Review: The ever-correct Prime Numbers series is still going strong, this time bringing together a thoroughly eclectic range of producers to lay down some solid club fodder. Adesse adopts the tenderest approach, bringing a soft African lilt to a subtle arrangement of light drums and poignant chords with the whole A side to drape a deep house opus over. Truss is certainly in no mood to chill on "Redbrook", going for a big room techno flavour that favours rigid beats, acid parps and epic swathes of organ. Massimo Di Lena is on a far more twitchy tip, with a snagging assortment of percussion and some woozy synths that leave one feeling wonderfully dizzy.
Review: The Finale Sessions Select series finds Michael Zucker steering his label into new, techy pastures with a host of esteemed guests on board. For this fourth round, he's called upon Kai Alce and Reggie Dokes to stand alongside him in demonstrating exactly what's great about contemporary house and techno. Alce is up first with "Scene 2", bringing a bubbly, sleek confection of machine soul to the table. Zucker gets things rolling along steady with the heady trip of "Summer Time", and then Reggie Dokes sends the record drifting off on a wonderfully crooked tip with "Running".
Review: AntiDEEPressant is a new label that kicks off with a strong cast of contenders exploring interesting facets of the deep house tradition, starting off with the sultry wonder of Lola Allen's "Karma". There's mystery woven in between the African percussion that shapes out her track, and it's a pleasure to get lost in. Millie & Hirsch take a tender approach to Roland D Clark's classic "I Get Deep", while Mateo & Matos push the tempo back up with the jazz-tinged "Idris Rises." Vincent Inc is last on the list, and he cruises in with the slow and strange tones of "Tears Of God".
Review: Finale Sessions welcomes Anaxander to join label main man Michael Zucker for another one of those impeccable trips through top shelf deep house. Anaxander gets busy with "Stabs Of Love", a truly ear nagging piece that cuts through the glut of soundalike productions to say something truly special. Meanwhile his "Heart 2 Heart" resides on the B2, presenting a lighter, more playful cut peppered with pattering bongos and sprightly keys. Zucker gets into a slightly off kilter funk on "Greater Is He" before dropping into a perfect bump on "Lost Without You", putting some swing into dub house and making it sound natural.
Mike Grant - "The Struggle Of My People" (Mr G There Hope mix)
Review: After a dormant 2012, Mike Grant's Mood & Grooves label returns with Moods & Grooves Classic Vol 1, what looks to be an exciting new retrospective repress series. First to get a second wax treatment is Andres with his "Your Are Still The One", taken from his self titled LP on Mahogani Music, released in 2003. On the flip is one of Mike Grant's own "The Struggle Of My People" from his 2001 And Then It Was My Turn... EP, only opting for Mr. G's "There's Hope Mix" instead. An exciting new series for the Detroit enthusiast or retroactive newcomer.
Review: Farris Wheel brings you 'The Soul Sessions EP Vol 1', a various artist project bringing together Chicago talents such as Sal Antalos, Lewis Ferrier and Jay Serano. This album keeps the focus on that windy city typical house sound that made people like Derrick Carter, Paul Johnson and others, the world renown DJ/producers they are.
Review: Six months after their last installment, Shir Khan and Exploited drop another hot to trot collection of disco edits. As usual, there's much to excite, beginning with the familiar guitar solos, Rhodes keys and dub disco pulse of Antilope's "Singing Ghost" rework. Death On The Balcony keep up the reverb and delay-laden dub disco theme on "Addict For Your Love", whose rubbery groove, twinkling pianos and heady vocals have been expertly rearranged to fit house dancefloors. Finally, Matpat go loop crazy on the thumping disco house cut "Only You" which sits somewhere between Rahaan and Soundstream. Excellent stuff all round.
Review: French label D3 - which when pronounced in French sounds like their word for Detroit - is a decade old and celebrates the milestone with a special three-part EP series. As has always been the case over that 10 year period, the sounds it serves up are deep and housey. This various artists affair kicks off with AsTreJinkins' slow and propulsive 'Terror' before some nice airy and live sounding broken beats from New Digital Fidelity. Moroka picks up the pace with some hi-tek soul that sounds straight from the Motor City and Byron The Aquarius shows off his mastery of the keys again with a dreamy deep cut 'Tua Su Ra'. Nico Lahs shuts down with a heavyweight beatdown in the form of 'It's Spelled BARI.'
Everchanging Time (feat Colonel Red - Beanfield remix)
Finding Who We Are (feat Colonel Red - Quarion dub)
Review: Alex Attias is a man of many guises. In the past decade the on-the-go producer from Lausanne has released a remarkable number of records under monikers including: Beatless, Catalyst, Freedom Soundz and Mustang. The impressive list of acts that have called him in for remix duties include: 4Hero, Joakim, Roni Size, Tony Allen, Ennio Morricone and Incognito. "Compost Black Label #26" is an excellent new release under his Mustang guise.
Review: For their sixth release, deep house doyens Bliq present something a little different in the form of Space Culture Volume 1, the label's first compilation 12". The A-side is given over to the dub techno of Audio Atlas, whose track "Finland" is a suitably chilly excursion into mid-tempo 4/4, its steady pulse and icy chords seemingly inspired by a wintry Scandinavian forest at dusk. On the flip, Pietro Tangianu's "Frabaer" is a similarly laid back production, but one that thaws things slightly with its warmer, housier chords, and swung rhythm though its subs are as deep as the A-side. Finally, Matti Turunen's "Nocturne" offers something entirely different, a sparse electro track whose minimal 808 rhythms and thick bass are contrasted with melodic pads and brittle diamond-like textures.
Review: A return to the classy Mojuba imprint (that canvas patch on the sleeve will never fail to impress) for Bernard Badie with Bones, a typically idiosyncratic slant on the Chicago sound. Enlisting the vocal talents of Muphan for the title track, Badie utilises them as the rhythmic thrust over a richly detailed percussive track. It's an intriguing production that shows how much can be accomplished with just a few elements. Badie has fun on the flip with a Bonus Beats version, and it's joined by an edit of an old Badie jam from Mojuba stalwart Oracy. Originally out in 1991 "Party Jacktrack" drips with the kind of rawness you'd expect and makes for a fine finish to this smart release.
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