Delusions Of Grandeur welcomes underground UK house hero Mark E for his debut release for the label. Mark E has crafted a distinct and original sound that is uniquely blue collar and utilitarian classic, deep house, with a tinge of disco warmth. The “Leaning Into The Light” EP is taking us on a deep trip across five stunning and expansive productions which will leave you well and truly spellbound.
With a fresh and distinctive sound, Westcoast Goddess successfully fused soulful touches and late 80’s-era digital synths with raw, punchy grooves and a euphoric, ravey atmosphere. The Berlin-based producer lands on Delusions Of Grandeur with a 3 tracks EP.
Parisian Larry Quest has been slowly but surely paying his dues, promoting, DJing and generally immersing himself in the underground House Music scenes of Paris and then London after moving to Hackney eight years ago. Growing up playing in punk bands, then studying Jazz at music college has given him the attitude as well as the skillset to create music which is both intensely raw and rugged whilst still being musical and deep. For his debut EP he delivers four drumheavy cuts which bring together elements of Detroit techno and house to form a forward-looking sound which will make an impact wherever you play them. This his debut release coming out on Delusions Of Grandeur.
Toby Tobias is ready to drop his second album. Clearly a labour of love, Rising Son touches on many of his now-familiar influences – the futurist synth sounds of Detroit techno, deep house, Chicago jack, Balearica, leftfield boogie, Italo-disco – whilst focusing on a predominantly hardware-based sound that allows his lovingly produced melodies and gorgeous chords due room to breathe. As a result, the album sparkles, with highlights – both dancefloor-focused, such as recent single “Wonder”, and more downtempo – cropping up on each of the double-album’s four sides. It’s actually the more atmospheric downbeat moments, such as the brilliant “Sending Signals” and IDM weird-out “Broken Computer” – that really shine.
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.
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.
Ben Sun On Delusions Of Grandeur. Kicking off the EP we have the title track Your Footprints setting the scene with Benʼs trademark raw hihats, bass and 909 kick. Next up Ben drops the BPMʼs a little for a lovely, loose, lo-slung number known as Affirmation. A snaking analogue bass line provides the hook and sets the scene whilst a layer of moody chords build around it underpinned by benʼs carefully crafted MPC beats and vocal FX. Finally we have the Chicago don Tevo Howard getting busy on his remix of Your Footprints.
The title track kicks off and instantly you know youʼre in for a joyous ride with the rawest house-not-house beats, p-funk bass and echoing stabs. Next up Fabrizio Mammarella gets stuck into Pathfinder reworking the original into a slightly straighter, bass-heavy monster of a track which keeps the dubbed out chords but totally wreaks havoc on the bottom end when the bassline drops. Flipping over weʼre treated to the slower paced Backbeat which builds around floating chords, chopped vocals and a boogie-inspired bassline. Finally, Abregon completely defies categorization but manages to successfully fuse elements of jazz, fusion, hi life and house into a brilliantly quirky track.
Delusions of Grandeur presents ‘The Haunted House Of House’ the debut album by Session Victim. Opening track Dark Sienna sets the mood and serves as a good taster of what you can expect from their highly accomplished debut. We’re talking looped up deep-disco territory here with a lovely mid-tempo rolling groove driven along by open hats and a square wave bassline, lush string sections and dubbed vocal hits all adding heat to the mix.
New collaborative project from Belgian duo FCL, San Soda and Red D, joining the omnipresent Danilo of Motor City Drum Ensemble for some seriously raw, stripped back and undiluted house music.
Manuel Tur returns to Delusions with a (bi) polar opposite in the form of the ‘Foolinʼ’ EP. The title track is a beautiful slice of soul-drenched house which goes for a classic sound with simple horn chords, rolling bass and incessant claps spicing up the groove. Flipping over we have ‘The Traveller’ which sees Manuel head down slightly more familiar territory with a heavy, lo-slung groove providing the backdrop for some Axelrod-style strings and horns, live bass and floating vocal adlibs. A subtley haunting soundtrack feel pervedes as the arrangement developes but the relentless driving beats make sure this track never strays far from the dancefloor.
New release from Deep Space Orchestra on Delusions of Grandeur, showing a development in their production level on two tracks which are brimming with a warmth and fatness whilst retaining that critical raw edge which only a handful of the most exacting producers seem capable of. Trickski is present on remix duties.
“Always Twirling” spins into action with driving 16th note hats, compressed pads and soaring strings. 808 snare fills rattle throughout and a warm, dubby bassline provides the speaker-troubling low end. “Twirl And The Beanstalk” goes for a more heads down, bare beats and bass approach resulting in an intense, floor friendly track that grooves extra hard. Finally, we have “Whispering Twirl”, a sumptuous slice of mid-tempo deepness with a hint of boogie and a dash of soul.
Session Victim are back with yet more 21st century explorations into the thing we call house. It s been a busy 12 months for the German duo maintaining momentum by releasing some of the most inventive, warm, deep and soulful music on a host of vinyl orientated labels. “Million Dollar Feeling” comes with a remix from the Dutchman Gerd.
Fianchetto opts for a dark, spaced-out and deeply hypnotic vibe full of warm, subby disco beats, shimmering Rhodes and echoing horns.. Next up we have Beasts And The Birds which goes for a heavy looped up disco approach full of raw Detroit sensibilities and attitude. Finally, Tim Toh stretches out Beasts And The Birds into a 9 minute journey into abstract dance.
Delusions Of Grandeur are very proud to welcome our favourite leftfield house artists Session Victim to our humble label. The Berlin based duo have been releasing some of the finest deep and underground club music we’ve found in the last couple of years on labels such as Real Soon, Hairy Claw as well as their own Retreat imprint which they run with Quarion.
The Hipodrome Of Music 