Effective drum machine rocking techno tracks by the unstoppable Mr.G.on the Don’t be Afraid Special Editions series.
deep house
Sascha Dive – Dark Shadow [DVR024LP]
That Dope Loop Pinning down Sascha Dive as Cocoons deephouse wunderkind wouldn’t really hit the nail on the head however it isn’t far from truth. Compared to most other artists of this genre he can for sure be classified as a young gun but there is no soundproof for his age in his music at all. Sascha Dive’s music is loaded with a respectful amount of taste and house history you would normally find in the productions and DJ-sets of artists who started in the early 90s. And this is not unwanted: Dive admires and follows the big names of house and deep house and his musical efforts to pay respect to them brought him on par with his legends! So it’s no wonder that Sascha Dive productions found their way to top notch labels like Tsuba, Freebase, Deep Labs (Balance US) or Raum…Musik. Not to forget his release for Ornaments and the Moodyman remix for ‘Deepest America”. Having in mind where Dive started with his first album ‘Restless Nights’ and what he achieved until he received remix-honours from Mister Kenny Dixon Jr. one could think Sascha Dive scored all goals he wanted to score. However the journey didn’t stop here: Being a Cocoon artist and having played for some of the major Cocoon nights in Ibiza and around the globe Dive incorporated a decent amount of electronic soul and after-hour-madness to his music over the last years. He even admits that his current productions and DJ-sets are definitely influenced by current techno- and techno-house artists and this special feeling this music adds to a party.
Hinode – Science Fiction Recordings 002 [SFR002]
Hinode is production name for emergent duo Matteo Chisari and Mario Resta, who’ve really hit their stride since making the move from Italy to Berlin, featuring on records with the likes of Patrice Scott, Eduardo De Calle and Amir Alexander. Launched earlier this year, Science Fiction Recordings is Hinode’s label and this second release features four untitled cuts that highlights Chisari and Resta’s ongoing development as Hinode. At times the music draws from the same deeply spiritual pool as the likes of Rick Wade, DJ Qu and Joey Anderson, while other parts sound like something that might come from the Restoration Records camp. A record for house DJs that like to get deep without the pretence.
Afefe Iku – Order of Direction [YSD062]
Beautiful electronix on the latest installment from the label’s mystery man takes us out of the jungle and into the mountains, where syncopated analog rhythms dance beside electric melodies surrounding a caravan of textures and reflection. Including a collaboration with Osunlade.
Patrice Scott – Euphonium EP [SIS023]
Providing a glimpse of great things to come, Patrice Scott offers up the Euphonium EP – a sampler for his highly anticipated full-length album entitled Euphonium, due in Fall 2014. All untitled, each track is a reward unto itself. Patrice’s hypnotic, evolving patterns and textures dance amidst the recesses of your mind, inspiring both movement and introspection. Enjoy the signature sounds and keep your ears to the ground.
Lastmood & D-Ribeiro – Modern Balance [FS021]
D-Ribeiro on Finale Sessions with a split release between him and Lastmood. A side is a heavy bass kick techno stomper, where the flip side by D-Ribeiro comes up with a fine tune with a lighter more melodic almost euphoric feel.
Lady Blacktronika – It’s A Blacktronika World [LAX136]
Excellent classic US deep house tracks that will create instant atmosphere. Lady Blacktronika has been serving some of the best deep house and slo-mo beatdown to come from the US since her Sound Black labels inception in 2010.
2DeepSoul – Moody Sync [YORE030]
Yore returns with the first appearance on the label this year with the Edinburgh-based outfit 2DeepSoul, which counts Brad Peterson and Rai Scott as its members.
Unknown Artist – Organ House [DOGE001]
Unknown Artist has been busy lately… another one 😉 this time some deeper intense edgy house tracks with a bit early Detroit techno. Great release with tracks that ooze with funk.
VA – Moods & Grooves Volume 3 [MG048]
Part 3 of 5 in the classic series features material previously released (Andres and John Tejada & Arian Leviste) on the M&G CD compilation “Beneath the Surface” but never pressed on vinyl. Also featured are planned but unreleased nuggets from Brad Peterson and Ewan Jansen.
Introspective / Roberto Bosco – Introspective [BMUK005]
Roberto Bosco comes to Balance with an exclusive project, “Introspective”. The first song from this project is “When the Rain Comes Down”, a collaboration with Jenifa Mayanja that offers a smooth deep tech production with spoken vocals and a hook of eternal qualities. Also included in this project is a remix by up and coming young Italian producer Peter JD. Side B is deeper, mind-tingling techno, consisting of two tracks called Untitled.
Even Tuell – Longing Way EP [LTNC003RE]
After Joey Anderson’s fully acclaimed EP, french label Latency delivers its third release by Workshop co-owner Even Tuell
Red Rack’em – Zoned [CFR008]
Deep funk driven house tracks by Red Rack’em. Comes with a delicious jazzy remix by Dj Nature. Kicking off the EP is the title track ‘Zoned’ which as the name implies is an ode to being ‘too far gone’. With a pitched down vocal, disorientating chords, heavy kick-drum and yearning male larynx hollering ‘music is the place to be, want it right to hold me free’, the track definitely takes you to a deeper place. Just before it gets any darker a dose of sax licks come in to inject some groove and light to proceedings. Sounding like a long lost 8-mile beatdown track that wouldn’t be amiss on an old KDJ B-side or LP a la Silentintroduction or Forevernevermore, this is definitely one for the real heads with the lights down low…
Innerspace Halflife – Astral Traveling LP [SYNAPSIS010]
The album Astral Traveling by Innerspace Halflife is among us with 9 tunes straight from the universal psyche, yet articulated with the tools of human perception through waveforms. Deeper and deeper the tunes take a listener on a journey of spacey pads, longing melodies, electronic bass notes, and jacking drum programming. In terms of human understanding, the universe is infinite which makes any scenario one can think of possible. With this in mind, Astral Traveling was composed and explores the deepness of creativity as Innerspace Halflife reaches down to pull out sounds using various techniques.
Joey Anderson – XLR8R Podcast 337
Kindimmer – Moodswing EP [SF002]
Soulfood’s second release builds upon the impact of its predecessor. Greek supertalent Kindimmer shares three of his most elegant and funksoaked house tracks to date on this ”Moodswinger EP”. Add to that a James Dexter remix that just makes you want to get down and lose control.
6th Borough Project – Borough 2 Borough Remixes [DOG037]
Cuthead serving up his trademark scratchy, swinging MPC beats with clattering percussion and stabbing chords on his excellent remix of Back 2 Black. Perfect, leftfield house music with depth and flair and a perfect example of why the Uncanny Valley regular is picking up so much praise right now. Next up Fantastic Man gets to grips with Read My Mind, bringing a lovely bit of proto-house flavour to the release. Chiming DX7 synths and lush pads are the order of the day here, creating a lovely warm up vibe before going heads down and dubby for the final 3 minutes. Flipping over were treated to some lush, slo-mo-lo-slung vibes on the Ben La Desh remix of Walk Away, the Dutch producer teasing things out with a chugging 7 minute workout which will sound dreamy and creamy on a big system.
June – Keep It Deep Podcast
Marcellus Pittman – Do You Like Music EP [DWNBT008]
‘Our time is now’ and ‘Extra credit’, are two detroit-flavoured house tracks with sequences coming from Mars and melancholic keys with the unmistakable Marcellus Pittman mood. The release is closed by ‘Happy to be here’, a gloomy downbeat-Hip hop track made with MPC.
Route 8 – Dry Thoughts EP [LT004]
Budapest producer Route 8 follows up his exceptional debut EP for Nous with an excursion into the depths of his private production world on ‘Dry Thoughts EP’. Hazy summer pads drift over tight, rhythmic drum patterns and crystal synth lines with skittering rhythms and jacking interludes providing a further study into his analogue, machine-led style.
The Hipodrome Of Music 