Outstanding & smoked-out late night house works by Tommy Finger Jr. on Lake Placid.
deep house
VA – Workshop 15 [WORKSHOP015]
Jefferson Velazquez – Circling The Matter EP [TER005]
Jefferson Velazquez remembering his Chicago days with some straight no chaser tracks. Heavy bass and synth action.
Deep Space Orchestra – Mongolian Nights [QUINTESSE029]
The second Deep Space Orchestra (Si Murray and Chris Barker) EP for Quintessentials is some raw and analogue business topped with the DSO funk. Wolf Music hot shot KRL adds some piano and old school power on his remix and we must admit we’re delighted.
Jacob Korn – You & Me [UVLP001]
‘You & Me’ turned out to be an amazingly fresh and versatile album, and in good old Uncanny Valley tradition, a highly collaborative affair that goes far beyond the deep house description, making it very well fit for both home listening and dancefloors worldwide. A track like the dark and dirty ‘Heteronomous’ with Uncanny Valley fellow Sneaker lines up alongside the bright and sunny anthem ‘Punta Del Este’ together with Belgiums San Soda. Artists like Christopher Rau or Mr Raoul K add their trademark sounds but there is always that specific approach of Jacob Korn that connects the tracks.
Norm Talley – The Westside Project [VP003]
Number three on the french label Vibes & Pepper comes from Norm Talley and is called the The Westside Project. Lead track “Do What You Like” deftly weaves in some expert Voodoo Ray sampleage amidst a permanently punchy groove whilst “Greenfield Groove” has Talley in looser rhythmic mood, with busy percussion driving through a thick swamp of vocal pressure and ever twisting piano riffs. B Side hugger “Grove Street Shuffle” was originally featured on the producer’s 1997 release for City Boy.
VA – Raw Mode EP [COLOMBAGE002]
Solid tech tracks by Reno Wurzbacher, Mike Dehnert and Roman Lindau on tyhe second Colombage release, the more house-oriented sub division of Fachwerk records.
Juniper / Arnaldo – We Met In Manchester [SMALLVILLE030]
Smallville reach out to Manchester, welcoming Meandyou residents Juniper and Arnaldo into the fold with the excellent four tracker We Met In Manchester. “Quiet Moon” sets the tone, a blissful arrangement that gently coaxes itself into action and swerves delightfully when in full rhythmic flight. In contrast “Selenic” is a dreamier proposition with swirling melodic textures lying deep in the mix as Mumberson and Holt shift the rhythms in and out of focus. Arnaldo is in similarly reflective fashion with “A Song Name Of One Word” which momentarily pauses on some wonderfully chiming chords before a voice appears from the depths to drive the track on.
Larry Heard – Black Oceans / Endless Flight [BM012]
Split release from the Black Market archives with tracks by Larry Heard and The It (with a main role for Larry Heard too). Two amazing tracks which actually 20-25 years later still sounds more futuristic as many releases nowadays. Spaced out jazzy keys on the mind blowing Black Oceans with trademark Larry Heard melodies. Flip side takes things to the darker chicago jack territories with the great Endless flight track by The It. This is one of their overlooked and more obscure tracks.
Jay Bliss – Pandorum EP [AIBLACK0086]
All Inn represents the Romanian Jay Bliss in the 8th round of Black series. “Kokkoo For Coco Puffs” gives a repetitive hypnosis to the dancefloors in more than 13 minutes. After the long tracker trip on the flipside “War of the Worlds” comes front of us with dry and housey rhythms filled with funk, and “Mission Control” closes the line with its perfect toolistic sound for main-time djsets.
SIT – Morfoza EP [AMPHIA003]
Stripped down & trippy house and techno from Romania’s Amphia. SIT – the pairing of Vlad Caia & Cristi Cons – delivers some breathtakingly beautiful results.
Mitsuaki Komamura – Deep Ocean EP [WEEDIS003]
Heavy aquatic house tracks by Japanese producer Mitsuaki Komamura. Slow and heavy tracks ranging from more electronic to dubby grooves.
Jonsson & Alter – For You EP [KM025]
The duo Jonsson & Alter returns with an EP more straightforward than previous works. The EP For You, aims for the dancefloor with the sophisticated house anthem For You on the a-side, followed by the deeper and unique sounding Ljuset on the b-side.
Malcolm Moore / Bjak – Love & Rhythm EP [DEEPEX026]
Imperious Spanish imprint Deep Explorer reaches release number 26 with a split EP featuring Altered Mood’s Malcolm Moore alongside long time Explorer Bjak (real name Brian Cullen). Bjak’s two cuts – “Rhythm Of Love” and “Purple Fire” – are both produced with typically immaculate poise, but it’s the sultry nature of the latter cut that had everyone at Juno HQ swooning. Malcolm Moore meanwhile serves up the swooping chords and rock hard bump of “Love (A Perilous Thing)”, which features an ethereal vocal contribution from Debra Jones-Davis, who talks about the dangers of the “L” word while the lush arrangement works deep below in the mix. Jenifa Mayanja rounds off a consummate package with a shuffling, Latin-influenced remix of “Love (A Perilous Thing)”.
Dj Qu – Infect EP [SMR011]
Killer advanced house tracks on the great Strength Music Records label of Dj Qu himself. Darker and deeper introvert tracks that slowly build and show their real strength on the dancefloor.
Secretsundaze @ Off-Sonar 2012, La Terrazza (Barcelona) 17.06.2012
Courtyard by Day
download John Heckle / John Daly / Giles Smith
Club by Night
download Sven Sweisemann / James Priestley
Flori – Lucy [SECRET005]
‘Lucy’ the double A side is dedicated to a special one, near and dear to him and has quite an epic flowing sub-aquatic groove.
Simon Weiss – Wave EP [RH042]
Simon Weiss with his first solo EP for Rush Hour. With his ‘Wave EP’ Simon delivers a tasteful and fun package, four house tracks that ride the thin line between retro and current, without trying to sound like either one.
Andy Vaz feat. Niko Marks – Don’t Lose Your Mind [DSR-H004]
Andy Vaz on Delsin house series. He serves up two versions of the same track ‘Don’t Lose Your Mind’. Both feature the sweet vocal stylings of Niko Marks and the first, the Soul Version, is all ditty, bouncy chords, floating, summery saxophone lines and warm, effusive synths. The second House Dub mix is a little sharper – the claps cut through the soupy sonics like a knife and as a result the groove has a more urgent bite. Still stuffed with plenty of human loveliness, though, both tracks are surely set for many spins this summer given their classy feel good vibes.
VA – Love’s All Right [AMR026R]
Malcolm Moore’s Altered Moods imprint comes through with the self styled “deep as fuq” Loves All Right EP featuring contributions from Dubbyman, Amir Alexander and Mr Done! The well respected Dubbyman marks his debut production on Altered Moods with the sublime “Love’s All Right”- a track naturally brimming with his signature jazzy touches and lolloping beat down groove. It’s complemented by an altogether housier remix from Above Smoke who does a superb job in cloaking elements of Dubbyman’s original production in a hazy sheen deep beneath an infinitely rise rasp of a groove. Turn over and Mr Done! Aka Mr Moore gently rolls out a melange of widescreen chords and shimmering pads over the ever rippling rhythmic snap of drums that drives “Diamond” forward, whilst Amir Alexander wins the prize for the most apt title on “Woozy!” a tightly wound driving house track whose undulating textures will cause travel sickness.
The Hipodrome Of Music 