Juno Recommends Deep House June 2021

Review: Set phasers to smooth and take another starry-eyed trip into the finest contemporary deep house on the market, as deepArtSounds return with another refined and elegant VA release. Cosmic Twirl and Reekee open the A side up with the pattering percs and jazzy leads of 'Hope', while Owen Jay offers up something uptempo with a little Latin heat in its joints. Trans Of Life keep things light and airy with gorgeous piano cascading over soaring string pads on 'Shhh' and Sofa Talk offer up a heavy dose of neo-soul funk for all those who carry a torch for classic West London broken beat.

Review: After spending some time on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, Fred wrote his 2018 album Long Way Home. 'Barbarella' - presumably named after the country's most famous beach side club - was one of the standout tunes. It now makes a welcome return on this cheeky 10" from Lazy Days. First it comes as an I:Cube Parisian Sleeze remix that is all bulbous bass farts and slow, seductive drums overlaid with lush sunset chords. The reverse features a Slow Down 2021 Version thats all tooting arps and cosmic disco lushness. Simply add sunshine for a damn good time.

Review: This one was already getting plenty of support and many plays before it even came out. And it's easy to see why, because both tunes are brilliantly atmospheric house cuts that offer more than just a nice groove. 'Memory By Flyway' (original Tribute mix) has a grainy, lived-in feel, with warm chords smeared over the bumping beats and a spoken word vocal adding extra depth. The Justin Spiritual Navigation mix reworks the drums into a more funky, skipping framework but keeps the vocal musings and adds some spiritual keys for a proper heady trip.

Review: Mysticisms is back with more of that freaky floor fare to get ID spotters looking worriedly at their Shazams while the real party people get on down. Persian originally dropped the absolute bomb that is 'Feel Da Vibe' back in 2011 on Existence Is Resistance in a hailstorm of samples and some lairy garage bass wobble under a swung house beat. It's high time the mighty test press power of Persian hit a few more platters, and the track's sounding stellar 10 years on. Brother Nebula does a stellar job of hazing the track out with warbling pads pitched for the spooky but sexy hour. 'Silver Spaceships' was originally out in 2001 as a white label, capturing the energy of breakstep mixed with the airy synth platitudes of finest deep techno and electro. Alphonse offers up a remix which wigs the track out as a weightless wonder with ample subs and scattered breaks for the patient ravers.

Review: Politics Of Dancing is back with a collaborative EP from Stephan Bazbaz and Alessio Viggiano. Bazbaz has previously been spotted working alongside the likes of Djebali and Litmus, while Alessio Viggiano comes fresh from a sterling 12" on discotech Wax. Between them, the pair whip up a tough and forthright strain of tech house which favours the peak time. There's a melodious undercurrent to 'Mogora', but 'Immortal' makes things clear as day with a tough, unrelenting drum section offset by plush synths. Arapu's remix of 'Mogora' is more subtle, riding a slinky groove for the fluttering after party crowd to get all light and springy to.

Review: Six releases in and Michigander label head Brian Kage teams up with the legendary French Techno producer, Taho, aka David Jacopin. The electronic music world knows to put respect on the Motor City, but the "Detroit EP" represents a fusion, emphasizing l'accent aigu - not a typo or spec on your screen that needs cleaning. Between Kage and Taho, their production pedigree includes releases for labels like FXHE, Planet-E, Delsin, F.Comm, and more, so it's no surprise the pairing makes for a masterfully produced EP covering the spectrum of Detroit house and techno sounds, with an added deft touch from its French connection.

Review: Crackazat's Period Works album, which dropped on CD and digital in the autumn of 2020, was a wholehearted celebration of his musical influences, most notably mid 1990s U.S house and garage, disco and jazz-funk. This four-track sampler presents some of the tracks exclusive to the album, naturally swerving those that had previously appeared on wax. Opener 'Waterfalls' is a superb slab of soaring, string-drenched disco-soul revivalism, while 'In My Dreams' is a bouncy, piano-driven slab of U.S garage of the kind that Dave Lee once used to make under his (now discontinued) Joey Negro alias. Crackazat delivers more low-slung disco-boogie brilliance on flipside opener 'Sensationalised', before once more showcasing his love of warming and soulful us house on 'Fire Drift'. Simply sensational.

Review: Tim Green has long been a big room techno troubadour. His output on Occoon is designed for big club spaces in Ibiza and often becomes anthemic across a season. This time out he shows he is just as good at deeper moods and more nuanced sounds with a three track outing on the yoga-house staple that is All Day I Dream. 'Moss' is all balmy pads and airy vocals over shuffling, soft, seductive beats. Then comes a remix of Swoof's 'Tidal' that is just as blurred around the edges and cuddle and lastly 'Coriolis' looks you into a lush sonic daydream.

Review: Seriously authentic vibe son this one from Billy Lo, which is a trio of artists from Detroit's Motor City. Bill Beaver is a Sound Signature and Mahogany Music alumnus, Darren Abrams wrote the classic 'Loose Piano' on Third Ear Recordings and Darryl Tis is the third piece of the puzzle. This EP features a repress of 'Its The Life,' a forgotten classic from the D that first came in 2002 and now costs a small fortune on Discogs. As well as the original, NDATL's front man Kai Alce remixes and two additional jazzy tinged, deep house gems are also included on this gold standard EP.

Review: There is something of an irony to the name Joaquin Joe Claussell has given this new Manifestations series on his own Sacred Rhythm label. Why? Well he is a master of long form remixes, tunes that go on for ten-minutes plus and take you on involving trips that at least seem never-ending. Anyway, Long Versions EP 1 it is, and a fine one it is too. There are jubilant carnival house sounds packed with percussion from Mental Remedy, Kalimba showcases that take you deep into a tropical jungle from The Bayara Citizens and more airy, heady deep house from Alejate and afro-drumming excellence on a second tune from The Bayara Citizens.

Review: On the latest dip into the bulging vaults of their iconic deep house label Prescription, Ron Trent and Chez Damier take us back to 1998 and the standout single from Urban Sound Gallery, a collaboration between Trent and Anthony Nicholson. 'Life 4 Living' remains a genuine deep house classic: a warming, effortlessly soulful affair in which Monica Elam's expressive vocals seemingly drift across a backing track rich in Afro-house influenced beats, immersive and dreamy pads, fluid piano solos and a wonderfully tactile bassline. As it did back in the 1990s, the vocal version comes backed with a similarly impressive dub that boasts a bit more energy and feels tailor-made for early morning club plays.

Review: Local Talk is one of those super reliable house outlets that always offers up music that does the simple things well. Once again here they showcase three warm, vibey house tunes with enough character and detail to standout in any set. French multi-instrumentalist Laroye is the man at the controls here and on 'Potion For Love (Never Give It Up)' he explores warm and sultry early evening grooves peppered with Roy Ayres xylophones. 'Keep On' picks up the pace with a loose arrangement and fine sense of skip and an LA Spacefunk dub of the opener closes out with more cosmic synths.

Review: REPRESS ALERT LIMITED 180 GRAM VINYL!: Sushitech toast 15 years with a plush new edition of one of the label's classic albums. Delano Smith hit a high watermark with An Odyssey when he first dropped it in 2012, and it still sounds utterly flawless as a shining example of Detroit house. From the slinky funk of 'Survival' to the minimalist dub inflections of 'Trust In Someone', this is the positively classy end of the club music spectrum. At all times a sturdy rhythm section carries the tune, whether it be the shuffling hats of 'Midnight Hours' or the shimmering jack of 'No Turning Back', but the real prize here is the seductive mood Smith weaves throughout all 11 tracks. Looped up and hypnotic, but with each piece telling its own unique story, this is a masterclass in deepest house music.

Review: Lord Of The Isles is the nom de plume of Scottish producer Neil McDonald, who inaugurates his new imprint Dusk Delay here with the Geoglyph EP. Inspired by the long summer nights of the northern hemisphere, it expertly fuses rare vintage instruments and effects with ultra modern production techniques. From the beatless and expansive dub techno ambience of 'Reduct' to the foggy deep house of the title track and its bittersweet emotions, there's more diversity on display with the complex IDM of 'Recall' and it's early '90s aesthetic, plus the haunting drone piece 'Edenfire' closing out a terrific EP.

Review: . NYC outfit Conclave are an interesting proposition. Described as "live musical assembly of rotating musicians headed by multi-instrumentalist Cesar Toribio", the outfit makes music rooted by all aspects of Afro-Latin and Afro-Caribbean musical culture. Their second single, Perdon, offers a taste of their forthcoming debut album. The track itself is a bouncy, floor-friendly jazz-funk treat full of intricate instrument solos and spacey synth sounds, but if anything, the accompanying Louie Vega remixes are even better. The Masters At Work Man first transforms the track into an authentic Latin house shuffler (the 'Louie Vega Remix'), before taking a deeper and more driving direction on the more electronic Expansions NYC Dub. Rounding things off is a tidy instrumental version of Vega's main mix.

Review: Well, here's something to raise the spirits: a first new 12" from Frank Timm's Sound Stream alias for three years. Those familiar with the German producer's work will know exactly what to expect, namely delicious disco house cut-ups that turn selected loops from largely forgotten gems into insatiable dancefloor gold. A-side "Bass Affairs" is particularly good, delivering a perfect blend of sun-kissed Brazilian guitars, rubbery slap bass loops and lilting Rhodes chords (all accompanied, of course, by thunderous kick drums). There's a more traditional disco-house feel about the filter-heavy "Sweep Magic", while "Starstrike" is a throbbing, stripped back affair that makes great use of looped-up bass guitars.

Review: M.A.D. Sounds is a brand new label that kicks off with a no nonsense, headline grabbing new 12" that brings together the core and classic elements of vocal house and acid in fine style. For a first release by the artists behind it, it is impressively authentic and steeped in old school rawness. Excellent opener 'Somebody' is an all out anthem straight from the Paradise Garage, and the Guilty Pleasures remix reworks things a little deeper. 'Acid Cult' zones you out on nice smeared 303 lines and then the Piano Power mix pops right off with pure house magic.