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

Review: Semi mysterious crew Italojohnson return for a seventh round of limited vinyl only action and it's hard not to get immediately caught up in the tough Kenny Dope style DJ tool of the A Side hugger. There's just something about the drums that come kicking in that grabs your attention amidst the current deluge of cookie cutter deepness, and the eventual drop into the bassline is sublime. Switch down to 33 on the flip and the first of two more untitled cuts is equally unabashed in its intentions as a DJ tool, pairing crisp hi hats with thick bass drums and fidgeting stabs whilst the second cut begins in a swampier place and highlights Italojohnson's capacity to tease out a vocal sample.

Review: Although Omar S' excellent Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself album was released on CD a few months ago, it's the deluxe vinyl version that the real "Homie's and Tender Roni's" have been waiting for. Only Omar S could get away with spreading all of its 14 tracks across 4 12"s, split into two parts, but for those yet to sample its delights, the album's superb selection of tracks more than justifies the expense; Part 1 features the superb vocal turn from L'Renee on "Rewind", the insanely feelgood house of "The Shit Baby", the experimental dubbiness of "Helter Shelter" and thick set deep house of "Amalthea".

Review: After a break through 2012 with EPs on Dirt Crew, Murmur and Freerange, Detroit Swindle take a second bite out of their 2013 cherry with the Break Up to Make Up EP on new label Heist. The A-side is "The Break Up", a sidechaning rollercoaster of sampled, looped and filtered vocals that bounce of bit-staccato Rhodes, silky hats and tight drums. On the B-side is a deeper "The Break Up" featuring breathy, feminine vocals similar to Australian and Third Strike act The Tortoise. Deep and flowing house music for the dancefloor.

Review: Ahead of a long delayed and keenly awaited new long player for the Firecracker label, Vakula returns to the Banduru imprint that he inaugurated in anonymous fashion for more of his well measured descents into East European house mysticism. Much like everything the Ukrainian touches, the devil is in the details and this four track 12" is notable for the prominent lo-fi fuzz that coats the execution. This murky approach is apparent from the start of lead track "D The Man" with the familiar warm textures blurred by the thick fuzz that occupies the edges of the production which ends on a wonderful piano solo. Complementing this, "Evening Breeze" pairs rasping deep house in the mould of vintage Mahogani with this gauzy approach, whilst "Fifth Experiment" probably gave the mastering engineer heart palpitations.

Review: With a steadily growing discography behind him, Andras Fox makes the move to fledgling Australian imprint Home Loan for this four tracker of sublime neo-boogie jams dropped with a staggering degree of finesse. "Native Dance" bobs along on a breezy refrain coloured by some delicate deployment of tuned bongos and carnival whistles, while "Erskine Falls" makes a more overtly sleazy move into slow jam territory, albeit crafted for baby-making in zero gravity. "Soft Illusions" is a marginally more peppy number with its more discernible 4/4 strut, while "Midnight Mover" slips into a vintage electro ballad of sorts, rounding off an impeccable EP of 80s stylings.

Review: Hong Kong native Steven Tang might just win the award for most overdue debut album, but Disconnect To Connect proves it's been worth the wait! Emerging as a producer in the late nineties, Tang's considered take on the deeper strains of house music under his given name and the Obsolete Music Technology and Misguided aliases have graced revered hubs such as Syncrophone, Keith Worthy's Aesthetic Audio and the Dolly label run by Steffi, as well as his own Emphasis Recordings. To this list Tang adds Hamburg's Smallville operation with the nine track Disconnect To Connect revealing itself to be less an album in the traditional 'journey' sense and more a sublime testament to the productions skills he's been honing over his under rated career thus far.

Review: Sometimes known as Leandre, sometimes known as Lee Andre; the vibe remains consistent throughout with this jet setting house DJ and producer whose blessed take on the twin cities of House music (Chicago and Detroit) has graced LeFreq, Loft66, Minimalizm, House Is A Feeling. Now very much a part of the Vibes & Pepper family, Andre takes care of the label's sixth release with the Backup EP with first editions of VP006 arrive with a thick slab of 180g wax complemented by a limited 7" - all of it Andre's own work. From the off, Andre is in classic deep house mode, pairing crisp percussive grooves with warm keys and chords.

Review: Victor Simonelli's Groove Committee alias inspired much of the upbeat vocal house we hear today thanks to seminal releases on Nu Groove Records in the early '90s. Simonelli's "I Want You To Know", from the eponymous EP released in '91, enjoys a rerelease and remix overhaul on the upstart Deep Down Slam label. Inner Sense's Knows The Truth mix boosts the overall presence of Simonelli's original, by reinforcing the drums, hats and chords with deft touches of neoteric sound design, while Deep Down Slam label-head Washerman opts for cut up and interspersed vocals and loopy instrumentation in his mix. French house ball of fire Kool Vibe, turns up the heat - and punch - in his chord riffing remix, paying homage to a originator that's no doubt influenced his own productions.

Review: The second part of Omar S' You For Letting Me Be Myself album in vinyl form sees another 8 tracks across four sides of wax; aside from the '80s inflected sounds of the album's title track, the 303 workout of "Ready My Black Asz" finds itself with the dubbed out loops of "Messier Sixty Eight". As a bonus for those who already have the album, this part contains two vinyl exclusive tracks; the soothing deepness of "She's Sah Hero Nik" and the delayed organ weirdness of "Broken Bamalance Horn" - both more than worth the price of admission alone.

Review: ** Repress ** Off Minor Recordings is the new label from Juju & Jordash's affable Jordan Czamanski, with the producer himself handling the debut release under the pseudonym Jordan GCZ. The label was apparently set up so Czamanski had an outlet to release solo material away from the labels that put out the celebrated Juju & Jordash work he shares with Gal Aner, though there are whispers that Magic Mountain High will also be surfacing on Off Minor too. As debut releases go, you can't fault Cry Baby, with the A Side original version reining in Czamanski's natural desire for musical experimentation to a certain degree, though the sheer melodic delight that unfurls is somewhat comparable to the classic Arp 2600 action on Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness". The accompanying Dub version does what a good dub version is supposed to, burying the myriad of somewhat spectral textures deep beneath the same tough, neck snapping drum beat. Great cover art from Red Light Radio's Orpheu De Jong too!

Review: REPRESS ALERT: The debut release from US label Perpetual Rhythms comes in the shape of an EP of collaborations and single drops entitled Secret Elements. Firecracker boss Linkwood provides some extra Chi-Town edge to the sombre melodies and science fiction synths of Specter & Chicagodeep's "Sonic Pulse" on his opening edit, whilst Chicagodeep's "Restless Nights" generates a mix of spacey, laid back vibes. The bleepy pulses of Taelue's "Social Anxiety" sounds close to what an Aphex Twin and Jerome Sydenham & Kerri Chandler house collaboration would result in, while the single rimshots and wallowing pads of "Rough Access Point" give the track a distinctly lonesome ambience.

Review: As an intermittent feature over at Deep Explorer, Leo Gunn makes his second vinyl appearance for the label appearance with some typically astute deep house ponderings, starting off with the lush undulations of "Dancing With Dreams". "Come Down" gets into a tripped-out mind state of a different nature with its soulful key progressions, although still very much in that elegant vein championed by Deep Explorer. "Open Spaces" brings equal amounts of wistful atmospherics, although over a slightly more pronounced beat, while "Quiet" sees Dubbyman getting in on a reconstruction that lets cheeky synth flutes amongst other things dart into the blissed-out mix.

Review: The 7th Sccucci Manucci EP kicks off in moustache curling style with a Scandinavian slice of four/four action from Tarjei Nygard. On loan from his own Untz Untz Records, Tarjei Nygard weaves his way way through beautifully recorded synth bleeps and bass lines on "TOGO," culminating in a piano breakdown which will have any party reaching for the lasers. The Scandinavian vibe continues as Dane Brian Logstrup comes correct with the classic slab of deep house sound that is "I Can Do" whilst we return to the UK and the sounds of London producer Mella Dee whose UK Garage and Bass influences shine through on the peak time monster "Love Is". Last seen debuting on Buzzin' Fly, Alex Blaxx rounds off proceedings with the wonderfully insouciant house of "It's A Race Thing".

Review: Uk producer Leon Vynehall has invariably had the prefix 'up & comer' attached to him over the past 18 months thanks to a succession of crunchy, sample laden releases for the likes of Well Rounded and Man Make Music. A recent release for the latter label as Lazlo Dancehall with A1 Bassline was Vynehall's most accomplished work to date and his arrival on Will Saul's Aus label with the Brother/Sister is a sign that this producer might soon be regarded as an established player in UK house circles. There's a sense of a serotonin injected Motor City Drum Ensemble at play here across both "Brother" and "Sister" with the former's rugged swagger complemented by the warbling melodic subtleties of the latter. Best Aus release in a hot minute!

Review: The 14th release on the Made Fresh Daily label comes from Barcelona resident and long time label supporter Swoose. The former Shine resident DJ known to friends as Danny Simpson turns in a tough slice of forthright vocal house in the shape of "Rushin" and it's complemented by a trio of remixes from rising UK deep hose talent Timmy P, the venerable Washerman and JMX, Swoose's partner in the Extended Play crew. In short, we've taken a banging original and flipped the script on it in several ways. Showcasing our mob of talent in a blinding 4 track EP.

Review: The Rothmans label combines an unlikely link between football statistics, some of the best (or worst) haircuts to grace the European version of the game, with jacking drums and acid-based rhythmics. The label dedicates its third EP to French striker Dominique Rochetea, with a various artists EP as strong as the back four of Arsenal's '98 FA cup winning side. The Nigel Winterburn of the release is Coyote's "Without The E", a squelchy and Balearic groove with psychedelic vocals not too far off from DJ Koze "Mrs Bojangles". Aimes and Scott Fraser provide the EP with the composure of Tony Adams and the brute force of Martin Keown with their respective synth-led productions "The Kontemplation of Kosmic Order" and "Heat for Dust", while on the right - a would be Lee Dixon - Drvg Cvltvre, supplies "The Master Builder", an EBM and industrious dancefloor workout.

Review: Danish label Vibes LTD continue their manifesto to showcase the finest in contemporary slants on the classic French house sound - namely a constant groove and vibe gleaned from the chords, melodies and crunching 909 drum patterns - with a third limited vinyl only release. As with the previous two, artist names and track titles are of no concern here, leaving you to focus on the music which begins in hazy, soft hued fashion with the first track (replete with "deeper" vocal samples in case you didn't know) before heading in a more rugged direction -it's a toss up between "Track 2" and the glowering, jazzy "Track 3" for best track here.

Review: Kai Alce's first release of 2013 - only his second in two years - comes via his own NDATL imprint. Naturally the EP draws inspirations from the cities the label is named after: New York-Detroit-Atlanta. With tinges of dub, the A-side is reminiscent to the looping deep house of Norm Talley's music on Pariter, while the scrappy hats, popping snares and all-round rough fidelity of "Rabbit's Hole" rank up with the productions of Delroy Edwards on New York label L.I.E.S. Alce then brings some of his own home spun Atlanta funk to the EP with the title track "World Causes".

Review: Launched earlier this year with the saturated boogie of Atlanta's Moon B, Going Good demonstrated they were a label with a keen ear for unheralded talent, which is further strengthened on this second 12" release from Aquarian Foundation. This Vancouver group are part of a much larger collective called Mood Hut whose name is gonna be popping up all over the place this year, and rightly so on the basis of this Silent Teaching EP. There's a charming fuzziness to "Mystery Track" that's reminiscent of Huerco S but Aquarian Foundation still have their own rhythmic swagger and it shines through here, whilst "Caravan Of Dreams" opts for a more introspective tone, vaguely reminiscent of Drexciya ruminating on their aqua tax bill. "Hard Talk" shows AQN FDN's capacity to drop the tempo, lazily hazing out on a head fuck beat down tip, whilst "Dream Of Red Chamber" is simply mind bending. They called Going Good for a reason you know!

Review: As a steady bastion of UK centric deep house, Tsuba leave no-one guessing with the intention of their Night Trax series. This time around it's a meeting of old and new with Scottish scene stalwart Milton Jackson alongside fresh young South Coast upstarts Zoo Look. "Requisite Vocal Science" sees Jackson delivering his classic kind of ethereal deep house with rock solid beats and the titular samples on a Joy Orbison angle of mutation. Zoo Look are more kinked in their groove, maximizing on swing and shuffle to create a heated party rocker that keeps passions tempered even as it drops into a nagging funk, like all good deep house should.

Review: The second release for the Inner Shift music group comes as four track various artists EP. First up is Mick Welch with his second outing, supplying some deep and Chicago rhythmic house, eloquently introducing an acid bass line later on the piece, which he then breaks down further with jacking drum patterns of the John Heckle variety. It's also Rai Scott's second outing and he opts for movie soundtrack horns, synths, and subtle tribal percussions that give "Beyon Earth's Atmosphere" that little extra push. Miles Sagnia adds some distinguished weight to the EP alongside Brad Peterson, with Sagnia flirting with trancey elements in "Tears of Saturn", while Peterson strips his mix back with raw kicks, softened by hollow tribal drums and spacey synths.

Review: Beyond The Speaker is a new label launched by three American indiviuals with hands in graphic design, DJing and presenting radio shows. These mediums are put to expert usage on the label's first release, Angels Against Dust, which pairs up two of electronic music's singular personalities in Legowelt and Willie Burns. Both artists arrive on Beyond The Speakers with countless widely applauded releases between them in recent times and also share clear links with Legowelt's Strange Life Records having previously released early material from Burns under the Grackle banner. Each side sees one production from each producer with Legowelt's penchant for woozy melodic hooks, rippling percussion and aqautic techno complemented well by Burns' more meditative, hypnosis inducing arrangements.