Tasteful Nudes welcomes prolific French producer Anaxander to the fold for our sixth release, An Orderly Life. At turns dark and thumping, melodic and melancholic, and hypnotically whirling, each track finds Anaxander expanding on American dance music influences to create something wholly his own.
“Teilstueck” (German for part or segment) is the next excerpt of Jacob Stoy’s ongoing attempt to translate his surroundings into music. It’s his second EP for Uncanny Valley and is even more multifaceted than his debut “Redenswart” from 2012. With “OMG” you’ll get the feeling that something sublime will happen right from the beginning. It’s one of those tracks whereby time stands still until a mighty synth-line unfolds in all its glory. “CFM” comes in the same musical vein with a similar and slightly melancholic bass-synth dominating the drumming. By far more cheerful is “MKM”. Based on a catchy bass line foundation, Jacob Stoy showcases wonderful synth-effects and sound with the beautifully oscillated pad making the cut. This is House music for machine lovers. The flipside starts with “HIM” and probably the most floor-friendly track on the record. The slowly but steadily rising organ chords prepare things and when the carefully targeted percussion elements come in, it feels like summer will never end. In contrast, “QFL” lives from its mysterious atmosphere and is very good example for Jacob Stoy’s preference to use Electronica-like sounds for his House Music. The record is rounded up with “HHM” and a little nod towards past times when he used to play in a Jazz band. With its Delay effects, a fuzzy guitar and a great bass melody it’s not far away from Krautrock either.
Bok & Trago are back with another 12” of deeply textured, hypnotic House music. This time taking a melodic approach on the A-side main mix of ”Need This”, the London-Amsterdam duo borrow and flips motifs from a classic. ‘Need This (Radio Mix)’ is a piece of slow-burning deep-tech, helicopter blade arps hovering over epic FM bassline and churning percussive guts. A well-deserved melodic reveal at 4 minutes gives way to plenty of weightless beats to keep DJs busy on the loop button – blending perfection ensured. On the flip, the 12” mix strips out the melodies and turns up the percussive heat. The results are a sweltering dub strictly for the dancers, a meandering trip through the jungle, flanged helicopters drawing closer.
Rough House Rosie dedicates the sixth release to its Japanese listeners with a four track compilation from four different Japanese producers. Legendary Takayuki Shiraishi (aka Planetoid) releases a track ‘Nightfall’ which was first out in 2002 on a CD ‘Slow Shoutin”. He is teamed up with Mitsuaki Komamura renowned for his unique sound on record label Weedis. Miruga (Ethereal Sound / Badance) delivers a strong deep track on B1, while Mahal has his debut with a catchy bass driven tune as a final track of the EP.
In addition to the odd collaboration with Chrissy Rau and Nicolas Villebrun, the wonderfully named Jacques Bon is a long term affiliate of Smallville Records, holding things down in Paris for the Hamburg operation. Having contributed a rather tasty lopsided jacker to the label’s Thirtyfive Ways compilation last year, afull EP for Smallville is long overdue and the four tracks on this Two Hearts 12″ will leave fans of the Hamburg operation wanting much more. Bon can do dreamy and sumptuous, as on opening track “Jasmine’s Dream,” or deep and contemplative (“Sunday Evening”) whilst the B Side demonstrates the Parisian is fully geared to produce tracks calibrated for mid set detonation. “The Sails” is as perfect an example of musically rich gliding deep house as you will find right now.
The first record of Deetron’s new label finds him teaming up with Ripperton under their rarely seen Roots Panorama moniker.
By all accounts Romanian producer Borrowed Identity is having a splendid 2014. Currently based in Berlin taking political refuge from his homeland, the producer has already racked up strong 12″ releases. This 12″ for the evergreen Hometaping is Killing Music label shows how diverse Borrowed Identity’s range can be, dipping into similar sample laden territory to MCDE with sublime results. It’s apparent from the off with “Feeling Blue” centred around a lovely chord refrain that hooks you as soon as it drops, whilst “Nation Under A Groove” nudges the tempo up a few notches before the mood eases back down with the pair of beatdown burners on the flip. Strong four track EP with some solid sample driven tracks. Effective and tasteful house music.
Not the usual Bio Rhythm release… as far as they have any usual releases at all. Recently the label accidentally came across this lost treasure by Midnightopera (Workshop) and signed in at the spot. Produced in 2007, ‘Five’ is an epic 12 minute journey straight into downtempo/deephouse walhalla, making your sunday morning seem to last forever. The 2010 rework is delivered by bad boy Roger 23, diving into even deeper territories and adding some psychedelic elements to make it safely through the other side and back. Sunrise over Riegelsberg.
Liverpool-based producer Bantam Lions returns with his third 12” for the Scenery Records label. Lead cut ”Recollections” is particularly good, delivering a deep and attractive fusion of fuzzy analogue warm, dreamy melodies and intoxicating chords. He ups the tempo further on ”Many Years Later”. Which layers dubbed-out chords and swirling textures over an energy-packed techno groove. The accompanying remixes are pretty tasty, too, with The Cyclist particularly impressing with his Detroit techno-goes-lo-fi interpretation of ”Recollections”. That said, the dreamy, new age-influenced downtempo take from Mood Hut regular Cloudface is pretty darn good, too.
New release on Frank Music featuring 4 crafty, oldschool House rooted tracks by Smallpeople, Suburb, Tilman Tausendfreund and Simon Ferdinand.
The Black Madonna tries a different approach on this debut for the recently launched Night Owl Diner label. You could certainly describe both tracks as “Balearic”, and there’s a real air of wide-eyed positivity about the tumbling melodies, swirling synth-strings and mid-80s pop production of head-nodding deep house cut “Stay”. It’s pretty darn tasty, all told. Almost as good is “Requiem”, which appears to be built around a loop lifted from Cherrelle and Alexander O’Neal’s “Saturday Love” (with, of course, additional synths and tuneful electronics).
As a DJ and promoter Rick Wilhite has been holding it down for over twenty years. His ‘Vibes New & Rare music’ record store has been a main source for soulful electronic music in Detroit until its closure a few years back. The ‘Vibes New & Rare music’ compilation only features material that Rick Wilhite truly believes to represent the artists. After releasing Volume 1 in 2010, Wilhite now delivers the sequel, featuring pioneers and new talents alike from New York, Chicago and Detroit.
It’s been three years since husband-and-wife team Jus’ Ed and Jenifa Mayanja released their collaborative debut album, Let’s Groove. Since then, both have been busy with solo projects, delivering a large volume of releases in their distinctive warm, melodious and loose deep house style. Love It Or Leave It, then, is something of a rare treat for those who dig their wholeheartedly positive and spontaneous take on deep house. It’s perhaps a little breezier than either producer’s solo work, with less immersive pads (though they are present, particularly on the chiming “Love Bubbles Change”). It’s still deep, though, with cascading melodies, picturesque chords and occasional soul-flecked vocals riding a range of deep, sinewy house grooves.
DJ Qu – aka New York-based producer Ramon Lisandro Quezada – has been doing his thing since the mid-2000s, delivering spacey deep house cuts. There’s more stargazing fare to be found on his latest EP on Strength Music. “Raw 7” has a real sci-fi feel, with alien synths melodies and outer-space stabs riding a powerful, cymbal-driven rhythm. “Untitled (High Life)” is a little more relaxed, with picturesque electronic melodies complimenting a dense, afro-influenced house groove. It’s floor-friendly enough, but positive enough for home listening, too. Finally, “Soma” is thrillingly deep, transporting listeners to the far reaches of the galaxy via endless chords and shuffling percussion.
NDATL Muzik with a Special Edition featuring 3 tracks by Kai Alce, Mike Huckaby and Jay Daniel.
After ‘Saffron’ and ‘Fox’ stormed the clubs last year Eric Duncan and Dean Meredith unleash another double headed monster that will detonate the dancefloor.
Having previously impressed with an eccentric chunk of lo-fi, sun-kissed, house-not-house on the Udacha 6 EP, Croatian producer Cuisine Dub has been offered the chance to showcase his unique take on electronic music with an EP all of his own. It would be easy to describe his warm blends of traditional instrumentation, off-kilter house rhythms and toasty textures as “Balearic”, though that really doesn’t do them justice. There’s a pleasing eccentricity to the hypnotic grooves and incessant keys of “Track 3”, while “Track 4” sounds like psychedelic dub given the deep house treatment (without really sounding all that much like your average deep house track). The EP’s more downtempo moments, including the Bob James-goes-minimal flex of “Track 5”, are also superb.
The Hipodrome Of Music 