Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: Black Loops directs a welters' worth of experience into Always Moving, his debut full-length for Freerange. Far beyond club tools, this is a sensitive elusion of watery neo soul instrumentation and distant broken beat jazz, and we're not surprised in this breath to learn of Black Loops' own background as a drummer. Nor is it any wonder either that such auteur's disco house regals such as Harvey Sutherland, Byron The Aquarius and Berlin vocalist Marlena Dae all appear on the record, through 'CDMX' to the ever so eerie, Erie-downstream deep house of 'Detroit Love Letter'. 'Electrical And LSD' takes after such influences as Metro Area's disco house shimmer, while tracks like 'Pleasure Ride' and 'Good Bye Berlin' further locks down the abiding nighttime tension - that least comparable part of his sound.

Review: Prolific Italian maestro Black Loops returns to Freerange with Always Moving, a debut album steeped in high-grade dance heritage. Drawing on over a decade of production, he moves beyond club tools to something more personal and musical, with guest appearances from Harvey Sutherland, Byron the Aquarius and Marlena Dae. Rooted in funk, soul and 90s grooves, these are rich, warm tracks with fully authentic swing i with much of the percussion played live by the artist himself. The result is fluid and human, from the broken beats of 'CDMX' to the shimmering chords of 'Detroit Love Letter'. Marlena Dae adds her touch to several standouts, including the disco-leaning 'Electrical' and hazy deep house of 'Pleasure Ride'. Even at its most downtempo, like the closing 'Good Bye Berlin', the album stays focused and melodic. A confident and expressive full-length that shows how far Black Loops has come while hinting at where he might head next.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


The Blessed Madonna riffs on an immensely successful DJ career so far with the announcement of her debut album, Godspeed. So far, the public is only privy to the bonus single 'Happier', featuring singer Clementine Douglas, a pristine bubblegum dance number turbid with the bittersweet taint of melancholy on the part of the latter singer, and a driven, victorious feel in the production by theThe Blessed Madonna, personally known as Marea Stamper, herself. We can happily disclose, however, that the rest of the record is just as infectious and technical in equal parts, with earworming bass movements backed by stark breakbeat breakdowns and nostalgic moods, all cementing the moving story of Stamper's comeup on the international scene.

Review: The Digital Finesse label was founded as an outlet for two artists, Jimmy Batt and Blinkdus Dischetto. This release is the latter's first on the imprint and it's a biggie: a debut album that does a terrific job in showcasing his hybrid style. That naturally comes to the fore on opener 'Oulala', a chunky blend of synth-heavy nu-disco, French touch funkiness and the more picturesque early deep house works of Pepe Bradock. Squelchy acid bass, cut-up vocal snippets and sun-bright melodies mark out 'Allez Ouste', while 'Corsica Express/Nuit Squanche De Solid State (Tascam Dub)' cannily combines ambient and acid house. Elsewhere, he beefs up the beats ('Le Dernier Des Cristaux'), displays his mastery of 1990s style IDM ( 'Alain Des Cloches') and successfully whips out his MPC (the boogie-tastic 'Breuil Voisinage').

Review: Body Mechanic has been turning out definitive Motor City techno on solid labels like Cryovac, and GASS for several years. This time out he lands-on Detroit Techno and serves up, well, some electro. It's classic 313 tackle though - heavy on the kicks, snappy snares and filthy dirty basslines that make you want to move. Ghoulish vocals add extra grit to the opener and from there 'Dance' gets more playful with jittery drum funk and scratching, 'Beautiful Bum' has a gorgeously tender and reflective vibe thanks to the minor chords and smooth electro rhythms, 'Magic (feat Tay) ' slips into a deep and soulful house groove and 'Househead' is jacked up, loopy and well swung amongst several more timeless cuts. All in all, a killer double 12".

Review: A rare new V/A record from the diggers deific over at Time Capsule - Kay Suzuki and company - whose focus on reissues has thus far formed a dense but not unbraveable thicket of drummy disco, city pop, reggae and international rerubs. Formed out of the East London party scene centring on Brilliant Corners and Beauty & The Beat, this four-track haul of Choice Remixes is a surely credible little curation. Suzuki lends four flips to the record - first of Gaoule Mizik's 'A Ka Titine' from 2022, which reappears with expository force, providing a banging re-bake of the Guadeloupean gwoka original. The theme continues on a version of Broki's 'Es Que Lo Es', which veers Latin minimalia, before slowing to a chuggy pace on 'Sortez Les Filles', before a final, synthy piano duet leaves the proceedings on a piquant hurrah, 'Oyelo'.