Mystifying Stump Valley mixed House and Disco to a Balearic, almost hypnotic Ambient zen’. According to legend Stump Valley moved their whole studio offline and into the woods.
deep house
Keytronics – Keytronics Ensemble EP [ROYAL036]
Warm, balearic tinged deep house tracks from the italian house master Kekko Montefiori who became immortal with his 1990 Calypso Of House release. Here we have some tracks recently found on some unreleased tracks found on old tapes recorded in that same era by Kekko.
Toby Tobias – Gravitator / Right Turn To Nowhere [ESP061]
Toby Tobias can be found in the shadows of South London. This is his first offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, ‘Gravitator’ evolves slowly over ten minutes from a somber intro of supernatural sighs, pulsing machine feedback and techno squelches into an ethereal landscape peppered with dissonant fragments of synth. With side B’s ‘Right Turn To Nowhere’, Toby stretches out even further, flexing a tasteful programming of the 808 while taking the long road to a reverb-drenched crescendo of distortions and expansive string swells.
VA – Various 01 [NRML021]
The first Normals Welcome V/A 12” sees some familiar faces as well as some freshies to hit the label. The A side represents two Vancouver, BC based projects: ESB and Ambien Baby (a new collab group from Sophie Sweetland aka D. Tiffany, and Daniel Rincon). The Paronomasiac aka Nik Kozub, head honcho at NW starts off the B side, with London, UK duo Metropolitan Soul Museum rounding it all off.
Aleqs Notal – Ascending Nodes [SISANOTAL]
Sistrum welcomes Aleqs Notal to the family with Ascending Nodes. Arriving as yet another unique thread in the ever-expanding fabric of the Sistrum sonic tapestry, the EP is a statement on deep, warm vibrations for those in search of soul cleansing sounds. Listen often, listen loud and dance abundantly…
Thread – Conningham EP [REACH001]
New UK based imprint aiming to bring you atmospheric and emotional treats that toe the line between bass heavy, electro leaning, house & techno and everything in between. The label’s first outing comes from the duo Thread.
VA – Welcome To Paradise: Italian Dream House 89-93 Vol.1 [ST003-2]
Safe Trip releases Welcome To Paradise, an expansive retrospective of the Italian dream house sound co-compiled by label founder Young Marco. At the tail end of the 1980s, a new take on deep house began to emerge from Italian studios. ‘Dream house’ drew inspiration from key U.S deep house records of the period – the spacey melodiousness of Larry Heard’s productions, and the rich jazziness of tracks originating in New Jersey in particular – but sounded distinctly different. Its’ ‘head-in-the-clouds’ feel – all rich chords, tactile basslines, fluid piano lines and starry electronics – made ‘dream house’ a uniquely Italian proposition.
VA – Welcome To Paradise: Italian Dream House 89-93 Vol.1 [ST003-1]
Safe Trip releases Welcome To Paradise, an expansive retrospective of the Italian dream house sound co-compiled by label founder Young Marco. At the tail end of the 1980s, a new take on deep house began to emerge from Italian studios. ‘Dream house’ drew inspiration from key U.S deep house records of the period – the spacey melodiousness of Larry Heard’s productions, and the rich jazziness of tracks originating in New Jersey in particular – but sounded distinctly different. Its’ ‘head-in-the-clouds’ feel – all rich chords, tactile basslines, fluid piano lines and starry electronics – made ‘dream house’ a uniquely Italian proposition.
VA – From Chicago To Detroit V6 [DOFTD006]
Volume 6 of the sought-after series From Chicago To Detroit compiled by Jordan Fields. The A side kicks off with ‘Moonman’s Return’ and a full 12” version of ‘The Runner’ from Boo Williams. Side B features tracks from Steve Frisco, Morgan Alexander, Giles Dickerson.
Electric Sound Broadcast – Lovesteady EP [EVR024]
For the first release in 2017, Echovolt draws from the Canadian continent to bring an EPfrom mysterious producer from the west coast. An inventory of thoughtful cuts bringing dubby motifs, early Italian house elements, and moody synth-work. A diverse expansive 12″ presented with an all around deep, straight to tape sound quality.
Gerait – Room 110 [SM004]
Hailing from the deeper westside of Frankfurt (South Hessia), Sound mirror welcomes Gerait, head honcho of Bockenheim Housenation. Sweet ambient sounds slide into a deep house stomper on side A, followed by an atmospheric and lush minimal synth disco track on B1, plus a bass heavy, slightly eery and sort of tribal rhythm track on B2.
Ron Obvious / Phrased – INTLBLK001 [INTLBLK001]
From the twilight zone of Rhythm Section International comes a new label for 2017: International Black. International Black is the sound when the lights go off. Recorded entirely on analogue hardware via reel to reel tape, this inaugural release features two hypnotic and timeless tracks from two of South London’s finest exponents of real house music. The record is made with the dancefloor in mind; channelling that moment in the club where things get dark, hypnotic, a bit weird and a lot more interesting.
Ron Trent – Drums [EB008]
The Chicago Maste Ron Trent returns on his own imprint Electric Blue with the second part of the “Humans, Drums & Machines” – trilogy.
Deviere – Baptism By Water Fire & Spirit EP [NLRN005]
American artist Deviere is back on Parisian label Unlearn. Lobster Theremin artist and Unlearn affiliate Royer is on remix duty. Water Drums (A1), a deep and spacey cut for a moody and introspective club experience. Strong yet subtle in the low end, this one is for the big sound systems. Royer’s Demi-Monde remix comes up as a more housy interpretation, mixing dubby inspirations with lo-fi aesthetics. Rising (B1) is an upfront dancefloor track suited for peak time euphoria. Speak Into Existence (B2) is probably the most accessible track of the EP, oscillating between acid-yet-warm feelings and solemn preacher-preachin’ vibes.
VA – Neo Violence Sampler 02 [NVS002]
Prague based label Neo Violence releases music from all over the world and with no genre restrictions. Or as they claim “simply anything good from house, techno, electro, acid or bass music” in addition to running a bunch of club nights in their fair city and we salute them. On their second label sampler, we get treated to a bunch of gnarly and jackin’ lo-fi grooves from the current mainstays of the label roster. Tracks from Jupiter Jax, Baltra, Low Tape and newcomer ROWVN.
Radius – Portal To Canis [MATH098]
On ”Portal To Canis”, Chicago’s Radius aka Ramon Norwood serves up 4 tracks of House with a downtempo/electro sensibility. ”A Dash Of Acid” and ”Seperated” kick off the A side, ”Women Are The Gateways…” continues the party on the flip.
Rick Wade – People Of Earth 006 [POEM006]
Rick Wade delivers 3 excellent tracks for People of Earth’s sixth release. Escapism is warm, distorted & moody. Dark strings, chords & a thick kick with low end that gives subwoofers a work out.
Rings Around Saturn – Erosion Part 2 [AAR008]
Continuing a geological Journey, Rings Around Saturn (AKA Dan White) returns with part 2 of his Erosion series. Dreamy pads and arpeggiated synth patterns weave throughout hypnotic rhythms. 3 tracks spanning from Ambient to Techno.
Jay Bliss – Vrăjitorul din Orz LP [SG004]
Debut longplayer by Romanian DJ and producer Jay Bliss. After a few years of releasing quite a bunch of EPs on various labels, Jay Bliss has pulled down the throttle for a while. This doesn’t mean that he took time off from the studio, on the contrary, he perfected his signature sounds. Spending time to bake his own imprints aswell, its only natural that his first LP will see the light of day on Stomping Grounds. Lush and organic pads, playful textures and attention to details are the building blocks of this introspective work, divided into 6 pieces.
DJ Jus-Ed – Transition [UQ067]
Underground Quality boss Jus Ed is beginning 2017 in fine fettle, with Transition – his first album since 2014 – heading up a spate of vinyl releases. The triple-vinyl set is full of evocative, immaculately produced deep house treats, from the Alton Miller style intricacy of “The Loop 222 Bodin Strasse” and shuffling, yearning “The Day Prince Died”, to the rich bass and dancing drum machine hits of “Medellin My New Grooveland” (inspired, apparently, by a recent trip to Colombia), and the low-slung, Motor City grooves of “Sci-Fi Connection”. Best of all, though, is the rushing positivity of “Spring is Near”, where intertwining synth lines bubble away over a fizzing, techno-influenced rhythm track.
The Hipodrome Of Music 