Time Circle is the first solo Moomin 12″ of this year and it sees Sebastian Genz in a classic streamlined and soulful deep house mood.
deep house
Aybee – The Alchemy EP [DBRV023]
Aybee follows up the experimental musings of the Sketches Of Space LP with an EP directed in large part directly at the dancefloor experience. In what could be called Aybee’s first Techno outing, ‘The Alchemy EP’ sees Aybee offering 3 tunes which mesh rhythm, drive, and sonic colorings. In line with the Deepblak creative ethos, and rounded off with a simple directive.
Unknown – Slow Down 001 [SLOWDOWN001]
Leeon – Rest and Be Thankful EP [NSUD001]
First release from new Glasgow based Label NordSüd Recordings. The label is owned by Lee Duncan who records as Leeon and it will be him who has the honour of providing the first outing with a remix of the title track from friend and sometime collaborator Hutton Drive.
Barrut Fulsara / Joe Europe – Behrang / Out Of The Park [BK011]
Bokhari Records return with another in their split-single series, showcasing new and exciting artists, Barrut Fulsara and Joe Europe. Two stellar tracks on the always reliable Bokhari.
Reagenz – The Periodic Tale [BK010]
Few projects in electronic music have remained at the very cutting edge for as long as Reagenz, a collaboration between San Francisco based Jonah Sharp aka Spacetime Continuum and Heidelberg based David Moufang aka Move D. Twenty years after their first project, comes The Periodic Table, a stunning live album captured at The Bunkers tenth anniversary party at Public Assembly, Brooklyn, January 2013. The Periodic Table incorporates elements of house, techno and ambient in an organic flow that few artists could replicate.
Jerome Sydenham, Aybee, Ron Trent – S.A.T. [IRC125]
S.A.T. is the new production unit formed of Jerome Sydenham, Aybee and Ron Trent, three individuals whose respective discographies command instant respect. What apparently started as a simple dinner one night has grown into a full album between the three who evidently struck on a studio chemistry that warrants further material on the strength of this eight track album. Issued by Sydenham’s Ibadan label, SAT lives up to the sales notes billing as “loose and organic” and cuts like “The Gate” and “She Was” have that timeless quality one expects from a project Ron Trent is involved in. It all feels remarkably cohesive despite the fact the trio completed the album in under three weeks.
Suaave / Roman Muhlschlegel – Welcome To The Soul Estate [SOULES001]
The German label Soul Estate presents its debut EP, a record that amalgamates the right elements of the early ’90s with contemporary freshness. The “future” side features Suaave’s “Luminary,” which begins with a deep and airy chord-pad, slowly building until the 909 kicks in and the chords ignite. “Glass” is the laid-back A2 – slow, relaxed, and funky grooves highlighted by a fluffy synth-solo. Roman Mühlschlegel delivers the “past” side, recalling the good old days of early ’90s Chicago house with “Belladonna” and “Cool Down World.”
Tyson Ballard ft. Sheff – Feel Like I Feel [VR016]
As a follow up to Tyson Ballard’s Feel Like I Feel EP, Voyeurhythm present remixes from two modern day legends John Daly and Legowelt.
Hashman Deejay – Sandopolis [FT026]
Hashman Deejay’s Future Times debut, Tangerine, was something of an overlooked gem – an exotic, melodious gem that pinned Tangerine Dream style electronics to a restless techno groove. This surprise debut album has a similarly dreamy feel, even if the techno side of his output has been tamed a little. Instead, we get a range of eyes-wide-shut compositions that variously touch on Mood Hut style deep house (“Mercury”), ultra-deep electronica (the odd beats, spacey noises and relentless chords of “Mozaic”), swinging, Max D style drum workouts (the rich bass, dubbed-out synths and loose house grooves of “184”), trip-hop style downtempo beats “Statues PF”), and thrillingly loose, new age house anthems (“Xssential-3”).
Miltiades – Outermost Sensitive Paranoia Ep [SYNAPSIS013]
Greek producer laces up 4 tracks that combine textures, pads, rhythms, & arrangements that to feel deep within your belly button. The term House has undergone many changes, but always music that resonates with a listener’s soul.
Franck Roger – #4 [HI004]
Home Invasion is the label from Real Tone man Franck Roger, a man whose career has scaled the full depths of house music over the past decade or so. Evidently seeking a new challenge, the Parisian’s new imprint promises to adhere to a vehemently underground way of working, with every EP released on vinyl-only terms and produced exclusively on analogue equipment.
ASOK – Hunter EP [SCN006]
Scenery label boss ASOK steps up with the next release, and that it comes with a remix from Dutchman Boris Bunnik in his Versalife guise is the icing on the cake. This is heady and original dance music from Scenery that continues the motion that has been set with the first few releases.
John Barera & Will Martin – Graceless [DOLLY020]
Boston based production duo and room-mates John Barera & Will Martin continue their journey into sculptural, storytelling House music, with their debut album on Dolly – ‘ Graceless’. The pair’s work has found a wider audience since the success of ‘Reality’, which found its way into the hands of Berlin’s Steffi, and acted as a central gear and in her 2013 Panorama 05 Mix. John Barera has been a firm disciple of the House and Techno world for the past 10 years, and after launching Supply Records in 2011 has brought an elegant, resoundingly universal mixture of underground club tracks to the fore. A fresh and fruitful partnership with close friend Will Martin grew out of the pair’s rapidly growing studio, and the latest results can be found here over the 8 cool, classy and refined contemporary House tracks.
Community Corporation – Aquifer EP [ARGOT011]
Experimental house and techno producer Community Corporation joins the Argot family. Predictably, pinning down the sound of Aquifier is tricky. Contrast, for example, the dub-influenced deep house looseness of “Sunken Water Table” – all tumbling keys and strange noises – with the clanking rhythms, mutant bass and ghetto-tech inspired swing of “Crystalis”. “Patent Lies” and the more Detroit-influenced “Subterranean Limestone”, meanwhile, sound like a tougher, more out-there take on the heady sound of the Mood Hut and Future Times camps.
KDJ / Rick Wade – Moods And Grooves Classics Vol. 4 [MG049]
The fourth installment of the classics series features two of the label’s most successful artists Kenny Dixon Jr. and Rick Wade. KDJ’s untitled tracks were previously issued as a limited pressing so here’s your chance to get one if you missed out the first time. Longtime and well respected deep house soldier Rick Wade is featured on the flip side with two classic deep house offerings from his first appearance on Moods & Grooves.
Vlad Caia – Codex EP [AMP007]
It’s been a little while since a fresh injection of refined minimal techno was issued from Vlad Caia, but now the Romanian stalwart is back with a fresh pair of subtle gems for Amphibia, with whom he dropped the Projections EP back in 2012. “Voluspa” is a cyclical workhorse powered by undulating bass synths and swirling pads with a decidedly cosmic flavour to them, working just enough dubby flourishes into the mix to keep things fluid and warm. “Behind The Black Meadow” by contrast takes a slender funk to task with the finest slithers of percussion and a yearning line in melodics as expressed through heavy doses of filtering for a truly subconscious slice of micro house.
STL – Sound Transmission [SOMETHING026]
The latest Sound Transmission from Stephan Laubner under his STL project alias comes in shape of a 12 inch vinyl for likeminded people who are interested in the d-i-y sound research of the Something records audio sense facility.
Scott Ferguson – Keep It Deep Podcast 010
Joey Anderson / Nicuri – Spectrum EP [STH001]
Sound Theory is a brand new label from Exchange Place DJ/producer Nicuri. Here, he handles B-side duties, with pal Joey Anderson stretching out on the A. Given the standard of his debut LP, it’s little surprise to see Anderson impressing here, with the deep acid of “My Cassetts” providing a pungent blend of undulating 303 lines, sparse pads, occasional starburst electronics and cymbal-driven percussion. Nicuri toughens things up on the flip, dropping a pair of tracks that revolve around heavily compressed drums, hustling rhythms and vintage techno electronics.
The Hipodrome Of Music 