Skylax France レコード& CD

Review: DJs this one is for you, The Makossa Man is back AGAIN after its 18 years of hiatus with more of their covers and remixes of the original 2003 EP. Limited to just 300 copies this is a much-welcomed love letter to DJs and the original EP, giving it a lease of new life and being a much-anticipated sequel to the sold-out original Makossa Man Remix EP that is set to release later this August. Carlos Nilmmns and Simoncino are a welcome return to the roster, serving up another plate of fantastic tribal deep house. The rhythms are infectious and hopefully serve as samples for some incredible DJ sets to come.

Review: Skylax treat our ears to the second dose of Terre Thaemlitz's musically brilliant schizophrenia in a matter of months. June's "Hush Now" was one of this year's more enduring deep house jackers and on this latest DJ Sprinkles Vs K.S.H.E 12" Thaemlitz doubles the quantity of tracks but retains the quality. "Down Home Kami-Sakunobe" eases you in with the odd but bewitching combination of violin strings, intermittent piano flourishes, overdubbed percussive shuffles and glacial breathing. Cavernous atmospheric abound on "Double Secret" which is dominated by bass notes of true warmth and the tingling interplay between soft piano and haunting vocals. "Fuck The Down Low" completes the proceedings on the A Side with a short but oh so sweet Moodymann esque bumper replete with a sample familiar to Beastie Boys fans. The real gold is reserved for the B Side with "Hobo Train", a raw percussive delight. You will be totally captivated from the early moment that the cavalcade of heavily compressed hi-hats take centre stage.

Review: The enigmatic Hill returns to Hardrock Striker's Skylax imprint with an energetic five-tracker packed full of disco house goodness. Riviera Meets Detroit features the infectiously loopy French Touch vibes of 'Land Of Funk', the sexy and lo-slung Balearic bliss of 'Summer Holidays In Rimini' and over on the flip there's the pure deepness of 'Away' featuring the one-and-only Javonntte. Featured are two versions; the wonderfully evocative Spacey Groove mix followed by the more upbeat Classic mix.

Review: Joe Lewandowski may still be relatively young, but some of his musical inspirations are undoubtedly vintage - as this return to Skylax Records for the first time since 2020 proves. 'Here I Am' sees the Paris-based New Yorker team up with vocalist STOLT for a trip into moody, turn-of-the-80s new wave territory. As you'd expect from someone with Lewandowski's track record, it's a beautifully authentic and stylish production that adds Johnny Marr style guitars and STOLT's impassioned vocals to Visage-esque electronics and fuss-free drum machine beats. Confirmed retro-futirist Lauer delivers vocal and instrumental remixes that strip out the guitars and boost the raw, alien-sounding new wave synths, while bonus cut 'Casual' is a surging dark Italo-goes-new wave throb-job tailor-made for peak-time dancefloors.

Review: Simoncino is a link to house music's past - he makes tunes that are coated in that same dustiness that we all love so much about the OGs. And he does it well, whether going deep, dreamy, tribal, vocal or piano. Here he links with another original great in the form of heroic vocalist Robert Owens. and they cook up a two-part track that is steeped in mystic magic and driven by perfect deep house drums. Simoncino also adds three further solo cuts that all sink you into a world of cuddly, thoughtful house perfection. A Riviera Ambient Mix adds a nice blissed-out vibe to finish.

Review: Originally released early last decade, Simoncino's four-part The Warrior Dance series boasted a mix of inspired original productions and superb remixes. This 12" contains four of the best remixes, all of which first appeared between 2010 and 2012. Ron Trent's EP-opening revision of 'The Warrior Dance' is little less than analogue deep house perfection - all sparse drum machine beats, bittersweet chords, sci-fi synth sounds and the producer's usual emotive piano motifs - while Gene Hunt's take on 'Do It Again' is hypnotic, bass-heavy and reminiscent of Larry Heard's most bittersweet early works. Merwyn of Virgo Four drops two takes on 'Mystery Girl': a raw, analogue-rich deep house main mix, and a sparse, jacking and groove-based Dub.

Review: Parisian deep house merchants Skylax are back this week with fresh material from everyone's favourite duo Soul Clap. The Bostonians present the soulful and uplifting Balearic house anthem 'Sueno Hebreo' which will take you all the way back to that seminal era in Ibiza circa '89. There's some brilliant remixes included in the package as well, with the likes of Lauer lending his midas touch on a typically neon-lit rework, as well as the hypnotic tribal drums of the Music Apella, and the restrained yet epic atmosphere of the Beat Apella.