GARRETT DAVID Vinyl & CDs

Review: Say hello to Global Swing a new label which says, "We present to you a vision of the future, informed by the past, for the here and now." It kicks off with a head turning, foot tapping new EP from Garrett David that joins the dots between plenty of classy electronic styles without paying too much heed to any in particular. 'Emergency' (feat Simone Green) bounces nicely with an old school house vocal that will bring good vibes to the floor. There is a similarly feel-good energy to 'Game Over' with its infectious drum skips and 'Watch Dis' then zones you out on nice balmy pads and crunchy drums.

Review: Global Swing is back with a third spaced out house offering for your listening pleasure. The lovably throwback artwork is as colourful and the tunes served up by Garrett David. 'Mi Casa" (feat Maudi)' is one of those bubbly tech house tracks with squelchy lines and gurgling bass and plenty of sci-fi designs. 'Gary's Dreamland' is an upbeat and feel good future house cut with balmy synth work and 'The Message Hasn't Changed' then gets a little down and dirty for some more freaky late-night fun. 'Hootie Hoo' shuts down with more metallic drums and percussive clatter.

Review: Smart Bar resident and Chicago house producer Garrett David does a fine job of distilling all his hometown's most revered tropes into this kicking new EP on Mate. It is his second outing for the Spanish label and explores more deep but propulsive deep house worlds, with opener 'Loop Soup' pairing a rasping bassline with cosmic chords and nice raw drums and perc. 'Work 4 Love' then brings the party with hand-raising chords, lush bassline soulfulness and more than a hint of old US house school magic. This most timeless and tasteful EP closes with another perfect house cut, 'Longo Time' with lovely leggy drums.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Smart Bar resident and Chicago champion Garrett David has been rolling out sumptuous deep house with a techno edge for many years, via his own Stripped & Chewed label as well as the likes of Distant Hawaii and Residual. Now he lands on Spanish label Mate, following in the footsteps of Javonntte, Gari Romalis, Reggie Dokes and many others. The EP opens up with the frankly gorgeous tones of "On The Bridge Of Boscobel" before nudging up in intensity for the pattering jack of "Mike Experiment". "Sassy Lead & A Familiar Bark" is a smooth and serene floor cut furnished with gorgeous sweeps of melody, while "Whatever, Whatever" takes things deeper into a nocturnal state of mind with smouldering keys and a heads down rhythm section.

Review: Representing Chi-town's next-gen league of flag-bearers, David Garrett returns to the mighty Lobster Theremin with four more ageless house works. Deep, slightly hazy, strutting, dynamic and loaded with some great sample play, these tap deep into the source. Highlights include the sudden splashes of colour that come out of nowhere on "Sample Sesh" and the insistent, dubby ripples of "Touched Feb" with fellow Chicago vibe maestro Adam Rowe. Complete with the breezy jazzy jacks of "Two Nineteen" and the poignant chords and warm bass of "Ooh Aah", this is one dog you won't want to stop barking any time soon.

Review: Gramaphone crew member and Smart Bar resident Garrett David is proudly extending his city's musical dynasty. The Chicago wiz-kid lands on the Residual imprint with four killer house-techno hybrids, each one of them unafraid to unleash some proper jackin' business. "Rhythm Box" is your prototypical slice of raw house, catapulted into insanity by some raucous EBM-style vocal samples, whereas "FRXS Medley" reminds us of DJ Funk's more minimal material for Dance Mania. The B-side kicks off with "Don't Fuck With Shmoo", an utterly deranged piece of gnarly analogue house funk, and ties this magnetic EP up with the much smoother, jazzy vibes of "Wassup".

Review: Chicago's Garrett David runs Stripped & Chewed with Adam Rowe and works at infamous local institution Gramaphone Records. He returns to Lobster Theremin sublabel Distant Hawaii with a five track EP of 'beach bronzed cinematic house, delivered in his trademark unhurried style.' The Smart Bar resident serves up "Vermillion" a very 808 State sounding classic jam from the acid house era and the equally retro sounding "Down Around" which is more on the balearic vibe: by way of early Rhythim Is Rhythim. On the flip, the lush and mysterious ambient house journey "Stewing" soon leads into "Simple In Spring" which is probably the EPs finest moment and sounds like another lost tape from the early Transmat or Planet E catalogue.

Review: As well as steering Stripped & Chewed, Garrett David has been holding down a residency at Chicago's Smart Bar for some time. On a roll following an appearance on Distant Hawaii, The Time finds the producer in fine fettle with a classic approach to deep house clearly born out of the city he calls home. "The Time" is a shimmying jam powered by crafty dub processing and a steady hand on the arrangement, while "Sea Shell" is a more passionate affair that swoons through key changes. The Night Sea Journey remix of "The Time" is a more brooding affair punctuated by synth accents for a deeper end result.

Review: Distant Hawaii, the wavy Lobster Theremin offshoot, seems like the perfect home for Garrett David's lighthearted strain of house music, and we are very impressed with the Smart Bar resident's development over his last three EPs. The Chicago DJ and producer drops a pulsating little bomb in the form of "Octagon Blues", but "Power Up" is what truly brings his Chicago roots through thanks to its funky, jazzed 'out sound that never goes anywhere near being cheesy. On the flip, "Remedy" is sunken and aqueous in shape and texture, whereas "Healing Channel" eradicates the beats and percussion in favour of warm, hollow chords that spew neatly onto an off-kilter beat with a broken house edge.

Review: Garrett David has been a recognisable face on the Chicago scene for a number of years, both behind the decks (he holds a residency at the renowned Smart Bar) and behind the counter at the Gramaphone Records store. Here he pops up on the latter's offshoot record label with the follow-up to his 2013 debut 12" for Stripped & Chewed. There's a Chicago-meets-Detroit feel about the warm deep house, rolling grooves and stargazing tendencies of lead cut "Console Cowboy" and the similarly melodious "Midi Sense". David reaches for the pianos on the sumptuous "Tunnels (Revisited) - all Chez Damier rhythms and Larry Heard attitude - while "Morning Mantra" (a collaboration with David Rowe) offers some swirling ambience for late nights and early mornings.

Review: Smart Bar resident Garrett David previously impressed with the bumpin' Queen Tracks EP on Stripped & Chewed. Here, he returns to the Chicagoan imprint, this time working alongside fellow Gramaphone Records employee Adam Rowe. For the most part, the duo sticks to a hazy, warm and melodious sunrise deep house blueprint, melding attractive melody lines, sugar-sprinkled electronics and toasty chords to grooves that shuffle loosely, rather than bang hard. There are notable diversions, though; the standout "Summit (Smashed Mix)" adds a little old school Detroit flavour to the percussion for an altogether more rolling vibe, while "Space Jam" is as atmospheric and intergalactic ambient cut as you'll hear all year.

Review: Titonton Duvante's Residual imprint operated out of Columbus, Ohio from the late eighties to the mid-nineties as mainly a vehicle for his own works, but also other legends of the US such as John Tejada, Boo Williams and Todd Sines. He's kickstarted the label again and he's doing it in style with a new track on the A side "Concupiscent": a darkly emotive serving of broken beat high tech soul. Hamburg's Smallville affiliated pursuer of modern deepness Christopher Rau gives us the sublime minimal groove of "Russian Cartoons" too. On the flip, another legend of US techno; Seattle's Jeff Samuel makes a comeback, on the uplifting and funky feelgood groove "WT Fader". Finally Chicago's Garrett David, resident at Smart Bar and buyer at Gramaphone Records gives us the Jeff Mill's tribute "Stasis"

Review: The second Purpose By Design 12" from Chez Damier's Balance Music collects four more fresh tracks from the finest contemporary deep house producers, with the legendary figure's impeccable taste shining through in his selections. On the A-side, Kenny Cajual presents his mix of Minister Mike's "Collide", a rolling house number filled with jazzy keys and organ breakdowns, while London-based producer Soy Mustafa delivers "Maxim", a trippy slice of tech house which glides effortlessly from abstract, syncopated drum patterns into a enveloping wormhole of hypnotic chords and looping bass. On the B-side, Garrett David's "I Can't Take It" provides a hands-in-air piece of vocal-leaning, Kerri Chandler inspired house filled with pitched organ riffs, while Salah Arnse offers "Brother's Gonna Work It Out", a slice of classicist disco house edited skilfully by Blue Mondays, delivering the kind of good time horns and funk bass that puts you right in the Paradise Garage circa 1979.

Review: Paul Wise aka Placid is an old head who here kick off a new label. It started in late 2020 and was a firm and immediate favourite with underground house and techno heads. This third release is a doozy, with four artists all stepping up with fine contributions. It is all wonky acid vibes on Moy's 'Ouroboros' before Rekab slows things down to dreamy ambient bliss on 'Summer Dream.' The flip side is back to party business with the cool and breezy tech house of Garrett David's 'Crusin Thru' and deep and heavy house of Moody Waters cut 'Hindsight.'

Review: It's a Chicago-only affair on 12 Stepp this month as four of the label's best go toe to toe in a soundclash that ticks every house box possible. Olin goes for the classic acid technique on "Time Again". So simply but devastatingly effective, he's captured the holy grail of minimal groove technique. David Garrett's "Simplicity" flips the switch with a full bodied swing that doesn't sound too dissimilar to an old DJ Gregory cut. Jorge Cerna's "Mist" takes us much deeper into a cosmic mindset while label boss Greg K takes Chicago's two best attributes - jacking and acid - and entwines the too with a lovely synth-trumpet.

Kenneth Bager