Review: Big Love's popular compilation-style A Touch Of Love series returns for a sixth instalment, with boss man Seamus Haji once again showcasing a quartet of tried-and-tested treats. Fittingly, he kicks things off with 'Serious', a kind of hbrid heavy garage-house/disco house affair featuring organ solos aplenty and vocals from Chicago legend Mike Dunn, before Moon Boots joins the dots between sweet 80s soul and nu-disco on the synth-powered vocal number 'In My Life'. Heavy, French Touch-inspired disco-house vibes are provided by DJ Fudge ('Escapade'), before Dutch rising star Danou P - with a little help from pal Jamie 3:26 on vocals - delivers the organ rich deep house/garage-house fusion of 'Fly'.
Review: Expoz by JanaretT & Miroloja marks another successful collaboration between the two camps, delivering four tracks of beautiful spacey melodic techno and tech house. The A-side opens with the title track, 'Expoz,' a club-focused tech house anthem that balances techy elements with pulsating melodies, setting the tone for the EP. Following is 'Fraistival,' offering a slightly progressive house vibe with a captivating melody that flows seamlessly. On Side 2, 'Anomisk' emerges as a catchy builder, drawing listeners in with its infectious rhythm and evolving layers. Closing the EP is 'Vertu,' a chill deep house gem perfect for late-night sessions, exuding class and elegance while maintaining a melodic allure. The resulting collaboration continues to give us tracks that are both hypnotic and immersive.
Love's Gonna Get You (Hugo LX Underwater mix) (6:32)
Love's Gonna Get You (Art Of Tones remix) (6:34)
Love's Gonna Get You (main mix) (6:16)
Review: Astonishingly, a decade has now passed since Timothee Milton's last significant single - a digital-only affair on Moodmusic called 'Back In Time'. This 12", featuring the mighty vocal talents of Dome Records soulstress Angela Johnson, is therefore long overdue. Milton's 'Main Mix' (B2) is a nostalgic, retro-futurist chunk of vocal house - think driving drums, incessant minor key melodies, early morning synth riffs, organ bass and a typically inspired lead vocal from Johnson. The accompanying remix package is unsurprisingly strong, too. On the A-side 'Underwater Mix', Hugo LX adds Johnson's wonderful vocal to a backing track rich in undulating acid bass, bouncy, Afro-house-influenced beats, King Britt chords and woozy synth sounds. Art of Tones version, meanwhile, is a looser and more organic-sounding affair that takes cues from disco and gospel house.
Review: Ninja Records looks to build on the success of its first outing with a new outing from Miroloja who are brothers and key players in the Parisian underground with great credits already to their name on Berg Audio, Tzinah Records and OLO RECORDS. Their stripped-back but tight sound is laid bare on opener 'Linkblow' with its warm house kicks and wet clicks soon to make you move. 'Morgan' is speedier with some space-tech vibes and a snappier low-end. Closer 'Krazyteora' then explores a creepy late-night urban landscape with some cyclical drums and synths moving things onwards.
Natural Blues (Reinier Zonneveld Homage remix) (7:22)
Review: Spanish imprint Suara are a force to reckoned with at the moment and continue to bring the heat with his fine collection of remixes by US electronica icon Moby. Brazilian Victor Ruiz kicks off proceedings with his rendition of "Go" and he sure had his work cut our for him, trying his deft hand at such a defining rave classic: it's pretty good and gives a fresh perspective while staying true to the original. Also on the A side we've got French hero Oxia who stays on the same vibe as the original with his deep and emotive rendition of "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad". On the flip, the m_nus affiliated Julian Juweil delivers an absolutely stomping peak time weapon with his version of "Porcelain" which blows the bloody doors off as always. Reinier Zonneveld's homage to "Natural Blues" goes for some sunny uplifting deep house: Kater Blau style.
Review: The Phonogramme label is a real stamp of house quality, whether serving up deep, French or garage-tinged. This new 12" from Lucas Monet does a bit of all that and more. 'Low Gravity' (feat Dusty Fingers - Deeper dub is a classic New Jersey sound with neon chords and Kerri Chandler kicks. 'Losing You' (Paradise mix) has a more optimistic and upbeat feel with organ stabs and finger clicks and 'Deep In The Blue' (937 club mix) has a little more jack and swing to it. 'Music' (UKG Private mix) shuts down with an irresistible old school groove full of love.
Review: Oenologie makes a classy debut here with an EP of timeless house sounds that lean on jazz, soul and darker vibes for their character. It comes from a pair of talents who take one side each with Lucas Moinet kick-off. 'The Djoon' (937 main mix) is all feel-good drums with plenty of playful skip, neat melodies and slinky finger clicks. 'Dance Culture' (dub mix) then rides on more dreamy and late-night vibes but still with fresh melodies and a rich sense of atmosphere. Daerin's 'Foret Nebuleuse' is darker cut with a searching lead synth unfurling over slow-motion beatdown drums. His second cut 'Hypnose Des Bois' is another mystic one that layers up exotic melodies and warped basslines into something ready to hypnotise.
Don Swing - "Fabulous" (Franck Roger remix) (6:18)
Franck Roger - "Things We Had" (7:55)
Franck Roger & Mr V - "Come Back To Me" (6:16)
Review: The Real Tone Classics series does exactly what it says on the tin, reissuing older label classics from the storied Real Tone Records house music catalogue, based in Paris. A precocious (the label has only been going since 2011) but still refreshing exercise, this second edition focuses on the older, apposed works of label favourites Franck Roger, Don Swing and Mr. V. Brachiating from as recently as 2023 to as far back as 2009, the ability to group together tracks from different eras here speaks to the modularity of house music when done right: Roger's 'Things We Had', for example, is a kwaito-informed ode to freedom, while the fanned, equitant track 'Come Back To Me' jostles jazz-dancier; the stylistic difference between them speaks nothing of their side-by-side fit, which is as seamless as they come.
Soulsearcher - "Feelin' Love" (Soulsearcher club mix) (7:06)
Urban Blues Project Presents Mother Of Pearl - "Your Heaven (I Can Feel It)" (feat Pearl Mae - Micky More & Andy Tee remix) (6:26)
Urban Blues Project Presents Mother Of Pearl - "Your Heaven (I Can Feel It)" (feat Pearl Mae - Soulfuric dub) (6:36)
Review: This split artist dance record combines two timeless house anthems, offering a captivating fusion of funky and club house vibes. On side A, Soulsearcher's Feelin' Love' captivates with its high-energy Detroit house sound, while the Soulsearcher club mix exudes a disco-infused charm. Side-B features Urban Blues Project's 'Your Heaven (I Can Feel It)' in two distinct versions. The Micky More & Andy Tee remix evokes classic 90s house with its soaring vocals and infectious groove, while the original version delivers a powerful alternative experience. This record is a nostalgic journey for house music enthusiasts, seamlessly blending soulful melodies and energetic rhythms to create an unforgettable listening experience.
Review: French multi-instrumentalist and producer Mezerg (real name Marc Mezergue) is something of a one-off - a synthesizer, drums and theremin-sporting one-man band who has even invented his own unique instrument, a combined keyboard/electronic drum kit known as the "piano boom boom". He's perhaps best-known as a live performer but has received plenty of plaudits for previous releases, most notably 2021 debut LP Chez Mezerg. Vol Retarde de 42 Mn is that album's belated sequel and sees the Frenchman develop his existing trademark sound - a musically mixed-up blend of classic synth sounds, analogue electronics, warm basslines and unfussy beats that variously draws influence from titans of French electronic dance music (Justice, Jean-Michel Jarre etc), electro and, most frequently, colourful nu-disco.
Review: South African-born, Paris-based Portable is one of those cultured artists who doesn't release a lot, but when he does, it is more than worth hearing. And this is a bumper new drop from him on Circus Company in the form of Augmented Dreams, a new double album that takes its title from the use of everyday technological advancements "to achieve what were once only dreams or visions of past generations." He goes deep into minimal, techno and ambient to fuse totters the synthetic and the organic, the real, the imagined and the unreal on a richly rewarding album that makes for a complete listening
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