DJS: MOST CHARTED - DEEP HOUSE - MOST CHARTED IN NOVEMBER 2013

Review: **REPRESS**The last time a newcomer graced Theo Parrish's Sound Signature, it resulted in widespread praise for the Flowers EP from London based producer, DJ and singer Andrew Ashong, somehow we get the feeling this latest release on the label will prove to be as memorable. The Scorpio Rising EP sees Parrish look much closer to home and grant the DC-born, Detroit-bred producer Jay Daniel his debut release and the four track 12" more than lives up to his billing as one of Boiler Room's most exciting new discoveries at DEMF. Wild Oats obsessives will probably know Daniel from the Fundamentals residency shared with Kyle Hall and he's clearly spent some time honing his Detroit influenced craft, with cuts like "No Love Lost" expertly balanced between melody and rugged drum grit. "Brainz" is the kind of no-nonsense DJ tool you might have heard on a FXHE B Side circa 2008 whilst "I Have No Name" demonstrates Daniel is eminently capable of the sort of hope inducing Utopian house from the D that the much missed Aaron Carl was renowned for.

Review: The ever-loving team at Still Music present yet another unmissable selection of East side beats, this time shifting focus from Chicago to Detroit to shine the light on some of the less celebrated talents operating in the city. There is boundless quality at every turn here, from the jazzed out tones of Craig Huckaby to the raw chemistry of Marcellus Pittman. Terrence Dixon does an excellent demonstration of wormhole techno with "The Fall Guy (Part 1)", and DJ 3000 brings a demonic brand of slow-chugging house to the table. Alex Israel also reminds everyone that he truly is one of the most slept-on gems the Motor City has to offer, so get busy and connect with this utterly essential selection.

Review: Having just coaxed more killer material out of that man from Marseille VernoN, Dixon Ave Basement Jams affect a swift return with a similarly hefty package from key artist Marquis Hawkes. The brashly titled Sex, Drugs & House EP maintains Dixon Avenue Basement Jams' position as the sole outlet for original Marquis Hawkes material, despite dalliances with Creme and the excellent Crow Castle Cuts in a remix capacity. The familial bond felt between DABJ and Hawkes evidently continues to inspire the masked producer as this EP contains some of his best work so far! "Get Yo Ass Off My Grass" is a particular highlight and already stands aside "Sealion Woman" as our favourite production in the Marquis Hawkes canon.

Review: Having skirted release success with some early appearances on the likes of Moods & Grooves, Brad Peterson is really finding his feet with this new flurry of singles that show off his skills at the controls of his machines when turning out immersive analogue house music. "Memory Flash" is a sweet-natured roller anchored by a limber bassline and rounded off with the most delicate strings and keys in a fine Larry Heard style, while "Particle Storm" heads into marginally moodier territory with its more mysterious melodic refrains. "Infrared" gets a little techier in its intentions, with a prominent kick powering the bubbling layers of acid without scaring off Peterson's typically emotive approach.

Review: REPRESS ALERT! My Love Is Underground return with only their second release of 2013, with MLIU15 introducing the sounds of Dungeon Meat. The new collaborative endeavor between MLIU regular Brawther and Tristan Da Cunha of Back To Basics fame, Dungeon Meat live up to the brash nature of "The Fuck Off Track" with heavy hitting percussion driven house at it's finest. Look out for a label of the same name from Dungeon Meat later this year. Face down Ukrainian producer SE62 returns for MLIU duty for a third time with the hook heavy deep house burn of "True Force".

Review: Off the back of their blossoming indie-electronica sophomore LP Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, the Mount Kimbie duo undergoes the remix treatment from three well-equipped and idiosyncratic artists. First up Kyle Hall brings the Detroit grit but balances it with his sensitivity towards UK concerns for an uptempo and undeniably version of "You Took Your Time". DJ Koze brings a more tender kind of 4/4 full of esoteric melodic flourishes and the stark original vocal on "Made To Stray", and Lee Gamble rips it all up with his own aquatic blur of "You Took Your Time" that lets the drums fall muddily and the synths strain against a wall of sonic fluff, with fantastic end results.

Review: Leif consolidates years of EP releases for Ornate, Boe, Morris Audio, Fina with a considered debut album Dinas Oleu for the Fear Of Flying label. It makes sense for the Freerotation resident to choose FOF given the strong association he's built up with the label since it first emerged some seven years ago. From the hazy ambience of the opening vignette "Through Noise Pt 1" Leif works his way through a succession of house and techno moods all rich in the sort of detail and melodic warmth that will be familiar to anyone that's indulged in his 12" output. Keep an ear out for the title cut too which features the harp playing talents of poppa Knowles.

Review: Make Love In Public Spaces is a new but not so mysterious offshoot of a label which will be familiar to anyone who has been to a certain erotically charged discotheque with a big heart in East London over the last 4 years. They launch with a three track release from Adesse Versions that recasts underground 90s classics of some vintage in his own inimitable style - the lead track is destined to get club play for months to come thanks to it's deft vocal hook. Adesse Versions is the anonymous alias of a techno producer with previous work for Ostgut Ton and Curle, showing his house side and who you will no doubt recognise from his most recent work for Trus'me's Prime Numbers label as Adesse.

Review: Despite having already released a 16 track album this year, Detroit's finest, Omar S, proves that there is quite simply nothing stopping him as he issues the four track Nelson County. "Don't Let Dis Be HapNin! Comes on like the classic "Psychotic Photosynthesis" at witnessed through a haze of smoked glass, while "U Heard What Da Man Said Muthafukka!!" is something much more driving, like taking a spin on Detroit's streets after dark in a souped up Dodge Charger, before "Nelson County" sees the tough house-focused denouement take place in a dingy backstreet club. As always with Omar S, this stuff doesn't mess about....

Review: FXHE return with the master of the mysterious OB Ignitt! Arriving roughly a year on from the last slab of Ignitt goodness, Mysterious finds OB on imperious form, once more showing off his penchant for excellent track titles and singular slant on bumping Detroit business. The title track is a veritable epic of unquantifiable emotive stakes, emerging from a heat treated fog and easing into a subtle yet beguiling rhythmic framework which coaxes you into a spell that grows stronger as the track charges electrically forth. Face down, "Celestial Salacious" has that same rough edged bass line growl to it, but the skipping percussion and building layers of instrumentation give the track real energy, whilst you can almost feel the funk dripping off final track "Chocolate City" which sounds like DJ Nature hocked up on MDMA.

Review: After kicking off Tomoki's Holic Trax back in 2012, Mr G is back on the 10" focused label once again with two cuts that tap right in to his skills in austere and immersive house music. "A G Moment" is a classic groover from the G camp, all heavily filtered chord throb and steadfast drums in a somnambulant but utterly soulful state of being. There's a touch more spice to be found on the flip side with the titular diva vocal licks that decorate "So Get Down", while the drums roll with a more pronounced weight, particularly in the bottom end.

Review: Releases thus far on the Proibito label operated by young Anthony Naples have lived up to the Brooklyn-based producer's intentions to use it as a platform to "promote and document the more experimental side of music coming out of New York City, the US and beyond." Huerco S donned the Royal Crown Of Sweden costume for material slightly more club grubby than his excellent LP whilst an EP from Local Artist highlighted how impressive the Vancouver crew Mood Hut are becoming. Naples himself lines up on the third Proibito release - allegedly named in honour of Naples favourite restaurant in his hometown Florida) and the experimental outlook remains very much in place. The grizzled, lo-fi thrum of Naples is very much evident on both "POT 1" and "POT 2" but as they surge past the ten minute mark the productions end in an entirely different headspace to how they began. The second track ends on a particularly psychedelic note and demonstrates Naples is clearly progressing as a producer.

Review: There is little doubt that Detroit Swindle have positively owned modern high-end house music since ripping onto the scene back in 2012, kicking Dirt Crew, Murmur, Tsuba and more into touch with their red-blooded productions that pack pounding drums, punchy bass and swooning chords into crafty grooves of the most commanding kind. They're at it once again for Freerange after last year's Creep, kicking off with the joyous explosion of the title track with its righteous diva vocals, tasty Rhodes lines and hooky beat. "Under The Spell" keeps the same garage shuffle but homes in more on the bittersweet chord tones as a source of their soul, but there's still room for a marginally more restrained roller in the shape of "Woman". Crue twists things up with a murky remix of "Unfinished Business" that ditches the melodics in favour of pure rhythmic thrust.

Review: Uncanny Valley's resident beatsmith Cuthead delves even further into his love of low slung grooves with this fulsome album of soulful vignettes that make the perfect hip hop paced partner to the more housey output known on the label. It's not all slow-mo business as "Maputo Jam" attests with its peppy chops and swinging New Jersey funk, and in terms of sample-rich house loaded with imagination it's hard to picture anything sounding quite as heartfelt and captivating as this, but in the slower musings Cuthead shows off his breadth as a producer and comes up smelling of particularly addictive roses. Try listening to the title track and not feeling an immense sense of satisfaction, romance and groove all in one.

Review: The uniquely soulful talents of Seven Davis Jnr were introduced to the wider world last year when the Houston-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and poet was picked by Kutmah for inclusion on the selector's Brownswood compilation. This EP for Jay Simon's Must Have label finds Davis Jnr applying his talent for bugged out soul and rattling rhythms to a house template and it's sublime from the very off. Lead track "One" bumps along with the infectious nature of a KDJ cut and it's truly blessed by Davis Jnr's husky vocal delivery on that most timeless of subject matters - rarely is there house music these days that is filled with genuine soul but this track certainly is. The twilight tones of "Breaker" present a more urgent production, all rapid drum fills and handclaps lent a sense of yearning by the vocal, and "All Kinds" (Loud mix) operates at a similar zippy tempo yet glides high. A final two track suite sees Davis Jnr operate on a slower, almost beatdown slant which will be explored more on a soon to drop record for Kutmah's IZWID. Highly recommended stuff!

Review: ** Repress in new DBA new labels and sleeves courtesty of Optigram design agency ** The Sun Goddess EP is Beatnick's second outing for the DBA imprint, impressing further on our ears his undeniable talent for crafting housier tackle than the smudged out boogie he came to the fore with for labels like Burntprogress and Altered Vibes. It would take an uneducated ear to not bask in the glory of the title track, which positively reeks of glowering warmth and rhythmic intricacy that's reminiscent of Theo P in his more laidback moments. This approach to programming of subtly introducing track mutations - either melodically or rhythmically - seeps through the rest of the EP ensuring each track reveals all new moments of delight with each listen.

Review: Tipped as one of this year's breakout stars in deep house circles, German producer Max Graef may belong in that small percentile whose talent more than justifies the obligatory, never ending, wildly oscillating circles of hype. Last month's platter for Melbourne Deepcast kept the Juno office 1210 well serviced and this new release on Detroit Swindle's Heist label offers further proof of Graef's knack for heavily percussive house music distinguished by certain production idiosyncrasies. Lead track "Jungle" features Andy Hart and stands out because there's just so much detail and attention without ever sounding overly busy - the mark of a real talent. Raw Cuts era MCDE is an easy comparison with B Side opener "Ignorance Is Bliss" but where most would lazily slap down a hastily cut up soul hook, Graef opts for an outer galactic vibe that threatens to explode with vivid colour. "Ztize" also rolls on a similar tip to Graef's celebrated compatriot but with Plessow currently on a production hiatus this newcomer offers fans of current soul and jazz indebted house music a compelling alternative.

Review: 124Black is the new sub label from 124 Recordings with the aim of promoting a darker, harder sound firmly rooted in the underground. All releases are strictly limited and available only on 10" transparent vinyl. First up is Jacob B, rapidly gaining a lot of recognition for his deep and chunky club cuts, aptly demonstrated on "Basement Crowd" with solid drums, suspense filled strings, a spoken word vocal and a bassline that shows you exactly where the title of this track comes from. Next is another 124 family member, Liam Geddes' late night jam, "Somebody In The House". With it's haunting stabs, groovy baseline and snare rolls, this a simple, yet very effective track that works equally as well in a small club or large warehouse! On the B-side, Cecil returns to 124 with "BV" a track very much aimed at the dancefloor and replete with the producer's signature deep stabs and chords, that work alongside a sub bassline that you feel rather than hear. A peak time track that has been doing the business this summer.

Review: Ludovic Llorca is clearly a man on a mission. Having largely disappeared from view for a couple of years, this is amazingly his third Art of Tones release so far in 2013. Expanding on the approach shown on his Lazy Days and Local Talk releases, this is arguably Llorca's best work yet under the Art of Tones banner. "Take Me Higher" is a soulful, energetic and effortlessly groovy fusion on gospel, classic US deep house and contemporary British bass bottom-end. It's one of those tunes that's nigh on impossible to dislike. "Damped", a foray into fluid, late night deepness, is almost as good. The good news is that there are two Lauer remixes to get stuck into on the flip too, with his deliciously old skool, but lovingly fluid "Bert Remix" being our personal pick.

Review: In 2013 Simoncino's HotMix imprint is on fire, with Brad Peterson's debut adding to the flame. Beginning with "Realm Of Ideas", the track blends textures of Steven Tang's Obsolete Music Technology project with the squiggly lined arrangements of Drexciya-tinged electro, while minimal, but impressionable drum and basslines offer an understated strength to the piece. The housey vibes of "When I Think Of The Heavens" deliver something a little more traditional, with punchy snares adding the slightest touch of jack. "The Awakening" provides italo synths in a production that sees Peterson boldly craft some schooled deep house, while the sparseness of "Higher Dimensional" completes a release that aims at keeping heads down rather than hands up.