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.
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.
After Joey Anderson’s fully acclaimed EP, french label Latency delivers its third release by Workshop co-owner Even Tuell
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…
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.
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.
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.
‘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.
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.
Tardis strikes back, straight out of their intricate space-time-continuum. Here, label co-honcho Oscar Schubaq delivers a tour de force of the first order. Schubaq betrays his respectful mastery of the classic tropes of house and techno. The main cut “Take It” is direct and to the point, pushing onward and onward with a graceful relentlessness. Ethereal dub textures and curious string harmonies mingle with vocal harmonics. Then there’s “Exposition” which does exactly as it should: Straightforward, contemporary house that honours it’s roots.Finishing the EP with “Triade”, a dark ambient journey based on the core of extreme timestreched vocal drones and organic scapes, Tardis once again shows that it´s not only about music for the dancefloor.
La Ciudad Interior EP was produced by deep Explorer artist Dubbyman. He’s mixing electronic music with jazzy chords and some space spherical grooves, giving us a brilliant mixture of different styles and vocals. It took almost one year to complete this three track EP. Dubbyman has been drawing a lot on musician friends for adding a human touch. He has been blessed with amazing vocals by Bjak, Jenifa Mayanja, Gianluca TheHuge, Sinovuyo Tshomela and Debra Jones-Davis.
Just Another Beat with some stripped down house tracks with a lush warm vibe from Sven Weisemann. Crafty, sparse, late night House cut b/w proper, warm House banger.
Kiss The Sun EP is a collection of 4 outstanding tracks from artists that know a thing or two about genuine deepness. Featuring Ernie (Minuendo /Deep Art Sounds), Natan H (Ethereal Sound/Manmakemusic), Brian James (Unfocused) and Owen Jay & Melchior Sultana (Moods & Grooves/Underground Quality), BBR06 portrays the distinct Batti Batti sound taking the listener on a warm journey of different textures.
New Romanian project called Bacauanu with some excellent hypnotic Romanian House style on Pleasure Zone label.
With just one other record consigned to the project it’s not often we witness label boss Jimpster turning his hand to his discofied alias on Delusions Of Grandeur. Any keen followers of the label will be more than satisfied with the vibe on offer, as a slower kind of house groove takes hold for three tracks infused with spiritual sampling, starting with the wistful, soulful tones of “Painted Lady”. “Lumpsucker” has a stronger electronic vein running through its core, matching Chicago drums and snaking arpeggios with washes of chords to keep the mood mellow, before “Camberwell Beauty” scrubs out the edges and drifts deep down into a sumptuous pillow of laconic house.
Third release on Albion Records. Rick Wade’s lush, deep house tune “Giggin” is paired with Brit Wil Maddams’ aptly titled “Warm Organic”. The jackin’ retro vibe of “Feel It” by Gene Hunt is paired with the groovy techno of “Woods For Trees” by Dudley Strangeways on the flip of the “Council Estate Soldiers” EP.
‘Ortloff Zehn’ is a family getaway into the dark woods of Lindenau with four fantastic tracks by Jennifer Touch & PorkFour, John Barera & Chase Smith, Mod.Civil and QY
The Hipodrome Of Music 