DJ SNEAK Vinyl & CDs

Review: Kerri Chandler has once again dipped into the vaults of his long-running Kaoz Theory label and picked out two previously digital-only gems deserving of a belated vinyl debut. On side A you'll find Demuir's soulful and uplifting 2020 jam 'Lusting U', a rolling chunk of semi-organic house warmth featuring superb lead vocals from British vocalist Bluey Robinson. Over on side B, it's all about DJ Sneak's 'Judy Russell', a killer cut first featured on his Movin' Parts EP three years ago. A bit deeper, woozier and more loose-limbed than some of his more muscular and forthright workouts, it sees the veteran producer wrap synthesized vocalisations and sunny chords around a chunky bassline and swinging house beats that sound like they could have come straight out of Kenny Dope's MPC.

Review: Some 30 years on from the release of his debut EP, DJ Sneak is still serving up indispensable dancefloor workouts marked out by chunky, swinging drums and energy-packed arrangements. Here the Chicago house legend pitches up on Dam Swindle's Heist Recordings label for the very first time. He begins in deep and dreamy mode via the punchy drums, wide-eyed vocal snippets and sumptuous string loops of 'Love Can Make It Happen', before slamming down some breathlessly brilliant 'bompty beats' and sleazy acid bass on the brilliant 'Going Back To It'. His ability to work short loops into a frenzy of heads-down and hands-aloft dancing comes to the fore on 'Full Cycle', while 'Pockets' is a breeze of brilliantly programmed, loose-limbed house beats, vocal stabs and wonderfully deep chords.

Review: Since re-emerging earlier this year, mid-90s Leeds label Hard Times (a spin-off from the now legendary club night of the same name) has released some killer material from Steve 'Silk' Hurley and Eddie Leader. Here they tap up another US house legend, Chicago's inimitable DJ Sneak, for an EP of typically loopy, funky and hard-edged workouts. Sneak lets us settle in with the groovy and attractive loop jam 'You're Mine', before wrapping alien disco strings and held-note chords around a bumpin' beat on 'This One'. He opts for a crunchier, tech-tinged house sound on the gently twisted 'Body Slangin', before rounding off a rock-solid EP via the hybrid acid/deep house/disco-house pressure of 'Deep Undercover'.

Review: Born out of a friendship stretching back many years, DJ Sneak lets loose two heavyweight house weapons on Darius Syrossian's Moxy Muzik, with label head Syrossian also serving up his own Sneak sampling slice of heat, complete with a remix from none other than Todd Edwards. The A-siders, 'Blow Ya Mind' and 'Return Of The Gas', are trademark Sneak; punchy and passionate, with a real OG's touch. On the flip, Syrossian slots into place a perfectly-sampled section of one of Sneak's voicenotes to him for 'Big Bizness'; it's a beefy roller, certainly not messing about. For the sendoff, Todd Edwards famously heard it, loved it, and was brought in to remix it in true Todd 'The God' style.