DARAND LAND Vinilo y CD

Review: DaRand Land might not be one of those names that gets the headlines when it comes to deep house but he should be. His cultured sound is as warm and impactful as anyone's and there is plenty of it to enjoy. The Vermillion Room finds him back on regular label Pulp with his blend of New York, ambient and Chicago styles. These are elegant grooves with wispy pads that lodge deep in the brain - melodies that are full of pain, basslines that nag at you. Beautiful stuff for the club or anywhere, frankly.

Review: New York City native Darand Land is one of many dons of deep house to come from the Big Apple and its environs. He sits right at the top of the pile alongside the likes of Fred P for his smoky, low-lit basement sounds as he once again shows with this new EP on regular label Downbeat. 'Melanin Vegan' is a gorgeously bottomless and smooth as you can imagine with wispy pads and vocals off in the distance. It's gorgeously melancholic and is backed up by the heads down 'Deep4life Retrograde', more upbeat and airy 'Wonder Seven', and final gem 'Dug Deep'. What a doozy.

Review: Deep house veteran Darand Land returns on his Urban Imagery imprint, after presenting its inaugural release back in 2014 as well as 2016's Past Life Connection (as Dark City Ensemble). The Buffalo, NY based producer serves up some good ol' fashioned deepness on the new Collection Of Perspectives EP. There's deep hypnotic soul to get those emotions running free like on "On Rotation", the life-affirming groove of "Testi-Motional" is worthy of entering the creates of Alton Miller or Ron Trent, and "Flash Perception" allows for something a bit more upbeat and bumpin' for good vibes later on in the night. Tip!

Review: Two years on from the release of Heaven Electric Part 1, DaRand Land returns to Saft offshoot Pulp with a second installment. There's something particularly evocative about the techno bass, cascading electric pianos and bittersweet chord progressions of snappy opener "Our Future Now", which also comes accompanied by a fine remix by Linkwood. His interpretation is little less than sublime, reinventing Land's original as a yearning chunk of melancholic electro. Flip for the retro-futurist Chicago deep house throb of "Emanation" - think Larry Heard with a touch of Ron Trent thrown in - and the slick, dub-influenced dream house wooziness of "Mellow-ism".

Review: Francis Harris' Scissor & Thread now presents Windy City legend Darand Land; an underrated legend of the US deep house scene who first got his break releasing on Chris Gray's seminal Deep4Life imprint, where he released the wonderful Blessings EP. A highly sought after piece of musical history, for those that know. Making his comeback after a decade long hiatus, the rather mysterious producer returns with the bittersweet and emotive "Discover You". The A side cut receiving a remix by Harris and Anthony Collins aka Frank & Tony on the "Breakaway remix" where the pair put more power in the rhythm arrangement and intensify some of those melancholic chords: just sublime! On the flip, there's more funky and dusted down deepness on "Souls Awash" and then the lush, life affirming piano led vibes of "Marcela's Sense".

Review: Darand Land's career has been a curious one, indeed. After putting out a couple of heavy deep house Ep's back in the early 2000's, the producer's music started reappearing on labels like the excellent Downbeat, and Pulp back a few years ago. He returns with a magnetic EP for Paris's Confluence label, marking the debut release, and offering four beautiful pieces of house delight. "We Will Again" is softly spoken in its tone of voice, but it actually brings forth a powerful blend of beats and melodies, while "Our Pulses Are Synced" drops a dash of pseudo acid in the tune's underbelly. Following on the B-side, "Kin-Folk" is straighter and bumpier in its house flex, whereas "As I Submerse" flutters its hypnotic pads and sonics between a pleasant stutter-beat and some magnificent percussive work.

Review: Since returning to action in 2011 following a ten-year hiatus, Darand Land has delivered a string of wonderfully immersive deep house singles for Downbeat, Freebeat, Urban Imagery and Pulp. Here he returns to the latter label with more ultra-deep, soft focus fodder. There's naturally plenty to enjoy, from the spacey shuffle and tactile grooves of "Dimension Between" and the sci-fi flavoured fluidity of "Lets Interact", to the sun-bright (but predictably dreamy) "He Reveals". The package is strengthened further by a Linkwood remix of "Dimension Between", that somehow manages to take the calming original to greater sonic depths.

Review: With a decent if erratic back story in roaming, explorative deep house, Darand Land resurfaces to inaugurate the Urban Imagery imprint with his dulcet tones, and it's not hard to tell he has released previously for the likes of Downbeat. There is a fulsome New York thump to the production, not least in the rounded drum sounds, but this is all about plush pad tones and soothing bass, not least on opening track "Of The Time". "Smoky Soul" has a jazzier feel without losing that soft focus appeal, and "Luv Rekindling" too has its own distinct character, but for fans of heavy-lidded deep house all three tracks are going to enchant and delight in equal measure.

Review: Spanish label Downbeat, who gained our eternal gratitude in 2010 for coaxing a production out of Detroit legend Mike Huckaby, set up their stall for 2011 with this EP from DaRand Land. Just like Huckaby, who once noted the key to real deep house was all about "warm colourful sounds, emotional chords and melodies that strike a feeling of peace within the listener", the Buffalo born producer offers up five unnamed tracks positively dripping with these principles. Although everything here is worthy of mention, it's "Track 2" and "Track 4" that linger in the memory longest - the former for its cosy chords and bassline and the latter for it's Larry Heard-esque atmospherics and decadent synth washes.

Review: The enigmatic Freebeat label drops on our shelves with no information, but then again, who needs promotional info when the music can speak for itself? After three EP's by a small contingent of producers, the label's fourth release comes as a collaborative effort from four European deep house heavyweights. Leonid aka Paul Smith has appeared countless times on the excellent Sistrum label and comes through with the mighty "Can't Stop" on the A-side, a full-bodied cut with plenty of synth magic, followed by Nous and Echovolt's Miltiades and the slow-burning sway of "Xnn". On the flipside, there's a sweet and soulful house cut from DaRand Land in the form of "In Earnest", and two pieces of off-the-wall mentalism from Jose Rico, one of which takes a totally beatless approach. Nice bundle!