UK producer Tom Carruthers delivers another masterclass for Skylax, diving deeper into the DNA of house music with ‘Deepline’, a 5-track journey that connects the raw futurism of the late ’80s to the deep innovations of the early ’90s. Known for his MPC-driven grooves, Carruthers has become a true guardian of machine funk — always stripped down, always pure.
Joe Lewandowski is back on Skylax, trying to find the subtle balance between new wave, italo, rock completed by the sepulchral voice of Stolt and a deafening remix of the brilliant Mufti.
Originally released early last decade, Simoncino’s four-part The Warrior Dance series boasted a mix of inspired original productions and superb remixes. This 12″ contains four of the best remixes, all of which first appeared between 2010 and 2012. Ron Trent’s EP-opening revision of ‘The Warrior Dance’ is little less than analogue deep house perfection – all sparse drum machine beats, bittersweet chords, sci-fi synth sounds and the producer’s usual emotive piano motifs – while Gene Hunt’s take on ‘Do It Again’ is hypnotic, bass-heavy and reminiscent of Larry Heard’s most bittersweet early works. Merwyn of Virgo Four drops two takes on ‘Mystery Girl’: a raw, analogue-rich deep house main mix, and a sparse, jacking and groove-based Dub.
Second time around for Chez Damier’s superb remixes of Simoncino classic ‘Inga’s Creme’, which first surfaced way back in 2011 as part of The Warrior Dance Part 2 mini-album. On the A-side you’ll find Damier’s ‘Club Mix’ – a superb chunk of Prescription style peak-time deepness in which hazy, echoing synth sounds, ultra-deep pads and echoing spoken word snippets cluster around a locked-in, late-night groove. Side B opens with Damier’s ‘Morning After Mix Part 1’, an even deeper and more dubbed-out interpretation tailor-made for misty-eyed sunrise sessions. It’s followed by the ‘Morning After Mix Part 2’, a previously unreleased ambient house style interpretation built around gorgeous chords, bubbly melodies and slowly building percussion.
The Hipodrome Of Music 