Groovin Italy

Review: Doug Smith and Richard Payton aka 95 North are a house music production duo from Washington DC. They are well known for their 90's discography which was full of hits on the likes of Strictly Rhythm, King Street Sounds and Slip 'N Slide, including collaborations with Crystal Waters and Sabrynaah Pope. "Let Yourself Go' was originally released in 1995 and probably one of the best moments of their activity in the house music scene. The jacking and swing fuelled vocal house of "Let Yourself Go" (Penn Ave mix) is a real zeitgeist of stateside house music of the mid noughties. Equally memorable were the dark and tribal drums of "Capitol mix" (reminiscent of classic Cevin Fisher) or the deeper and sexier garage vibe of the "Georgetown mix".

Review: The latest on-point reissue from Italy's Groovin' label takes us back to 1993, and the Peter Daou/Danny Tenaglia-produced debut single from vocalist Daphne Rubin-Vega. It's a far breezier, groovier and sweeter record than many of Tenaglia's later productions (which tended towards the muscular), with Rubin-Vega's quietly soulful vocal seemingly drifting across a backing track rich in warm chords and baggy, breakbeat-driven house grooves. All of the various mixes hit the spot, with the trippy, dub-style Reconstruction Mix, vibraphone-laden Groove Instrumental and low-slung Never Do Dub standing out. The Acapella Reprise, which features rich chords and vocal snippets, is also rather good.

Review: Hot on the heels of Clone Classic Cuts' reissue of Survival's "Midnight Dancin" (as part of a 12" compilation of Joe Lewis productions), Groovin has decided to re-release "I Can't Wait". Intriguingly, this edition appears to include two previously unreleased mixes. So, while some Chicago house diggers may already own the Vocal mix - where Daryl Goodlett's slick, soulful vocals rise above an early garage-influenced chunk of disco-tinged vocal deep house - they won't have heard the Instrumental or Dub versions. The latter, a traditional Dub in the mid-to-late-'80s New York style (think key vocal passages, delay-laden beats and judicious use of other key elements), is particularly good.

Review: While the original mixes of Gallifre's Larry Heard co-produced '89 deep house groover were naturally superb, it was always the remix 12" that the majority of DJs reached for. That's because it contained a pair of brilliant Frankie Knuckles remixes in his distinctively luscious, loved-up style. As this timely reissue proves, those reworks have lost none of their allure. Knuckles' "Club Remix", which is built around warm and tactile analogue bass, rich chords and Mondee Oliver's sublime vocal, is undoubtedly the stronger of the two for club plays, though the shorter "Dream Remix", with its rush-inducing ambient sections and nods towards contemporaneous Italian deep house, is arguably even better. Simply essential.

Review: Mondee Oliver's 1991 gem "Make Me Want You" has been crying out for a reissue given the multitude of inferior house releases that have been released since the beginning of the 2010's. Even more special, Oliver was a prominent jazz singer decades earlier, but began to appear on dance tunes at the dawn of the rave era. This is one of those releases, a mesmerising house voyage that has all the right ingredients in the right combination - deep, humming bass tones, a hypnotic set of keys at its core, and exactly the right vocals to take it from sensibile to edgy. There are several versions on here, including an ace acapella for the heads. RIP Mondee Oliver.

Review: Dunn Pearson Jr's 1978 single "Groove On Down" is widely regarded within disco circles as something of a must-have classic - a soaring trip into orchestrated disco territory rich in swirling strings, crunchy Clavinet lines, incessant instrumental solos and the kind of eyes-closed female group vocals capable of inducing ecstatic moments in even the most sober of dancers. Here, the hard-to-find 12" gets the reissue treatment via Italian stable Groovin. It replicates the original track listing (albeit in newly re-mastered form), pairing the well-known "Short Version" with the superior "Long Version" (this takes its time to build, boasts more solos, and in general provides a much more satisfying listening experience).

Review: Italian reissue experts Groovin continue to explore the vast vaults of outspoken Chicago house veteran Glenn Underground. The two tracks here are, naturally, both sought-after and obscure. On the A-side you'll find "Escuchame", a cut that originally appeared on a DJ Deep mix back in 2010. It's something of a driving, body-rocking beast, with the Windy City stalwart wrapping a jazzy electric piano riff (slightly reminiscent of Black Science Orchestra's "Save Us" and Lil' Louis' "French Kiss") and spacey synth flourishes around a thrusting drum machine rhythm and booming bass. Turn to the flip for the melodious and spacey deep house classic that is "Hi-Tech Soul", a previously digital-only track first released way back in 2008.

Review: For their latest deep dive into the world of hard-to-find house classics, Italy's Groove Records take us back to 1996. "House Music Will Never Die" marked Glenn Underground's first collaboration with vocalist Cei-Bei (AKA Curtis Harman) and has long been considered one of the Chicagoan producer's finest releases. Wisely, Groove has decided against tinkering with a classic, instead serving up all four mixes from the original Cajual Records 12". Choose between the classic deep house soul of the GU Cei-Bei Foot Mix, the wonderfully summery, jazz guitar-laden CVO Bismark Hotel Mix, Mark Grant's brilliantly evocative, stretched-out interpretation, and a killer Afro Dub that makes great use of a heavy analogue bassline. All four versions are top notch.

Review: Trawl through Glenn Underground's vast discography and you'll frequently come across sought-after gems ripe for the reissue treatment. That appears to be what Italian reissue specialists Groove Records has done. GU Archives first appeared back in 2000, and bundled two hard-to-find tracks from the acclaimed Love & Hurt triple-album with the (then) previously unreleased "HardTymes" (a particularly breezy, jazzy, sun-kissed and musically rich chunk of bossa-house blessed with some particularly special vibraphone style solos). 18 years on, the EP has lost none of its sparkle, with the "Elle"-goes-Chicago deep warmth of "Stringing Me" and impeccably spacey and shimmering "Storm Raiders (Tribute to Larry Heard)" standing out. Simply essential.