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.
Omar S returns to the wax 12” after a slew of heavy-hitting double packs. 3 tracks, raw yet smooth like an uncooked sausage.
NDATL Muzik with a Special Edition featuring 3 tracks by Kai Alce, Mike Huckaby and Jay Daniel.
Influenced by his passion for Detroit and Chicago’s House and Techno scenes, on his production debut some deep tracks with nice baselines, layered with strings, soaring pads and an abundance of hats and snares.
Rick Wade, K.Alexi, Fantasna and Jorge C signing in for this 9th release for the South American Ojodeapolo label. A fine Various Artists compilation titled Combo EP. A-side begins with Jorge C. “Baile” a set of playful chords , seductive machine drums plus percussions,voices & whispers and surrounding baselines. Followed by “Sun On My Face” by the legendary Chicago star K Alexi Shelby consisting on a mysterious, hypnotic and sensual refreshing summer hit. B-side continues with the one and only Rick Wade, who delivers a tremendous track called “Darling Your Love” transporting us to his own sound-signature developed before by his own imprint Harmony Park label. Last track is “Faraon”, a real deep-acid-anthem that comes by the hand of the young promise Sebastian Mella aka. Fantasna, one of the best kept secrets from Santiago de Chile.
Amir Alexander with his project The Guerrilla Soul! comes with versatile 4 track deep house EP for Vanguard Sound.
Several years in the making Mike Grant finally completes the second Cool Peepl project. Originally assembled in 2002 for the Puzzlebox Sharevari remixes, Cool Peepl is a collection of Detroit artists coming together for a session. Focusing less on machine based tracks, the group focuses on organic productions. “Free” features former Members of the House vocalist Bill Beaver, longtime percussionist Sundiata O.M. and the multi-talented heavyweight Amp Fiddler. Andres comes with the remix.
Davina, Carlos Nilmmns, Niko Marks offer a quintessential blend of Detroit house tracks. Comes with a remix from Andres.
True old school quality house and techno tunes by OB Ignitt, known for his collaborations with Omar S, on the first release for his own label Obonit Records.
‘Planetary Telepathy’ – intelligent rhythmic perception, inspired by cosmic energy. Featuring tracks from Drivetrain, Woodward & Jefferson, Rennie Foster and Mattimoe & Perrine.
Detroit’s Walt J has undoubtedly become a legend of the house/techno scene since his first release in 1995 on Vigilante Records. After 17 years of absence, M. Jones is back and chose parisian imprint Unlearn to share his unique style with the world. This EP sets another step to the unlearn foundation, underlying the founders thirst for eclecticism in electronic music.
Considering the combined talents of Detroit veteran Terrence Dixon and Black Jazz Consortium man Fred P, you’d expect this split EP for Finale Sessions to be a lesson in warm, soul-flecked depth. Pleasingly, that’s exactly what it delivers. Dixon excels with the sub-sporting alien futurism of “To The Bridge” – the aural equivalent of staring into space while dancing to electronic jazz – and the sumptuous, minor key bliss of the casual deep house jam “Starting Over”. Fred P, meanwhile, delivers two contrasting cuts. There’s some acid-fuelled deep house futurism in the shape of “Circuit”, and a chunk of bongo-laden dancefloor humidity in “The Road”, whose rising strings and sweet melodies are arguably the highlight of a superb EP.
Two tantric dancefloor jams marks the return of Theo Parrish to his spiritual home and life’s work Sound Signature. Building on the same rhythmical territory as the recent 12” for The Trilogy Tapes/Palace/SS.
With Landed marking one of the recent high points in an illustrious career for Detroit producer Norm Talley, the man himself returns to Landed to examine lead track “Travlin” with a pair of revisions that showcase different outcomes with the confines of slender, refined deep house. “Part 1” takes a dubby path, anchored by a hypnotic chord pattern while the beat ticks away in an unfussy manner. “Part 2” is the more sublime turn though, paring things down even more with a thoroughly minimal set of drums and a wonderfully hypnotic melodic tone undulating throughout. For a classy set of stripped down house shakers, look no further.
Given the “contemporary classic” status of Danilo Plessow’s Raw Cuts series – arguably a string of 12″ singles that helped redefine deep house for a new generation – the announcement of a surprise remix 12″ is enough to make even the most level-headed DJs go weak at the knees. Pleasingly, said remixers more than live up to the hype. Marcellus Pittman’s version – smooth and deep, but with enough raw disco cut-ups and wonky Detroit swing to impress those who like it raw – is particularly good, though Mike Huckaby’s locked-in deep house groover is not far behind. There’s also a superb version from Recloose, whose crackly, shuffling beats, sweeping pads and soulful vocal samples recall his earliest productions for Planet E.
“Straight from the Mahogani Music camp, Joy Of Sound are back with another deep detroit vocal house single that includes mixes by Black Boxx & Scott Ferguson…”
Stunning tracks by Monty Luke on his own Black Catalogue label. Beautiful emotive tracks about the streets of Detroit. Beauty and unexpected danger.
FXHE return with the master of the mysterious OB Ignitt! Arriving roughly a year on from the last slab of Ignitt goodness, Mysterious finds OB on imperious form, once more showing off his penchant for excellent track titles and singular slant on bumping Detroit business. The title track is a veritable epic of unquantifiable emotive stakes, emerging from a heat treated fog and easing into a subtle yet beguiling rhythmic framework which coaxes you into a spell that grows stronger as the track charges electrically forth. Face down, “Celestial Salacious” has that same rough edged bass line growl to it, but the skipping percussion and building layers of instrumentation give the track real energy, whilst you can almost feel the funk dripping off final track “Chocolate City”.
