Review: Kyle Hall and Steven Julien have been working together on and off for a whole decade now as Funkinevil. To mark the occasion they have pulled together their first two releases - namely 2012's 'Night / Dusk' and 2013's 'Ignorant' - on one new double album that very much sums up their raw house sound. The Detroit-London duo draw on plenty of their hometown's signature aesthetics, from well swung drums to soulful synths, and the results are still fresh sounding and captivatingly deep. Importantly, all these years later, there is still real emotional punch in these tunes as well as damn good grooves. Essential stuff from this vital pair.
Review: Young South London dance veteran Ben Hauke delivers a worthy full-length LP for Touching Bass, Club Cute, a self-described love letter to the city's club culture. Feeling outwards from his establishing, Rye Wax-adjacent EPs and 12"s - which sounded more rooted in 4x4 house, albeit with an unmistakably SE-tinged wonky bent - Hauke's latest here leans further into the broken beats and UK garages more befitting of a full-length dance record. Welcoming a star cast of vocal and production plus-ones to the party (Jadasea, Brother Portrait, Shy One, even Katy B (!)), the effortless feel of UK club culture, particularly the midnight moods endemic to quote-unquote 'SELDN' and its many nighttime haunts in centres like Peckham, Deptford, New Cross and Bermondsey, is felt lightheartedly - cutely - throughout.
Review: Larry Heard's strain of deep house absolutely lends itself to the album format, and he demonstrated this flawlessly on the 2001 album Love's Arrival. Decades on from his first forays into production at the dawn of house music, Heard's sound slipped into a dreamlike lounge-state which spoke to continued development of his melodic sensibilities. Just stick on 'Praise' and let the sound unfurl around you, full of the aching melancholy which gives his music such power. Like machine jazz funk beaming from another dimension, this is deep house at its very best, as made by one of the true architects of the sound.
Review: Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being is one of the most fearless experimentalists in house and techno. He confronts dancefloor disillusionment head-on with Dance Music 4 Bad People, his raw, uncompromising debut for Smalltown Supersound. A veteran of Chicago's club scene, Moss channels four decades of history, highs, lows and trauma into an album that defies escapism. These are not crowd-pleasers but cathartic confrontations dense with abrasive synths, molten drum loops and uneasy textures which all crash together in chaotic, transcendent layers. There's no clean resolution anywhere, instead just tension, dissonance and moments of stark beauty. Far from a nostalgic Windy City love-in, Moss' music reflects a dance culture in crisis and provides a place to rage against it.
Review: Hats off to Jamal Moss for the tongue-in-cheek title of his latest album as Hieroglyphic being, which is naturally another pleasingly wild, freewheeling, imaginative and out-there excursion in his now trademark style. It sees him sprint between mutant electronic jazz ('Circumploar'), out-there analogue techno ('21 Days'), organ-rich post-beatdown chuggers ('Foreboding Self Pleasure'), reverb-laden ambient soundscapes ('A Dream Within a Dream', 'Delta Opus L'), industrial-strength dancefloor weirdness ('The Prograde Direction'), sub-heavy lo-fi deep house ('Black Love On An Early Sunday Morning'), sparse electronic future funk ('Future Shocked'), and jacking, sci-fi seeped brilliance ('The Andromeda Strain'). In other words, it's another excellent collection from one of dance music's genuine geniuses.
Review: HiFi Sean and David McAlmont's latest collaboration, Daylight, delivers another dose of upbeat, soulful and danceable tunes on the follow up to their acclaimed debut, Happy Ending. The first of two releases from the duo this year, with the companion album, Twilight, set for release in December, Daylight is a vibrant journey through 12 songs that celebrate the colors and feel of summer. The duo's chemistry shines through as they explore themes of joy and exploration, and fans can anticipate a deluxe limited 'Neon Orange' Vinyl Edition featuring a free orange flexi-disc, signed art print and downloadable lyric book.
Review: Given the hype surrounding HNNY over the last few years - fuelled, primarily, by a string of celebrated singles on Puss, Local Talk, Let's Play House and YUMMY - it's somewhat surprising that Sunday marks his first foray into the album market. Wisely, the Swedish artist embraced the opportunity for eclecticism that the format provides, filling his debut full-length with a mix of tracks variously designed for sofa-bound listening and dancing in clubs. There's a jazz-flecked beauty to the crackly downtempo grooves offered up by the title track, while the dreamy, guitar-laced head-nodder "Sylvia" recalls the best of his Balearic-influenced work. It's these luscious moments, such as the twinkling ambience of closer "My Baby", that really resonate.
Broken Styles (feat Tenderlonious & Robert Manzin) (5:40)
The Universe (feat DNA & Tenderlonious) (6:51)
Brighter Days (feat Theljon Allen & Cory Baker) (3:34)
Hot Sauce (feat Robert Manzin) (5:39)
We Got The Power (feat Desney Bailey) (3:59)
Troublesome (feat Tenderlonious & Vernon D Hill) (5:22)
Little David (feat Eldar Tsalikov & Tenderlonious) (5:37)
We Got The Power (Emma-Jean Thackray remix) (6:42)
Review: Kryptox returns with yet another incredible album, once more hammering home their untoppled status as the best out their for weirdo jazz at the minute. This one's from Joel Holmes, a jazz pianist mainly stooped in the dance world, having worked with Carl Craig, Roy Hargrove and Common to name but a few. Into The Abyss is a sonic tour of the the present Berlin jazz and electronic scene, with fellow Berliners such as Ziggy Zeitgeist appearing as cameos, cropping up alongside other international guests such as London's Tenderlonious.
Love Is A State Of Mind (feat Ramona Renea) (5:41)
It's Quiet Now (feat Dope Earth Alien) (5:02)
Downtown (feat Anette Bowen & Nikki O) (6:15)
Drama (feat Rimarkable & Dope Earth Alien) (7:19)
Stand (feat Cor Ece) (5:23)
In The Club (feat Eve) (5:01)
Not About You (feat Hadiya George) (6:40)
Everybody (feat Pablo Vittar & Urias) (5:44)
Show Me Some Love (feat Channel Tres) (5:56)
Don't Be Afraid (feat LATASHA) (4:05)
Work (feat Dave Giles II, Cor Ece & Mike Dunn) (6:19)
C's Up (feat Mike Dunn) (6:20)
La Femme Fantastique (feat Josh Caffe) (5:37)
Love Me Like You Care (feat Hadiya George) (4:02)
Review: House music royalty par excellence, Honey Dijon is finally gracing us with a second album after she turned her artistry up a notch with 2017's The Best of Both Worlds. Once again shoring up with her spiritual home Classic, Black Girl Magic finds Dijon celebrating love in every sense of the word, and lead single 'Show Me Some Love' is a fine case in point. There's that twitchy, freaky energy she instinctively brings to the floor, plus some smouldering vocal turns from Channel Tres and Sadie Walker. Elsewhere on the album you'll find breakthrough talents and established legends aplenty, all pulled together into Dijon's sexy, funked-up strain of tech house.
D:Ream - "U R The Best Thing" (Def club mix) (7:56)
Stereo MC's - "Good Feeling" (Mr G Turn On dub) (6:51)
Black Joy - "Untitled" (Solid Groove remix) (6:21)
Scott Richmond & John Selway present Psychedelic Research Lab - "Keep On Climbin'" (mix 2) (8:25)
Charly Brown - "Freaked Out" (11:11)
Maydie Myles - "Keep On Luvin'" (West Tribe beats) (11:07)
Johnny Dangerous - "Dear Father In Heaven" (Mr Marvin House Of Dreams mix) (7:34)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged and LP1 label on wrong side but otherwise in excellent condition***
Honey Dijon is the perfect artist for the DJ-Kicks series given the breadth of her knowledge and she delivers a killer mix with tracks from Blackjoy, Art of Tones, Shaboom, Kiko Navarro, and an exclusive new cut of her own. A Grammy-winning DJ, activist, and fashion icon, Dijon has found success in various fields while staying true to her Chicago house roots. The 19-track mix, her first commercially available compilation, highlights her deep knowledge of house music and blends forgotten classics, rare finds, and modern gems. This vinyl sampler includes one of her own original tracks, definitely one of the best of the lot.
D:Ream - "U R The Best Thing" (Def club mix) (7:56)
Stereo MC's - "Good Feeling" (Mr G Turn On dub) (6:51)
Black Joy - "Untitled" (Solid Groove remix) (6:21)
Scott Richmond & John Selway present Psychedelic Research Lab - "Keep On Climbin'" (mix 2) (8:25)
Charly Brown - "Freaked Out" (11:11)
Maydie Myles - "Keep On Luvin'" (West Tribe beats) (11:07)
Johnny Dangerous - "Dear Father In Heaven" (Mr Marvin House Of Dreams mix) (7:34)
Review: Honey Dijon is the perfect artist for the DJ-Kicks series given the breadth of her knowledge and she delivers a killer mix with tracks from Blackjoy, Art of Tones, Shaboom, Kiko Navarro, and an exclusive new cut of her own. A Grammy-winning DJ, activist, and fashion icon, Dijon has found success in various fields while staying true to her Chicago house roots. The 19-track mix, her first commercially available compilation, highlights her deep knowledge of house music and blends forgotten classics, rare finds, and modern gems. This vinyl sampler includes one of her own original tracks, definitely one of the best of the lot.
Review: Sushitech has always done a fine job of preserving and spotlighting the roots of house and techno and some of its key protagonists. This second volume of A Sillybration does that once more by bringing together some of the most sought-after tunes and vital classics from legendary UK talents Terry Francis, the late Nathan Coles, Laurant Webb, Dave Coker and Justin Bailey aka Housey Doingz. Of these 16 plenty of them have only ever been released once so are pricey if you want an original, and some have never been on wax before, at all. They have all been re-mastered directly from the original DATs and make for a vital collection of dance floor heaters that have aged like fine wine.
Review: Given his length of service, it's rather surprising to find that this is officially his debut album. If we were being picky, we'd say it's more of a compilation, featuring as it does a range of hard to find, in demand classics from the Motor City producer's vast discography. These have all been re-mastered to guarantee louder cuts. It's naturally packed with highlights, from the luscious minor key chords, jazz-funk bass and sneaky vocal samples of "The Jazz Republic" and thrilling peak-time stomp of "Dance", to the jazzy piano flourishes, loose-limbed beats and starry electronics of "Groove Box". Also worth checking is the fireside heat of bongo-laden beatdown shuffler "Mathematics From The Jazz Republic" and the sax-laden disco-house bump of closer "Flashback '78".
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