Marlon Hoffstadt is a rising star as both a DJ and producer, effortlessly joining the dots between classic rave and the future of techno. Taking a break from running his Retrograde label, Marlon has cooked up Observing The Known for Ransom Note Records. Over three tracks of warm synths, bubbly acid and emotional chord progressions, the EP sees Marlon reimagining house music for today’s dancefloor, taking the passion and energy of ‘80s Chicago and giving it the production heft of 2017 Berlin.
Ephemeral’s second release, showcases his uniquely moody and emotional sound. Each track on ‘Sunshine Comes After Rain’ is undeniably deep and dubby while also incorporating jazzy elements. At times, Ephemeral creates a truly raw and gritty sound though his heavy use of filters but the vibe of the tracks is never brought down and stays fluid and groovy. Kez YM provided a classic house groove with a beautiful piano melody on his rework of ‘Sunshine Comes After Rain’ on the B side.
CBD is back on Mule Musiq. This time the New Zealand natives present different atmospheric spheres. The a-side tune “Comfort Zone” is a slow house burner enlarged with bird sounds, flute melodies and super warm bass power. on the opposite, their track “Educate The Hear” marries dub atmospheres and four-to-the-floor grooves, without giving up the hotness that dub music got to offer. Their third tune “Pressure” brings in, what is always needed in a club: funk that shakes the booty. This all wrapped in a gentle house track that stays calm while spreading hard to resist dance emotions.
Following well received EPs from Myriadd and Q-Chip, Gnosis are ecstatic to have prolific UK producer Nigel Rogers (aka Ellis De Havilland, Operator Tracey, Orpheus, Pagan Ritual, Sir Leon Greg etc.) on board for their third release. ‘Drowning In Your Eyes’ is a four track EP recorded under his Perseus Traxx handle.
Aybee makes his debut on Molly’s newly launched RDV (Recit de Voyage) with the label’s second release. The ‘Nexus’ EP follows the DJ/producer/filmmaker’s 2016 LP ‘The Odyssey’ on his own Deepblak imprint and recent 12” ‘The Motion Syntax’ for London’s DMK. Aybee is mining a deep & hypnotic house sound to maximum effect, employing the tribal drum patterns, hypnotic synths and signature grooves that helped establish the Deepblak sound. The trio of tracks make for a perfect follow-up to RDV’s debut from Prophets of a New Generation, and fit beautifully within the trademark deep, subtle & groovy style of the Parisian DJ & Rex Club resident Molly, who herself is quickly establishing herself as a label owner with her own unique vision.
Next on Mojuba’s new Underground series is The Disciples Of Jovan Blade: a less known alias of the legendary Terrence Parker that spawned two releases between 1994-95. “Take Me Away” is smooth, soulful and emotive deep house that only peeps from Detroit were capable of at the time. The flip side features a handy instrumental version for those of you not so keen on those sweetly seductive vocals.
Due to thyphoon Dujuan, Move D and his friends Benoit Bouquin & Marco Wollenberg were trapped in the studio for a few days, when David visited Taipei in 2015 to play Corner Club. All the flights to and from the island were cancelled during the storm, so the three had some extended studio- and red-wine sessions. Looking back from now- these were all worth it and the best thing that could happen- 3 hazy and timeless cuts from the eye of Dujuan.
Frame Of Mind is back with another re-issue of a 25 year old record. Gerd’s very first house release called Afterglow, produced under the alias of It’s Thinking together with two of his (highschool) friends Mark and Dirk-Jan, was picked up by John Acquaviva for release on the short lived Plus 8 subsidiary called Malego back in 1992. The EP features five warm and atmospheric house tracks recorded at a dark attic room somewhere in the west of Holland in 1991. These days Afterglow is quite a sought after record that rarely turns up cheap on discogs.
Hamburg’s Achim Maerz arrives on DBA with an expansive twelve track package. Split across a 12″ ep and a cassette, ‘Experiments’ is a collection of live, improvised house jams recorded in the summer of 2015 in the artist’s home studio. The title refers to the fast and rough recording of the material, with the aim of catching a mood before process and self-awareness take over.
Gnork and Luv Jam have worked closely together for many years now. The Blorp93 yellow vinyl surfaced in 2013 and since then, there have been a few secret cuts nipping about here n there. Those very secret Blorpers are here on one precise 12′, with ‘Sexxx in Space’ the biggie from Gnork’s Lost In Budapest Mixtape! LuvJam adds a few sexy dream nips for those DJ’s who like to add another dimension.
Italian duo Ksoul & Muteoscillator are back on Uzuri with a 12” starting with a killer openings tune. They featured on a mini comp on Uzuri back in 2010 , titled ‘ From Chicago Turin Amsterdam & Dublin With Love EP’.
Slow Town’s 17th release from Melbournes Luis CL is an ode to analogue jams. The Cran town EP shows what Luis CL (one half of the Zanzibar Chanel duo and co-founder of Ruff Records) is know for: Dirty but groovy drum arrangements, analogue synths and dreamy melodies and his kind of Lo-fi and blurry mixdowns with definitely some Detroit influences. The three tracks were recorded in one take during his studio sessions.
Jason Fine makes his full DBA debut with the Moonscapes EP after remixing Typesun for the DBA Dubs series.
The tightest duo since Batman and Robin is back. Rick Poppa Howard and son Tevo Howard team up once more for an emotional house trip.
Championing an inimitable groove, The Possé present three club ready tracks on their Season’s Greetings EP, combining the know-how of house with the energy and spontaneity of a live band set up. Recorded at the legendary Citisound and Rec Studios in Sydney, the tracks on KEN004 each deliver different perceptions of the up-tempo house beat they’re quickly becoming known for. The title track is probably the heaviest delivery from the label to date, highlighted by the iconic drip of the TB-303. Cheeky guitar licks and 808 rhythms jump in and out of the tracks on the EP, keeping it fresh on the live tip.
”Attitude” is the first 12” from the forthcoming compilation series “What The F*ck Do You Know About Deephouse”. Tthe compilation will feature a heavy onslaught of producers from around the world along with older productions that were major influences which helped to shape the philosophy of the sound.
The fifth release from Horse On Horse by Thorsteinssøn, 2017 EP. Thorsteinssøn is back on the horse and dishes up four summer soul house vibes.
The 3rd part of the Humans Drums & Machines – Trilogy by House Master Ron Trent! The last part of the series seems to be the strongest. Ron’s unique sound spectrum in full beauty is shown here on “Dimentions & Beyond”.
The Hipodrome Of Music 