Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Detroit's Rich Wade is a human production line of always effective and subtly charming house music that provides a great foundation for any set. He is a master of cooking up delightful loops and deploying them to perfection so that you cannot help but get swept up and taken along for a ride. 'Contact' kicks off here with his signature drums and jazzy melodies that bring a playful edge. 'Low Down' brings funky bass wiggles and disco styled percussion and 'Fade Away' lands with a heavy, sweaty throb while the Philly disco strings add a touch of class. 'Night Chaser' shuts down with a more introspective feel and some emotive chords that heighten the last night mood.

Review: Rick Wade has appeared on Rawax's Motor City Edition series on several occasions, making him one of the imprint's most storied artists. The German label thinks this is his strongest release with them to date, and given the quality of its predecessors, that's a bold claim. We certainly agree that it's a strong EP. For proof, check the tactile, semi-organic deep house dreaminess of 'Ride Home', where woozy Rhodes chords and intergalactic synth sounds ride a typically subterranean groove, and title track 'Detroit Noir', a surprisingly sun-kissed, positive and celebratory affair marked out by smoky sax lines and a rubbery bassline. The fun continues on side B, where the wide-eyed, piano-laden warmth of 'After The Party' is joined by the upbeat, techno tempo wooziness of 'All I Need'.

Review: Rick Wade has been serving up quality deep house for so long (since the late 1990s in fact) that each new release he delivers comes with an obligatory "must check" tag. Predictably, his latest missive - his first, we think, for German imprint Eat More House - is packed to the rafters with high-grade cuts. Check first locked-in, head-nodding deep house roller 'Bmore Banger', where minor key chords and trippy electronic noises ride hypnotic beats and a filthy acid bassline, before turning your attention to the hazy, eyes-closed dancefloor deepness of 'NY'. Over on the flip, 'Deep Sweet Dreams' is a heady fusion of metronomic TB-303 bass, snappy drums, suspenseful synth-strings and drowsy chords, while title track 'Too Deep' lives up to its title via shuffling deep house beats, hazy field recordings, ambient style chords and twinkling lead lines.

Review: Born less than an hour from Chicago but now based in Detroit, Rick Wade cut his DJ teeth in Michigan's Nectarine Ballroom in the 80s and early 90s, at the same time as a certain Jeff Mills was also making giant strides at the venue. Wade's sound is more rooted in deep house but, as this four tracker demonstrates, there's a cosmic spirituality and otherworldliness to his music that it shares with the best of UR and other notable Detroit greats. We kick off with 'Groove Tool', powered by a beautifully pliable, funky bassline and embellished with floating chords and subtle bell sounds way up in the high frequency range. 'Pimp Prophecy' boasts a little more disco swagger, with its niggling guitar riff and some excellent bongo bashing. 'Jazzy Tears' revolves around a sturdy kick and a processed, timestretched vocal refrain, played off against jazzy guitar chords and strings ascending to the heavens. 'Ooo Ahh' is probably the catchiest of the lot, with a shuffling beat undercarriage and an infectious hook, all wrapped up - as all four tracks are - in some understated but still lush musicality. 'Deep Incantations' indeed.