Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: Adam Antine is also known as Dawn Razor, a prolific producer covering all kinds of styles from bass-toting broken techno to slender minimal on labels like R&S, Otake and Baroque. Now he lands on Deepology with a masterful EP of contemporary minimal which draws on breakbeat as much as glitchy electronica and ambient to create a standout EP. The title is instructive - all the tracks carry a dusky, seasonal mood which elevates these beyond simple club tracks, even if they have more than enough presence in the rhythm section to keep a dancefloor moving. Lose yourself in the fluttering piano and murmuring pads of the title track and you'll practically feel the leaves crunching under your feet.

Review: Voice Notes is a new imprint run by London underground veteran Toby Tobias with Alphonse. A five track various artist EP, Voice Notes 002 is a time-honoured memorial for its sister label London Housing Trust, that they shut down a few years ago after 10 releases. Featuring tracks by label boss Tobias who delivers some emotive electro on 'Streets Of Gold', his evil twin Alphonse on the UK flava of 'Rujac', plus introducing Dance with the dub techno deconstruction of 'Amber', Rodney Bennett with the classic Stateside deep house of 'Palm Sunday' and Pyramids of Space with the downbeat IDM journey 'Quantis'.

Review: French finesse with German fusion... Willis Anne makes his Shall Not Fade debut with this killer 'Movement' EP. As with previous missives on his LAN imprint, the beats roam and romp freely between footwork, jungle and ghetto-tek with strong twangs of Detroit bringing it all together. Highlights include the wonderful layers of organs and vibrant chords of 'Direct Effect' and the fully-swung breakbeats and bellowing sub of 'Unison'. Get moving.

Review: Off Topic builds on its early momentum with a third outing if deep tech class from Antonio and Pir. Antonio get first with a cute vibe on 'We Sang We Laugh' which repeats the title's refrain over elastic and nimble drums. 'Danca Danca' its more heady with reverb-rich kicks and echoing vocals that bring a curious edge and then it is Per who takes care of the flipside. 'Mighty Blue' layers a smoky jazz line over weighty house kicks and 'Glass' shuts down with more sample madness.

Review: Athlete Whippet's first outing on Toy Tonics, 2021's Vesta EP, offered a hugely attractive fusion of Berlin deep house nous and colourful jazz-funk/jazz-fusion instrumentation. This follow-up continues in a similarly vibrant vein, with the duo adding all manner of vocal and instrumental samples and a distinctive '80s boogie influence to their already rainbow-coloured trademark sound. Across the four tracks, the pair confidently skip between rubbery, summery house ('Noguiera'), thrilling P-funk/nu-disco fusion (the throbbing electronic bass, jumpy synth sounds, dreamy chords and tidy machine drums of 'Mesmerise'), cut-up boogie-house squelch ('I Think I See') and shuffling, breakbeat-driven deep house/synth-funk fusion ('Slow Down').

Review: Philip Leroi has had many musical lives over the years, variously recording as Linntronix and alongside Danny Sugarman as Stylus Heat. Atlantic Brain is his latest project, with the EP for Prins Thomas's Internasjonal label being his most high-profile to date. The key cut is 'Brother', a sparkling, melodious and attractive slab of electro marked out by squelchy bass and star-fall melodies. Rising star Alan Dixon delives two takes: a gorgeous, largely beat-free 'Piano Reprise' that sits at the rhythmic end of the ambient spectrum and the squelchy nu-disco-goes-deep house 'Love Attack Mix'. Elsewhere, 'The New Normal' is a shuffling and ghostly electro-not-electro number and 'Sticky Fingers' is a pleasingly wayward acid excursion.

Review: It almost feels like Amsterdam's Rush Hour has been around as long as house music itself. The Dutch powerhouse does it all from new and fresh sounds to classic reissues. For this one, the assured Await 3 brings the party with a selection of hazy and dusty MPC jams with live accompaniment from Jos De Haas of New Cool Collective on percussion and Stefan Schmid from Zuco 103 on keys. The result is a timeless mix of warm-hearted jams, house cuts, broken beats and hazy melodies that are as comfy and frayed around the edges as your favourite jeans.

Review: In the summer of 2023, Upgrade Records launched via a nostalgic, party-starting EP from the previously unheard artist In 5 D (likely an alias for someone a bit better known, but don't quote us on that). For the label's return, long-serving DJ/producer Buckley Boland (best known for his releases on Made To Play, Black Riot and One Records) is the man at the controls. What he's delivered is a nostalgic, sample-rich affair that combines the angular wonkiness and mind-mangling noises of early-to-mid-2000s tech-house with nods towards vintage acid house, electro-house and the hard-to-pigeonhole house filth of the (long gone) Music For Freaks label. Basically, it's all fun-time, party-starting fare, with the bump-and-squelch of 'Daft Sandwich', the bustling brilliance of 'Nude Night' and the break-sporting hustle of 'S/A/M Real Man' standing out.

Review: Massive jazzdance and UK bass fusions on the new e-glowup from Eglo (though the record is also released physically). Celebrating 15 years of the nominal "post-dubstep" label, this limited 12" EP hears four exclusive, unreleased tracks from an upcoming label-definer compilation, the third in a series. Born from the basement of Plastic People, the pressure has remained continuously on Eglo to keep the same foment of bass musical innovation that the club nurtured alive. Plastic People is a routinised object of nostalgia, and it is often deemed the last proper place for innovation in bass music before austerity Britain militated against it. Zed Bias's remix of Chunky's 'Dancing On Tables' with Metrodome - and the deep, bruk-inspired track, 'Minerals,' from Liverpool's rising star Sticky Dub - both prove this assessment totally wrong. Genius thrives. On the flip, we've also house legend Giles Smith (formerly of Secretsundaze) delivering fresh material, as well as label boss Alexander Nut making his official debut with the lo-fi electro house track 'Arcade Fun Pt. 1.' The full compilation, featuring artists like Shy One, Steve Spacek, and Fatima, drops in April.

Review: A quirky new ambient electro follow-up to the 'Quadrifonia' V/A from Positive Not Happy, with wicked contributions from The Lumens, AT, Floog and Paradise City Breakers. From the jump, we're hit with bursty bright arps and hard-hitting kicks on 'Transformazione'; gurgling, bitcrushed, yoying groundswells on 'Ga Ga'; lo-fi ruminative movements verging on speed garage with 'Deviate'; and creative, dynamic future swellups on 'The Butterfly Man'. Mostly breezy, hardly cheesy.

Review: Beijing based Leele, Tokyo based S.O.N and Detroit transplant Camille has come together to give you something soothing from Adeen records. Their debut live studio album A Band Of Brothers is a nice warm welcome from the label that's known for house and techno. The late 70's early 80's Japanese fusion jazz influenced offering is split into two discs with one being all jazz, and disc two being remixed into breezy house tracks. Rather is an easy chilled out vibe or a night on the dancefloor, A Band Of Brother got you covered for all occasions.

Review: Howard Dodd (Tongue, Anoesis, Oxidation, Doc Bozique) takes control on the third Anoesis release on Cosmic Soup. Supercade is one that's been long anticipated by fans of their well designed breakbeat sounds and their first since 1995's Blood & Sweat on D*Fusion. As such there is a hint of 90s post rave magic to the 11 cuts here, all with cosmic intent and deep grooves - tunes that have you lost in a reverie on the heart of the dance floor but with your gaze turned skyward. Essential stuff.