SPECTER Vinyl & CDs

Review: Alex Attias welcomes Michigan natives Julian De'Angelo and Specter from Chicago to Visions Recordings, with the long-serving Swiss producer promising "deep music to dance to". De'Angelo goes solo on A-side cut 'Tango', an excellent 11-minute workout rich in addictive piano refrains, heady synth-string stabs, deep sub-bass and loose, languid, ever-shifting drum machine beats. Specter joins the fun on similarly epic flip-side 'Drunken Noodles', with the pair jamming away on electric piano before introducing slipped hip-hop-goes-house machine drums, trippy electronics, spacey chords and warming bass. It's deep house, but not as we know it, and that's no bad thing.

Review: House legend Fred P is on a roll, with this being the second of his latest releases to fly through our floodgates this week alone. This time, however, he leases his wax space out to two fresh-faced mates: Specter and Jose Rico, who occupy the B-side and nearly snatch his crown with the wonky dub-house stepper 'You Don't Believe'. P's own track 'Inspired By Dopeness' is a climactic and tense house opus, blending funky and international influences into its mix; but it's really the night-and-day contrast between the two tracks here that make this release here on Yellow Jackets shine.

Review: Aaron Andrew's Chubby label doesn't rush things. Since launching in 2018 and now only just hitting its sixth release though the music sure is worth the wait and is proof that quality will always win over quantity. Leonid's twin brother, Al Smith opens up with the cuddly and cosmic depths of 'Drama Room' before getting more dark and unsettling with his twisted synth modulations on 'Full Of Music', which then becomes a gorgeous downtempo cut with star-gazing pads and splashy hits within the Specter remix. Dan Piu picks up the pace for some delightfully warm deep house dynamics on 'Days Gone' and 'Snows Of Solaris'. Last of all is the more scuffed up, heads down deep house murk of Rai Scott's remix of Dan's intro tune, 'Day's Gone'.

Review: We've become accustomed to Andres Ordonez AKA Specter offering up deep house that's simultaneously warming, hazy and quietly positive. Even so, his first outing on French label Into The Deep Recordings is particularly drowsy and delicious, more than living up to its "Dreamscape" title. He begins by wrapping sparkling, life-affirming synthesizer motifs, starry chords and lilting lead lines around unfussy machine drums and groovy bass and summery opener "Rolling With Tops", before burying old school piano stabs beneath bubbly, acid-style electronics and off-kilter, post-electro drums on "Pitchin' Quarters". He brilliantly dips the tempo on quality flipside cut "Play The Myth", successfully joining the dots between ultra-deep house, Detroit beatdown and outer-space boogie.

Review: An integral figure on the Motor City scene for the best part of two decades, Specter has always been a particularly prolific producer. Built To Last - appearing on Theo Parrish's significant Sound Signature label - is his first album-length excursion. It offers an expansive summary of his inspirations and influences - many will notice subtle nods towards local deep house, techno and electro heroes, as well as more experimental synthesizer music, off-kilter electronic jazz-funk, deep space dub and eyeliner-clad early '80s synth-wave - while also showcasing a trademark sound that's every bit as dusty, warm, loose and lo-fi as his lauded Detroit peers.

Review:  been four years since Chicago producer Andres "Specter" Ordonez pitched up on Theo Parrish's Sound Signature label with the smoky, bleep-laden killer "Pipe Bomb". Here, he returns to the Detroit veteran's imprint, bringing with him three more slabs of fuzzy analogue oddness. "The Gooch" is the real killer, a 10-minute freakout that sounds like a jazz band making murky techno with just analogue machinery to play with - all wonky electronics, subtle acid and loose but relentless cymbals. The bolder "Zodiak" impresses with its 303-driven aggression, while "Body Blow" sounds like Hieroglyphic Being jamming with Buddy Miles. On Mars. That's gotta be good, right?