Baltra returns to Of Paradise with his ‘Can’t Explain It’ EP, a kaleidoscopic and dazzling journey through the heart and soul of raw and hazy house music.
deep house
Doppelate – It’s Nice Here [XK013]
London based Doppelate is next up on X-kalay offering some Detroit house inspired club jams. From the languid sleaze of the sawtooth bassline on “I Can’t Get You Out of my Head” to the pin point congas and rainforest vocal shots on “Johnny Longneck”; the A side is a functional and groovy affair, stripped back to the essentials in typical Doppelate fashion. The B side takes a slightly more playful approach – Pila Pala Kisses utilizing looped pianos and some tongue in cheek percussion work before turning out a beautifully mesmerizing melody. “Club Canyon” closes things out in more understated tones; crisp hats skip over the lazy staccato bass whilst the dreamy pads induce an all too welcome state of haze.
VA – Palette EP [BBR15]
While perfectly fitting the deep house cabinet, this EP taps on various styles within this genre. Jayson Wynters sets the pace with Sherella’s Kiss; a powerful groove and beautiful chord pads embedded in an upbuilding percussive atmosphere. This is a very personal track from Jayson and this dedication to ‘Sherella’ is testimony to the immortality that can be found in the power of a soulmate. Italian artist Duccio delivers a melodic track with mediative vocals while Ukraine’s Kiddmisha gets his well deserved second appearance on Batti Batti with an immersive electro cut. Hailing from Chicago, the artist Weakmassive makes his debut to the label with a smooth acidic track which could be a perfect opening or an encore to a long night out.
Chaos In The CBD – Multiverse EP [IDWT005]
‘Multiverse’ is a word used to describe an infinite group of disparate universes including the ones currently inhabited by humans. A myriad of realms that sit side by side, undetected by our senses, surround us at any given moment. The multiverse theory was first confirmed by tracking leakage of electromagnetic waves filtering from one dimension into the next. When these waves were transposed to fit into frequencies audible by the human ear, the recordings were studied by a team of scientists, who found that they contained rhythmic elements that resembled a speech pattern of an alien language.
DâM-Funk – Architecture II [SAFT18]
DâM-Funk has left his LA home for another DJ tour across the European continent. What better way to celebrate this than to release a follow-up record to the infamous Architecture release from 2016. Architecture II is an up-tempo, dreamlike journey through the sonic palette of the Los Angeles based producer. The 12” contains four tracks that are carefully crafted to co-exist on the same record. ‘In The City’ is a drum oriented breeder with a constantly evolving bass line, that supports the cheerful and breezy melodies. ‘Best Weekend’ is dripping with lush synthesizer tones and meaty drums. DaM-Funk knows how to set a hazy atmosphere, the conflicting tones of the sophomore effort are impressive. ‘Best Weekend’ is a must hear for lovers of the DF repertoire. The B-side is opening up with the warm sounds of ‘Bounce’. The artist’s signature basslines thump away whilst a breezy chord and some exceptional FX work help to achieve a sense of lightness. ‘Don’t Give Up’ is a work of challenging Piano riffs and splashy synthesizers that evolve through and sometimes come together in an abundance of modulation and joy.
Frank & Aakmael – Mercy Of Means [SAT037]
Returning to Scissor & Thread, Aakmael and label boss Harris cook up an intoxicating vibe across this 5 track EP. Each shares a track and work together on the fifth, while also remixing each other’s solo cuts.
VA – Number One [BE001]
Best Effort Records jumps out of the box with their inaugural release ‘Number One’, a selection of tracks that celebrate friends making music together.
Jayson Wynters – Latitude EP [ORN026]
Ornate Music welcomes Birmingham talent Jayson Wynters. Wynters serves two original tracks that further shape out his deeply hypnotic approach to house music. Alongside the immersive allure of Wynters’ originals, rising talent Caldera offers up a stripped back, meditative broken beat remix of “Ancient Tones”. The Latitude EP is a natural fit for Ornate, giving Wynters and Caldera free reign to show off their uniquely mesmerizing styles of contemporary house and techno.
VA – NDATL 10 Year Special Edition 2018 [NDATLSE2018]
NDATL celebrates ten years with a compilation featuring label boss Kai Alcé, Kyle Hall, Mike Huckaby, Omar-S and others.
Quarion – Cobblestone EP [DPC069-1]
Quarion is back on Drumpoet with an enchanting new EP that leaves nothing to be desired. Cobblestone takes the dancer on a deep sensual journey, builds up continuously and subtly into a truly emotive peak. Sunday Night Pt. 2 tops it by captivating with rhythmic chords, which remind of the early 90ies. Jamaican Morse is a driven drum track, spiced with dubby sounds and a higly addictive beat. Once again, Quarion proves his outstanding quality.
Deep Dean – Ocean Groove [MYS006]
Mysticisms eyes summer luv dancin’ as new-not-new Deep Dean emerges from the Antipodean well to offer sunrise anthems for the new generation.
Gnork – Magic Arp [MAGIC014]
Dawn dissevers the earth and skies, Dragonflies twirl into the light of the sun’s world; No vapour dims the air, twinkling lightness buoys the eyes, During the night; I can see leaves flying on the tree branch and settle like tiny butterflies.
Jorge Caiado – Cycle EP [GR031]
Jorge Caiado’s new “Cycles” EP, offers 3 strong versions of title theme plus a remix by Detroit legend Mike Huckaby. A house/techno manifesto that takes his artistic vision one step further, placing him as a cutting edge producer internationally supported by the likes of Move D and others.
Sanasol – Long Lost Thoughts [RTM004]
R-Time Records releases two tracks from Iceland’s Sanasol, aka Thor and Yagya, entitled ‘Long Lost Thoughts’ – originally appearing on ‘Deep Thoughts’ LP via Hey Babe! in ’97.
Andrew Red Hand – Spiritual Capital EP [CHIWAX019LTD]
Andrew Red Hand from Romania’s spiritual capital of lasi stands up as an unwavering militant of the underground, a true Detroit spirit possessed as Romanian humanoid. From his early gigs throwing parties as one of the first generation DJs in lasi since 1997, ARH continues to break boundaries as part of the Romanian resistance scene and numerous time portals as they open around Europe. His blistering, mind-bending sets such as at Berlin’s Tresor and Griessmuehle see the DJ with the red hand fuse pure Detroit electro and techno with the sounds of techno-bass, raw Chicago acid house, classics and futuristic beats.
Alton Miller – All The Little Things [SIS-AMILLER]
Sistrum welcomes music legend Alton Miller to the fold for release number thirty three. For “All The Little Things,” Alton lays it down in fine form and enlists the incomparable vocal talents of Ree to bring the soulful vibrations as only he can.
Alton Miller – All Things Good EP [WACH003]
When it comes to soulful house, Detroit native Alton Miller is about as ingrained as it gets. Waella’s Choice sow the seeds with ‘All Things Good’. Club music for the sensitive souls, with some arresting spoken word poetry and even a broken beat deviation. ‘All Things Good’ is the fourth release from London label Waella’s Choice.
VA – Innate 001 [INN8001]
Since 2014 the Innate blog has been delivering high quality “slow journalism”, serving up articles that shine a light on artists that have otherwise gone under the radar. Four years on, the Innate team has decided to launch their own label with the same stated aims, namely to showcase deep electronic music with warmth and soul, produced by unheralded heroes old and new. The label’s first release – a four-track, multi-artist missive – offers a neat summary of what listeners can expect to hear in the months and years ahead. Tracks by Gilbert, Mark Hand, Lerosa and Innate founder Owain K.
Casey Tucker – Alternative Faction [LVNO15]
Casey Tucker is up to bat once again for Love Notes from Brooklyn. This time, though, it’s a more complete three track artist EP on offer. The music, of course, encapsulates everything that’s great about Casey’s sound: the lush pads, the crispy percussion, the emotional strings, and the dance-floor destroying basslines. Alternative Faction utilizes one such dancefloor destroying bassline to create a real fist pumping moment in the title track; That Time of Year uses a wriggly acid synth line over the aforementioned emotional strings, and to great effect; and New Mission ends the EP in a unwavering fashion; with heartstring-tugging, terk jerking, emotional pads over an acid line in signature Casey Tucker fashion.
VA – Drum Union Vol.1 [DPC0671]
Drum Union is a new series documenting the different shades of Leftfield House. London based Tony Nwachukwu (aka Attica Blues aka Wah-Chu-Ku) provides a deep broken dub techno monster. Manuel Fischer presents a beat-driven disco-influenced track to make any dance-floor burn and Mitsubishi Galaxy, who are also known as Jack Pattern take us into a wavy trip to another dimension. Look Like rounds it up and is merging Afro-Cuban rhythms with modern Electronica soundshapes. A journey wider and deeper than most of the average 4/4 business.
The Hipodrome Of Music 