Back catalogue: All genres

Review: No matter your particular preference in the deep house world, this various artists' outing from Q1E2 Recordings is sure to have something for you. Mike Riveria & Marco Ohboy, for example, tap into an early sound on 'Euphoria' with its big, brash piano stabs and whistles, while A Soft Mist Production keeps it all cuddly and deep with languid chords draped over gentle drums on 'Upside Down Rainbows.' DatSIM brings in some space-tech vibes for a deft rhythm and neon infused sound on 'Influx' and The Rabbit Hole's 'Tail Groove' has a mad double bass sound jumping about beneath frantic jungle breaks.

Review: Finland's Common Labour label unites four different producers on the fourth volume of its Odd Jobs series, and each of them goes deep in their own inimitable way. Omar Santis begins with an unhuried and smoky dubbed out house with wispy pads and subtle vocals on 'Pinoki.' Flabaire ups the energy with some slick, tightly programmed but smooth drum loops that bounce freely beneath warm pads which infuse the mix with soul. Thomas Wood's 'All It Takes' has molten bass and liquid synths for a dub house delight on 'All It Takes' and Potholes's 'Bromsman' is the headiest of the lot with DJ Koze-style melodic whimsy.

Review: T Jacques and Velvet Velour apparently made the opener on this new EP some time ago and thought it was lost. It has recently been rediscovered and we couldn't be happier: 'Hot Hands' is spaced out industrial cosmic tech with synth lines carving neat parabolas and crispy drums bringing the funk. Both artists then go it alone for one cut each: T Jacques's 'Deep Blue' is buffed up deep house with an electronic edge and whimsical synth motifs, then Velvet Velour's 'What U Like' has a playful and restless groove daubed with neon colours and sensuous vocal whispers.

Review: Shut Off Notice welcomes Teakup - a local Columbus, Ohio DJ and producer born Lauri Reponen and known for his stylish techno - for a second outing on the label. 'Forest Bed Moss' kicks off with dusty mid-tempo breaks and deep basslines full of soul, while 'Mhm' is a mechanical groove with dubby undertones and nice chopped vocals. 'Rain Groove Revisit' is a deep, percolating and stumbling rhythm with a smattering of percussion and bubbly feel infused with cooing female vocals. Finally, Teakup remixes Rew's 'Fragile Abundance' into a deft and lithe minimal dub for the small hours. Sophisticated stuff once more from Teakup.

Review: Telefax Productions - mysterious musical masterminds formed by veteran producers with roots in the late 80s - finally drop a vinyl release of their 2024 breakout club anthem, 'Break This House Down'. It is an unashamedly revivalist hip-house banger backed by proper DJs like Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon and features fiery verses from rising Buffalo MC DeeVoeNay. Alongside the flame-hot original is a live band version with HR Nightmare, plus a rough and ready bruk remix from London's EVM128 and last but not least, a visceral acid house rework. This is a perfect example of how you balance nostalgia and freshness and do it right. The package is finished in style with fine artwork by KLF legend Jimmy Cauty.

Review: Disco Tape 4 is a compelling collection that navigates the full spectrum of disco's evolution, seamlessly blending house and late-night techno grooves. The Mechanical Man's 'eyes supreme' stands out with its melodic hook that gradually intensifies the energy. It's a slow-burning groover featuring soulful disco lyrics, creating an atmosphere that's both beautiful and entrancing. 'with you' by Just Guess and Tecam takes a funkier route, with a vibrant guitar riff and a soulful house vocal reminiscent of the best Naked Music releasesiideal for setting a warm, inviting vibe. Other great highlights include the other Mechanical man track 'Space Exploration,' a track that dives into deeper techno territory. Its wicked atmospheric groove adds a layer of sophistication, perfect for those late-night moments when the dancefloor craves something more introspective. Closing out the highlights, Ohn De La Noise's 'good afternoon' offers a smooth deep house sound that blends late-night disco into house, creating a seamless transition that's both elegant and satisfying. A very well-rounded record, expertly capturing the diverse influences of disco's enduring legacy.

Review: Deep-headed, deeper-bodied dub house, hurtling our way from New Yorkers Dopeus and Satoshi Tomiie. Building on Tomiie's already relatively storied career, this chronological time-clock keeps track of the big smoke's early hours for us: '2AM' and '3AM' build to knifing edges, the latter track especially working from blueprints of overdriven satu-rave and chambered echoic dub techno, basking in hollowness. As we cross into the temporal impossibility of '4:60AM', 909 puff snares and naively high strings are accrued, and by the turn of 'Sunrise', an entire breakbeat has worked its way around our eyelid bags.

Review: Hailing from Tokyo, Satoshi Tomiie emerged in the New York scene after Frankie Knuckles discovered him and his debut record, 'Tears' in 1989, was co-produced with Knuckles and featured Robert Owens. It is a dance music classic and as part of Def Mix Productions with David Morales, Satoshi crafted iconic 1990s remixes for artists like Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Inner City. Here collaborating with Ibiza's Tuccillo, Satoshi created 'Delta Dubs', a live, one-take dub house project recorded on a Soundcraft Delta desk. This tribute to dub's pioneers reimagines the essence of dub with a futuristic twist that lands courtesy of 20/20 Vision.

Review: Tommaso is an exciting young talent who has brought plenty of freshness to the underground scenes of both Florence and Chicago. Now he debuts on Rocksteady Disco with more of his signature organic and soulful sounds. This one kicks off with 'G Class' which is a peak-time house pumper with lovely liquid bass and sunny strings. 'Fierro Viejo' is more twisted with rumbling bass and a peppering of percussion that will twist dancers inside out. 'Giente Que' is an arp-fuelled Italo-inflected banger and last of all is the more slow, seductive and absorbing sound of Snake Pit' for late-night lovers. Another fine EP from Tommaso.

Review: The Disco Gioconda crew spin narratives as they do grooves, dream-weaving throwback Italo-style records through editable wattles. Trend-chasers begone: Gino Tonico and Tino Arancino together tap into a sound whose immanent quality foregoes any need for PR preservatives, letting each section breathe, twist, and evolve organically as energy builds. 'Vorrei Rubaria' leans into drama without excess, moving through bold shifts in tone and rhythm that hold attention from first bar to last - its dub mix, meanwhile, swirls our medulla, leaving us cochlear blear. It's a record designed for full playthrough, rewarding those who stay with it.

Review: Berlin-based Aussie Tornado Wallace has a long track record of tiptoeing the fine line between perfectly judged dancefloor pleasure and the more musically immersive sounds of Balearica and sun-soaked, sofa-ready deep house. He touches all those bases on 'Bitter Suite', his debut for Apiento's excellent Test Pressing Recordings imprint. In its' full length, near ten minute original mix form (side A), the track joins the dots between psychedelic, lightly acid-clad 1993 progressive house and - via waves of instrumentation and positive melodic motfs - the colourful musical rush of the System 7's most gorgeous early-to-mid-90s productions The latter element comes to the fore on the kaleidoscopic, string-laden and slow building 'Symphony Mix', while the 'Bitter Beats' version is a pounding, sweat-soaked drum track.

Review: Ascension on Wax tap Toronto Hustle & Sean Roman for their third release, a slick four-tracker pulling heavy influence from *that*argent 90s US-East Coast deep house sound. 'The Unity' lands with some pedigree, where recent drops on Wolf, Local Talk and Freerange have mounted this pairing firmly in the frame. Javonntte lends his unmistakable Detroit flow to the A1, which also gets a shimmering rerub from longtime Prescription associate Abacus. Flip for a late-night dub version that leans into tougher territory, before closing out with a heads-down deep house cut built for sloppily recalled nights.

Review: With Harmonia, Trikk delivers a deep, expansive journey through a range of club sounds for Innervisions. The project remains grounded in dance floor energy but 'Sagrado' stands as its emotional and sonic pinnacle-pure club music, expertly crafted. It opens with crisp kicks, claps and a bubbling bassline but slowly blossoms into something more atmospheric and uplifting, like a musical sunrise. Elsewhere, 'Fortuna' has a percussive and summery outdoor feel, 'Rigor' is more tense with its stark stabs and stomping drums and 'Raiva' has a sense of swing to its groove.

Review: Tweak's latest is another fine trip through rhythm, texture and atmosphere across three originals that are couched in broken beat. 'Generation' leads with lovely laidback grooves and a warm, gloopy bassline as precise electronics merge with a hint of vintage soul. The 'Red Rover' (Rework) is another sunny, horizontal sound with bubbly broken beats and lush flutes adding the hook, then 'Fathorn' explores darker, more tribal rhythms with deep bass and ritualistic percussion. Raw Deal's Freedom Time Remix of 'Fathorn' takes it further with some fluid grooves and expressive brass top notes next to glowing, golden Rhodes chords. A fantastically feel-good and fuzzy sound.

Review: A rarely legit example of raw hip house from Chicago's Tyree & Ungkel Huud, who are, well and truly, tired of this BS - by which they mean illegitimate house music of the wannabes' kind. MC Tyree buckles up for a challenging but knocked-out-the-park verse glided over four mixes, from Wade Teo's opener to an acid killer, decrying the falsity of upstart house producers: "get out my house! You been here too long... matter fact, you can kiss my..." With an instrumental mix on the flip too, you can be sure for a fiery start to your next vocal-soaked DJ set.

Review: Razor-N-Tape's white label series serves up its first-ever various artists collection here, and it opens with Windy City master Glenn Underground. His 'Happy House' is a joyous disco stomper with florid strings and lung-busting vocals. Rahaan adds his own edit to 'Be Cool', which is a jazzy dancer with magnificent guitar work and brassy horns. 'Hot Damn' (JKriv edit) keeps the love flowing with funky disco house energy and an air of hands in the air celebration and The Patchouli Brothers flip 'Love Explosion' into a strident, front foot wafered and pumping disco funker with gorgeous vocals. There I so much sunshine and joy in these tunes that they melt even the stoniest of hearts.

Review: Detroit vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Javonntte is contracted by Marcel Vogel and Tim Jules for the smooth, disco-splashed house cut 'Just Because', now hearing a long-awaited 12" release on Lumberjacks In Hell, the clav-loving label named after the 2018 Vogel release of the same name. Known for his deep musicality and effortless brio, Javonntte's soulful touch now drops anchor on the original's groove, letting open the possibility for the three distinct remixes by Floyd Vader, Lyma and Stefan Ringer to follow. There come etched a future-leaning electro r&b cut, a Portlandian Yoruba house hitter, and a complementary post-boogie bust-up respectively.

Review: After five years mostly playing only in the US, Ron Trent returns to global touring in 2025 as well as droppinga new album Lift Off, which spans a decade of recordings and comes nearly 35 years since his groundbreaking debut. The new record is packed with rich rhythms, warm chords and heady percussion with diverse sounds and tempos from across a lifetime spent collecting, playing and making music. Standouts include the Wally Badarou-inspired 'Hot Ice,' samba-infused 'Woman of Color' and the deep house jazz of 'Jazz Funk.'

Review: Original deep house pioneer Ron Trent is back with another new album, 35 years after his game-changing debut. And Lift Off marks a sophisticated evolution in his sonic journey as he echews the introspective downtempo of his 2022 LP What Do The Stars Say To You and deftly blends epic instrumentals, vocal collaborations and intricate arrangements that reflect his diverse influences. There is a great sense of musicality here as masterful percussion intertwines with exploratory tempos and elegant bridge dance music's past, present and future. The highlight is 'Just Another Love Song' which has a whiff of Womack and Womack about it.

Review: After spending much of the last five years confined to the United States, Ron Trent is off on tour this year. As a way of re-introducing himself - not the deep house legend needed to do that of course - he has partnered with Rush Hour to release Lift Off, a fresh double album of previously unheard music. More defiantly dancefloor-centric than his previous album, the decidedly cosmic and downtempo 'What Do The Stars Say To You' (as WARM), the two-disc set sees the Chicagoan combine his usual percussively-layered grooves, warming basslines and colourful synth sounds with nods to all manner of musical influences old and new. The results are uniformly superb, with our picks of a very strong bunch including the spacey future-boogie of Leroy Burgess collaboration 'Let Me See You Shining', the spaced-out, slow-motion epic that is 'Woman of Color', the AM radio-friendly Balearic pop of 'Just Another Love Song' and the undeniably gorgeous 'Street Wave'.