Deep House Recommendations June 2016

Review: Seb Wildblood's impressive rise among the ranks hasn't gone unnoticed around these parts and, in fact, we've been keen listeners of his work; his rapid career progressions have even taken him to the legendary Skint Records, home to material by little producers by the name of Fat Boy Slim and X-Press 2. This time, however, he's gone more local and back to Church, his own imprint that has had an equally impressive rise to the top as of late. Jazz Vol.1 is a delightfully soft-spoken house excursion that cements Wildblood's status as a new name to watch out for in the UK deep house movement, and if you're into material by the Detroit big-hitters, you'll certainly enjoy this little bit of lo-fi house.

Review: It's always unwise to judge a label that's still taking its' first steps, but Banoffee Pies has barely put a foot wrong since launching a couple of years back. Here, the Bristol-based imprint continues with its' successful split release formula, gathering together a quartet of tracks from up-and-coming producers. Beaner kicks things off with the bumpin', low-slung deep house grooves and delay-laden guitar samples of "It Takes Two", before Philou Louzolo raises the temperature with the looped horn samples and thumping beats of "Alter Ego". Flip for the dreamy Balearic house goodness of Ron Wilson's "Albino Turtle", and the bongo-laden, after-party deep house shuffle of Mome's "Assatta".

Review: Alex "Omar" Smith has never been one for modesty, so we shouldn't be too surprised that he's called his latest full-length - his fifth in total - The Best. To be fair, he is rather good at producing high-grade deep house, and here unveils another eleven gems. Interestingly, he's recruited an impressive cast-list of collaborators and guests, including Norman Talley, Kyle Hall, OB Ignitt and, most surprisingly of all, Bristol-based Tom Bug. Highlights are plentiful, from the dusty afro and blues influences of the tribal "Chama Piru's", and hazy, Rhodes-heavy vocal cut "AhRevolution", to the hip-wigglin' disco-house influences of "Seen Was Set", and retro-futurist, Inner City style Divinity hook-up "On Your Way".

Review: "Jus Groove It comes with his second release. Again two tracks made for the dance floor! Rhythm&Soul delivers two groovy and hypnotic tracks with again a futuristic flavor. Taking the old school House vibes and pushing them beyond to create modern House tracks. Pure groove..."

Review: After having brought you the critically acclaimed Japanese house compilation "Once upon a time in Japan...", Jazzy Couscous introduces one of the most promising artist of the French deep house scene, Hugo LX.Having worked on a strings of releases in early 2016, French producer Hugo LX (Courtesy of Balance, My Love is underground, Faces) comes back with another four track offering, with help from fellow French man, Korea-based Fulbert, on the remix duties. Expect some sample-built, bass heavy, deep fried pieces from the nomadic beatsmith, merging influences from Japanese dreamy ambiant, French vaporous soundtracks and American deep dance music. This EP will without a doubt be on heavy rotation on the dancefloors this summer!

Review: It's been some two years since Paramida established Love On The Rocks. In that time, the label has put out some memorable material, including essential 12" singles from Telephones, Khidja and Fantastic Man. The time seems right, then, for Paramida to step up and deliver her first EP for the label. Tehran Bomb also marks the start of a new, occasional re-edit series. She begins with the intoxicating late night throb of "Beyond Katovl", where fluttering vocal samples and psychedelic electronics ride a bombastic, high-energy groove. It's a muscular affair, all told, but strangely intoxicating. Flipside "Ms Bombastic" sees Paramida reworking an early house workout, cleverly emphasizing the original track's surging percussion and killer bassline.

Review: 2015 was the year that marked the birth of Shall Not Fade, a largely anonymous label from somewhere on the Eastern borders of Europe - and that's all we need to know. They've come through with plenty of promising new talent since last year, and this latest EP is a collaborative effort from a further selection of new producers on the scene. Aries drops a delightful little house bomb in "You Make Me Wanna" - one for the garage heads or the lovers - while LK's "It's Been A Long Time" is a scorching disco bomb filled with neat little samples. The flip sees Steven BC go for a bittersweet approach on his tight little house bomb "Nice & Slow", leaving Deejay Astral to enter the deepness with the utterly lovely and vocal-led "Never Gonna Let You Go".

Review: Javier Carballo and Hanfry Martinez's Overall Music pushes on in 2016, and keeps dropping the usual load of quality deep house on us...with a nice, ripe kinda feel. John Dimas opens the doors to "Atlantis" with a skippy, lo-fi kinda lick that is the perfect mood-starter to any dance, while Alci's "Kenji" is considerably edgier and more stuttering in tone. Lopaski opens the flip with a delicate, warm Chicago massage through "Shifting Gears", and "Dreamer" by Cobert contains a nice lil' semi-break on the drums that render it both addictive and reminiscent of Mood II Swing's dubbed-out material.

Review: Quartet Series is a fresh imprint based between Milan and Amsterdam and run by Nachtbraker and KiSk. Inaugurating their new label is Crackazat (from Uppsala, Sweden) with his 80's pop- house excursion "Lindop Circles" (which is so lovably cheesy) and Saine with the deep and sexy slo-mo disco of "Prime Chops". On the flip there's also Nachtbreaker himself with "Totally Not Mystique" (which sounds like an outtake from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack) and Gnork with "Chord Tool" which sounds like early Underground Resistance or 808 State.

Review: Person Of Interest's name is proving to be a self-fulfilling prophecy despite the producer's steadfast anonymous approach with an increasing clamour for their music after some breakout cuts for Ron Morelli's LIES label. Ahead of a debut for Clone Royal Oak, Person of Interest adds the fledgling Exotic Dance label to their collar on a 12" that shares space with Broken Call and Black Opal artist J. Albert. If you are familiar with the duo's respective bodies of work, you will know their grubby styles complement one another and that proves to be the case on this 12". "Thank You For Believing In Me" suggests J Albert seems to possess a similar knack to Tony Naples for warbling melodies and earworm vocal hooks, whilst "See You At The Bank" finds the Florida-based producer dabbling in Acting Press-style breakbeat house with some aplomb. Down below, POI pairs up fairly staid drums with some deliciously colourful and unpredictable acid lines and organs on "Pompano Acid" whilst "Still" is a crusty little percussive DJ tool.

Review: Since 2012, Technorama have been pretty much ruling the French house game, and by European standards they're certainly killing it, too. We have a very special appearance by Roy Davis Jr, a Chicago house artist who has one foot firmly in the Windy City's past, and another in the contemporary house elite among the likes of Omar S, Moody, and the rest of that crew. "I'm Tha DJ" is a suitably deep and ethereal cut that brings out the soul locked deep within the man's upbringing, and "Under Tha Sun" prolongs that perfectly nostalgic vibe into a bumpier, more charged groove. The flip sees Davis Jr team up with DJAX legend DJ Skull for a remix of "Lovers" by Modal, and the duo mould the tune into a dance-centric, minimalistic house nugget with a supremely dubby feel.

Review: Last year, Bastien Carrara joined forces with Rawthenticity boss Fulbert on Mont Cenis Tapes 01, a cassette of collaborative explorations in the experimental end of dusty deep house. This outing for Funkineven's Apron imprint marks his solo debut, and it's something of an action-packed hit. A-side "Summer Breeze" is something of a slammer, with dreamy pads and swirling synthesizer chords riding a thumping, distorted drum machine groove. "Diskother" sees him change tack to deliver a loved-up, pitched-down instrumental '80s soul edit, before he brings out the drum machines once more on the tactile, late night oddness of leftfield deep house gem "Kinda Late".

Review: From the label: J Morrison smashed it with his debut track on Maximum Joy pt. 1, the highly addictive deep house cut 'Some Fella'. This mid tempo Afro-house track had that rare combination of being super deep - but with the power to rock any dance floor. The Freedom EP, J Morrison's first Full EP release is the same, and more. The lead track calls up a looped and filtered afrobeat sample that just keeps on giving. Reminiscent of Cottam's early work, and sure to be a hit in the sunshine of a festival stage or a dark club. "Stay High" is more driving, tribal, druggy affair that reminds us Peace Division in their prime. Late night heads down dance floor vibes, with a killer vocal sample that creates real magic. "Soft Play" is a deeper track and just like 'Some Fella' the arrangement and choice of samples merge create another floor friendly that will be a useful tool for a wide range of DJs. Alfresco Disco co-founder Lukas steps up for remix duties and flips the samples of Freedom for a more choppy, chicago style bumping house track - which rounds off the E.P rather nicely we think. We hope you think so too!

Review: Lars Bartkuhn is the co-founder (alongside brother Marek Bartkuhn and Yannick Elverfeld) of revered Frankfurt label Needs Music. The Nomad EP features the absolutely sublime "Nomand (Full Experience)" a bittersweet and emotive journey through techno-soul that's reminiscent of Jazzanova via John Beltran; this track is pure ecstasy and when that Spanish guitar comes in, it's one of those 'wow' moments! The reprise of the track is pure bliss, focusing in on that guitar sound and some immersive ambient atmosphere. On the flip we've also got the uplifting deep house vibes of "Tokyo Burning" which sounds more on the Ron Trent tip; this one's great too!

Review: "Tominori Hosoya is the project of Japanese track-maker Tomi Chair and for the past years he's been on a steadfast journey in the land of soulful house. His most recent offering on MixxRecords entitled "Life Goes On EP" includes four tracks, three originals and one Brothers' Vibe remix. Starting off with "Over The Sadness", the first piece is a laid back groove with a solid bass backbone animated by classic house hi-hats. "Strategy Meeting" gets peppered with wobbly synths, giving the cut a seemly acid vibe against a steady percussive background. With "32-33 (One Decision)", Tominori delves into his tribal side; keeping the focus on exotic drum patterns. The dreamy synth melody provides a contrasting yet fitting backline. For his remix of "Strategy Meeting", Brothers' Vibe goes full force and turns the track into a peak time floor killer, with a hypnotic percussive line....a SOLID PROJECT for certain!!"

Review: Christopher Rau's latest outing on Smallville - his sixth in total, including two albums - is a particularly jolly affair, boasting a quartet of tried-and-tested cuts. There's something extra-cheery about opener "Yamato", where jammed-out organ riffs combine perfectly with a darting synth bassline and unfussy drum machine hits. "Odd Regrets" is a sweatier deep house drum jam, while "Just For You" reinvents rave-era piano house for the bass music generation. Finally, "Early Korn" is a picturesque and hazy deep house jam full of tumbling melodies and chiming electronics. All four tracks are excellent, suggesting that this is an EP that may stay in your record box for a while.

Review: "Is the Cornuta Sound's return after a long resting time. This new 10" contains one of the most saved songs by Above Smoke (Deep Explorer) that runs into the jazz world and an outro take for djs. The flipside brings a great rework by the label boss (W&P Hgg)."

Review: House/Techno legend Orlando Voorn is next up on California's Roundabout Sounds label. This vinyl only release contains 3 tracks, each with it's distinct flavor and time/place on the dancefloor. You may know by now the quality to expect from Roundabout Sounds...and this EP keeps the bar raised high. This is the 15th installment of Roundabout Sounds that's run by Joe 'Babylon' Marougi, co-founder of Plug Research back in 1994.

Review: There's a lot of hype around this mysterious release played out by the likes of Four Tet and those that matter in the UK. "Feelings" by Mainline is not just a jacking anthem but an all-round Zeitgeist for Windy City retroverts. From the warm and soulful character of the machines through to its dusty and saturated recording in the vein of classics like "House Nation" or "You Used To Hold Me" et al. This is so sublime! The dub on the flip strips things back and extends the groove perfectly creating a brilliantly effective tool.

Review: For the latest instalment in their ongoing series of impressive EPs, Money Sex has turned to Smallville man Christopher Rau. Predictably, he delivers, serving up an EP that bristles with imagination and open-minded creativity. Contrast, for example, the hissing hip-hop beats and tumbling jazz samples of "Pay Attention Inwards", with the ghetto house and hardcore-influenced thump of "I Hear", which was written in collaboration with rising star Ron Wilson of 777 Recordings. Or, for that matter, the stuttering machine drums and shimmering music box melodies of "K4100 Jam", and the drowsy, horizontally inclined downtempo deepness of closer "Flowermate". Whatever way you look at it, Rau has served up an excellent EP.

Review: Ali "Nebraska" Gibbs last outing on Mister Saturday Night, 2015's Stand Your Ground, saw the producer treating listeners to a quartet of tracks that touched on a multitude of house styles. This follow-up has a similar feel. He begins with the loose-but-bold drums, electric piano solos, disco strings and occasional punchy horns of "Done My Best", before dropping down into slower, deeper, dub-tinged territory via the toasty electric bass, stretched-out chords, mid-tempo grooves and pitched-down horns of "Look What You've Done To Me". He rounds off another fine outing with "S.O.S Dub", a crackling, unfeasibly atmospheric journey through dub house grooves, fluttering chords and creepy electronics.

Review: Bang! DFA slip out a brand new slab from Factory Floor, Nik Void and Gabe Gurnsey's first tangible release in well over a year. Dominic Butler may well have departed to explore some orally-fixated rhythmic projects with L/F/D/M, but Factory Floor remain a very potent proposition with Void and Gurnsey at the controls as Dial Me In ably proves. Bubbling 303 lines, industrial percussion and robotic, dead pan vocal parts meet on the title cut, with DFA smartly comparing it to the meeting point between Chris & Cosey, Phuture and Paranoid London. A subsequent club mix does what it says on the tin, whilst "Work It Out" sees a little of the playful devil in Factory Floor rear its head with superb results.