Tags: 90s House

Review: The latest on-point reissue from Italy's Groovin' label takes us back to 1993, and the Peter Daou/Danny Tenaglia-produced debut single from vocalist Daphne Rubin-Vega. It's a far breezier, groovier and sweeter record than many of Tenaglia's later productions (which tended towards the muscular), with Rubin-Vega's quietly soulful vocal seemingly drifting across a backing track rich in warm chords and baggy, breakbeat-driven house grooves. All of the various mixes hit the spot, with the trippy, dub-style Reconstruction Mix, vibraphone-laden Groove Instrumental and low-slung Never Do Dub standing out. The Acapella Reprise, which features rich chords and vocal snippets, is also rather good.

Review: New York house royalty Ralphi Rosario has got scores of classics in his back catalogue, and now Groovin have cherry-picked a couple that are more than worthy of a scrub up and repress. The record leads with 'An Instrumental Need', an absolute benchmark of piano house perfection which will instantly take a party to a truly positive place, and that's even before the vibes solo comes twinkling into earshot. On the B-side is 1997 stomper 'Take Me Up', which plays to Rosario's strength in whipping up a frenzy with some seriously stripped back disco heat and an anthemic vocal from Donna Blakely.

Review: If you're a fan of 'dream house' - that immensely colourful, loved-up take on deep house pioneered by Italian producers at the turn of the 90s - then you may already know Don Carlos' Mediterraneo, a 1992 mini-album that contains one of the most celebrated (and, we will add, inspired) tracks produced in the period. We're talking about the undulating melodies, saucer-eyed chords and shuffling beats of 'Re-Mida Overture', of course, and as this timely reissue proves, there's plenty more to get excited about across the six-track set, including two takes on 'Play It Again' (a sunrise-ready 'Underground' version that's as deep as they come, and the lusciously emotive 'Paradise' mix), and the simply gorgeous, life-affirming title track - a cut just tailor-made for open-air dances and beachside festivals.

Review: Few sounds transport you to another time and place as quickly as a well-made Italo or Balearic house record. The synths just bring that Mediterranean sunshine into your life as soon as they stretch out over silky 90s house beats. And that's what happens here across four cuts of dream-laced four-four magic from Rivera Traxx on the Groovin label. 'Parfume 1' is super smooth and humid, 'Parfume 2' brings a little more late-night funk to the drum patterns and 'Hey Hey' is a tougher cut for the dance floor. 'Love' is a blissful balmy number packed with romantic feels.

Review: For the label's latest on-point reissue, Groovin' Records has delved into the slim catalogue of short-lived Italian production duo Soft House Company. Originally released in 1990 and a dancefloor smash all over Europe, 'What U Need' is typical of loved-up Italian house of the period - all life-affirming piano stabs, tactile synth-bass, occasional synth-strings, rolling drum machine beats and cut-up vocal snippets from First Choice's much-sampled disco classic 'Let No Man Put Asunder'. Over on the reverse you'll find original B-side 'A Little Piano', a deeper and even more loved-up workout that's effectively a deep house style dub of the A-side, shorn of the vocals, featuring chunkier beats, more prominent bass, and delay-laden piano motifs aplenty.

Review: It's not every day we encounter Christian acid house, but the historic contributions to the scene by one Dimensional Holofonic Sound (DHS, real name Benjamin Stokes) are an exception to this general observation. An ingenious project which takes full advantage of the penchant for acid house producers to sample Evangelistic sermons, Stokes always went one step further by neglecting to omit the religious themes in these samples. The result was EPs like 'The House Of God', first released in 1990 and reissued here via Groovin. Raw, breaksy and rude productions are all compelled by a core vocal sample here, proving that acid house - the gateway to many contemporary religious experiences - belongs to no-one but the almighty.

Review: Way back in 1993, when his career was still in its infancy, Chicago great Roy Davis Jr donned an alternative alias, The Believers, and delivered a 12" on Strictly Rhythm: 'Who Dares To Believe In Me?' It was something of a club smash, with Ministry of Sound issuing it in the UK a year later with a swathe of new mixes. This Groovin' Records reissue boasts a trio of mixes from the original U.S 12". On the A-side you'll find the original mix, a warm, spine-tingling slab of piano-rich New York style house topped off by snaking, delay-laden saxophone lines and an inspirational spoken word vocal courtesy of Davis. Over on the reverse, Davis' own 'Just Living High Mix' - a breezier, jazzier and more colourful affair - is followed by Mind Readers' tougher, chunkier and heavier revision, which is in effect a proper dancefloor dub.

Review: Groovin Italy landed a monumental reissue for the label with C'hantal's 'The Realm'. Originally released way back in 1990 on the dance and early Brooklyn based Powertraxx records. Staying true to the original release, it offers the 'Love In D Minor' mix but does one better in tucking in the Acapella version to the A-side so the B-side 2 versions have a little more room to breathe. The added bonus has to be putting on the more rare "Wild Club mix' to the party along with the original 'Rave Mix'. All and all, a very packed reissue of some of the best versions of the track, all on one record. This might just hold the number one spot for best techno reissue so far of 2024.