FXHE US Vinilo y CD

Review: FXHE maintain their monthly heat emission for 2012, with label boss Omar S displaying all aspects of his production prowess (as well as skill for a humorous track titles) across four productions - one of which features the button bashing assistance of one Patrik Sjeren. There's something icily brilliant about the restrained "Income Tax Refund Dance" melding a dark piano riff with snapping 808 kicks and rippling lo fi rhythms which only further justifies the title of Omar S's killer 2011 LP. It's complemented by the far rowdier box jam "The White Castle Song" which jackhammers a simple yet highly flammable key riff over low rent percussion for FXHE's most potent ode to the perfect warehouse moment since the all conquering "Here's Your Trance..." Given the lack of additional info, we presume the Patrik Sjeren that produces the B Side "Untitled" track is the same Patrik Sjeren that released in the mid 90s under a multiplicity of aliases, and his contribution is every bit as incendiary as the track preceding it, whilst "3c 273" sees Omar S slip into pensive utopian electro mode with aplomb.

Review: Omar S brings "The Grand Son Of Detroit Techno!". This amazing, deep and hypnotising house track features live percussion from Theo Parrish.

Review: Originally released back in 2011 in conjunction with Scion Audio/Visual now repressed by Omar S on his FXHE label "Who's In Key" features Theo Parrish!

Review: When it featured in its original mix form on Omar-S's Pain EP, 'I Love Your Girlfriend' was something of a blink-and-you-miss-it gem: a two-minute fusion of piano-powered balladry, seductive soul vocals (provided by guest singer John FM) and sparse, occasional house beats. It was crying out for an extended mix, and the Detroit legend has duly delivered. Now five minutes in length, with more prominent drums, extensive use of P-funk style synth squiggles and auto-tune effects, the mix effectively re-imagines the track as a fluid, soulful, piano solo-laden club track that's as classy as it is tasty.

Review: Any Omar S release is worth checking, but when it also features Detroit funk godfather and Motor City legend Amp Fiddler, as well as Andre Foxxe of Parliament-Funkadelic, then it's pretty much buy on sight. You never know what you're gaping to get with the FXHE boss, and never was that more true than here on this sweet little 7". A-side 'The First One Hundred' is a loop of Omar S's trademark dusty drums and a deeply buried bass guitar riff that is super funky, and 'Dance Your Blues Away (feat Amp Fiddler)' sounds like Prince making house music in Omar S's studio. They are short, but oh so sweet.

Review: killer new heat from Omar S on his FXHE label featuring Desire on vocals + backed with an instrumental mix.

Review: Detroit legend Omar S returns this week on his always different but always unmissable FXHE label with the bouncy and neon-lit groove of 'Hard Times', which sees him collaborate once again with Megan Louise of Canadian outfit Desire (Italians Do It Better) on vocals. The original comes backed with a handy instrumental mix and a dreamy, plus an evocative rework by IDIB chief Johnny Jewel over on the flip.

Review: Omar S teams up with Atlanta based producer Kai Alce for this killer new 12", with the FXHE boss openly suggesting the second B-Side offering is 'ringtone worthy'! The Jive Time EP features three original productions - "Not Phazed", which takes up the whole A Side, while the EP's dancefloor-friendly eponymous track shares the flip with ambient house track "Incognigro". Alce, a Detroit native who now resides in Atlanta, has had a fine year, releasing a tidy little 7" on FXHE back in April as well as a collaborative EP with Englishman Phil Asher and Atlanta vocalist Kayenne. Killer release.

Review: After more or less owning 2011 with a surprise album, a collaboration with urban crooner Colonel Abrams, an ahead-of-the-game reissue of Marc Kinchen and the all-conquering "Here's Your Trance Now Dance", FXHE don Omar S kicks off a new year with Wayne County Hills Cops Pt 2 (where, we ask, was Part 1?), a hook-up with the mysterious OB IGNITT. The eponymous A-Side is characterised by the kind of glistening synths last seen on "Here's Your Trance...", with a rugged analogue bass line giving the track with the requisite bump. A tired cliche it may be, but this could easily soundtrack an 80s cop movie: clearly Omar has this in mind given the 12"'s title and the fact the record's centre label features a doctored image of Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop! On the flip, Omar S provides his own remix, drowning the synths in dubby textures and showering them with shuffling hats for a more heads-down take. Another killer 12" - business as usual at FXHE, then.

Review: Omar S sets his considerable dancefloor skills to something a little different on a new 7" featuring the vocal talents of TroiAlexis. A young talented Detroit female songwriter who was discovered by Omar S at the Conant Gardens Party Store when she sung acapella to him at a Hi Tech party, TroiAlexis lends an air of soulful class to Omar's trademark electro-slanted electronics on both sides of this single. There's a stripped down - and we mean stripped right down - bass heavy R&B mix on the A-side, while the flip has a sturdier house mix that still gives her voice room to soar.

Review: FXHE reissue this 1996 house classic by Marc Pharaoh.

Review: Alex "Omar" Smith has covered all bases this year, offering up singles that flit between more experimental, off kilter fare, head-nodding beats informed by hip-hop culture and the unique blend of Detroit deep house and techno that has long been his stock-in-trade. His final single of 2019 sees him gleefully charge further towards disco pastures with "Another Man", a bouncy, club-ready house workout that peppers a good-time disco groove (think rubbery slap bass and crunchy drums) with spacey synth sounds, twinkling melodies and male spoken word samples ("I can quite understand... she left me for another man"). He's back on deep house mode on flipside "Suv's AKA Fatass Mobile's", where a drowsy riff and sustained synth strings bob along atop a sea of sweaty machine drums.

Review: With this four-track EP, Alex 'Omar' Smith welcomes fellow Detroiter Norm Talley back to his FXHE label for the first time since the release of his 2017 debut album "Norm-A-Lize". The quality threshold remains high throughout, from the brilliantly bass-heavy Motor City deep house futurism of EP opener "The Runner" - all booming sub, swinging machine drums and looped space synths - to the jazzy deep house bliss of closing cut "Starz". In between you'll find the similarly enjoyable, Theo Parrish-esque jazz-house drums and glassy-eyed musicality of "I'm Feelin' Hot" and the sparse dancefloor dreaminess of "Twi-Lite".

Review: Following his impeccable album Norm-A-Lize last year, Detroit's City Boy Player returns to Alex O Smith's FXHE imprint with five more soul-stirring sessions. "Foundation" lives up to its name with a classic spoken sample and 11pm mood-changing struts, "Detroit 2 Step" has a touch of the Bonobos with its woozy oboes over lightly swung, organic drums. "Fan Ta Cee" flips the mode for something a lot deeper and darker (think Theo's classic remix of "Falling Up" and you're not far off) while "Consciousness" is a cool creative percussive tool with a swooping rise that sweeps and dips in all the right places. Finally we're sent packing with the bold chord-striking piece "Friday Night". If this doesn't have you marching, nothing will.