Juno Recommends Deep House Best of 2021

Review: Back in 2014, Chez Damier dropped two mixes of 'Speechless' on Popcorn Records, paying tribute to fabled Parisian nightspot Rex Club in the process. Now the Prescription legend brings the cut back to life for Adeen, and there's a whole cast of other big hitters involved as well this time. First up, Nicholas remixes 'Speechless' and goes in heavy on a Rhodes hook, while Damier himself doffs his cap to Berlin's house mecca on the fluttering, guitar-laced 'Panorama Bar mix'. Camille Migas creates something limber, expressive and sparkling for more reflective moments. On the flip, more high-grade remixes from Jef K and DG complete the package for some of the finest house music money can buy.

Review: Sushitech continue to celebrate the depth and breadth of their catalogue with another 15th anniversary reissue in the form of this surefooted two-tracker from Delano Smith and Norm Talley. This is the sweet spot where Detroit house and Detroit techno intertwine, leading in with the dreamy haze and steady trucking groove of 'Constellation'. 'Detroit 2-Step' has a spicier demeanour which artfully merges sultry sax with an ear-snagging riff which sounds organic and metallic all at once. Again, the groove is locked down and impossible to shake off course, making this heady club tackle for those who want to season their set with some of the finest rollers in the game.

Review: There is a heavyweight selection of names on this first release from Norm Talley's promising new label Upstairs Asylum. Firstly, the man himself is a Motor City heavyweight who links with fellow luminary Omar S on the opener 'Muggy Detroit Heat.' It's an intense and steamy house track that bristles with raw melody. On the flip, French house icon D'Julz reworks a tune by Norm in cahoots with the one and only Moodymann. This one is all cuddly chords, romanic vocal chops and warm, rough edged house beats for those cosy basements.

Review: Delano Smith is one of the absolute OGs of Detroit techno, active in the scene since the 80s but always half a step to the side of the spotlight. His sound has reached many different moods and intensities over the years, but this Detroit Lost Tapes collection on Sushitech has to rank amongst the finest things he's done. As you'd expect for Sushitech, who are re-releasing this album to help toast 15 years as a label, the mood is subtle and hypnotic, balanced somewhere between techno and house without going anywhere near tech house. Sleek, refined, hypnotic and soulful, this is Smith at his very best.

Review: Clipp.art's second release comes from Park Hye Jin, a debutant producer with a passion for adding her own stylish, half-sung, half-spoken vocals to a variety of well-made retro-futurist grooves. There's much to admire throughout, from the Jovonn style vintage New Jersey deep house warmth of "I Don't Care" - all twinkling piano lines, bustling drums and enveloping chords - and the chunky, head-in-the-clouds strut of opener "If You Want It", to the off-kilter deep space noisiness of "Close Eyes". Arguably best of all, though, is beautiful closing cut "Call Me", where Hye Jin's impassioned vocals ride glitchy hip-hop beats and fluid, Satie style piano motifs.

Review: Lisbon's Jorge Caiado is a relentlessly productive figure in the contemporary deep and tech house scene, rolling out grade A material on labels like Balance, Groovement and Carpets & Snares. After dropping his impeccable Time & Space album last year, now Caiado has invited a stellar cast of club cats to step up with a fine spread of remixes. On the A side, 'Nasha's Groove' gets two versions. The first from Steve O'Sullivan keeps things tightly clipped and tracky, with a warm chord pulsing through the centre. Then Brawther's version takes things a little deeper, giving his dub ample space to truly roam free and take you under. Dyed Soundorom brings a slinky, techy vibe to 'Try To Breathe', and then John Thomas rounds things off by making 'Magic Carpet' into a clattering, quirky micro house workout much like you'd expect from the Logistic mainstay.

Review: Put simply, Loose Ends' 1985 hit 'Hangin' On A String' is not only a peerless UK soul classic, but also one of the greatest boogie-era dancefloor cuts full stop. You should really already own a copy, but if you don't, then this South Side reissue should be on your shopping list. Not only does it contain the band's brilliant original extended mix (B2) - a sing-along gem rich in hazy organ sounds, jazzy guitar solos and bustling electro-era beats - but also two celebrated 1992 remixes from Frankie Knuckles. Both are amongst the late, great DJ/producer's finest remixes, with the more instrumental and impeccably loved-up 'Reprise' version, in which Knuckles builds gently before eventually unleashing chorus vocals, being our pick of an incredibly strong pair.

Review: Lumberjacks in Hell's latest release may well be the smoothest, warmest and most soulful chunk of deep house we've heard so far in 2021. 'Jus Move' is a cross-generational collaboration between Jonna and Javontte, with both providing slick, eyes-closed vocals atop a hazy, occasionally loopy backing track (all clipped organ sounds, unfussy drum machine beats and woozy chords). It's followed on side A by one of the final remixes by the late, great Michael Baumann AKA Soulphiction - a dusty, jazzy, warming and tactile take tailor-made for dancefloors at sunrise. Detroit's Marcellus Pittman provides a longer, Osunlade-influenced take on the flip - think deep Afro-house with plenty of jazzy mucsical details and you're close.

Review: Harvey Jones is on a roll this year, landing releases on Ranges and Echocord and promptly following them up with this refined joint for Ornate Music. He's got a full bodied take on tech house that favours deep, meditative moods but expresses them through bold, richly rendered synth lines and crisp but warm drums. 'New Speak' has a taut house groove powering it, but the mellifluous ebb and flow of the chord line keeps things soft and sensual, while 'Old Speak' plumbs into a dub techno irrigation system without shirking it's responsibilities to the dancefloor. Nail's remix of 'New Speak' amps up the bump, hitting that sweet spot where chunky house music can still cool you down.

Review: Cocktail D'Amore know a thing or two about party starting wild cards, and thus far Lion's Drums has proven to be adept in that department with drops on Hivern Discs and his own self-titled label. He comes to the Cocktail party with two edits of Manos Tsangaris' powerful drum sermons - visceral percussive flurries from a man with enough rhythm to partake in the lauded Drums Off Chaos project. You should have a good idea from that what these two tracks are about - heavy, physical tracks for maximum dance induction, moments of pure abandon and the odd firework or two.

Review: Legendary DJ and producer DJ Jazzy Jeff might be best known for his work in the world of hip hip but here he dives foot first into some fresh house grooves. 'Evil' is the sort of steamy, funk laced gem that you might expect to come from the studio one certain Moodymann. The lush guitar licks, noodling keys and well placed vocal samples all ooze authenticity and class. They meld the old with the new into something simple irresistible. A fine instrumental pairs things back even further for more straight up dance floor thrills.

Review: Bicep's second album is shaped by the experience of touring their debut long player for something like three years, a period during which they honed and perfected their instinct for tracks that would stand the test of time and repeated listening. What develops is a distinctive style typified by a combination of ethereal sonics and cheeky, memorable instrumental hooks, only set to a variety of beats that reference and indeed fuse the plethora of different dance genres that have sprung up since the acid house revolution if the mid-80s. So we get everything from the electro-tainted 'X' to 'Rever', where an African choir floats over a subtle deep house shuffle and 'Saku', where UKG bass pressure and skippy beats provide a hypnotic background for Clara La San's sweet but ghostly voice.

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: One of the greatest house albums of all time is 20 this year. To mark the occasion the legendary French producer behind it - Ludovic Navarre aka St Germain - has selected a sympathetic team of expert remixes to add their own spin to the still classic source material. Atjazz is the perfect man to open up thanks to his deep, lounge and of course jazzy house style. Osunlade then brings his shamanistic sounds to 'Sure Thing' and it glows as a result with Ron Trent later tackling the anthemic 'Rose Rouge' and slowing it down to a lush jazz dance. With DJ Deep, Nightmares On Wax and more also featuring, this is a must cop.

Review: In the endless (warranted) veneration of Chicago's formative house sound, it's easy to overlook the cats still pushing the Windy City scene today. This sizzling hot VA disc on Groove Access celebrates four operators bringing some upfront, no-nonsense heat to the club. Kid Enigma brings a tough, bumping but ultimately deep pressure on 'In My Heart', while Chicago Skyway taps a twisted up, Gherkin Jerkin' kind of tweaked freakery for the wild end of the night. Dan Ryan brings a dreamy, soulful sample vibe strapped to some pumping drums and Ed Nine jacks things out with some choice acid on 'Three Hunnit Three'.

Review: Global dance music superstar Peggy Gou comes back with a second super summer single that is widely infused with her own distinctive influences. Chiefly, that is a love of 90's dance anthems, which was rekindled in her during downtime during the pandemic. Released via her own Gudu Records, 'I Go' is a catchy, singable bit of throwback dance-pop with her own vocals front and centre. The old school beats and bass will get any party pumped, with the synth work looks to the cosmos and explores a very different vibe to her previous single. An instrumental and acappella are also included on this lovely 12".

Review: Every so often, a compilation comes along and delivers a snapshot of a city's underground music scene at a given moment in time. That's what compilers Rick Wilhite and Delano Smith have achieved with Parabellum Detroit, an expansive and predictably high-quality collection of cuts from some of the Motor City's finest producers. They naturally provide a couple of collaborative cuts of their own - the spacey, late-night techno hypnotism of '11 Minutes of Funk' and the intergalactic deep house drift of 'Neo Solaris', while there are also top-notch contributions from Javontte (the warm, soul-flecked deep house of 'Late Night Love'), Marcellus Pittman (beatdown chugger 'Everybody Party'), Gerald Mitchell AKA Soul Saver (the incredible 'Kaori'), the Moodymann Kenny Dixon Jr ( 'I'm Goin' Back') and Omar-S (a tidy Godson remix of 'VAT 69').

Review: House innovator Larry Heard aka Mr Fingers dives deep into his vast and venerated vaults for a new series of retrospective EPs on his own long running label. The tunes selected are either unheard unreleased on this label and first up is a selection that was once considered for the Another Side album that had Ron Wilson free-styling vocals. It's a high class selection of soulful electronic sounds with impassioned volts and tiny synths, ticking wooden hits and deep, spiritual vibes. 'Saspence' is from another dimension, while 'Nyte Light' is a unique acid workout.

Review: An exciting release this week on Kai Alce's always reliable NDATL Muzik by Detroit techno veteran Claude Young. The Knife is the first time Young has been in the studio in six years and is quite the departure from, say, his seminal Pattern Buffer series. Instead he delves into the more deeper shades of hi-tech soul on this one. We're particularly feeling the soulful and emotive mood music of 'No Regrets' on the A side, while understated B side cut 'Santa Barbara' makes perfect for perfect tackle on the warm-up slot with its a sensual vocals and velvety chords, followed by the late night jazz bar loops of 'The Promenade'.

Review: Five years on from their lauded debut album, Dan Piu and Robert P. return with a second trip into luxurious deep house, this time moving from deepArtSounds to Deep Explorer. It's a logical step given their closeness to Dubbyman and his particular world of serious, soulful deep house, and their new album sounds right at home on the label. Dubbyman himself has a hand in a number of tracks on the album, not least the stunning, fired up club cut 'La Experiencia Tribal'. Meanwhile Owen Jay and Chris Gray guest on the melancholic downtempo jam 'Where Do I Go From Now', while Grant and Bjak lend some heady vocals to 'Honesty'. This is a proper deep house album, teasing different tempos and exploring beyond the confines of the club.

Review: On his latest expansive double-pack, Theo Parrish has decided to dip into his epic back catalogue. The four featured tracks are taken from two sought-after, hard to find EPs released in 1997 and 2001 respectively. Opener 'Smile' is arguably one of the Detroiter's most magnificent musical moments of all time: an epic slab of drowsy Motor City deep house built around idiosyncratic drum programming, ultra-deep chords, toasty bass and an effects-laden vocal snippet. 'Lost Keys' is a breezier and looser affair marked out by Latin style piano motifs, jazzy house beats and tactile bass, while 'Dreamer's Blues' is a languid, percussion-and-electric piano rich number that tends towards the hazy and jazzy. Finally, 'Lost Angel' is an ultra-deep affair whose spacey chords seem to stretch out eternity.

Review: You can always trust in the quality of house music carried by Inner Shift. As a long standing label pursuing a sincere and emotive strain of 4/4, they've carried the work of a huge number of high grade artists since 2012, and the trend continues with their second Collective Continents VA release. Opening things up, Mark Hand unfurls more of his exquisite, Rhodes-licked vibes, while Platform 001 offers up a more subliminal, stripped and bumping groove. G-Prod takes things into the distance with the pad-soaked dreamstate of 'Horizon', and Leo Gunn digs into something dusty and lounge-geared with the outstanding warm-up cut 'Aheeoo'.

Review: Sneaky remix action alert! We're not sure who DSO is (or are) - internet searches come up blank - but the two tracks on this 12" genuinely hit the spot. A-side 'Love You More' puts a new spin on the Sade classic of the same name, adding the '80s soul star's vocals to a hypnotic deep house groove, dreamy chords and occasional flecks of wine bar saxophone. Over on the flip the shadowy remixer(s) offer-up a radically different new take on Erykah Badu's 1997 hip-hop soul gem 'Apple Tree', reimagining it as a rolling chunk of deep house warmth. It's basically soul-fired, 21st century hip-house with enough depth and atmosphere to please deep house heads.

Review: During last year's extended pandemic lockdown in Italy, Bari-based producers Rhythm of Paradise, Nico Lags and St David decided to join forces on a collaborative project for the very first time. The results can be heard on this rather good EP, which slickly combines elements of classic Italian deep house and soulful house in cheery, sun-kissed ways. In its original form, 'Love Will Find a Way' is a warming deep house number full of crunchy machine drums, positive-sounding chords, strong female vocals and fluid piano lines. St David provides the first remix, basing the action around spacey pads, sustained electric piano chords and a squelchy synth bassline, before Nico Lahs provides a more hypnotic, thickset take. Slick and soulful number 'I'm Not Dreamin' completes a rock-solid package.

Review: Imogen Recordings continues to serve up dreamy, deep and emotive house that is heavily inspired by the 90s Italian scene here. The spirit of Balearic legend Don Carlos certainly looms large in this one, with opener 'I Wanna Do You' all filled with steamy pads, sensuous vocals and retro rubbery beats. 'A Deep Touch' is another perfect heady cut with drums straight from a Dream 2 Science record and more balmy, late summer pads all layers up beneath gorgeously twinkling keys. Closing things out, 'A Deep Trance' is a perfect record to lift the spirits, with its new age flutes and celebratory pianos all tied to a nice crisp beat.

Review: Iner's house and disco edit label comes back for a third round of dazzlingly bright and breezy party fodder that needs consuming while the summer months are here. There's just no stopping the happy-clappy vibes of 'Trip Of Happiness', which opens up Iner's own side of this split 12". A cheery chord progression that feels like a throwback to seaside light entertainment and every rose-tinted fairground trip of your childhood, strapped to a smart-stepping house beat. Iner also offers up 'White Nights In St Petersburg', which turns to a vocal chant and frames it with a peak time house workout to get hands aloft. Saint Paul takes on the B side with the soul-soaked uplift of 'A Natural High', while 'Joie De Vivre' keeps things funky without slouching on the house beat. High grade party weapons for people who like to have fun.

Review: Rafa Santos is here to blow away the winter blues with a seriously sunny dose of deep house finery on his own label Mate. 'High Voltage' deals in melancholic pads and strings with a classic TR727-esque beat, all Latin drum machine percussion pattering out the groove underneath the heavy-hearted soul. 'My Life Is A Bassline' is a slightly chirpier jam, but the mood is still resolutely deep and reflective like you would expect from Santos. 'Back To The Dancefloor' shakes things up with a more decidedly uptempo workout that looks optimistically ahead to a better time for dance music, and then 'Just One Way' completes the set with another supremely classy deep house workout.

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: Having recently made their debut via a fine lovers' rock cover of Eddie Kendricks classic 'Date With The Rain', East Coast Love Affair (AKA "the Athens of the North house band", according to member and label founder Euan Fryer) return with something rather different. 'Without You' is a deliciously dreamy, effortlessly soulful vocal deep house number that's as immersive, warm and comforting as a loved-up hug from that special person in your life. It sounds like it could have been made in NYC or NJ in the very late 1980s, but that's no bad thing. Over on the flip Fryer and his collaborators provide an authentic, boogie era-style extended remix of Mary Love Comer's 'Come Out of The Sandbox', giving it a reverential but far more DJ-friendly twist.

Review: DJ Hedoni$t is a hitherto unknown artist making their first appearance on Mysticisms with the kinds of heads-down throbbing house music the label doth love so very much. '#4' has the right kind of Lately-bass seduction, teasing acid and come hither pads to get a dancefloor loosened up, while '#5' brings something a little nastier but no less nice to the table. '#3' has a little more jack in its bones, with a generous layer of dust on top, but it's still squarely pitched at serious dancers. '#8' brings something a little different with its walking bassline and spacious, jazzy beat - it might not seem an obvious fit for rocking the crowd, but there's weight tucked away in that groove that could well induce a subtle kind of shock-out.

Review: After a top-flight 12" back in 2018, the mysterious Jamn Ensemble. entity returns with the plush, deep and melodic techno strains of 'The Snows Of Yesteryear', which get a damn fine shuffle up from Basic Soul Unit. 'Nord' piles on heady deep house of the highest order, and 'Envol' swerves into a knotty rhythm and celestial pad drops to keep your mind locked in and travelling far. If you're after some fresh yet classically rooted contemporary techno, this comes highly recommended.

Review: Naarm / Melbourne's Prequel has slipped out a few records thus far, and they've landed in all the right places. Rhythm Section, Local Talk, Distant Hawaii - you can get a feel for the kind of house music he's representing. And yet, as he shores up on Lumberjacks In Hell, what's most apparent is how far out he's prepared to go in pursuit of that deep feeling. 'I Still Love You' is a sprawling, delirious and spaced out exploration that belongs amongst the truly idiosyncratic outliers of house music - your Pepe Bradocks and Theo Parrishes. 'I Said I Wasn't Gonna Fall In Love No More' has a tighter groove, but it's still executed with a dislocated, psychedelic finish which stands well apart from the crowd. 'If You Give Me Another Chance' finds Prequel coming at a grab bag of samples from a crooked angle, but with enough jack to keep the wheels from coming off. Inspired stuff.

Review: If you want your house tracks to feel like bombastic orchestrations composed for maximum emotional transcendence, then you need Alan Dixon in your life. On this new 12" for his own Love Attack label, the London-based producer tugs at the heart strings with aplomb on lead track 'Night Time Melodies'. It's unabashedly musical, piling on the warm chords and nimble piano expressions for just the right kind of 'moment' track. It's so musically rich, it gets an additional 'Piano reprise' for those who want to float away on the melodious joy of Dixon's playing. Kiko Navarro serves up a remix of the track which injects a Motor City-indebted techno spirit into the track without losing the maximalist appeal of the original.

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: Groove Access is back with a split EP by Dan Ryan & Ed Nine. Dan Ryan starts off the A-side with the cosy bassline of 'New Home', the track traversing down a path full of punchy stabs, atmospheric vocal textures and a unique key change to boot. 'Fuzzy Tape Dreams' is next up, setting out to hypnotize you with bouncy bass, crunchy drums, hazy 909 rides and pads that sound like they were run through your grandma's old transistor radio. Ed Nine takes over the B-side with 'Another Day'. Starting off with a glowing intro, we're quickly led into a floor banging groove, followed by a dreamy push and pull chord progression. Then, as an encore, 'Distant Reality', all knocking kick, dancing percussion and throwback brass.

Review: Chad Pulley first appeared on Nigel Hayes and Vincent Inc's Astrolife in 2019 with a digital-only release, and now he returns with vocalist Natalia Kissoon on the sweet and soulful 'Windows'. The original version is steeped in bluesy Rhodes and a bubbly rhythm section working away behind Kissoon's voice, but there's also plenty more versions to savour as well. First up is a crisp and bumping version from deep techno veteran John Beltran, who offers up a plethora of bleeps and pads behind a classic 909 shuffle. Hayes takes things in a deeper direction which stays true to Pulley's original, and then there's a beautifully suspended beatless version to close the record out for those who want to simply revel in Kissoon's lyrics.