Review: Native Soul Recordings has been around a long old time in dance music terms and now it looks back over some of its finest works with this first in a new series of Best Of comps. Music writer Harold Heath is first up with 'Slipstream,' an effortless smooth late-night house cut with introspective chords and silky pads bringing real depth. The Candy Dealers get more lithe and elastic with the spraying bass and jumbled percussive house of 'Train Of Thought' and last of all, Asad Rizvi remixes Jevne's 'Moderize' with a funky little bassline and chord vamps that keep you on edge. A tasteful package of timeless house grooves.
Review: Tatsy Recordings is up to a fifth release and it wants you to sample what it is all about with this fine sampler. It kicks off with Disko Junkie's 'I Like To Party' which will indeed get you ready to party with its lavish grooves. A Nu Disco Mix of Discotron's 'September' then brings more good time feels with its colourful synths and vibrant rhythms. Flip it over and HP Vince has got the sauce with 'Got The Groove' with its loopy bass and classic samples, House Punkz then rework another super smooth soul sample into some disco house beats and Serial Thrilla end it all with the slamming 'More More More.'
Doni & Leo Young - "Rebelion In The City Of Gangia" (6:03)
Pastaboys - "On & On" (Panna mix) (6:32)
Hiver - "Magic Crusade" (5:51)
GPM, Steve Mantovani, Dan-E-MC, Daniele Mad - "House In Full Effect" (9:21)
Feel Fly - "Armaduk" (6:08)
Review: Rebirth is thrilled to announce the release of three bonus parts of the 'Ciao Italia. Generazioni Underground' album in 2023, available on limited edition vinyl. 'Ciao Italia' Bonus Quattro, Cinque and Sei continue to connect two generations - the trailblazers of the early 90s and those continuing the legacy today, with a futuristic perspective and renewed energy. Bonus Sei includes classic tracks from legends like Doni & Leo Young, Pastaboys, G.P.M., Steve Mantovani, Dan-E-Mc, Daniele Mad, along with unreleased material from newer Italian artists such as Hiver and Feel Fly.
Review: Big Love's popular compilation-style A Touch Of Love series returns for a sixth instalment, with boss man Seamus Haji once again showcasing a quartet of tried-and-tested treats. Fittingly, he kicks things off with 'Serious', a kind of hbrid heavy garage-house/disco house affair featuring organ solos aplenty and vocals from Chicago legend Mike Dunn, before Moon Boots joins the dots between sweet 80s soul and nu-disco on the synth-powered vocal number 'In My Life'. Heavy, French Touch-inspired disco-house vibes are provided by DJ Fudge ('Escapade'), before Dutch rising star Danou P - with a little help from pal Jamie 3:26 on vocals - delivers the organ rich deep house/garage-house fusion of 'Fly'.
Review: The self-titled Hard Drive Library production outfit is back with a fifth offering of raw-assed house music. This latest three-tracker is another direct-to-dance floor offering that starts with the rickety loops and endless reverb of 'Extra Wet' which has thumping kicks, serrated electro-house synths and yelping vocals. 'Another' is a much more smooth and feel-good groove with summary, uplifting French house synth loops and last of all 'Less Euphoric' is actually more euphoric with plenty of pent-up energy, bumping drums and happy melodic loops that cannot fail to bring a smile to your face.
Review: Second time around for Harlem Hustlers' surging disco-house anthem, which first appeared in stores way back in 2005. This time round, the Italian duo have reworked it considerably, placing underground boogie legend Orlando Johnson's lead vocal front and centre while opting for some more organic-sounding instrumentation (the original was more sample-heavy). On their '2023 Rework' they channel the sound of Groove Culture label bosses Mickey More and Andy Tee, wrapping Johnson's vocal, tidy horns, flanged guitars and classic-sounding piano riffs around a warming bass guitar part and crunchy house drums. It's a very classy and far more authentically 'disco'-sounding track than their 2005 original. Their flip-side 'Get On The Floor' mix, meanwhile, has a smoother, more synth-heavy disco-house sound, less vocal and even more of the excellent horn sounds.
Help Me Find My Way (feat Seta - Pontchartrain remix) (5:47)
Elevate (The Carry Nation remix) (5:06)
Review: Heidy P is a long time associate of the Rocksteady Disco crew and now she treats them to her first ever solo release in the form of Elevate. It is, as you'd expect of her, a house record through and through, but one packed with plenty of her own charm and personality. Opener 'Elevate' is a classy and jazz-tinged, Latin-styled groove that will electrify any floor. Next is the hugely emotive, soulful and gospel drenched 'Help Me Find My Way' with uplifting vocals from Seta. Pontchartrain then steps up to remix 'Help Me Find My Way' into something deeper and Carry Nation close out with a more freaked out sound.
Herd & Fitz/Hannah Wants/Abigail Bailey - "I Just Can't Get Enough 2024" (6:39)
Herd & Fitz/Jakkob/Abigail Bailey - "I Just Can't Get Enough 2024" (5:26)
Herd & Fitz/Abigail Bailey - "I Just Can't Get Enough 2024" (5:16)
Herd & Fitz/Abigail Bailey - "I Just Can't Get Enough 2024" (H&F Sunrise mix) (6:00)
Review: Back in 2006, Jason Herd and Jon Fitz scored a colossal club hit with 'Just Can't Get Enough', a funky and chunky house number featuring impassioned lead vocals by Abigail Bailey and a prominent sample from Kariya's late-80s dancefloor classic 'Let Me Love You For Tonight'. 18 years on, the track has been given a makeover. Hannah Wants steps up first, retaining the vocals and Kariya synth samples while combining it with a beefy, tooled-up house groove, before Jakob reaches for mid-90s organ bass, a grandiose breakdown and even bigger builds. Flip for two reworks by Herd and Fitz - a rushing, peak-time friendly, radio-ready big room house re-wire, and a bouncier, piano-sporting 'Sunrise' revision.
Review: Vega Records finally drops this EP from Honeysweet having teased tunes from it on the Vega Records 5 Pack Unreleased III. It's a superb house offering with lashings of soulful groovers, all produced by Josh Milan. First out of the blocks is 'Last Night Changed It All' featuring Lawrence Clark on sax. It's a jam that will pack out the floor but brims with real musicality from the magical Rhodes, picked bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. 'Crazy' is a more raw, textured percussive sound but then come plenty more feel-good grooves for sun-kissed dance floors such as 'Being Free.'
Review: Ah, Hot Creations, home to the hippest house music that cites disco and 25 year-old club anthems as its inspirations. Here, label head honchos Jamie Jones and Lee Foss revived their Hot Natured project for a sweet stroll through smiley vocal house territory in the company of one-time electrofunk revivalist Ali Love. "Benediction" is good for what it is - a vaguely deep, pleasant Hot Creations record - but the real killer here is the remix of former single "Forward Motion" by crusty old US garage head Mark "MK" Kinchen. He recalls those glory days of tough but groovy MK dubs with a rework straight out of 1993.
Please Take Me There (Makez vocal House remix) (6:30)
Please Take Me There (Sizmo A Capella dub mix) (6:39)
Review: House of Spirits made a fine debut on this label back in summer and now quickly follows it up with more sumptuous house sounds. It is an alias of Tom Noble, a mind full of soulful and blissed out musical ideas that he translates fantastically. 'Please Take Me There' is irresistibly cool and catchy with its funky bass riffs and many great guitar motifs all causing over a smooth groove. The Makez vocal House remix is deeper and has a hint of shuffling US garage to it, then the Sizmo A Capella dub mix ups the blissed out feels with new age melodies and supple, dubby drums.
Review: The second in the HouseHeadz00 Series, The Black Edition, is "a masterful exploration of house music's rich and varied landscape." The EP take in four tracks that combine seamlessly blend different subgenres into one complete listening experience. 'Recuerdo' goes for classic house with its vibrant pianos and uplifting melodies, 'Desire' heads deeper with hypnotic beats and lush textures. On the flip, 'Dream' does what it says on the tin, enveloping you in a woozy, dreamlike state with intricate layers and ethereal sounds, before 'Ever' introduces a soulful dimension with smooth vocals and emotive harmonies. Something for everyone, pretty much.
Review: Reel People Music's vinyl sampler series is back with a third offering, this time once again bringing together a fine crew of artists on lovely turquoise vinyl. Up first is a wonderful remix by Opolopo of Adina Howard that brings jazzy keys and heavy deep house drums, then Rocco Rodamaal keeps it deep with a low slung groove topped with diva vocals full of soul. The Reel People vocal mix of Zo! is another heart-swelling and soul-drenched deep house roller with lavish synth work and last of all, Michael Gray closes out with a slinky number defined by funky bass licks and classy vocals.
Review: Over the last three years, DJ/producer Mimmo "MoBlack" Falcone has turned MoBlack Records into arguably the World's leading label for African house music. Defected clearly thinks so, because the label has decided to put out this EP featuring tracks from remixes from Falcone and some of his regular collaborators. On side A Falcone joins forces with Armonica to deliver two sparkling, rubbery, positive and heavily electronic reworks of Fela Kuti classic 'International Thief Thief'. Both hit the spot, though it's the Dub, with its extended vocal breakdown and trippy effects, that floats our boat. Over on the flip we're treated to two versions of MoBlack, Emmanuel Jal and Henrick Schwarz hook-up 'Chagu': a bouncy Afro-tech take from Schwarz and a warmer, deep Afro-house interpretation by Falcone.
JR From Dallas & Justnique - "Detroit Drums" (4:27)
Review: The Lisztogrooves series is back and we're glad about it. The first one was essential and this follow-up from Igor Gonya's label features a blend of heavy hitters next to some cool emerging talents. Opening with Manuel Sahagun's smooth deep house track 'Get Yourself' things move on to a taste of US house from Human By Nature, who serves up a rich atmosphere and nostalgic 90s piano riffs. The A-side finishes strong with Gramophonedzie's high-energy jackin' filter workout then on the B-side, French producer Naux creates a deep groove built around chord stabs. Stogov follows with the soulful 'Walking Wide' while JR From Dallas and Justnique wrap up the EP with a seductive deep house finale.
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