Review: The second in D'Julz's rollicking Raw Toolz series brings four 'Out Of Place Artefact's to the contemporary deep house sphere. From 'Big Wag' to 'Lionozed', every track on this dreamatic, diatonic whorl eschews high tones and sibilants for a rigorous, plombing exercise in depth and draught. The sampled, suspended echoes of jazz and piano blues ripple through the extra space thus provided; for those DJs seeking a selection of mid-set sauces, precooked to keep the party pumping, from which to choose without faf, this is your record, courtesy of the longtime French DJ and production artisan.
Review: It was 1993 when Chicago's DJ Skull first released these four face-melters, and we can only imagine the faces of the dancers hearing this for the first time, amid a frenzy of other, softer variations of house. Be warned: this is still a frightening prospect on the dance floor today, as it was almost 25 years ago. The Southside DJAX affiliate re-drops the never-ending tunnel of a tune that is "Stomping Grounds", followed by the more minimal, stripped-back percussion shots of "Don't Stop The Beat". On the flip, "Stomping Grounds 2" ups the tempo and chucks in a layer of hypnotics round the lower tones, while "The Kissing Game" reduces the tension and aggression of the previous tunes down to a softer, more soulful house swing guided by that dusty drum machine programming that makes it signature Skull material.
Review: Black Angus Records founder DJ Soch is no stranger to ChiWax, having made his label debut in October 2023. Curiously, this is the previously prolific producer's first outing on wax since then - and it's a doozy. The four tracks on show are undoubtedly classy, fusing the far-sighted, intergalactic ethos and analogue-rich approach of Motor City dance music with the warm tactility of Italian house and the soulfulness of garage-house. He begins with the rubbery synth bass, loose machine drums and spacey pads of 'Walking To The Beat', before reaching for some vintage soulful vocal samples and oodles of sonic smoothness of the delightful 'Kiss My Baby'. The R&B vocal-sampling 'Lost On My Way' sits somewhere between the two tracks (with added synth-sax solos), while 'Soul Deep' is a breezy, sun-drenched delight.
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