Tags: Ambient House

Review: During the late 1990s, Japanese producer Yuji Takanouchi produced a trio of sublime EPs, most of which went largely overlooked at the time. He surprisingly returned to action a few years ago with a handful of similarly dreamy, loved-up productions, prompting R&S offshoot Apollo Records - who famously released his peerless ambient house 12", Southern Paradise, in 1997 - to put together this superb compilation. The genius of his productions, whether dancefloor leaning or more horizontal in ethos, always lay in the hazy colourfulness of his synthesizer melodies and life-affirming chord progressions. It's those traits, coupled with his firm grasp of deep house and intelligent techno aesthetics, which shine through on Brand New Day. "Pacific Jazz", "Nite" and "Ocean In Heaven", in particular, are stunning.

Review: Lo-fi house lovers Chaos In The CBD make their Fabric debut with a new mix CD and LP, contributing their wares to the latter's fresh mix Presents series, which came about after the end of the FABRICLIVE series and has seen to the likes of Sherelle, Octo Octa and Marbou State also feature. This 22-track extravaganza is noted to have been Fabric's most challenging licensing ordeal to date, having to polish a variety of sonic gemstones including by The Logic Box, Box Clever and Psychedelic Research Lab. Clearly, the relative obscurity of the names on the CD make this the duo's ode to 'hidden' house. Their original track 'Higher Elavation', meanwhile, cements this mysterious mood with surreptitious basses and smoggy pads.

Review: It's testament to the enduring quality and far-sighted nature of Future Sound of London's iconic 1991 single 'Papua New Guinea' that it keeps being 'rediscovered' by new generations of DJs. It has been a while, though, since any new reworks dropped - hence this 'Rebooted' edition. L Major kicks things off with a suitably cosmic, psychedelic and slow-building proto-jungle style offering, before Nishiesque flits between passages of hot-stepping, synth-laden d&b and slo-mo 4/4 chug. House heroes Soul Central reach for vintage hip-house breakbeats, ambient electronics and the original version's most life-affirming elements (the bassline, twinkling synth melodies and heady vocal samples), while Dee Montero re-casts the cut as a proggy, tribal-tinged tech-house roller.

Review: Rebirth invites us to go back, way back, to the Italian underground techno scene of the 90s with this new selection of alternate versions, unheard gems and certified classics. Oneiric & Vortex open up with a tune that brings to mind the warmth of Motor City techno on 'Oasi' before GNMR layer up supersized hi hats and seriously weighty beatdown drums, Populous offers the loopy melodic delight of 'Barragan' and G-Connection heads into the cosmos with the dreamy ambient of 'Free Your Spirit', a perfect mood build if ever we heard one. Two further gorgeously blissed-out post-rave comedown sounds close out this gem of an EP.

Review: Norken is a cult producer with a legendary status. His older works have been reissued in recent times to ensure that they reconnect with newer generations and this time out it is an EP originally out in 1998 that gets reintroduced thanks to the Only One label. It's been remastered for the occasion so it sounds as good as possible, starting with the perfect frictionless 'Just A Phase' with its deft ambient pads. 'Instamatic' slows down to a tripped-out downbeat crawl with lots of liquid pads and 'Motor Breeze' then bends space and time with its warped lines and pixel-thin bits of wispy melodic detail. 'Fragile' shuts down with intriguing ambient designs over twitchy beats.

Review: Norken's Southern Soul EP is one of the finest deep house 12"s to have ever been made if you ask us. That's why it is back once again with another remastered reissue. The master studio craftsman knows exactly how many elements he needs to make a deep, immersive groove and never does he use a single hi-hat more. His Southern Soul EP has been reissued a number of times before including by the likes of Delsin but now its title track gets remastered for this fresh serving on Only One. It is all wispy synths and cosmic motifs with bendy bass, then 'P Fox' picks things up with another rolling rhythm and dub kicks topped off with astral synths. 'Spring Time' closes with crunchier tech house drums and a more quickened groove but is still as deep.