Back in stock: Deep House

Review: Chicago label Future Rootz is a collective of mix media DJs who all play and rework global roots, tropical bass, world electronic and Latin house. Who better to do that than Detroit's Dez Andres, a deep-diving DJ, house head and producer with Cuban roots. He goes first here with 'El Trombone', which has a signature low-end thump with sunny Latin vocals, joyous horns and florid melodies. He then slows things down with one of his trademark remixes of AfroQbano's 'El Bucanero', which has noodling bass and poolside charm.

Review: First released way back in 1994 on Kevin Saunderson's KMS label, Dionne Warren's Brian Hall-produced deep house gem 'Feel Da Rain' gets a new lease of life thanks to Windsor, Ontario imprint Collective Rhythm Network (CRN). While the original 12" also featured rubs from Alton Miller and Stacey Pullen, it's D'Pac Patel's dub . a warm, rolling, US garage influenced deep house workout rich in tactile organ stabs, superb grooves and short samples of Warren's vocals - that has become the most sought-after version. On this 12", we get Patel's full-length dub (it was edited down on the original 12") and a previously unreleased 'Rhodes Dub' that adds extra electric piano action for added warmth and flavour.

Review: Last year BBE released the latest project from nu jazz titans Jazzanova. Strata Records (The Sound Of Detroit Reimagined By Jazzanova) was an ambitious project which took the formidable troupe into new territory while doing great credit to the hugely important original works. Now we're being treated to a single pulled from the album with some additional remixes of 'Saturday Night Special'. The first of these comes from DJ Amir, who also served as executive producer on the album project, working alongside Re.decay, and on the flip you can hear Atlanta legend Kai Alce doing his thing with that high grade house sound that just gets better and better as the years go by.

Review: Visions returns with another sharp collection of future-facing house, opening with a luxuriant, mid-tempo glide from Sean McCabe. A long-time figure in Bristol's soulful house scene, McCabe is known for his richly textured arrangementsiand this one, built on warm keys and featherlight percussion, leaves plenty of air in the mix. 'Rawai' from Alex & Stephan Attias moves in deeper, with Sohan Wilson's Rhodes work lending a dusty, meditative energy that simmers beneath the surface. The Attias brothers, both key players in Geneva's jazz-not-jazz underground, remain fluent in groove and restraint alike. Patrice Scott, a cornerstone of Detroit's second wave, brings both heft and elegance with 'Movements', arguably his most hypnotic production in recent memoryislow to unfold but rich with detail. Finally, Eva May debuts on the label with 'Test One', a slinky, electro-leaning cut bristling with sinewy funk. Based in Paris and new to production after years of DJing across Europe, she keeps things stripped-back and sharp, with a promise of more to come.

Review: Generously filtered, aerated and pressuristic, Alton Miller's latest, and third overall, record for Rawax is a rare breed of sci-fi sonority. 'Feels So Good' starts on an unassuming note before slowly evidencing a dark-horse talent for harmony and piano playing, with 'Next 1' bringing a fusion of French house frisson and sound-designed sunstroke synths; it's only by the undulant depths of 'Can't Master' that we chance upon piquant piano flourishes and standout retrosynth swells. Echoes of 70s dub converge on two versions of the B-side's 'Feel So Good', across which a beckon-calling MC maunders astep an effortless 4x4 flow.

Review: Chicago born, Detroit-raised Delano Smith is one of the foundational artists of the contemporary house scenes. In 2023, he revealed he was suffering with a rare form of cancer but as this new EP title suggests, he is still here and still crafting high-grade sounds. 'When I Was Young' kicks off with his signature smoky drum loops and train travel sense of hypnosis. 'The Rush' is another heads down jam, this time marbled with eerie pads and wet clicks and claps that oil the groove while 'Rewired' shuts down with real late night delicacy and evocative minimalism.