Delusions Of Grandeur Vinilo y CD

Review: Session Victim return to the Delusions Of Grandeur imprint with their third studio album. Listen To Your Heart is the result of a year of cross-continental scripting which started in their Hamburg studio and wrapped up stateside in San Francisco's Room G Studios where the duo had worked on their 2014 LP See You When You Get There. Here is the second of three LP samplers. "Shadows" gets things rolling with a classic Session Victim groove, looped up pads and hooky spoken vocal samples. Next up we have "Unchained" which drops the BPM for a widescreen, slo-mo jam clouded in a smoky haze with jazzy touches, recalling the halcyon days of Pork Recordings. Flipping over we have a brand new LP version of previous single "Up To Rise", another sublime slice of blissed-out house music with a wonderful organic and live sound palette. Echoing Rhodes licks join the lead guitar tune for a Balearic beauty which will be stuck in your head long after the sun sets. Closing this second sampler we have "Over And Over", which winds things down somewhat for an inspired, bass-led roller.

Review: The Hamburg-Berlin connection returns. Retreat label boss Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling of Giegling fame have been at it as Session Victim for the better part of 10 years and they're still in fine form. The third instalment of Listen To Your Heart features four splendid journeys into the deep. Starting off with the lo-slung disco loops of "Almost Midnight" on the A side, which is followed up by the sun-kissed/slo-mo balearica of "Castle For Sale". On the flip, they pick up the pace once again with "Almost Midnight" which showcases the classic SV sound: deep house from a hip-hop production style of technique which no doubt influenced a new generation of German producers such as Glenn Astro & Max Graef. Finally, recline, relax and light one up to the dubbed out ambient journey that is "Thermal Explorer".

Review: It would be fair to say that Henry Maldonado, known more widely as Son Of Sound, has been one of the few revelations to come out of New York City since the early 2000's. For a city which gave us so much in the 80's and 90's, there have been relatively few new names to carry on the dynasty, but Maldonado's sleek and thoughtful style for imprints like Disrtrict 30 and Speak Recordings has provided a bit of life and love to the American Dream. Moreover, the man appears on Delusions Of Grandeur, one of our all time favourite labels when it comes to house, and one that we wish was more present again. The deal here is simple; Son Of House provides us with three sultry, laid-back house groovers with plenty of soul and homebred sensibility, rolling and pushing its solid grooves over bouncy, seductive melodies and feel-good charms.