Back catalogue: House

Review: Fad-free French house label Skylax has always done its own thing, and always to a great reception amongst serious heads. This new one from Quasar is an impossibly perfect mix of physical drums and heart-aching vocal hooks. The pitched up female vocal conveys such bittersweet pain it doesn't matter the words she sings as you're immediately drawn in for the ride. 'For Your Love' is another hugely emotional cut with floating breakbeats and nagging vocals that really get you where it hurts. 'Morning Bells' is a deep house cut with a spritely groove and blissed out vocal, and 'Inside My Love' closes with more heavy analogue drums but no less of a heartfelt sound thanks to the melancholic pads.

Review: Originally tucked away on a 2020 12", Quiroga's 'Snaporaz' EP gets the treatment it always deserved with this expanded, four-track edition from Balearic archivists Archeo. Based in Naples, Quiroga stretches his original into a languid, Rhodes-soaked jazz-house glide on the A1ifull of crackling percussion, soft-focus pads and a bubbling low end that carries the melodic line into increasingly heady territory. A loose hand drum finale seals it with flair. 'Escorpiao' on A2 is subtler but no less vibrant, a slick fusion jam where keytar and cowbell meet over a featherlight grooveibalancing restraint and virtuosity in equal measure. The B-side belongs to Rome's Francesco de Bellis, appearing under his L.U.C.A. alias. Known for his Edizioni Mondo material, he warps 'Snaporaz' into a dreamlike new age dancer, slowing the tempo and steeping it in hazy atmospheres and woozy melodies. His 'Quirky Beat' version strips it further, letting skeletal drum edits carry the mood alone. Bridging Neapolitan warmth and Roman oddball finesse, this is a limited edition reissue that more than earns its second life.

Review: Last year, Quiroga (real name Walter Del Vecchio) returned to Hell Yeah! Recordings with an impressive dose of TB-303-laden dancefloor psychedelia, the superb 'Acid Dropout EP'. 'French Kiss', the title track from his latest EP for the popular Italian imprint, is a more immersive, warm and hazy affair, where sweet female vocal snippets, warming Rhodes riffs and dreamy electronics rise above a shuffling, mid-temp deep house beat and organic-sounding bassline. His trademark acid lines naturally feature on the accompanying 'Baia Club Ambient Version', a shuffling breakbeat affair that takes cues from Italian 'ambient house' (IE dream house) rather than beat-free soundscapes. It is, though, genuinely superb. Turn to the flip for two bonus cuts: the vintage Jazzanova-esque broken house brilliance of 'Ask Coppede' and the deep, Balearic-fired electro shuffle of 'Cala Ventosa'.