RICK WADE

Review: Almost two years have passed since Detroit deep house man Rick Wade made his bow on Rawax Motor City Edition with the awesome Another Galaxy EP. Happily, we can report that this belated sequel is every bit as alluring as its predecessor. For proof, check A-side 'Delicious', where mazy, mood enhancing electric piano solos, spacey electronics and and woozy, starlight chords stretch out across a bongo-enhanced deep house groove. Wade switches to sci-fi techno/yearning deep house fusion on the equally admirable title track ('Mystic Tech'), before rounding off proceedings via another slab of electric piano-enhanced deep house hedonism ('Nasty Night').

Review: Does anyone in the house scene turn out more high quality material than Rick Wade? Answers on a 7" to Juno HQ, if you have any, because we're stumped. Anyway, this time, the US track making machine finds himself getting remixed on Belgium's Elypsia with each getting more gritty and cosmic minded than you might expect from the deep house stalwart himself. Tresilo certainly grits his teeth for the pixelated melodic workout that is the opener, while things get more smooth and cuddly with Pezzner at the buttons. The Vintage Future Planet D mix is a thing of meditative beauty ad last of all Pezzner reappears with a second fine remix.

Review: Following the recent dip into the Theo Parrish archives that was The Twin Cities, Phil Weeks' Robsoul imprint looks to another one of Detroit's adopted sons in the form of Rick Wade. Like that recent Parrish reissue, Weeks re-releases another three tracks from Wade's bulging discography. The upbeat disco loops of "Players Theme" was originally released on French label Funky Chocolate in 2002 and still sound fresher than anything being plied by the Soundcloud dwellers today, while "Can't You See" from 2003 provides a more soulful take on house music. On the flip, the tracky funk and cascading string melodies of "I Feel Good" originally graced Wade's own Harmonie Park imprint in 1998, but sound no less vital today. Essential.