MALIN GENIE Vinyl & CDs

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The Raw Joints series is one of the best things about the ever-excellent SlapFunk Records, and now the Dutch label is back with a fresh bout of sounds from some of the most inventive artists operating in the minimal house sphere. Ferro's "Electric Sunshine" leads the charge with a militant groove and a rubbery bassline to die for. William Caycedo has a rugged, sample slicing thrust at work on "Mi Casa", while Malin Genie takes things far out on the wonderfully freaky "Superposition". The record wraps up with Ingi Visions, whose "RJG" wriggles into a skippy 2-step groove that will have bodies shaking uncontrollably when it gets deployed in the dance.

Review: Dreamy and to-the-point deep house cuts from Malin Genie. The shifty, twisty A-siders 'Phaethon' and 'Gamma Gazette' draw on all manner of stylistic influences, from chiming bells, deep BoC-esque pads, and speed-garagey lo-fi-isms. The B-side gets wackier with it, working in calculator bloops, acid buzz-outs and whispery whoops for an overall cheekier affair than the A.

Review: Bobby Donny's ACE series is mostly a digital-only affair, though periodically the Dutch label will round up choice gems and stick them out on compilation style vinyl EPs. This is the third of those and contains six stellar cuts. There's much to admire, from the infectious, James Brown-sampling deep house bounce of 'Space Animals' by Bob Bonadis and the Kerri Chandler-esque excellence of Nanky Nimbo's 'Peony', to the hip-swinging intergalactic house retro-futurism of 'Nitro Bass' by ZZ Banks and the rolling New York house warmth of 'Clear Sky' by Wim Waldo. The EP also boasts a typically impressive collaboration between Frits Wentink and Malin Genie, the undeniably classy deep house excellence of 'Tongue Kiss'.

Review: The Bobby Donny series has been reliably pushing an ear-snagging strain of tech house since 2015, occasionally swerving into unexpected grime territory and always packing a little misfit spice in the production. The assembled throng on this new VA release is headed up by label mainstay Frits Wentink working alongside Malin Genie delivering two punchy workouts laden with steamy, late-night sass. Tom Paris brings some bumping, bashy garage house pressure to 'L'Enfer Du Paradis' while Didier Chesto revels in Lately bass and swirling pads for the 90s fever dream of 'Ow Yeah'. Boy Berger goes in hard on the bongo loops for a tracky workout par excellence, and Joy Jenkins rounds the record off with one of the most distinctive tracks on the release - a dusty beatdown that sounds like Mood II Swing on heavy downers.

Review: Bobby Donny's ongoing ACE series of vinyl releases has thus far delivered some genuine deep house treats. This is particularly true of the Dutch label's sporadic, compilation style EPs, which tend to showcase tracks previously released on digital-only EPs. There's plenty to set the pulse racing on EP number four, with highlights including two fine collaborations between label founder Frits Wentink and fellow Amsterdam scene stalwart Malin Genie (the sub-heavy peak-time bounce of 'Ambrosia' and the techno-tempo hypnotism of 'Exopaq'); the ultra-deep two-step house shuffle of 'Comet (Deep mix)' by ZZ Banks; the Italo-house influenced colour of Clovis Chilwell's 'Don't Let The Night End'; and the deep, hazy and dubbed-out brilliance of 'Slow Burn' by Rico Scott.