William Orbit's 80s 'Torch Song' work.

Review: Avidya is back with a third EP to build on the head-turning success of the first two and it is another trip to the outer edges of the dancefloor. Odopt from Born Free and 777 Recordings kicks off with a snappy cut that is deceptively simple but devastatingly effective with its gurgling and acidic bass. Remotif is a fast-rising talent who impresses with the heavy techno sludge of 'HAJKSD15' and Full Circle aka Alexis Le Tan and Joakim link with Kris Baha to offer a remix that is all twitchy electrons, busted drum loops and fizzing pads before 53X's 'Simulaatio' is another brilliantly loose jumbled of wiry electronics, sci-fi effects and techno chug for a fantastic closing beatdown.

Review: After a near two-year break, the shadowy CUE Point label - an imprint based in Valencia, Spain - returns to stores. To reintroduce itself, the imprint has decided to offer-up a multi-artist EP featuring cuts from new signings, old heads and friends of the label. Pad Union kicks things off with the deep, dusty and gently jazzy 'Holodnaya Para' - all rich Rhodes chords, languid bass guitar and crunchy drum machine beats - before storied producer ScruScru joins forces with Guydee on the acid-fired, funk bass-propelled house bounce of 'Nesting Down'. Over on side T, Negroove's ghostly, slipped tech-house jam 'Smoked Jazz' (a track blessed with Villalobos-influenced percussion programming) is paired with EP highlight 'Grisha (Soe)', a chunky and organ-rich slab of peak-time tech-house by label regular Heavenchord.

Review: Bobby Donny's ACE series is mostly a digital-only affair, though periodically the Dutch label will round up choice gems and stick them out on compilation style vinyl EPs. This is the third of those and contains six stellar cuts. There's much to admire, from the infectious, James Brown-sampling deep house bounce of 'Space Animals' by Bob Bonadis and the Kerri Chandler-esque excellence of Nanky Nimbo's 'Peony', to the hip-swinging intergalactic house retro-futurism of 'Nitro Bass' by ZZ Banks and the rolling New York house warmth of 'Clear Sky' by Wim Waldo. The EP also boasts a typically impressive collaboration between Frits Wentink and Malin Genie, the undeniably classy deep house excellence of 'Tongue Kiss'.