Juno Recommends Deep House June 2018

Review: Henri Fontaine has been a deep house devotee for nearly as long as the genre has been in existence, and his appearances on My Love Is Underground confirm his commitment to the sound. Now his Inner Sense project makes a welcome return to MLIU after a seven-year gap with the fresh, invigorating piano house delights of "MoTP." It's a classically styled jam with infectious chords and MIDI sax to bring the house down. The A side however hands the keys over to Tuff City Kids, who inject a little of their colourful party muscle into the track with a cheeky acid line, a couple of breaks splashes while maintaining all the positivity the original version imparted.

Review: Kamaal Williams has described The Return, his debut solo album, as "a natural evolution from the Yussef Kamaal project". Yet while that was made in collaboration with drummer Yussef Kamaal and played around with jazz in its myriad forms, The Return sees the man sometimes known as Henry Wu stamp his own mark on proceedings. So while "visionary jazz" (as the press release puts it) is his aim, this manifests itself in a range of ways. Contrast, for example, the leisurely jazz-funk flex and stoned feel of opener "Salaam" with the more groove-driven, dancefloor vibes of "High Roller", where sinewy strings tumble down over hip-hop influenced live house beats, meandering Herbie Hancock style synths and a superb bassline.

Review: Long serving Irish producer Derek Carr continues to enjoy a resurgent career following his appearances on For Those That Knoe, now stepping up to Love Notes for some of his most effervescent house jams to date. "Sidewinder" is a sprightly, Detroit indebted house workout pitched at peak time, while "Stepping Out" trips into classically informed techno for the back room crowd. "Search For Intelligence" is a great example of how to execute sweet natured electro, and "Indigo" ditches the kicks to twirl into more of that Motor City flavoured machine soul magic for the mind.

Review: DJ Koze's music is very much suited to the album format. Although his last effort through this medium was back in 2013, his explorative nature and wide-eyed, improvisational style are simply made to branch out into areas outside of the more predictable house and techno formats. Knock Knock comes through on his own Pampa label, with its seventeen tracks all providing us with something different and wonderful, from slo-mo r&b sounds to funky, wayward house music that is most certainly at the 'outside' of the house spectrum. There are plenty of special guests, too, including Mano Le Tough, Sophia Kennedy, and many other relevant talents. A Koze speciality.

Review: Just a year shy of 20 years old, "Asiko (In A Silent Mix)" from Tony Allen's perennial Black Voices album enjoys a timely revision as part of Dekmantel's 10 year anniversary celebrations. This one comes from Motor City Drum Ensemble who maintains the dubby washes and pure spaciousness of Allen's original while refocussing the drums for more of a deeper dancefloor drive. Not quite as extensive as Villalobos's half hour remix but sometimes is a sweet seven minutes is the perfect punch. Jump on this.

Review: PLO-Man, C3D-E and Hashman Deejay finally unveil their long-awaited "Inversia" follow-up and, in keeping with Acting Press tradition, it's not likely to hang around. Two tracks and four beat tools deep, it's another ageless excursion. Side A is an unrelenting sub-aquatic roller drenched in pressurised atmospheric pads while Side B flips the coin for an oceanic ambient wash-out where our minds, bodies and souls are ensconced to dimensions we didn't know existed. Loaded with four flighty beat tools, it's yet another detail-rich project from the Globex project.

Review: Introducing Basic Vision, a new imprint releasing a vinyl series of rare classics from the legendary back to basics club. Selected and compiled by the man who played the first ever record at the club, original resident DJ Ralph Lawson. All the tracks are cut to vinyl from the original master recordings and given enough time on high quality vinyl to ensure clean, loud pressings with original artwork by the godfather of punk design - Jamie Reid.
Basic Vision 001 features one of the greatest ever house music records - Lil Louis & The World's 'I Called You (The Story Continues), still a firm favourite of Ricardo Villalobos. The flip side boasts perhaps the most rare cut, first championed by DJ Harvey and still highly sought after today, M-I-Cara's 'Casa Beat'. While Mike Perras all time classic 'Keep Movin' completes the EP.

Review: Brawther makes his long playing debut on his new label Negentropy, and the long serving French house producer has never sounded freer in his vision of electronic music. "Flow" is a gorgeous ambient opener to the album, setting the scene for the immersive, mellow house tones of "Another Dub." "Theme From The Dungeon" switches stance again for a hip hop tempo, while Javonnte comes on board to deliver a soulful vocal over the broken beat lilt of "I Can't Explain." "Jaxx Freaxx" brings things back to a dancefloor focus, which "Brudan In Leeds" builds upon with an easy deep house tone that should satisfy Brawther's long time fans. "Hazy Groove" is a laid back minimal house roller, and then "Pickney" closes the album out with an even more stripped back workout for the later hours of the party.

Review: Northern Irish duo Bicep has built their production career on blending, repackaging and reimagining classic house influences. It's little surprise, then, to find that this latest 12" does the same. Hammer collaboration "Dahlia" sets the tone, combining the bold pianos of vintage Italian house with the kind of dreamy pads and snappy drum machine rhythms that recall the Halcyon days of late '80s/early '80s Balearic house. There's more of a sweaty warehouse feel about "Rays" - all yelping female vocal cuts, booming garage bass and skipping beats - while "Seagulls" sits somewhere between the two tracks, offering both bottom-end bump and eyes-closed sweetness.

Review: American lo-fi house champion Grant is back with the fourth edition of his eponymous imprint. There's a familiar anthemic loop accompanying the moody acid groove of "Spiritual Path". The beats get broken up next, but the track is still in spiritually emotive fashion on the lush "Mediate" while the flipside features more soulful and reflective moments for late night dancefloors. In particular, the sensual "The Other Man" or the ultra deep and dub inflected mood lighting of "Capital Road" somewhat reminiscent of his tremendous work on last year's No Lights EP for Lobster Theremin - one of last year's favourites! Following up his brilliant Perception LP last year on Duke's Distribution, Grant retains his winning streak.

Review: Sebastian Genz's third full length this time around is surprisingly not released via Hamburg's Smallville (an imprint he's a known staple of) nor his own Closer Music - rather, it's for London deep house merchants Wolf Music. The Yesterday's Tomorrow LP is said to see the Berlin based artist go back to his roots, revisiting his early influences such as hip-hop and jungle, mixed with the sample driven house he's become renowned for. Deep and dusty late-night emotions await you on "Daysdays" and "In Our Lifetime", a soulful/jazzy kinda something on "Maybe Tomorrow", the liquid drum & bass of "Move On" (which calls to mind the mid-'90s glory days when Alex Reece and Peshay reigned supreme) or the blunted urban blues of "949494". it's a compelling listen from start to finish.

Review: Legendary German DJ/producer David "Move D" Moufang first appeared on Electric Minds back in 2013. "To The Disco '77" was an undoubted highlight of that 12" and here gets the remix treatment from the man himself. His "Live Rework" is a wonderfully loose and lucid affair, with quietly jazzy guitars, New Jersey garage organs and headline-grabbing vocal samples wrapping themselves around foreboding, low-end chords and nifty, on the fly drum machine programming. On the flip, Moufang joins forces with Mister Saturday Night man Justin Carter for "Leaves (Basement Demo)", a wonderfully deep, rich and spacey house cut that recalls the long-serving German producer's intelligent techno era output (albeit with the added warmth of head-in-the-clouds deep house).

Review: Get Down Records continues to serve up surprise seven-inch reissues of classic Chicago house cuts. The latest TRAX Records smash to get the treatment is Marshall Jefferson's "The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)", a track famously mixed by sadly departed Music Box legend Ron Hardy. On the A-side you'll find a slightly shortened version of the original vocal mix, which did so much to popularize house music as a style worldwide. Over on the flip is the "Drum Your Body" instrumental version, which naturally strips out the vocal, adds a few more drum machine hits and emphasizes the now familiar stabbing synth riff and bouncy piano lines.

Review: Here's something to get the blood pumping: a surprise collaboration that brings together Dutch stalwart Frits Wentink and rising star DJ Boring (E-Beamz, Lost Palms) for the very first time. The pair are in fine form on cheeky A-side "Oli Coony", a bustling, dub-fired fusion of shuffling early UK breakbeat, dreamy deep house and quirky cut-up madness that's as funky and floor-friendly as it is unusual. On the flipside they get busy with strange, vari-speed synthesizer tones and a bustling, bass-heavy, UKG-influenced deep house rhythm on "Derek Anthony", before opting for a chunkier groove and intricately edited stabs on head-mangling late night roller "Chad Brothers", which also boasts a seriously addictive bassline.

Review: Gene Hunt is one of the few producers from the original wave of Trax Records signees that still flies the flag for Chicago house with as much gusto as when he started. This is his second trip out on Inner Shift Music, and it finds the US house veteran on impeccable form. "Kayla Dream" is a light, airy jacker defined by amorphous synth washes that match the mellow mood of the label. "Distant Voyage" is a truly standout track though, dealing in crooked rhythmic structures and channelling the techno side of Hunt's muse. "Open Up Your Eyes" maintains the introspective mood, but this time welcomes some soulful vocal turns into the adventurous, machine-powered landscape.

Review: The WineLambs is a new project on Troubled Kids from label founder Jesus Gonsev and Dan Piu. It's an assured trip into buttery smooth deep house for those who likes things sensual, starting off with the plush tones of "Falling In Your Arms" featuring the soulful vox of Shareen. "A Genuine World" is another hazy gem of a track, setting adrift on a bed of harmonious chords and achingly understated bass. "Poti Poti" is a spicier affair that pushes the beat to the foreground and gets a little choppier with the chords. Grant Focus turns in a remix of "A Genuine World" that strides confidently into rock solid deep house territory once more, extending the scope of this EP while maintaining the consistent vibe.

Review: Trevor Lawrence Jr impresses us on a constant basis, with his debut album paving a new way for funk and soul music all around the world, subtly swinging to the delicate touch of deep house at its core. This time, however, the imprint is Local Talk, and they've decided to release the "Tiptoe" single onto glorious 7", a format which is perfect to showcase its slow, meandering waves and delightfully seductive vocals; there's a DJ Spinna remix, on top of Lawrence's magnificent single, with the experienced producer coming through smooth and effective thanks to some elegant beat-work and plenty of soulful vibes. Killer!

Review: Minuendo keep things interesting on this latest various artists 12", primarily focusing on Owen Jay and Brian James on the A side for two tracks of adventurous experimentation on the wild frontier of minimal house music. The wobbly synth running through "Niko's Groove" is a real head turner, while "Imagery" nudges the grand tradition of dub house into a new pocket of ambience that draws you in immediately. There's a lovely, classic deep house joint from Untitled called "Seafood", and then Blue Vulva & The Electronic Crooner completely flip the script on the B2 with rowdy acid burner "Vulbitch Bazaar".

Review: Until recently, it was rare to see early Chicago house anthems on seven-inch single. Get Down Records is on a mission to change this and has been pumping out dinky TRAX reissues at a furious rate. Here they serve up a fresh pressing of Frankie Knuckles' most celebrated single: 1987's double A-side "Baby Wants To Ride/Your Love". Really, you should know both by now - they're amongst the most played and written-about house tracks of all time - but if not, check the sound clips. Remarkably, both the sleazy "Baby Wants To Ride" and luscious, rush-inducing house-soul of "Your Love" sound as fresh and inspiring now as they did 31 years ago.

Review: DJ Deep and Roman Poncet first launched their collaborative project Sergie Rezza back in 2015 on Desire Records, and now the project makes a welcome return with another dose of utterly stellar deep house concoctions that go beyond the average while maintaining a sense of classicism about them. "Envole" is a sumptuous blend of snaking rhythm, spacious pads and cosy keys, all draped in exotic garms that make this a transcendental house cut to treasure. There are also more adventurous trips into percussive territory on the focused and deadly "Le Reveil," crafty jazz diversions to be soaked up on "Max" and poised ambient pieces "Eclipse" and "Procession" to seal the deal.