Years after rumors of the mysterious Usio first started spreading, Studio Barnhus are finally ready to release the project’s debut outing, an LP called Kuwa Huru. This is emotional, intricate electronic blues for the modern dance floor, with 8 tracks ranging from afro-beat influenced house jams to starlight spangled techno compositions.
Tony Lionni ahead of his Madhouse album comes this three solid modern house tracks on Freerange. Title track ‘Midnight Manoeuvres’ is a main room stomper with a looped grooves that slowly builds and drops as the track progressive. A great cut that hasn’t been overworked. ‘Two Dark Figures’ captures that New Jersey vibe, but with a deeper, techy touch. Warm, soulful underground house sounds. ‘When Time Began’ gets on the synth arpeggio wave, letting the spiralling keyboard lines ride off into the distance.
The second volume of Parris Mitchell’s Juke Joints presents his first new material since 1997. The A-side is taken up with “Across My Machine”, an uptempo deep house roller whose furious rhythms are joined by an insistent dub chord, sounding quite unlike anything we’ve ever heard from the producer. “Near My Eyes” is closer to the sample-based ghetto house of his past, with juddering vocal samples ploughing across a firm, bumping and deep Chi town groove, but it’s “The Track Stars” that sees him really return to his Dance Mania roots, with a lithe, elastic drum tool reminiscent of his classic “Rubber Jazz Band”
Houndstooth, the new in-house label from London clubbing institution Fabric have offered a preview of their first release, from Berlin based producer Call Super.
The Hipodrome Of Music 