Deep House Recommendations November 2013

Review: Having just coaxed more killer material out of that man from Marseille VernoN, Dixon Ave Basement Jams affect a swift return with a similarly hefty package from key artist Marquis Hawkes. The brashly titled Sex, Drugs & House EP maintains Dixon Avenue Basement Jams' position as the sole outlet for original Marquis Hawkes material, despite dalliances with Creme and the excellent Crow Castle Cuts in a remix capacity. The familial bond felt between DABJ and Hawkes evidently continues to inspire the masked producer as this EP contains some of his best work so far! "Get Yo Ass Off My Grass" is a particular highlight and already stands aside "Sealion Woman" as our favourite production in the Marquis Hawkes canon.

Review: Tipped as one of this year's breakout stars in deep house circles, German producer Max Graef may belong in that small percentile whose talent more than justifies the obligatory, never ending, wildly oscillating circles of hype. Last month's platter for Melbourne Deepcast kept the Juno office 1210 well serviced and this new release on Detroit Swindle's Heist label offers further proof of Graef's knack for heavily percussive house music distinguished by certain production idiosyncrasies. Lead track "Jungle" features Andy Hart and stands out because there's just so much detail and attention without ever sounding overly busy - the mark of a real talent. Raw Cuts era MCDE is an easy comparison with B Side opener "Ignorance Is Bliss" but where most would lazily slap down a hastily cut up soul hook, Graef opts for an outer galactic vibe that threatens to explode with vivid colour. "Ztize" also rolls on a similar tip to Graef's celebrated compatriot but with Plessow currently on a production hiatus this newcomer offers fans of current soul and jazz indebted house music a compelling alternative.

Review: With releases on a who's who list of labels that are pushing experimental, underground house and techno including L.I.E.S, Creme Organisation, Echovolt and Strange Life, William Burnett has been steadily putting out releases that have gained a lot of respect without having to shout too loud about it. So much so that as well as running his own stella WT Records label, William is now often cited as a producer's producer. Deep and full of dub aesthetics that encompasses a world of it's own, his music is not just driven by a need to keep the floor moving, but are also about taking your headspace somewhere else. Progressing things a stage further is the Black Deer project. Recently launched, but in gestation for some time, it's introspective slant, plus loose referencing to his upbringing in Texas, allows William more freedom for experimentation. The Last Tortuga is taken from the same sessions that yielded the Willie Burns The Overlord EP on Trilogy Tapes as well as Black Deer's Trail Of Tears EP on Rush Hour, this 6 track EP has been due on the label for sometime, but it's been worth the wait as his sound has developed and expanded to take in ambient, drone and krautrock and highlights his musicianship in a new light.

Review: No 6 in the Waze & Odyssey Street Tracks series sees the ubiquitous Citizen team up with the unheralded Ashworth for some upfront house business. Along with the Shona Carmen vocalised title track there is a LDN Warehouse Dub and B Side burner "State".

Review: With Vakula's long awaited debut album proper finally surfacing from Firecracker HQ this summer, the Ukrainian deep house mystic has taken something of a break from his usually prolific release schedule in order for fans to fully indulge in the sumptuous 16 track set. Sensing enough time has passed, Vak issues a fifth 12" on his highly prized Leleka and the first this year. Much like previous Leleka transmissions, the attention to detail on presentation is matched by the richness of production, with the latter aspect apparent from the off with detailed live percussion that drives "Excitement" forth. Both "Dream Drum" and "Smiling Moon Dog" is Vak in more psychedelic mood whilst he saves the best to last with the blooming analogue beat down of "Night Walks".

Review: Sneaky Music is the new imprint from Andy Bird, the man behind the infamous Love Fever parties, and producer Ranacat. To kick off the new label they've chosen Silk 86 to roll out the honours with an EP that showcases Silk 86's evolution from the well received Clear Waters debut on Manucci's Mistress. The Pleasure Venture represents a compelling package of crisp production meets gritty warmth with a splash of that 80's sleaze. The Pleasure Venture EP leads with "Felicity", a production oozing with warmth from the offset. Hypnotic vocal cuts pepper throbbing pads and bass stabs giving way to a meandering melody that weaves in and out. On the flip, "The Exchange" fuses classic percussion of the Windy City and a zig-zagging pad sample hinting at low slung 7am sleaze. "Nightdrive" is when the freaks come out, as Silk 86 hits eerie vocal snips to a twilight swansong that will disorientate and delight.

Review: After their breakthrough year in 2012, Dusky just keep on nailing the chunky deep house zeitgeist well into 2013. Returning to one of their key outposts, Aus, they bring yet more of that slick and peppy floor fodder, deft touches of vocal and rich melodics still very much present. "Careless" takes the gentle approach, keeping an open-topped quality to the production that sits well with the emotive vocal turns. "Rise For Love" flips the script with a claustrophobic growler fashioned with murky basements in mind, all menacing basslines and abrasive percussive hits, while "Esperanto Juggler" continues this foray into tense moods, albeit in a more stacatto way than its bouncy predecessor. "Words Later On" plies a different trade to the other tracks as it dips its toe into electro construction, even if it still comes off as an unmistakably Dusky sounding track.

Review: Love Fever, the infamous and erogenous East London discotheque and record label returns with some late night works in the form of Ron Jason and Kim Ann Foxman's 'The Dream Project EP'. After Ron Jason's Paradise Garage evoking and much played "Paradise Lost" (with Love Fever regular Larry Heard remixes) caught the ear of label bosses Alex & Andy last year with its depth and sincerity, Ron was tracked down, discovered as Italy's enigma Simoncino and connected with Brooklyn's fly girl and modernist diva Kim Ann Foxman to explore possibilities in house. The outcome is a raw 5 track EP drawing inspiration from classic Chicago house with the Master C&J evoking "M", a Blue Jeans interpretation on "R" and a melodic yet somber lead Track "E" where you find a modern bassline chugging below analogue synth lines and Kim's individualistic approach to vocals. The record pays homage to an era in house lost, deepest Chicago and New York with a not so subtle dedication to long time friend of Ron's, Dream 2 Science. With water droplets and sexual intensity harking back to early 90s masterpiece 'My Love Turns To Liquid' on "A".

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Amadeus sees it's catalogue graced yet again by New Zealand outfit Chaos In The CBD. The kiwi brothers, birthed Ben & Louis Helliker-Hales, are no new faces to the label, or the wide variety of genre-bending acronyms they encompass. Having recently relocated from tropical Auckland to damp London earlier this year, the two take their productions along with them in their latest efforts, 816 To Nunhead. Title track and aside, "816 To Nunhead," is tinged with what's left of summer. A nostalgic tune built for the sun and soaked in funk. It's a track reminiscent of early french disco, almost as if built for the two robots themselves. Guitar plucks and hi hats flow seamlessly throughout the tune, aided by a glorifying vocal, "I would like to think of my music as just an extension, an extension of me of today or whatever." What emotion of freedom and escape evoked on the Aside can be contrasted on the flip, "78 To Stanley Bay," a tune built behind the every looming theme of loneliness. Accompanied by a live trumpet courtesy of Isaac Aseeli, '78 To Stanley Bay' tells us a story, or rather a journey, built behind dirty hats and delayed keys. This is a track fashioned for everywhere but the club, and we absolutely love that.

Review: Heralding a quarter century of service for one of Italy's best-loved record stores, three certifiable house troubadours join forces to offer up tracks of the finest calibre, not least if you love old-school flavoured Chicago house music. Glenn Underground is up first with the Latino-tinged roller "Spiritually Captured", all charming chords and lightly drummed percussion. Isoul8 brings a more gutsy kind of acid house that both punches in the bottom end and bubbles delightfully on top before joining up with Ricardo Miranda for the sublime "P Boogie". Combining heartbreaking arpeggiated twinkles with expressive bass and luxuriant pads, a truly spellbinding track is crafted, and it's certainly not one to miss out on.

Review: Mike Gill who has already featured on Roots For Bloom teams up with Taymor Zadeh to bring us the Coppin' A Feel EP featuring a John Dimas remix. The A side "Coppin' A Feel" brings us hard hitting groove with a hypnotic vocal line carrying the track. Loose percussion and bold tom drums really cement this to work on any dance floor. The B side cut "The Message" is a more rolling groove with a strong Rhodes line that features later on really making the track evolve. John Dimas takes "The Message" and takes the atmosphere up a notch, with slick cut up vocals. This one will work in the early hours.

Review: Just as the new football season settles into it's groove, the fourth edition of the highly collectable Rothmans arrives sporting some high profile signings! Leading the way on The Claudio Gentile Release is a Foolish Felix dub of Cage & Aviary's "Lean On Me" whose deranged acid gurglings provide a nice contrast to the thrusting Escape From East London stylings of Posthuman's "Make More Men". On the flip Ali Renault returns for Rothmans duty with the Weatherall worthy "The Black Heart" whilst Iron Blu is loaned from Flight Recorder for the synthy swamp of orchestral drama that is "Oiche Shamhna"

Review: Having given keen listeners a healthy preview in his Fabric live mix last year, the artist formerly known as Stopmakingme delivers his full-length album for Erol Alkan's Phantasy Sound. It's a limber brew that channels a strong dose of analogue trickery through smart and snappy beat constructions, all bubbling, aquatic synths and troubled delays propelled by unfussy drum patterns so that the melodies can do the talking. Primarily this is a dancefloor album, moving from peppy breakbeat driven numbers to gently bumping house, but always the playful, ineffably warm synth work sets the tone, from "Naive Response"s robotic charm to "Drone Logic"s soaring grind. It's an album brimming in confidence and nailed with precision, and it's packed full of incredibly usable floor rockers to boot.

Review: Parisian DJs Guido Minisky and Herve Carvalho apparently conceived the Acid Arab project after a visit to Tunisia with Versatile Records founder DJ Gilb'R, excited by the notion of pairing strains of traditional Eastern music with contemporary electronic sounds. Calling on a cast of producer friends, the inaugural Acid Arab Collections was one of this year's surprise hits, taking in Crackboy edits of Omar Souleyman, Arabic acid from I:Cube and Acid Arab's own "Theme". A similar calibre of artists are involved on this second Acid Arab Collection with contributions from the tireless Legowelt, DJ Gregory, Professor Genius, DJ Gilb'R and Acid Arab themselves. "Egyptian Acid Oasis" from Legowelt features all the hallmarks of a Danny Wolfers track and is described as his vision of an "acid trip in company of Bedouins during a secret rave in Sinai desert". DJ Gregory appears as Headcore bringing the sort of percussive expertise to this release that's been a hallmark of his production career whilst the most intriguing contribution comes in the shape of The Hadibeats. The one off collaboration between Professor Genius , Dj Gilb'r and Acid Arab, "Rum" is given that extra air of authenticity thanks to the participation of secret-weapon guest Shadi Khries, massive percussionist from Jordan.

Review: Sunkissed acid bubblers abound from the latest release from British duo Coyote, most commonly found cruising in an Ibizan reverie on the Is It Balearic? imprint. After serving up a remix for the Japanese label, the pair return to Ene for a full release that brings to light the soul-stirring piano stabs and laconic grooves of "The Journey". In its original form the track floats in a gently old-skool lilt, while the "Acid Dub" adds some guts to the track with perfectly nasty 303 squelch getting slimy all over those well-chiselled chords. CHIDA turns in a remix that injects some dub techno weight into the tune, coming as something of a shock after the gentile ways of the other two versions but no less welcome.

Review: Killer hookup between Versatile and Sex Tags bosses! In Versatile's own words... "We booked DJ Sotofett a few months ago for a Versatile Party at Rex Club. He decided to stay in Paris a bit more, to work with Gilb-R in the Versatile studio. And here's the result! They jammed with Zombie Zombie, recording the infamous bongos of Cosmic Neman and the modular synths and saxophone of Etienne Jaumet. Then each of them took the parts and did a version on his own." The two cuts here are the first of several planned releases with B Side "Foliage (808 Stax mix)" the standout jammer here!

Review: The Let's Play House stable know a thing or two about swinging, pumping house jams that smack you right between the eyes, and this time it's Montel delivering the punch, kicking off with the downright anthemic "Peace In The World", all epic piano stabs and irrepressible funk. "Runnin'" is a more meditative cut, stitching dusty chords and simmering strings into a gentle house groove of the finest kind. "Ecstasy" reaches for the hand-raising antics once again, while "Get Down" gets a little trickier with its chopped up vocal antics and sultry key swells making for a potent, sexy slice of record bag ammo.

Review: As Wolf Music reach their 20th release it seems quite fitting that three names synonymous with the London label pretty much since its inception should feature. Greymatter, KRL and Medlar have been collectively responsible for some of Wolf Music's most memorable releases and together here offer an excellent demonstration of their production prowess. This is largely a Greymatter & KRL affair with the duo combining on three of crisp London house manoeuvres that commence on a MCDE gone garage tip with the excellent "Straight Billin" - all about the ruff drum break and shuddering bassline here. "A World Without Love" features vocals prominently too but there's a touch of classic Carl Craig to this cut that demonstrates the duo's production versatility. "Mesh" meanwhile sees Greymatter & KRL trade in sampled vocals for the real thing with a soul tingled turn from Emma Brammer whilst Medlar cranks up the expectation for his forthcoming LP with a wonderful rework of "Straight Billin".

Review: Formed of South Coast talent Leon Vynehall and Christian 'A1 Bassline' Piers, Lazlo Dancehall made quite a splash in UK deep house circles with their debut release Gave Up which found a welcome home on London label Man Make Music. The clear understanding Piers has of hooky vocals and melodic touches were a neat fit for Vynehall's crunchy, sample driven rhythms with the results not unlike a UK take on Raw Cuts era MCDE. Together once again on Man Make Music, Lazlo Dancehall are on top form with Whip What, a three track 12" that hits the spot with a wonderfully uplifting title track and continues in this floor ready fashion until the run-out groove arrives deep into the B Side. The 3min30 mark onwards of "Fatty Que" is sublime by the way.