Back catalogue: Minimal House/Tech House

Review: In response to reports of 'Discogs sharks' prowling around this deep house classic from Gene Hughes, HotMix have gone ahead and reissued the eureka moment that is 'Track Show (Volume One)'. Paring things back to their barest bones, the early-nineties nuage and prolific house artist, whose other monikers included Rawthenticity and Bluejeans, first released this six-tracker under the name Bluemoon Prodiuctions in 1990 via Code Blue. The first track might be deceptive to some, as its simplistic production is arguably the least endearing of the bunch, combining only a kick drum, bassline, pluck and stream train whistle; tracks two 'O' and 'U' quickly unravel these assumptions with a beautiful dyadic take on Italo and stringy-deep house respectively. Meanwhile, on the B-sider 'S', we're met with an early example of lo-fi house, while an angsty electro mood is heard on 'E; a final coup de grace is then delivered on the crepuscular piano highlight, 'Night', which strikes the perfect thematic balance between sexiness and misery.

Review: Two enigmatic raw deep house cuts from Gene Hughes aka. Bluemoon Productions, debuting for HotMix for the first time. Technically first released in 1990 via Code Blue, this remastered vinyl edition is as pure a slice of otherworldly house realness you can get. The mood throughout is nocturnal, fade-to-black, lamplit, verging on wild - opener 'D' is darkly jazz-chorded and peppered throughout with the sound of hyenas cackling, as if to suggest a nighttime jamboree at the edge of civilization; then there's the Latin guitar glidings-above of 'R' and the beautifully, unusually wompy drumwork-dreamwork of 'A'; and finally, closer 'S' takes the form of a sonic flex: the slowest breakbeat track we've encountered in a while, whose choppy slices, feel-it vocals and deep Reeses force us to consider our unconscious associations around bassweight and floor-readiness.