Tags: Garage Classics

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'.

Review: Nu Groove's ongoing edits series turns its attention to one of the legendary NYC's most iconic early release, Bas Noir's 1988 garage-house classic 'My Love Is Magic' - a piano-powered vocal number fronted by two female singers from New Jersey and produced by the Burrell Brothers. Their original club mix is featured (A2), alongside a trio of fresh re-edits. Bushwacka kicks things off with a deeper, more sonically detailed and marginally punchier rework that makes much of the Burrell brothers' percussion and piano stabs, before Mark Broom takes over on side two. His 'dub retouch' fittingly sounds like a piano solo-sporting NYC house dub of the late 1980s - no bad thing in our book - while his more revolutionary 'A12 mix' re-casts the track as a harder, heavier peak-time loop jam.

Review: Victor Simonelli's house music legacy is assured - he more than made his mark on the genre back in the 90s with plenty of iconic cuts and legendary DJ sets and now that is all being highlighted by this ongoing multi-part series from Unknwn. The comprehensive collection looks at the early years here with some of his top mixes including those that have not previously been released. There is an in-depth almost hour-long audio and written interview between BTG founder Alex Rose and Victor to go with this release that is well worth finding.

Review: You will of course know if you are reading this that Nu Groove was a seminal New York house label that lay a blueprint for deep stuff back in the 80s and 90s. This fresh 12" serves up a third volume of label edits from various artists from across the spectrum. Metro's 'Turnstyle Turbulance' is tackled first by NiCe7 who brings bumpy drums, then Mark Broom's Vox Flanger Mixx of an N.Y. House'n Authority classic is a steamy jacker with lovely old-school vibes. Our favourite though is Asylum's 'Guitarz' (Honey Dijon & Luke Solomon edit) which is a nice mid-tempo workout with seductive claps and excellent hi hats.

Review: Digital Tape Recordings take it al the way back to 1994 here with the timeless early garage sounds of Dub Essentials Part 1 from 24Hour Experience. It captures the essence of UKG at the time and was first released on the definitive Nice N Ripe label. It has a range of sounds from the soothing depths and soulful samples of 'Feeling's Mutual' to the more clipped and bouncy 'Deeper (5am mix)'. 'Scatter' then layer sup jumbled perc and US house styles with rich organ chords and 'Mantra' again keeps it deep and rather sleazy with some filthy bass. Last of all is the slinky sound of 'Gone Loopy' to round out a classic.

Review: Duch label Armada Music takes a pan-global view on this new compilation which focuses on the legacy of house music. Called, smartly, House Legacy, it goes from the deepest of the deep in Joe Smooth's still exquisite house hymn 'Promised Land' to the most catchy vocal sounds in Praise Cat's 'Shined On Me' via the archetypal New York dub house of MK's 'Somebody New.' Alongside other big cuts such as Reese aka Kevin Saunderson's 'Just Want Another Chance' are some lesser-known gems from Olav Basoski, Afro Medusa and Gadjo. A vibrant, melting pot and fine cross-section, then.

Review: Unknwn kick off a multi-part double pack series here that serves a deserving light on the work of New York artist Victor Simonelli, who is famous for working with Afrika Bambaataa to help mix the epic 'Planet Rock'. As both a DJ and a producer he made a huge mark on the genre back in the 90s and it is that period which is in focus here. This is a real collectors' piece from the Behind The Groove crew that's packed with vital cuts from the rare mixes of Rain Page and EZ-AL to Cloud 9's 'Do You Want Me' via Solution's 'Feel So Right', all of which provide undoubted proof that he was a man on fire back in those golden early days.