Juno Recommends Deep House: March 2022

Review: The Interweaved label makes its first strike with Deeper States Vol 1, a Various Artists collection which sets a promising tone for the label. Cologne's Sandile leads the way with 'That's My Jam', a skipping slice of deep house shaped out with hazy pads and nagging vocal slithers. Tom Jay brings a bouncier garage demeanour to 'Transmissions' and South Shore Garage gets even more stripped and nasty with that swing, capturing a rough n' ready MPC-style vibe which is hard to resist. Brawther then completes the set with 'Dunes', a more snaking, stripped down affair with dubby undercurrents and bass for days.

Review: Master of the (ultra) deep house cut Fred P launched the Private Society imprint - a limited-edition, hand-stamped, blink-and-you-miss-it affair - in Spring 2021. The label's first two releases sold out, and we expect the same to happen with this third instalment. There's much to admire, as you'd expect, with 'Music for the People' - a driving but undulating chunk of peak-time deep house goodness rich in echoing additional percussion hits, mazy jazz-funk synth solos, warming bass guitar and dreamy chords - leading the way. Other highlights include 'Good Vibration', a more intergalactic but no less energetic affair, and the soul-soaked broken house wonder that is closing cut 'Profound Science'. A master at work, doing what he does best.

Review: New Omar S on FXHE this week and it's the deep, super sultry basement jam that is 'Evergreen' featuring some irresistible vocals again by fellow Detoiter Supercoolwicked, who you may remember from last year's 'What's Good For The Goose'. They increase the pressure a bit more on the B side cut 'Heaven Knows', a late night dub that's perfect for those heads down moments on the dancefloor.

Review: The latest missive from Constant Sound's consistently interesting Aesthetic offshoot delivers four tracks of high-quality dancefloor fusion, where dreamy and melodic deep house sounds wrap around typically swung tech-house beats. It's an attractive formula provided by French duo Mara Lakour - most famous for their releases on Roots For Bloom and Normandy Records - and one they should considering exploring further in future. We're particularly enjoying the title track, where ethereal female vocal snippets seemingly drift above comforting chords and wriggling acid lines, and the billowing, marimba style melodies of 'Dune', though flipside cuts 'Elsewhere' and 'Alodret', the latter a locked-in trip into hypnotic early morning territory, are also rather good.

Review: This second Yellow Jackets double A sider feautures Chicago's royalty Ron Trent and the extra talented multi instrumentalist Other Lands. Again one track per side and full powerful cutting to maximize the sound impact in pure YJ philosophy. Ron Trent 'The Medi' was actully constructed while riding trains and in hotel rooms through Italy, used as a secret weapon in special occasions...and we can hear why: a mind expanding suite that keeps evolving and going in places and spaces while constantly beating you hard! On the Flipside Other Lands brings things down to more abstract realms with the floating almost Kraut inspired jam 'Matter'.A very special release and a hint of what Yellow Jackets has in store for us in the near future...

Review: Joaquin 'Joe' Clausell's Manifestation project started life as a CD featuring early and work-in-progress versions of some of the New York based DJ/producer's most inspiring and intriguing tracks. Since then, he's delivered a couple of coloured vinyl EPs featuring extended takes on these tracks. There's much to enjoy on this third (and likely final) chapter in the series. First up is a near 12-minute version of Mental Remedy's spiritual house gem 'Noi', where expansive, improvised piano solos twinkle away atop a lo-fi drum machine rhythm and starry synthesizer chords. It's followed by the kalimba and Marimba-heavy delights of The Bayara Citizens' blissful 'Kulimba', while side two boasts the weighty, dense, sweaty and insanely percussive 'Under The Influence' mix of Residue's 'Eno'.

Review: A decade ago, Marc Romboy decided that he wanted to remix one of his favourite tunes, a 1995 cut by Terrence Parker as Seven Grand Housing Authority called 'Love's Got Me High'. He released his rework of the piano and organ-rich, gospel-influenced house track later the same year, pairing it with a similarly fresh Jimpster revision. You can enjoy both remixes on this ice-white vinyl reissue. Romboy's version is slower and even more emotionally resonant than Parker's original mixes, with hazy hand percussion and warming bass joining the Detroiter's vocals, organ and piano. Jimpster's take is chunkier, woozier and more hypnotic, with a lovely "soft-touch" feel and as much expansive musicality as you'd expect from the virtuoso musician turned deep house producer.

Review: The DSO series snuck out last year with a bunch of anonymous deep house edits - one per side, all tunes you half recognise from hazy memories of drive time radio play. The sample sources are smartly picked, from the likes of Erykah Badu and Sade to Mary J. Blige and Brandy & Monica. It turns out that 90s RnB and hip hop sounds great over a contemporary, funked up house groove, and the quality remains high on this latest volume. It's not clear who's behind these, but they've got production chops to match the excellent choices of edit material.

Review: Some seven years after his last full-length excursion, Fort Romeau has finally got around to delivering a new album. Beings of Light is every bit as gorgeous and picturesque affair, with the Chester-born producer adding waves of attractive synthesizer sounds, colourful electronics, cascading guitars, dusty samples and loved-up riffs to sturdy deep house beats. The album's multitude of highlights include bluesy, post jazz-house number 'The Truth', the tech-tinged late-night wonkiness of 'Power of Grace', the sturdy and druggy after-hours chug of 'Ramona' and the dreamy lusciousness of title track 'Beings of Light'.

Review: During his lifetime, Dana Kelley AKA DKMA released plenty of superb records, but rarely got the plaudits he deserved from all but the most knowledgeable underground deep house heads. With a little help from Kelley's family, Guidance Recordings has decided to secure and celebrate the producer's legacy via a series of compilations featuring material plucked from a cache of rediscovered DATs. This first volume features material recorded during his most prolific phase in the late '90s and early 2000s, with highlights including the chunky, bass-driven brilliance of 'Spin Hands' - all hard, crunchy drums, ghostly chords and starlight synth sounds -the woozy early morning skip of minimalist deep house gem 'Soul', the hypnotic, locked-in wonder of 'Next To You' and the ultra-deep, tech-tinged headiness of 'Blow It Up'.

Review: Zurich Switzerland-based label Hizou Deep Rooted Music presents the latest effort by Hungarian producer Gnork entitled Prizba featuring four fine cuts. His last release was a couple of years back on Earth Plates, the excellent Lost In X. 'Krka Drive' is a journey into the deep taking in early Chicago, classic Detroit and northern Bleep influences all at once, '14 9 C' will propel you into free fall on this chill electronica experience reminiscent of Future Sound Of London and for something a bit different he closes it out with the dreamy electro fantasy of 'Izlaz'.

Review: Black Key recruit the consistently excellent Dan Piu for their nineteenth vinyl release, laying out three tracks of sophisticated deep house. Opener, "Venus Agenda" (which Piu claims is one of his all-time favourites), builds with reverb-soaked claps and the faintest hint of acid in the bass line, before skipping hi hats and lush pads move us in a deeper direction, soon making way for a haunting, yet beautiful lead - this one really is a thing of wonder. "Mother's Love" immediately heads in a different direction, with sublime keys and a subtle, yet highly effective bass line, and a sparsely used vocal sample heightening the mood when it appears. Finally, "Altarf" again takes us to new territory, with the opening, pacey 45 seconds quickly making way for dreamy pads and a perfectly crafted bassline, underpinned by a broken beat kick and expertly programmed hi hats. This package firmly shows why Piu is in such high demand with some of the best labels in the business.

Review: Never mind just all day, Lee Burridge must be dreaming of this music every second of every night as well because he manages to unearth more of it on a constant basis. It's like aural wallpaper, a sonic lava lamp to gaze at, zone out to, and lose yourself in. Mass Digital is the latest to offer up four teaks of people are calling yoga house with his Viaje De La Vida EP. 'Someone Like You' kicks off with a joyous and celebratory feel, full of hope and choral melodies. 'Rain In June' is similar, with lovely keys racing down and 'I Remember You' then slips into something deeper for later in the evening but still with those churchy bells up top.

Review: Set your phasers to garage house, because Plastik People are back in action with true believer Marc Cotterell at the helm. The evergreen sound of big, bashy, bumping drums and sweet, soulful organ chords is as vital as ever in Cotterell's hands, and on 'C's Groove' he's flexing some especially funky wandering bass skills to get the party juiced up good and proper. On the flip another Plastik People regular Danny J Lewis is busy bringing a deeper kind of flavour with cool and deadly chord chops which nod to Mood II Swing, albeit with plenty more fizzy FX and sound design tweaks darting around the hard shuffle and MIDI sax parps.

Review: With its complex arrangements, attractive musical elements, ambient textures and jazz-flecked instrumentation, Kuniyuki Takahashi's music has long been a gift for remixers. Mule Musiq has taken advantage of this in the past, commissioning a slew of reworks of his tracks in the late noughties and early twenty-teens. These superb Theo Parrish versions of 'All These Things' date from 2008 and have been reissued as part of a new series of Kuniyuki reissues. Parrish's A-side remix is as wonderful as you'd expect: a 14-minute epic in which glassy-eyed vocal snippets, aquatic synth motifs and ultra-deep ambient pads rise above a deliciously jazzy deep house beat. The flipside 'Dubstrumental' is chunkier, jazzier and sparser, sound-wise, offering a marginally weightier alternative to the inspired A-side rub.

Review: For their first installment, the Chateau Chepere crew brings a diverse EP from ambient house maestra Rai Scott.
Opening the EP is 'Logical Positivism', a deep, driving and cinematic nod to the forest dance floors of the late 90's. On 'Inspired', Rai brings the club in an introspective, melancholic mood. Slower, steady beats with rolling percussions and dreamy pads to shroud the dancers. Picking up the pace is 'Open Your Eyes', a warm, bitter-sweet piece of house from from her own alter ego Serendipity. The club friendly 2021 rework shifts into an early morning vibe, while keeping it deep and moody. Closing out the EP is the title track 'Anahata Nada', a gorgeous, warm piece of ambient for the chill rooms.

Review: All Day I Dream's ability to turn out endlessly dreamy house sounds seemingly knows no bounds. This is a 78th EP of meditative and melancholic grooves and it still has enough about it to pique your interest. Nohan is the beatmaker behind it and opener 'Mother Land' pairs aching vocal samples with gentle percussive lines and wallowing chords. 'Heavenly Sing' ups the pace a little but the beautiful and wide open melodies and soft xylophone-like sounds remain. After an ambient version of the opener comes the blissful 'The Sun In December.'

Review: George Smeddles might be a newcomer to the scene, but these four throwback cuts prove being some old-timer isn't a prerequisite. Kicking off his new label South, the '90s' EP is a sultry four-track wind through giggling ladies' voices, late-night funk and dramatic post-disco flavour. This being a London imprint, of course, we end on a slapping speed garage Dub Mix of the lead track 'Malt Whiskey', peppered by acid farts and bursting scat vocals. Don't sleep on this one; of course, you won't be, given that it'll be inevitably playing at your next dive spot rave.

Review: There's something previously matter-or-fact about this debut EP from FUSE offshoot LOCUS's new multi-artist series, LCS TRAX. Musically it's as on-point as you'd expect, with the assembled artists and tracks prioritising no-holds-barred peak-time fun. Stephan Bazbaz sets the tone via the bubbling, low-register acid lines, spacey synth riffs, undulating bass and chunky beats of 'Dars', before Julian Anthony opts for warmer, jazzier bass, colourful motifs, Korg M-1 organ snippets and classic tech-house beats on 'It's Show Time'. Sucasa steps things up further on the gorgeous, sax-flecked deep house/tech-house fusion of 'Time Travel', while Ben Jones wraps woozy elongated chords, bold bass and glitchy electronics around locked-in beats on confirmed shuffler 'Get To Know'.