BYRON THE AQUARIUS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Multi-artist EPs have all been all the rage of late, though few can boast quite as strong a line-up of artists as this one from dependable French deep house label Phongramme. It begins with a gorgeous chunk of detail-heavy, sun-splashed electronic deep house brilliance courtesy of Abacus (an artist whose discography also contains outings on Prescription, Innermood and NDATL Muzik) and ends with a vibraphone-solo sporting shuffler from the effervescent Byron The Aquarius and Computer Jay ('When The Freaks Come Out'). Sandwiched in between you'll find two more must-have workouts: the bumpin', brilliant and spiritually uplifting 'States of Motion' by Fred P, and a typically dusty, jazzy and warming number by Colombian hero Felipe Gordon ('The Gordon Way').

Review: French label D3 - which when pronounced in French sounds like their word for Detroit - is a decade old and celebrates the milestone with a special three-part EP series. As has always been the case over that 10 year period, the sounds it serves up are deep and housey. This various artists affair kicks off with AsTreJinkins' slow and propulsive 'Terror' before some nice airy and live sounding broken beats from New Digital Fidelity. Moroka picks up the pace with some hi-tek soul that sounds straight from the Motor City and Byron The Aquarius shows off his mastery of the keys again with a dreamy deep cut 'Tua Su Ra'. Nico Lahs shuts down with a heavyweight beatdown in the form of 'It's Spelled BARI.'

Review: We're big fans of Byron The Aquarius here at Juno HQ and it is hard to think why anyone wouldn't be. The master keys man and former hip-hop producer has been turning out a steady and quality stream of deep house deliciousness in recent years and that's what he does again here on US label Toucan Sounds. 'Baddest Behavior' (feat Brandon Markell Holmes) kicks off with chord-laced deep house bliss and a magnificent vocal, 'Freed 4 OG's' (with Coto Loco - feat Rasheeda Ali) is a more lively and percussive jam with more rickety beats and nimble chords and 'I Be Like Dat' brings lovely wet claps and low-key soul to a US garage groove. A series of remixes on the flip seals the deal.

Review: Byron The Aquarius has the sort of mad skills on a keyboard that evade all too many house producers. He has also spent years making beats for hip-hop artists so has plenty in his arsenal. His fantastic EP 'Gone Today Here Tomorrow' is a still standout collection of cuts on Kyle Hall's Wild Oats label that now gets reissued on limited orange vinyl 12". It is a superb showcase of his skills that traverse lithe deep house, cosmic grooves, plenty of mellifluous melodies and seductive late-night sounds. 'Moments In Life' is a particular favourite here.

Review: Byron The Aquarius (Byron Blaylock), from Birmingham, Alabama, debuts his latest EP for French Synchrophone sublabel Phonogramme, 'Dey Know Vol. 1'. Topping up an already hugely impressive backlog of releases on the label recently - from the likes of Abacus, Steeve O'Sullivan and Vitess - the producer and water carrier adds to their catalogue for a varied scrubdown of the more militant ends of techno's sonic politic. An impressove sense of variation is achieved on the expositionally minimal 'Black Is Black', which contrasts greatly to the ensuing space-quagmires of 'Dr Devil' and then the crude, bleepy and frank analog sonics of 'Real MF From The Avenue'. Dreamy narrations of local life abound, precluding the closing 'Rock That 808!!!', a track that is far more sophisticated and well-developed in sound than its wilfully blase title might suggest.

Review: Atlanta-based Byron The Aquarius has that innately soulful touch to his music which never tires, and after his The New Beginning album on Shall Not Fade he's appearing on Dutch label Heist Recordings with some plush, funking and bumping house gear that's as classic as it is fresh. Just listen to the way he refines the garage house approach on 'Get Up', at once nailing the sound while giving it a sheen that all imitators fail to capture. There's even some uptempo broken beat which edges towards drum & bass on 'Love', but yet again this is Byron doing Byron - accept no imitations!

Review: Master keys man Byron The Aquarius started out making hip-hop then in the last few years moved into house music and dropped some super deep and classy jams. Now he gets back to his roots with this new project from Birmingham, Alabama, alongside Shurlock, who started way back in 1990. The album takes its title from the fact both men were always told they would never make it out of their hometown. "Well this project is for those that stop dreaming, and believed that Shurlock, and Byron would never make it in the world of music," they say. It's a superb record with some fine guest bars to boot.