Tags: Garage Classics

Review: It would be fair to say that Roy Davis Jr and Peven Everett's "Gabriel" (originally written "Gabrielle" on early pressings) has become a timeless dance music classic - a track that both soulful house and UK garage DJs reach for in times of trouble. Should it not be in your collection already (and it should be), Large Music has decided to re-master and re-press the original 1996 12". It does, of course, contain the now ubiquitous "Live Garage" version - the groovy two-step, trumpet-laden mix that became popular with early UK garage DJs - plus a trio of lesser-known remixes. The Tambourine Dub, in particular, is something of a tough, warehouse-friendly deep house treat.

Review: Strictly Rhythm's 30th anniversary series of "Best Of" double-packs should be an essential purchase for all those looking to grab some high-grade U.S house from the 1990s and 2000s. As you'd expect, there's some genuine peak-time gold to be found on this second salvo in the series. After beginning with the bumping U.S garage richness of Barbara Tucker's gospel-flecked "Beautiful People", the set variously touches on glitchy deep house goodness (DJ T re-editing the "Full Effect" mix of Essence's "Moments In House"), stomping and muscular deep house (DJ Sneak), jazz-funk inspired house dreaminess (the original version of Wamdue's "King of My Castle") and ambidextrous dancefloor sweatiness (the Kenny Dope style breakbeats, heavy bass and woozy pads of Soul Fusion's "Basstone (Underground Network Mix)".

Review: Nu Groove's ongoing edits series turns its attention to one of the legendary NYC's most iconic early release, Bas Noir's 1988 garage-house classic 'My Love Is Magic' - a piano-powered vocal number fronted by two female singers from New Jersey and produced by the Burrell Brothers. Their original club mix is featured (A2), alongside a trio of fresh re-edits. Bushwacka kicks things off with a deeper, more sonically detailed and marginally punchier rework that makes much of the Burrell brothers' percussion and piano stabs, before Mark Broom takes over on side two. His 'dub retouch' fittingly sounds like a piano solo-sporting NYC house dub of the late 1980s - no bad thing in our book - while his more revolutionary 'A12 mix' re-casts the track as a harder, heavier peak-time loop jam.

Review: Victor Simonelli's house music legacy is assured - he more than made his mark on the genre back in the 90s with plenty of iconic cuts and legendary DJ sets and now that is all being highlighted by this ongoing multi-part series from Unknwn. The comprehensive collection looks at the early years here with some of his top mixes including those that have not previously been released. There is an in-depth almost hour-long audio and written interview between BTG founder Alex Rose and Victor to go with this release that is well worth finding.

Review: You will of course know if you are reading this that Nu Groove was a seminal New York house label that lay a blueprint for deep stuff back in the 80s and 90s. This fresh 12" serves up a third volume of label edits from various artists from across the spectrum. Metro's 'Turnstyle Turbulance' is tackled first by NiCe7 who brings bumpy drums, then Mark Broom's Vox Flanger Mixx of an N.Y. House'n Authority classic is a steamy jacker with lovely old-school vibes. Our favourite though is Asylum's 'Guitarz' (Honey Dijon & Luke Solomon edit) which is a nice mid-tempo workout with seductive claps and excellent hi hats.

Review: Unknwn kick off a multi-part double pack series here that serves a deserving light on the work of New York artist Victor Simonelli, who is famous for working with Afrika Bambaataa to help mix the epic 'Planet Rock'. As both a DJ and a producer he made a huge mark on the genre back in the 90s and it is that period which is in focus here. This is a real collectors' piece from the Behind The Groove crew that's packed with vital cuts from the rare mixes of Rain Page and EZ-AL to Cloud 9's 'Do You Want Me' via Solution's 'Feel So Right', all of which provide undoubted proof that he was a man on fire back in those golden early days.