Review: The Soul in the Horn label is "a movement" with roots in New York City. It is a collaborative project from music curator DProsper and resident DJ Natasha Diggs that is now back with another party-ready 12", this time from Knevrmind. It kicks off with a rugged house cut that chops up some big Kendrick samples to make for something of an anthemic opener. 'Major Hot' then flips the script with more sun-kissed and dusty house loops that are nice and loose and 'Matters Of Time' slows it down again to late-night and loved-up dub house. An instrumental strips it back so the cosmic synths shine brighter.
Review: Following the release of a swathe of fine collaborative singles over the past couple of months, Keinmusik regulars Adam Portm Rampa and &Me unveil their second collaborative album, which lands four years after its acclaimed predecessor, You Are Safe. Send Return is an undeniably attractive, collaboration-heavy set, with the experienced trio cannily blending elements of tech-house, deep house, soft-touch techno, street soul and nu-disco to create a wonderfully warm, woozy and melodious hybrid sound. Highlights include Yet Full collaboration 'Paris' -a kind of 21st century take on Soul II Soul - the sleazy, Italo-influenced throb of Bell Towers hook-up 'Pay To Play', and the summer-fresh deep house warmth of 'Saving My Luv', featuring Little Dragon.
If There Is No Question (Soul Clap Wild But Not Crazy mix) (7:19)
Pelota (cut A Rug mix) (5:05)
Time (You & I) (Put A Smile On A DJ Face mix) (9:15)
Shida (Bella's Suite) (8:35)
So We Won't Forget (Mang Dynasty version) (6:29)
One To Remember (Forget Me Nots dub) (5:10)
Review: RECOMMENDED
The remix album is probably pretty hard to crack in terms of putting it together. On the one hand, you want a broad selection of producers to take the work and make it new again. But there's also a very real risk of winding up with a bunch of random tracks with no real coherent thread to ensure the LP is actually going to get enough people buying to warrant engineering, mastering, and pressing costs.
Khruangbin have certainly cracked it with these takes on tracks from their most recent and perhaps most lush long form outing to date. We have sophisticated micro house, percussive slo-mo disco, slick-to-the-touch downbeat grooves and surrealist pop, all of which work both individually and together, the result being a record that not only knows its own mind, it can easily convince others, too.
Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band - "The Secret Life Of Us" (feat Donna Gardier & Diane Charlemagne - Director cut Signature mix) (7:52)
Artful & Ridney - "Missing You" (feat Terri Walker - Eric Kupper Director cut Tribute To FK' mix) (6:56)
Marshall Jefferson - "The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)" (feat Curtis McClain - Director cut Retro Signature mix) (8:50)
Review: The legacy of Frankie Knuckles will never diminish even if releases like this one day eventually dry up. Forever regarded as 'The Godfather of House' it is now almost a decade since his passing. In his prolific career he hooked up with Eric Kupper many times as Director's Cut and this is a collection of their best works. It's full of house classics that have all been remixed by their fair hand, from 'Your Love" (feat Jamie Principle) to 'The Whistle Song' via 'I'll Take You There', all of which are spine tingling emotional deep house anthems that never lose their shine.
Review: It's been a long time coming, but finally Defected's producer and remixer-focused House Masters series has turned its attention to the undisputed Godfather of House himself, the late, great Frankie Knuckles. This first part (of two) fittingly opens with the track that originally set out his melodious, warm, colourful and loved-up trademark sound, the Jamie Principle collaboration 'Your Love', before flitting between genuine anthems (legendary remixes of Loose Ends' 'Hangin' On a String' and 'Blind' by Hercules and Love Affair, the sleazy, acid house-era 'Baby Wants To Ride', the exceptional 'Hallucinogenic Mix' of Chaka Khan's 'Ain't Nobody') and arguably more overlooked gems (the garage-house wonders that are his remixes of Adeva and Sounds of Blackness).
First Choice - "Let No Man Put Asunder" (Frankie Knuckles 12" remix) (7:36)
Review: Defected's House Masters series tribute to Frankie Knuckles is being released as two double LPs, but it could have easily been four or five, such is the quality of the tracks and remixes that the 'Godfather of House' produced during his lifetime. Naturally this second and final part is full to bursting with colourful, tactile and wonderfully saucer-eyed classics - many familiar, some slightly less so - which deserve a place in your collection. Picking highlights is naturally tough, but for proof of Knuckles' unassailable musical majesty and dancefloor magic it's hard to beat the Sound Factory mix of 'The Whistle Song', the low-tempo house bliss of his remix of Inner City's 'Whatcha Do With My Lovin', the Satoshi Tomiie/Robert Owens hook-up 'Tears' and his incredible revision of Electribe 101's 'Talking With Myself'.
Squeeze Me (feat Ben Westbeech - Moods remix) (3:39)
U R Freak (feat IVAR - Jafunk extended remix) (4:39)
Alone With You (feat Cleopold - Lazywax remix) (4:49)
Naked (feat IVAR & Berenice Van Leer - Jitwam remix) (4:12)
How We Gonna Stop The Time ( (feat Stee Downes - Brijean remix) (4:40)
Forget About You (feat Lee Fields - Girls Of The Internet remix) (4:43)
Money In The Bag (The Allergies remix) (2:47)
Back Again (feat John Turrell - Hot Toddy remix) (7:32)
Corsica 80 (Psychemagik remix) (5:33)
Stumble (feat Parcels - Richard Dorfmeister Cinematic Way version) (5:55)
Bobby & Whitney (Ashley Beedle No West vocal remix) (7:05)
Alone With You (feat Cleopold - Purple Disco Machine remix) (6:41)
Review: Having already released a career-spanning retrospective, Twenty, Kraak and Smaak have decided to offer up this partner compilation - a collection of 'new and classic' remixes. As you'd expect given the depth and variety at the heart of their party-starting sound, the collected remixes touch on many sounds, styles and moods, from the head-nodding dancefloor soul of Moods remix of 'Squeeze Me', the revivalist P-funk-meets-neo-boogie colour of Jafunk's rub of 'UR Freak' and the horn-toting, Latin funk flex of the Allergies revision of 'Money in the Bag', to the dubby downtempo loveliness of Richard Dorfmeister's rework of 'Stumble', the woozy deep house lushness of Girls of the Internet's remix of 'Forgot About You', Psychemagik's deliciously cosmic re-wire of 'Corsica '80' and the acid house tweakery of Joe Goddard's interpretation of Romanthony hook-up 'Let's Go Back'
Review: Evergreen jazzers Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino mark an impressive 30 years performing and recording as Kyoto Jazz Massive with this superb selection of favourite covers the brothers have enjoyed playing across their storied careers. Embellished with the vocal prowess of Vanessa Freeman and Bembe Segue, the immaculately presented collection blends elements of Latin, jazz, disco and funk over a typically fusionist set. Opening with the gentle waves of 'Black Renaissance', the record bursts into life with the samba flex of 'Kowree Sambazzi'. The soul-heavy thrust of 'No Cross No Crown' stirs the senses, before the nocturnal energy of 'Karmapa Chenno' veers ever so slightly off-piste with its jagged rhythms and grooves. Finally, the hands-in-the-air positivity of 'Love Is Everywhere' ends on a joyously uplifting note.
Review: Shuya Okino is a DJ, club owner, writer and producer as well as being a part of the Kyoto Jazz Massive, and has been a vital figure in the Japanese club scene for over three decades. He is involved in a wide range of projects from Cosmic Village to Root Soul to Mondo Grosso, but his work with brother Yoshihiro as Kyoto Jazz Massive might be his best. This new album is another standout fusion of synth, broken beat and nu-jazz styles. Some of the tunes are pure dance floor heaters such as the prickly vibes of 'Get Up' while others gaze off to a cosmic future such as the gorgeous synths of 'Visions Of Tomorrow'. Essential.
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