Juno Recommends Deep House: March 2023

Review: NDATL welcomes Abacus back to the US label's roster after notable appearances on Prescription and Guidance, with title track 'The Lower End Theory' proving to be a smooth, effortless and downright classy deep house calling card with the subtlest hint of acid. 'Atlanta Deep' follows next with a gloriously gloopy bassline a little reminiscent of Mayday's 'Nude Photo', and then 'Mortise & Tenon' closes the 12" with the lightest and most soulful of touches in both the rhythm and melody departments. Gorgeous stuff - dive in and wallow in the depths.

Review: After having two of his earlier tunes remodelled by Carl Craig and Mike Huckaby thanks to Sushitech, Detroit's Delano Smith re-emerges on the label with a double pack of tunes made with Brawther under the D&B Productions. That moniker has more to do with the pair's name rather than a suddenly conversion to drum & bass, although there's a love of dubby effects and deep bass power here that - at a stretch - could be said to be in common. The six tracks - Symbiosis' 1-6 - are smooth and simple, but executed with an ear (or four) for an irresistible groove, an economic but rhythmic keyboard stab and a knack for squeezing something nicely soulful from the barest ingredients. Nice work indeed.

Review: Four slices of deep house with a distinctly laid back, R&B flavour to them. 'Brandii' kicks us off in suitably relaxed manner, gorgeous harmonies and female and male voices adding to the irresistible groove and subtle layer of strings. 'Black Sunshine' is faster but retains the light touch approach, whereas 'Chuckii' is built around a sturdier four-to-the-floor kick, although the vocal content is still silky smooth. Closing track 'No!' is woozier and more dreamlike, with almost p-funk synth lines, though the Earl's arrangement leaves the percussive undercarriage that carries the track plenty of room to thrive in too.

Review: It's hard to believe it is now a full decade since Dez Andres blew up off the back of his track 'New For U.' He had of course been toiling away for years before that, recording with Moodymann and DJing for Slum Village amongst other things. Since then the music has kept coming - some of it hip-hop, some of it house under this alias, and much of it a perfect fusion of the two. And that's what we get here on this new EP for Beretta Music - four lush deep house joints with his smooth signature drum loops and gloriously incidental melodies. The slower, funkier bounce of 'Back To Nature' is the EP highlight for us, but all four of these are a cut above, as per usual with Dez.

Review: A 12" featuring four different artists from the relatively new label from DJ and producer Anton Bogomolov aka Scruscru (SlothBoogie Jamz/Omena), although it has to be said its individuality and freshness are increasingly upping its profile as each new released drops. Russian duo Street Choice open up this time round, getting the swears in in a matter of seconds (and throughout) but lifting us into orbit with 'Still On Is MF Record', a gloriously sweat soaked collision of house, disco and US garage. Evidently feeling a bit more mellow, Scruscru himself offers up a Flute mix of 'Long & Sleepless Nights', evoking jazzier French house scenesters like Etienne de Crecy or St Germain. On the flip, Juravlove's 'Boys & Girls' ups the tempo again and the mood with it, a cure acid line sneaking in behind more organic instrumentation. The more reflective Nephews' 'Polo Blanco' brings things to a warm, more snuggly close, ultimately leaving us with an Ep that has heaps of variety and quality in equal measures.

Review: Renowned London party series Tessellate runs a label that is just as well thought of in underground house circles. Taking care of this next cosmic house voyage is The Trip. His sound is steeped in 90s references and especially on 'Don't Panic', old school drum breaks and tough stabs. 'Free Your Mind' (Fantasy mix) is a perfectly spaced-out cut for those post-rush moments when you want to cruise on a breezy groove for days. There is a tribal chunkiness to 'Everybody Needs A Break' as well as new age melodies and 'Stop & Go Station' rounds out with more silky, pumping, warm-as-you-like deep tech grooves.

Review: Sweely is a man on fire right now. The Frenchman has a unique take on house that is built on bendy basslines and neon chords. He dropped a sublime album of the stuff on Butter Side Up earlier this year and has still found time to cook up some more goodness, this time for Global Swing. 'Bring It On' is a fine opener with funk in its bones and vibrant chord work. 'Don't Stop!' has an early UKG feel with its kinetic energy and 'It's Discow Time' has clipped, punchy drum work and withering sci-fi chords that ooze colour. There is a deeper then more jacked-up sound to the two flip-side tunes to make for another brilliant EP.

Review: The Perfect Timing label is an eclectic one but even by their standards, this five tracker from San Diego really does take in a wide range of tuneage. Side one kicks off with 'My Life Is A Walk In The Park', a perky house/disco beaming like the sun does on a hot day, before the ruffneck Amens of track two, 'You Can Only See Me After Dark', slam us into completely different territory, with the Bukem-esque Rhodes piano proving a nice counterpoint to the rugged beats. 'I Go There To Look At The Spurce' takes us off on another tangent, a broken beat with sped up hip-hop credentials, a double bass and some echoey dub effects filling up the sound spectrum. 'But My Name Is Not Bruce' takes a speedy, trip hoppy groove into hypnotic, loopy, spaces, while 'I Am The Scariest Man At The Park' proves not only that our man is a dab hand at an original title, he also has a keen sense of drama, closing the EP with some nicely haunted house piano and general eeriness.

Review: Here's something fresh on Crosstown Rebels from Made By Pete, making a welcome return on Damian Lazarus' label with another striking vocal house track. This time it's Zoe Kypri leading the way on 'Horizon Red', instilling the track with a poignant, soulful power which brings out the natural patter of hand drums and melancholic piano in Pete's production. If you want to zero in on the track, 'Pete's Dub' is on hand to take the mood even deeper, while Lazarus lends a re-shape on the B-side which weaves its own mystical magic.

Review: Originally released digitally at the tail end of 2021 and finally out on vinyl, Masters At Work's brilliant 'It's What We Live, It's What We Are' is a shameless throwback to their classic works of the 1990s. The A-side version summarises everything that's best about the veteran NYC duo, with raw, warehouse-ready synth stabs, twinkling piano motifs and vocal snippets from an early '80s Peech Boys workout (originally championed by the late, great Larry Levan) over a booming bassline and bouncy beats from the drum machine of the masterful Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez. On the flip, they tip a hat to their influential Nuyorican Soul project by peppering a Latin-tinged broken house groove with woozy synth sounds, extra-hot percussion and Latin piano flourishes.

Review: The hush-hush Tartan imprint is quite hard to pigeonhole, though its' various releases tend to combine sampled elements from classic and overlooked cuts with new grooves and instrumentation. The results are rarely less than excellent and the imprint's latest two-track missive (created by an anonymous producer as usual) is no different. 'Cynical Gringo' is exceptional - a rush-inducing, life-affirming fusion of nostalgic piano house, additional percussion, restless cowbells, scintillating sax lines and vocal snippets from a Latin jazz classic. 'Sumo Shader', meanwhile, is a hypnotic, rolling, constantly building delight full of wayward synthesiser lead lines, locked-in loops, jacking drums and intergalactic electronics.

Review: Reissued classic alert! First released by Masters At Work under their alternative Kenlou alias way back in 1995, 'The Bounce' is a classic, extra percussive slab of NYC house music that sounds just as fresh now as it did nearly 30 years ago. Presented here in remastered form, the track sees Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez and 'Lil' Louie Vega pepper a typically bouncy groove and heady, looped bassline in addictive melodic loops, trippy effects and all manner of pots-and-pans percussion sounds. Over on side B, there's a chance to cop the alternative 'Ting' mix of original B-side 'Gimme Groove', a denser and more intense late-night workout that would have sounded dope blaring out of the notoriously good soundsystem at legendary New York venue The Sound Factory (it has a slight Junior Vasquez vibe and would have neatly slipped into his sets at the time).

Review: Roisin Murphy and DJ Koze together on one EP? Yes bloody please. Each of these artists is eccentric characters with sounds to match so you can be sure that their studio sessions were wild indeed. This limited hand-stamped white 12" proves that - it's a stripped-back and dry deep house cut that builds the pressure in subtle ways. Roisin's vocals are as stylised and seductive as ever while the vamping chords have a hint of Detroit techno soul to them and the rumbling bassline keeps things nicely locked. An instrumental comes on the flipside for those who prefer it raw.

Review: If there's two things that veteran house Joeski producer is known for, it's dubby basslines and energy-packed, tribal-tinged drums. Both are in evidence on his latest single, 'Jah Unite', a fantastic chunk of dub-wise, heads-down tribal house that sounds tailor-made for heads-down moments at 4AM. The title track is fantastic, with Joeski wrapping echoing reggae horns and deeply delay-laden vocal samples around a deep, dubby bassline and rolling drums. Over on the flip, 'In This Life' offers a bouncier - but no less weighty - take on dub house reminiscent of some of the early-to-mid-90s works of reggae-lovong Californian deep house sort Miguel Migs. It's good, but the A-side is even better.

Review: Miami's Dancefloor Records, founded by British expat Jeffery Collins, looked to the growing club sounds emanating from Chicago and NYC and this series of reissues on Emotional Rescue concentrates on the label's early releases. From 1991 originally, Eighth Ray is said to be a project by a group of musician friends who went on to release under various pseudonyms. 'Axis Of Love' is the zeitgeist of a golden era in Italo house sounds, emotional and uplifting to the max. Over on the flip, the spaced-out and bumpin' NYC house influence on '8th Ray' has a sound that many modern producers try to emulate - massive bassline on this one so be warned!

Review: Mark Knight's Toolroom has managed to go from one of many solid house labels into holding a position at the top table of the global scene. This sampler maybe hints at why - big, accessible tunes, well-produced and undeniably effective on the global club circuit. Kurd Maverick relies on a massive Adeva sample to make sure 'In & Out My Life' succeeds, then Friend Within goes for a hefty, raw main-room vibe with a 90s tint on 'Monkey Bars.' Retna on the flip also offers some dusty, warehouse-ready tackle and GW Harrison explores a deeper groove.

Review: From the team that brought us the international event circuit and label Eastenderz, Belief is a new project for the French EDM giants. Belief's mission statement is consistent quality, with a mixture of well-known and fresh production talent starting with Jesse Maas who is no stranger to a killer four-track vinyl release as we saw with the 'Les Yeux' EP release last year under PIV. 'Ltd EP' feels like a pared-back release, focused on perfecting the fundamentals as opposed to resorting to gimmicks - the A-side features some quintessential tech house sounds that have stood the test of time with some incredible vocal samples and synth patches spread throughout the entire release that make each track direct-to-dancefloor guaranteed.

Review: While he may not (yet) be a particularly well-known name, Ralph Session is something of an NYC scene stalwart, both as a DJ and a studio engineer. His first outing on Shir Khan's ongoing 'Black Jukebox' series - the 35th instalment to date - is an assured and club-friendly affair that's big on bold grooves and party-starting flavours. For proof, check chunky, bass-heavy opener 'That Raw', where an undulating synthesiser lead-line, sustained synth-strings and an atmospheric spoken word vocal from DJ Amir catch the ear, and the (sampled) sax-sporting, hands-aloft bounce of 'Do It'. Elsewhere, 'If You Want' is deeper but no less celebratory - think hazy synth stabs, dreamy pads, bouncy bass and cut-up female vocal snippets - while 'Raw Sax' sees him add snaking sax motifs and spacey aural textures to hip-swinging house beats and a raw, stabbing analogue bassline.

Review: Kyle Hall has been hailed as the new boy on the Detroit block for some time now, forgetting perhaps that he has been putting records out since he was 17 - some 15 years ago. The three tracks on the 'Baci Ballers' EP show he's capable of holding his own among the biggest of big hitters, taking house music and giving it a nicely grimy makeover that will ensure these beauties a place in many a techno set too. The title track has a triumphant, rampantly rampaging vibe to it, a throbbing, insistent bassline slapped down by meaty handclaps and brutal hi-hats. 'Big Moma Tech' adds a smattering of female vocal as bleeps and jazzy keys battle it out like Stevie Wonder and LFO having a jam. 'Ground Up Dub' completes the set, based around a panther-like bass keyboard riff that anchors the track while the rhythmic quotient surges and retreats gloriously. Three tracks that differ in everything but their playability and quality.

Review: London's All Day I Dream label is instantly recognisable for its use of clouds as its EP covers, a trend it has kept up since since its first release in 2011. This latest wispy six-track EP from Tim Green is a beautiful floater, very much unafraid of plunging its head into the deepest and most rapturous of clouds. Opener 'Water Steers' very much sounds like we're floating up to the pearly gates, with its stretched-out choir samples and voxy one-shots opening to a tricky single-key house track. From there, it's all blissful yet rave-worthy, with tech-trancers like 'Tears' and 'We've Been Here Before' not letting up from the crossrhythmic formula, but still laying down a slowly-revealed emotion.

Review: Nothing But Nice Records, based between London and Berlin, is a label founded by long-time friends James Andrew and Charley. The former presents its third release, The D Floor Express, featuring four playful house cuts. Early techno influences are abundant on the funky title track which kicks off the A-side, followed by the rolling and tripped-out tech house jam 'Lost In Mindless Thought'. Over on the flip, the spacey old-school vibes continue on 'The Whole Shmagoigle' and ends with the downtempo breaks of 'Cutting Loops In The Volvo'.

Review: The Master at Work that is Louie Vega has been a music-making machine all his life but in recent years has continued to reach new heights with various different projects. Here he is back on regular label Nervous with various different versions of his tunes 'Joy Universal' and 'Igobolo.' 'Joy Universal' (feat Two Soul Fusion) is classic Vega - soulful house music awash with Latin influences, loose-limbed percussion and funky basslines. And that template is tweaked over the ensuing tunes, with glorious pianos, jazzy grooves and tropical rhythms all making for a fine EP.

Review: While it's difficult to second-guess what Placid will select for each volume of his We're Going Deep label's compilation-style EPs, you can guarantee that it will be timeless-sounding, exquisitely produced, and most likely have some link to deep house, electro, acid or sci-fi techno. All of those boxes are ticked and then some on volume eight, which skips between melodious, acid-flecked dancefloor wooziness (Affie and Leila Yusuf's 'Dublvr'), warming sunrise-ready electro bliss (Zobol's 'Sense The Consensus'), ultra-deep, eyes-closed acid electro (Acidulant's 'The View of Her Shade') and IDM-tinged, intergalactic and dramatically pitched-down proto-jungle (Type-303's exceptional 'Knowhere'). Like its predecessors, this EP is nothing less than essential.

Review: This fine double-pack features more alternate takes of tracks from Louie Vega's vast Expansions in the NYC album. The headline attraction is the epic extended mix of the Rod Temperton penned jazz-funk/disco classic 'The Star of a Story', which not only boasts fine lead vocals from Lisa Fischer and shuffling samba-house beats, but also strings (arranged by Leroy Burgess) performed Kelley Polar and his colleagues in the Apple Hill quartet. The EP also includes instrumental and chunky 'Vamp Dub' passes of that track, plus alternative versions of two other tracks: the organic deep house roll of 'A Place Where We Can All Be Free' and a superb string-laden dub of 'Love Has No Time Or Place', featuring Vega's Elements of Life band, which showcases the orchestral arrangements of Leroy Burgess and the late Patrick Adams.

Review: Berlin's Giraffi Dog and (Emotional) Especial have joined forces for a special two part EP series that brings their live set to wax. It came after so many live tours were cancelled during the pandemic and proves to be a great success. The Giraffi Dog sound comes from Max Webber who debuted it with his L'Existence Du Reve album back in 2016 and further drops on the likes of Aiwo Recs and the WARNING label series. Poker Flat and Dessous associate Max Heesen was then brought on board to take the show on the road and thrill crowds with elements of their punk and hip-hop background colouring their breakbeat driven club cuts. These have been recorded live in the studio using drum machines, synths and vocoders and really do capture their pair's live energy.

Review: Local Talk are proud to present a live recording by Soulphiction & Netzer from 2018, recorded live just a month before the official release of 'Bizzness' - the first of several releases the late great Michel Baumann and this Swedish label released together. On the first side, you have a serving of lo-slung late night mood music in the form of 'Bizzness' (live @ BIX), and over on the flip you're treated to more sensual vibes with the soul-inflected delight of 'Dileila Emergency Dub'. Real proper deep stuff for the heads.