Juno Recommends Deep House July 2018

Review: Skylax head honcho Hardrock Striker teams up with DJ Sprinkles, celebrating two decades of Skylax Records and bringing politics to the dancefloor on Skylax House Explosion (S.H.E.). They present the second of three exclusive vinyl releases, accompanying the mix CD for the 20-year compilation. On this volume, Turkish producer Sinan Kaya kicks off the A-side with the classic deep house vibe of "What's Mine is Mine" a sexy/smoky jam for the late night, Parisian Flabaire gets deep down and dusty (as always) on the jazzy "Riders In The Sun". On the flip, Slowdawn picks up the pace with his energetic yet emotive "Don't Play Around" and closing the EP is Sameed Alexander Rezayan with the sweltering disco cut-up "See Ma Thang On You".

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** What can be said about this one that hasn't been before? The classic garage anthem from 1993 by New York City legend Lil' Louie Vega was originally released on Strictly Rhythm and is one you just have to have on wax, ain't it? Engineered by Erick Morillo and featuring the unmistakable looped-up vocals of Barbara Tucker (sampled from "Beautiful People") over its bouncy bassline and swing-fuelled shuffle. It has been remixed countless times over the past two decades, in 2016 even Kanye West used the vocal sample on his hit song "Fade".

Review: LA cosmic soul merchant Benedek returns with his first fresh material since 2017's exemplary sophomore set Bene's World. Fitting the season with balmy charm, "Earlyman Dance" is every bit as slinky and blue light as the title (or indeed Benedek's reputation) suggest. Balearic, jazzy and just pinch of yacht; both the original and the Canyon Version are pure sunset jams. "Maca" continues the slinky theme with a hip-wriggling, liquid rhythm while the much more mystic, spacious "Tengu's Mystery" takes us much deeper into the unknown folds of the night and the heavily reverbed slo-mo "Sixtern" chugs us all the way to sunup. It's not early. It's not late. Benedek, as ever, is bang on time.

Review: Fresh from dropped an EP of killer edits on Bahnsteig23 under the alternative Beard in Dust alias, Leonid Lipelis pops up on Aussie imprint Animals Dancing. Happily, the cheekily named I Did These For Myself But Now It's For Everyone contains some of the Moscow-based producer's best material yet. Check, in particular, melodious A-side "Children Song", where sampled Japanese children's chants rise above a snappy, delay heavy drum machine groove and a Marimba style melody. Over on side B, "Video Track" is a similarly jaunty and positive affair, with more Kalimba style melodies and African chants weave in and out of a fuzzy, hybrid deep house/nu-disco backing track. While not as instantly arresting as the A-side, it's nevertheless an impressive dancefloor workout.

Review: The analogue love continues... Hot in pursuit of "All The Little Things", Detroit OG Alton Miller delivers more fresh soul. And we mean soul; "She Don't Want To Be" is an exquisite dreamy percussive house cut that sits somewhere between Faze-O and MAW. "In Spring" maintains the woozy daydream feel while shuffling up the groove into more of a party-minded affair while "Can't Get Enough" is pure, uncut Detroit house funk. Beyond authentic.

Review: Given that Hard Fist's first two releases hit home hard, hopes are naturally high for the imprint's third 12". Whereas releases one and two were solo EPs, Princes of Abzu is something of an all-star affair. Label founders Cornelius Doctor and Tushen Rai join forces for the excellent, Acid Arab-esque opener "Place Du Pont", while Jakam's superb "Tribes" brilliantly joins the dots between Afro-house, Middle Eastern exotica and, most thrillingly of all, spiritual jazz. Elsewhere, Shadi Khries' "Semsemeh" is a dark and atmospheric chunk of psychedelic acid-jack and Timothy Clerkin's fuzzy and aggressive "Akama" is a mid-altering analogue chugger.

Review: Originally from South Korea but moving to London at the age of 14 where she spent her formative years, Peggy Gou has since moved to Berlin (of course!) where she's since made her break releasing two EPs in less than a year on Matt Edwards esteemed Rekids imprint. Her new one on Phonica white sees her explore classic deep house aesthetics convincingly such as on the dusty MPC bashing Moodymann style deepness of "Day Without Yesterday" with its deep funk bass, emotive strings and woozy sample all working in perfect harmony. But "Six O Six" gets a craving for the acid life with some gnarly 303 lines going head to head with hands in the air vocals and rusty drum machine grooves.

Review: Having established Salt Mines and appeared on Lost Palms and X-Kalay, Rudolf C has wasted no time in establishing himself as a producer of note in the deep house underground. Now he's stepping up to Sensu with the EndoPlazm EP, showing off yet more of the seductive tones he's been building his name on. "Keep It Up" is a hazy, woozy roller while "EndoPlazm" gets into a tricky acid mindset. "Uniform" is a peppy cut with atmospherics to cool down the snapping drums, and "Mizty Mountain Hop" takes things on a supremely deep tip to round the EP off in fine style.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Uzuri can always be trusted as an on-point barometer of the strongest currents in contemporary deep house, and here they welcome a new talent into their midst in the form of Panama Keys. "Panamarama" is a gorgeous suite of organic instrumentation, all Spanish guitar licks and pattering bongos, which then get handed over to the mighty Joe Clausell for the soaring, energised "Harvest Remix". "Vyrgin Island" may well be the stand-out track on the record with its infectious flute lines, chiming vibes and sensual, punchy bassline, but don't overlook the blissful ambience of final vignette "Flying Whiles".

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Doublet is the production moniker of friends and musical partners Tomoki Tamura and Tuccillo, previously releasing together on other labels, they have come together to form the new eponymously named Doublet imprint as a channel for their own music. Tomoki and his Holic Trax label have long been serving up solid house music whilst Tuccillo has conjured up numerous Beatport chart toppers on labels like 2020Vision, Visionquest and Holic Trax. Here their unique style brings you back from classic house music to future minimalism and is sure to fill you with joy. Up first is the title track, a charming house shuffler with woozy synths, light footed percussion and skipping rhythms that give an off kilter and deep dancefloor vibe. 'Brother Other' is a slightly more physical affair with lumpy beats, tense synth crescendos and stiff snares that really encourage you to shake your limbs. Lastly, 'Buri Planet' is a deep and sensual number with clever vocals samples adding an element of pained soul, rubbery bass bringing warmth and golden synths and acid squelches building yet more character. This is accomplished, alive sounding house music that really does sound fresh. Doublet, then, is already off to a winning start. Vinyl Only.

Review: Holic Trax takes a trip to the Far East to celebrate the finest in Japanese house music culture with a split 12" from veteran producer Takecha (aka Takeshi Fukushima) and label boss Tomoki Tamura. Takecha's productions roll out like reams of silk, peppered with cheery MIDI horns but not at the expense of the overall deepness of the tracks. "Kiara To Sarara" is especially infectious with its sprightly jazzy demeanour. Tamura takes a tougher stance on the B side with the techy tones of "Taiyo Mo Nai" and then hits up a classic house tone for the subdued but focused "Prhthemic."

Review: Previously caught unwinding psychotropic deep techno on Ethereal Sound, Modernista and more, Yuri Shulgin now comes to Cocktail D'Amore with the kind of discoid acid sound the label loves so dearly. "Animal Planet" is a fine case in point, laying the psychedelic touches on thick and taking a bold approach to composition without losing his grip on the punchy acid bassline. "Boogie Space" is a boxy workout, while "Walking" brings some limber instrumentation into the mix in line with the title track. "Dubby Body" is another off-kilter tool for adventurous DJs, and then "Recordtake (Sktech)" finishes the EP on a weird and wonderful free jazz boogie tip.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Part Two of the Far East Transcripts series. Hhatri welcomes back more of the house rarities that Soichi Terada & Shinichiro Yokota masterminded in the early 90's.

Review: Surely one of the most important French house producers out there, Ark brings his evergreen freaky style to Silver Network for this razor sharp three tracker. He's sounding pretty smooth on "Lenlife," using some gorgeous melodic flourishes as a bed for his errant sample triggering, while "Break Day" brings a chunkier, funkier vibe that smacks hard in all the right places. "Grand Final" feels like a classic Ark jam, peppered with inventive flourishes and driving towards a corner of the house music playground that is all his own. No-one does it quite like Ark, and this record shows he's in as fine form as ever.

Review: Fouking heck; is there any stopping this dynamic, vibe-hungry Dutch duo? Having buttered us up with funk on Outplay, they're now letting rip with three mating calls that are almost guaranteed to get you weak at the knees. "Mating Call" is premium uncut disco house that's rich in positivity and feels. "Just Feel Good" lives up to its name with its loose off grid groove and distant, hazy party feels running point throughout while "Down Below" winks good night with lavish Rhodes and a subtle but infectious percussion arrangement. Mate rates.

Review: Publicity-shy Parisian Pepe Bradock is more than worthy of his cult status. Even so, it would be nice of him to give a bit of warning when he's about to drop a new 12". Exodus 8, his first outing of 2018, pretty much turned up with no prior warning. A-side "Is This Really A Party?" is, somewhat surprisingly, a much more straight-forward dancefloor track than we've come to expect. Although there are plenty of weird jazz samples and straight noises, the sludgy, bass-heavy rhythm track tips a wink to his lauded, turn-of-the-millennium deep house workouts. Flipside "Grandgousier" boasts some seriously snappy and bumping beats, with the eccentric French producer smothering it in more quirky electronics, delay-laden, barely audible vocal samples and trippy effects.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** A 1992 house classic, Aly Us' "Follow Me" gets a reissue here. Comprised of Eddie Lewis, Kyle Smith and William Jennings, this track with its inspirational vocals and good old-fashioned Stateside bounce is a true spirit of the times -and its positive message is still as relevant as ever. Included in this unofficial version is the legendary original version on the A-side, plus a handy instrumental on the flip. One for all the proper house heads out there - respect!

Review: Real proper deep stuff from one of the true heroes of the Underground. Toronto hero Trinidadian Deep can always be counted on to deliver the real proper deep stuff. While labels like 'deep-house' get bandied about so filiipantly these days, this guy is keeping the true spirit of the sound alive - and he is the very definition of it, in our humble opinion. Life affirming, evocative and bittersweet are just some of the words that come to mind when trying to describe the melancholic urban blues of "Native Revolution" - it's just typical 'Trini' really: doing what he does so well! With its roaring church organs and those shimmering Ron Trent (his cousin, by the way) style chord progressions, backed by sweltering steel drums - it's awe-inspiring. Speaking of the steel drums, those powerful rhythms take more of central role on the flip, with another 'version' of sorts in the form of "Native Tribe".

Review: Casey Tucker is on a roll at the moment, and his infectious brand of uplifting, full-fat machine soul seems to have struck a chord in many places (not least via his reissues on For Those That Knoe). After appearing on Love Notes back in 2015, Tucker's back on the label with another salvo of colourful, charming and utterly magnificent house jams shot through with the inventive programming of techno. "Alternative Faction" is many things - a bubbly acid track, a swooning deep house cut and a sassy broken beat affair - and yet feels utterly smooth in its execution. "That Time Of Year" has plenty of Motor City soul feeding into its composition, not least in the gorgeous synth strings, and "New Mission" gets busy in the swing with all kinds of bouncing melodies and rhythms.