Pre-release of Daniela La Luz’ second album on Housewax called “Counting Days”.
deep house
VA – Hamburg EP [FM12014]
New release on Frank Music featuring 4 crafty, oldschool House rooted tracks by Smallpeople, Suburb, Tilman Tausendfreund and Simon Ferdinand.
The Black Madonna – Stay [DINER002]
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).
Rick Wilhite – Vibes 2 [RHM010CD]
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.
Ed & Jen – Love It Or Leave It [EDJ005]
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 – Raw 7 [SMR014]
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.
VA – NDATL Special Edition 2014 [NDATLSE14]
NDATL Muzik with a Special Edition featuring 3 tracks by Kai Alce, Mike Huckaby and Jay Daniel.
Joey Anderson @ Dekmantel Festival 01.08.2014
The Rhythm Odyssey & Dr Dunks – Broken Drums / Super Chips [CHANNEL047]
After ‘Saffron’ and ‘Fox’ stormed the clubs last year Eric Duncan and Dean Meredith unleash another double headed monster that will detonate the dancefloor.
RA.428 Steve Rachmad vs Sterac
Cuisine Dub – Udacha 9 [UDACHA009]
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.
John Daly LIVE @ Chalet (Berlin) 13.06.2014
Haron – Optics [TAPE006]
Equally inspiring follow up to Harons debut on Tape Records, this one featuring a brilliant remix by Gifted & Blessed.
Christopher Rau – Lost in Brooklyn [THEMA039]
”A syncopated pattern of stabbed chords remains the benchmark of the track, anchoring a groove that initially builds using off-kilter, intentionally grating background noise. As resonators get turned up and tensions mount, the moment when the funky, hi-hat led percussion finally arrives around the 2:20 mark is met with the kind of exuberant release that dancefloor-heaven is rooted in. Lost In Brooklyn continues to ebb and flow throughout its remainder, with peaks and troughs that power through until the end and renders it more than a bit of DJ weapon. Besides Rau, Norm Talley is also back on Thema and with a kind of focused fury that only he can sustain. He infuses Raus upbeat production with his Motor City hypnotic soul and reworks it for a deeper, later hour. The motif that makes up the A-side is eschewed in favor of subdued pads, skittering cosmic washes drenched in delay, and driving drums that straddle the line between house and techno. The contrast between each side of this vinyl plays off the other nicely, but they both retain the sophisticated charisma that ties everything on Thema together.”
VA – Ended Up At The Ambassade [ENS002]
After their debut release by Xosar, the Belgian club night imprint ”Ensemble” returns with a 12” by ”de Ambassade”, a collective term for ambassadors Ben Sun, Xan Xoda, Raw Sketches and Sisterhood. Four strong house tracks.
Kettenkarussell – Easy Listening [GLGLP004]
In times where a rave feels pretty much like a funfair, the chairoplane is still the nicest ride. Thinking of Kettenkarussell some might remember one of those gathered moments in a low summer night under the clear sky when things made sense for a while. But those memories fade away quite fast or seem really strange a few years later on youtube. So what is it that is left behind? After 10 years of collaboration the couple decided to do an album that might challenge the comfort zone of those who try to keep up that easy living. It’s a record full of holes. And still this is what keeps them together. In pain we trust… and yes i believe you and me will make love forever…
Anthony Nicholson – Four LP [DAS006]
Anthony’s fourth album is simply called ‘Four’ and features 12 masterpieces of deephouse music. Every track is a masterful lesson in the art of this genre. They are beautiful and originally composed, including elements of jazz, garage, disco, RnB and classic house. Anthony Nicholson clearly shows that he is gifted with an amazing imagination and also a proper knowledge of musicality.
Brian Harden – Tour De Chi [SIS024]
Since the label’s inception, Sistrum has kept an ear to the future while always keeping its roots firmly planted in the rich musical heritage of early house and techno – raw, real & unfathomably deep. In keeping with this ethos, Sistrum proudly presents a true Chicago original, Mr. Brian Harden. Three classic, late ‘90s cuts are brought together for a new generation of music lovers to enjoy, never before available as a 12” release.
Maayan Nidam / Laverne Radix – Split EP [PERLON101]
Maayan Nidam teams up with her alter ego Laverne Radix and delivers a 4-track split 12”, including a remix by mister Boo Williams.
Die Roh & Okee Ru – Beam Boom Bum EP [MLE004]
3 craggy dancefloor cuts of disco infected technoid shuffled 808 beats and quirky samples. Lucretio (Restoration/Machines State) on remix duty has delivered a methane-fuelled remix of ”Non la Rai”, adding illicit 90s happiness to the original beats. A remix that could easily cross-refer to his hard-to-find tunes on Warm Sounds.
The Hipodrome Of Music 