Back catalogue: House

Review: Adeen Records returns with a superb EP that blends a classic with three new and fresh unreleased tracks. Deep house don Chez Damier's Panorama Bar Remix kicks off and is a a 2021 standout with a killer baseline and Spanish guitar that brings some sunny soul and makes for some top level house grooves. Makez then shines with 'Rocket Music' which has a chunky low end and glistening, golden piano chords making it a late night favourite. On the B-side, Adeen regular Alkalino delivers a tropical-infused edit for the peak time and Gledd closes with a classy cut 'Sere Yo' that is all about the drums. Lovely stuff.

Review: Stefano De Santis kicks off Ten Lovers' new 'Best Of Various' release with 'Murk'; as the name suggests, this is indeed a dark workout from Rome's finest. The tone is set thereout for a thoroughly varied V/A, blending every curious hallmark from jazzdance, G-funk, Chicago house and progressive. The opener is a muted but no less expansive start, establishing the broken, one-beat-eliding, live-drummy mood that is then heard throughout. Batavia Collective's 'Rearview' thematically harks after an unconscious joy, considering what can only be implied, not stated, by way of a gorgeous, what sounds to be largely live, modal synth squeezer on which the slowdown is the real highlight. Future Jazz Ensemble's 'Over The Rainbow' is by far the most challenging, blurring any woulda-been established lines popularly splitting 'live' and 'electronic' with a reverb-drenched generative fill workout, while closer 'Outer Heaven' from Takahiro Fuchigami, hailing from Fukuoka, rounds things off on a note of Hancockian jive.

Review: Classic R'n'B and Afro Beat have found a harmonious blend in this standout reissue from Sedsoulciety Recordings. This release is not just a fresh take but also a revival of a collaboration that brings together the best of both worlds. "Tell Me What You Want" is back on the scene, and it's showcasing why this fusion was so groundbreaking. The A-side features the Afro Vibe Mix, where warm, pounding beats meet the rhythmic pulse of AfroBeat, all wrapped in the smooth elegance of modern r&b. On the flip side, the Groove Mix takes a more driving approach, maintaining the track's lush vocals while ramping up the energy for a dance-ready vibe. This reissue kicks off Sedsoulciety's gold line, a new series set to highlight the freshest takes on genres including Rap, HipHop, Neo-Soul, and Neo-Funk. Each release will delve into powerful beats and sophisticated vocal performances, reflecting the label's commitment to contemporary, genre-blending music. "Tell Me What You Want" serves as a prime example of how classic sounds can be revitalized to resonate with today's audience. This exclusive vinyl release is a testament to the enduring appeal of both R'n'B and Afro Beat, and it's sure to be a coveted addition to any collection.

Review: If you like classic r&b and Afrobeat then get your lugs around this where both sounds meet in a perfect fusion on this German-Nigerian collaboration. Featuring modern, warm drums and potent basslines, this release kicks off the Sedsoulciety Recordings Gold Line series aimed at showcasing contemporary styles. 'Tell Me What You Want' is presented here in two versions: the Afro Vibe Mix on the A-side and the Groove Mix on the flip. Both tracks bring plenty of heart and also dance floor heft so get things underway in great style.

Review: Jenifa Mayanja is a favourite amongst true deep house heads. Her work is smoky, jazzy, and emotive, and has come on labels like Underground Quality before now. Here she arrives on the sixth EP from fledgling but already cultured label Sole Aspect and shows off her sophisticated sound once more. 'Rise To The Top' is full of elegant harmonies and jazz melodies that dance on pulsing rhythms, 'Like A Dream' brings spiritual vocals to bold chords and dusty drums while 'Our World' has piano lines floating high over the languid drums and bass. 'Rose Colored Glasses' has fresh melodies and challenging synths that defy usual genre norms and bring all new ideas to deep house. This is music that elevates mind, body and soul.

Review: The genre-defining deep house label Kaoz Theory headed up by the one and only Kerri Chandler has a real doozy on its hands here with the talented Devon Miles bring his Afro soul and acoustic guitar skills to a pair of new singles. 'Beautifull' appears twice on the A-side, one as a vocal mix by Kerri with skipping Afro house rhythms and gorgeous melodies next to jazzy horns, and another as an instrumental. The same tune comes three more times on the flip with Opolopo remixing and adding some extra weight for the club. The more meandering original is the one brave DJs go for despite its lack of rooted groove.

Review: 'If It Ain't Deep', then it's... shallow? Whatever the closing predicate of Ricardo Miranda's titular sentence fragment may be, we're still more than happy to welcome this fantastic Detroit sizzler. And perhaps that's the point, because not everything, and especially not techno, needs an ending. Miranda, that state-trotting record-churning production-and-DJ cognoscente originally from Chicago, delivers four truly deep house scoop-outs here. Opening on the listless, unfathomably machinic 'No Desires', we're met with proper 808s (long-release spit-snares, mid-plunging rimshots). Sadly enough for Miranda, our desires aren't allayed for a second; there's then 'Lost Skills', which echo the ancient ways of Ghost Dog through detuned FM bursts, not to mention the hair-raisingly sweeping washes of 'Day 2 Forget B'.

Review: Presented simply, with basic artwork that offers a subtle nod to DJ Harvey's iconic Black Cock Edits series of the 1990s, this single-sided blue 12" marks the debut of a mysterious new rework series: Mr Wong's Edits. We're not sure who Mr Wong is - aside from the fact that the artist is not the grime producer of the same name - but he has delivered a strong debut. 'The Finest This Is What You Are' sees him tastefully mess around with a lesser-celebrated, string-drenched S.O.S Band jam - or at the very least, an acapella of it. This is combined with sweeping, string-laden elements from a simmering Barry White disco number and a shuffling, bossa-influenced Latin house beat. It's certainly a unique combination but one that works really well.

Review: Atlanta house mainstay Stefan Ringer finds a perfectly complementary bedfellow in Marquinn Mason on this new EP for the venerated UK label Eglo. His mastery of deep house and broken beats is a great foundation for the jazz chops of Mason. 'Bounce Lesson' is the first to win you over with its loose, leggy bassline and funky, jazz, cosmic chord work. It's a seamless fusion of different worlds and after the brief jazzed-up piano dance of 'Alltogethernow' comes the standout cut 'Lead Walk'. Another wandering bassline locks you in while heavy, knocking broken beat patterns and gloriously life-affirming chords all warp and weft around one another.

Review: The first vinyl release to grace the freshly-decked halls of the newly minted Lost In The Rhythm label, the EP known by no name other than 'EP' is a promising debut sampler of a new curative effort and community-first initiative, helmed up by Rob Coley aka. RevolutionsLDN. With the express aim of blending the soulful, intestinal feelings of deep and Chicago house with its ancestral roots, the EP achieves a rawly hewn yet neatly knitted sound; one first laid down by Floyd Vader and DJ Solid on the A, the latter of whom especially dazzles with the saw-washed amapiano-ish melancholy of 'I Like To Kiss', whose machinic dunduns serve to taper off our inhibitions to a sunset vanishing point. The pace is lifted on the B-side's choice, Mikekon's 'It's Yours', which indulges a sparse Afro-driven palette, as we're treated to a suggestive, therapeutic monologue from vocalist Novakone Omega: "I'm giving you... *the*... license... to get you some... break you off some... take you some... come get it... it's here... it's waiting..."

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve split at the top but otherwise in great condition***


Zoltan Nagy AKA P60 has spent the last four years slowly building up his Midnight Fashion label and its dedicated downtempo offshoot, Midnight Fashion Chill. Following a handful of solo EPs on the latter imprint, Nagy has now decided to offer up a first imprint compilation - one that not only showcases his work, but also that of Marcel (AKA sometime Cookin' Records artist Marcell Dudas) and Plastic City regular Forteba (AKA Hungarian stalwart Krisztian Dobrocsi). Musically, the set lives up to its' title, offering an enticing and undeniably blazed mix of DJ Calm style trip-hop, warming 1990s style downtempo grooves, slow-burn Baleric soundscapes, Onra-esque neo-boogie beats and warm, deep and languid, jazz-flecked mid-tempo house.

Review: Zoltan Nagy AKA P60 has spent the last four years slowly building up his Midnight Fashion label and its dedicated downtempo offshoot, Midnight Fashion Chill. Following a handful of solo EPs on the latter imprint, Nagy has now decided to offer up a first imprint compilation - one that not only showcases his work, but also that of Marcel (AKA sometime Cookin' Records artist Marcell Dudas) and Plastic City regular Forteba (AKA Hungarian stalwart Krisztian Dobrocsi). Musically, the set lives up to its' title, offering an enticing and undeniably blazed mix of DJ Calm style trip-hop, warming 1990s style downtempo grooves, slow-burn Baleric soundscapes, Onra-esque neo-boogie beats and warm, deep and languid, jazz-flecked mid-tempo house.

Review: Second time around for Daniel Maunick's first album under his given name (he previously released one as DJ Venom way back in 2007), which first surfaced on Far Out back in 2019. An undeniably vibrant and at times heavy affair, the set sees the producer, multi-instrumentalist and 'son of Incognito's Bluey' joining the dots between Brazilian musical culture (most notably the rhythms of batucada and samba, and the far-sighted jazz-funk-fusion sounds of Azymuth) with a range of contemporary sounds (most clearly the deep house dustiness of Theo Parrish, the charred heaviness of UK bass, the stoned headiness of Dilla instrumentals, the shape-shifting energy of broken beat and the deep space shimmer of ambient techno). As hybrid, hard-to-pigeonhole records go, it's a genuine gem.

Review: Words of Knowledge is a spoken word tribute album honouring Jerwayne Balentine, who is also known as J-epic and was a gifted poet, author, producer, and illustrator. Jerwayne wrote the book Words of Knowledge and was working with Dave Maze and Spike Rebel on a music and spoken word album based on his book before he tragically passed away in 2020 at the age of only 23 due to muscular dystrophy. Proceeds from the album will support music programs for young adults with developmental impairments and fund muscular dystrophy research. This project is supported by Master Mix Academy and D&e Recordings Chicago and features six sizzling hip-hop cuts with a sense of storytelling and low-end menace.

Review: South London's Medlar returns to Delusions of Grandeur at the peak of his production powers, showing up with a distinctly refined sonic palette on the brilliantly expansive LP, Islands. Known for his deep-cut edits, genre-hopping productions and steady underground presence, he's pulled together a cast of collaborators including Dele Sosimi, Rebekah Reid, Arnau Obiols and more. The record builds on years spent engineering and producing for others, drawing on those skills to deliver something more personal than ever. Blending live instruments, 80s-inspired electronics and club-ready low end, it's less sample-based than past work but still rooted in the recognisable Medlar spirit. Highlights come thick and fast, including the blissed-out opener 'Take A Trip', the wigged-out exoticism of 'Yeah', the acid thrust of 'Luv Interlude' and the emotion-rich Balearica of 'Ibiza'. Top marks.

Review: Accomplished UK talent Medlar's Islands albums mark another leap forward for the always evolving producer. It finds him merging electronic textures with live instrumentation and some top-tier collaborations from Dele Sosimi, Rebekah Reid, Finn Peters and more. 80s fusion, jazz, deep house and amapiano influences all collide into summery sounds that work as well in the club as they do pumping out of the car stereo. From the lush, afro-laced opener 'Take a Trip' to acid-tinged house, freestyle rap and blissed-out Balearica, each track has its own charm and personality. With less reliance on samples and more organic improvisation, this record could well be Medlar's best yet and certainly a great soundtrack to summer.

Review: French multi-instrumentalist and producer Mezerg (real name Marc Mezergue) is something of a one-off - a synthesizer, drums and theremin-sporting one-man band who has even invented his own unique instrument, a combined keyboard/electronic drum kit known as the "piano boom boom". He's perhaps best-known as a live performer but has received plenty of plaudits for previous releases, most notably 2021 debut LP Chez Mezerg. Vol Retarde de 42 Mn is that album's belated sequel and sees the Frenchman develop his existing trademark sound - a musically mixed-up blend of classic synth sounds, analogue electronics, warm basslines and unfussy beats that variously draws influence from titans of French electronic dance music (Justice, Jean-Michel Jarre etc), electro and, most frequently, colourful nu-disco.

Review: The dynamic duo MLiR, a creative force fuelled by a perfectly balanced blend of shared vision and contrasting styles, return with their debut album, Pulpo Fiction, on Stockholm's Studio Barnhus label. Building on the success of two highly regarded EPs, this 16-track offering showcases their vibrant and innovative approach to global dance music. MLiR's sound is a product of both relentless crate-digging and studio mastery, seamlessly blending past, present, and future influences. Pulpo Fiction boasts a diverse array of vocal collaborators, from Kenyan rapper Nah Eeto and American poet Oliver Grimball to Swedish soul singer Cosima Olu, adding another layer of texture to their already eclectic sound. Expect a sonic journey that traverses the spectrum of dance music, from nostalgic throwbacks to futuristic soundscapes, from deep grooves to infectious pop sensibilities, all underpinned by MLiR's signature high-energy, effortlessly cool dancefloor aesthetic.

Review: Sugar Honey Iced Tea! is the highly anticipated debut album from Musclecars, comprised of Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield, delving deep into the Afro-American experience. With 13 tracks that span themes of joy, loss, intimacy, perseverance and more, Musclecars craft a profound narrative that captures the nuances of daily life in native New York. From the exploration of Afro-dystopia to moments of self-discovery and self-preservation, the album offers a rich blend of sound that resonates with authenticity, emotion, and rhythm. It's a musical adventure to throw yourself in and get lost in the essence of the urban experience, crafted with intentionality, depth and a touch of magic.