Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: When it comes to gospel-powered 21st century dance music, Detroit trio Dames Brown have been involved in many of the most memorable records - not least Sophie Lloyd anthem 'Calling Out' and Horse Meat Disco hook-up 'Message To The People'. Here they join forces with fellow Motor City musician Waajeed for another arms-aloft classic in the making. In its original form, 'Glory' blurs the boundaries between gospel disco and gospel house, with the trio's powerful vocals rising rubbery bass guitar, loose-limbed beats and riotous organ licks aplenty. It comes accompanied by two fine remixes: a stomping, piano riff-powered gospel house take from Rob and Lyric Hood's Floorplan project, and a stomping, thickset gospel disco 'dancing club dub' courtesy of Kelly G.

Review: Top table house label Toolroom is back with another window into its current sounds. This 17th sampler is one that will likely get hammered at the annual parties in Miami for this year's conference. KC Lights & Welt open up with 'Fly' which is catchy dance pop with summery vocals. Milk & Sugar & James Hurr keep it on a similarly light and airy tip and Crusy's 'Hey Girls, B-Boys; reimagines a classic with extra rawness. Illyus & Barrientos shut down with more synth laced peak time house sounds on 'DANCE.'

Review: A top value for money opportunity here, as Moiss Music deliver the latest in their sweet and sticky Jam series of various artist 12" line ups, bringing you no less than six bubbling, vivacious disco triumphs from six artists. Khemir's 'Disco Bandit' kicks off proceedings, a production that sounds like it was made by a band of around 45 musicians, a proper cavalcade of strings, brass, brazen disco thump and beautifully bold vocals. Wurzelholz's 'Prince' goes for a bit more economy but with a slinky funk bassline like that - not to mention the occasional exclamation from the purple overlord himself - it's equally devastating in dancefloor terms. Among the other highlights, 'Golden' by I Gemin has the feel of a lost Daft Punk flip tune and Cosmocomics' 'Glamorous Garcon', boasting 70s-style synth bubbles that are as cute as they are retro. Tasty as ever.

Review: Toolroom's 'sampler' series, which rounds up previously digital-only releases and sticks them out on action-packed 12" EPs, reaches its sixteenth instalment. Given the format, you'll be unsurprised to discover that there's plenty of bona-fide peak-time heat on show, starting with Mark Knight and James Hurr's excitable, filter-heavy, string-laden disco-house bomb 'You Take Me Higher'. Friend Within offers a scintillating blend of heavy acid bass, glassy-eyed female vocal samples, weighty beats and subtle disco samples on the superb 'Chain', while Martin Ikin and Winnie Ama opt for even heavier drums, warped bass, creepy electronics and dead-eyed spoken word vocals on the sweat-soaked 'Control It'. To round things off, we're treated to the tech-tinged funky house bounce of Flashmob and Raumakustik's percussion -rich 'Club Talk'.

Review: The shadowy Edit & Dub crew don't talk about their releases, so it can be difficult to ascertain whether the tracks they're showcasing are long-lost originals, or new edits of ridiculously rare records. Either way, the label's latest EP features versions of some seriously hard to find treats, starting with a fine 'extended disco instrumental' of Sanctuary's 'Disconnect', a fine disco-boogie jam from 1980. They then deliver a (we think) previously unreleased 'extended disco' mix of Willie J & Co's killer 1976 disco-funk gem 'Boogie With Your Baby'. On the B-side we're treated to two takes on the mysterious 'Familiar Time and Place' by Uknown Tapes: a 'Chicago Mix' which sounds like late 80s Windy City acid house smothered in spacey deep house chords and intergalactic electronics and the mid-80s techno-tinged 'Detroit Mix'.

Review: As you most likely know, Rick Wade is a machine when it comes to turning out killer, effective, stylish house cuts. His vast discography is perfectly consistent but still some tunes stand out more than others. His Hustler's Lullaby EP, which was originally released in 2013 on the Japanese label Unknown Season, is one of them and as such it now regularly tops more than three figures for a second-hand copy. The Yore label ends with this one-time-only reissue. The title tune is a belter with deep cut and mid-tempo drums topped with some dreamy, exotic and sunny melodies. 'Shinjuku Strut' is another playful jaunt with lounge vibes and noodling melodies and 'After Dark' shuts down with a third and final take on Balearic house perfect for the golden hour.

Review: Following the recent dip into the Theo Parrish archives that was The Twin Cities, Phil Weeks' Robsoul imprint looks to another one of Detroit's adopted sons in the form of Rick Wade. Like that recent Parrish reissue, Weeks re-releases another three tracks from Wade's bulging discography. The upbeat disco loops of "Players Theme" was originally released on French label Funky Chocolate in 2002 and still sound fresher than anything being plied by the Soundcloud dwellers today, while "Can't You See" from 2003 provides a more soulful take on house music. On the flip, the tracky funk and cascading string melodies of "I Feel Good" originally graced Wade's own Harmonie Park imprint in 1998, but sound no less vital today. Essential.

Review: The legacy of one of Berlin's most famous disco spots Paloma Bar is now entrenched, thanks to its existence for several decades already, not to mention its incubation of pedigree DJs and musicians such as one Daniel Wang. Twenty years of activity on the scene and knowledge has been poured into Wang's latest EP for the institution's new record label, straddling four versions of the track DSDN - an ode to Berlin's nocturnal party community. Acid creaks, crude piano riffs, and massive gated drums are the order of the day, conveying the relaxed yet energetic mood of the city at night.

Review: The newly formed Silum Records' is back with a superb second release that features Zurich collective Wavetest. They have previously released on the likes of Phantom Island and Drumpoet but this might be their best work. It is music inspired by the alpine landscape of the collective's native Liechtenstein but it also has one eye on the dance floor. These are bright, shiny disco-house cuts with happy arps, lush cosmic chords and accessible grooves that simply make you feel good. 'Gritsch' in particular is awash with warm chords and singing leads that will work in a wide variety of settings.

Review: Heads High keeps up the good early work with a third interesting offering, this time in the form of a meeting of the fiendish minds of Mike Misiu and Eddie Smilie, aka Wednesday Club. They offer up late-night club sounds with plenty of musical nouse and worldly nuance that comes as a result of late-night sample mining across the African musical landscape. Their tunes are crafted on nice analogue gear so have that lovely freed edge feel and from the space-house of 'Magic Body' to the swaggering dub of 'Magic Dub' via the cosmic expressiveness of cruising groover 'Love & Care'. This one gets dubbed out to close a fine dancefloor adventure.

Review: Amsterdam-based duo Weval, known for their intricate and richly layered electronic music, return with a new EP titled Night Versions via Ninja Tune's Technicolour imprint. This EP presents club-ready reimaginings of key tracks from their critically acclaimed album Remember, which was celebrated for its high-energy blend of nostalgia, euphoria, and genre-blurring creativity. On Night Versions, Wevalicomprising Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte Albersifocuses on enhancing the dancefloor appeal of their original tracks. The EP includes dynamic versions of tracks like 'Remember' and 'I Saw You,' now infused with the pulsating energy reminiscent of artists like Max Cooper and Apparat. The result is a five-track journey that amplifies the frenetic, danceable elements of the original album while maintaining Weval's signature complexity and emotional depth. A compelling evolution of their sound, designed to ignite the dancefloor.

Review: Who can resist a lovely one-sided, blue-marbled 12" that is mad limited? Well it depends on the tune, of course, and the good news is this one from Wicked Disco on the newly minted eponymous label is superb. 'Too Late Is What You Are' is an action-packed fusion of Afro soul, organic percussion, disco grooves and wet finger clicks topped off with a soul-drenched vocal and some big horns. The arrangement is fulsome but never over-loaded which means this one has it all, basically, and will bring great times to any dancefloor.

Review: There's plenty to set the pulse racing within this new set of remixes of tracks from Seb Wildblood's superb album "Sketches Of Transition", which dropped on All My Thoughts earlier in the year. Our pick of the bunch is the superb Suzanne Kraft remix of "Amelia", which wraps glistening '80s guitar sounds and fretless bass notes around a chugging, arpeggio-driven groove, though many may gravitate towards the tight but undeniably groovy and melodious Jenifa Mayanja deep house version of "Small Talk". Elsewhere, Ciel re-imagines "Bahn" as an intoxicating chunk of bleep-laden broken electronica/Balearic fusion, while object blue impressively chops up "Sketches" into a sludgy, mind-altering style.

Review: Stevie Wonder has many classics in his incomparable oeuvre and many of them have been remixed with varying degrees of success. 'Paradise' is one from the mid-70s on his Songs in the Key of Life album and here it gets a house rework. It's got some brilliantly dusty Motor City house vibes to it with busy synth arps riding up and down the scale next to more smeared, serene chords. The flispside Kneedeep dub is more percussive with chopped-up vocals, disco-fried beats and a little more vibrancy to it for some playful party times.

Review: There seems to be a richness of cultured new edits dripping at the start of this New Year. This 12" is proof of that and it finds the great Motown legend Stevie Wonder have his impeccable sounds just subtly tweaked to give them a little extra heft on modern sound systems. 'Do I Do' (House remix) kicks off here with nice disco loops and funky drum patterns that come alive with some steamy sax energies. The timeless 'Superstitious' then gets beefed up with some echo on the majestic synths and more weight in the drums. It's fun and funky perfection.

Review: Who doesn't love a cheeky edit? And they are always cheeky, aren't they? Here we have one of Motown's most legendary artists getting reworked for modern dancefloors. Importantly, the tweaks to these two cuts are nice and subtle, which means the charm and musicianship of the originals remain. First, we get the feel-good melodies and carefree vocal sounds of 'Another Star' with some weighty drums added in, then 'Too High' becomes a deep and dusty house gem with various synth lines mingling with the beats while the vocal adds that signature Wonder soul.

Review: The sounds of Stevie Wonder are destined to live on forever, such is the universal appeal and enduring musicality of what he does. When you have artists reworking the originals into different forms, that is also going to help them endure and that's what we have here with a couple of house mixes of his classic 'All I Do.' The Vocal House Remix is first and goes heavy on the filters while laying down some lovely soulful grooves that never quit. The Jazzed instrumental remix then pairs it back a little and allows some magical melodies to shine over more laid back grooves perfect for sunny sessions.

Review: Wonder by name, wonderful by nature. Man like Stevie has cooked up countless irresistible jams and so many of them are perfect for club-ready edits. That's what we have here as one of his most upbeat and feel-good jams, 'If You Really Loved Me,' gets a tweak with some modern flair. The drums are flipped into rolling and soulful house beats while the joyous vocals and horn stabs remain in place. 'I Wish' then has a more peak time feel with a blend of disco synths and lively vocal ad-libs, while 'In My Mind' is a nice laid-back and blissed-out number for cosy sessions.