Back catalogue: Deep House

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: The third and final EP from the ten year anniversary series by French label D3 Elements is another one that offers a wide range of excellent grooves. To kick off, Jason Hogans takes us into woozy late night territory with muffled leads and lazy breaks, then Zopelar heads for the cosmos on his radiant synth laced house offering 'Resolution.' Malik Hendricks keeps it low key and slow with his intimate basement sounds on 'Green Mango' then Meftah rebuilds on a dusty Theo Parrish tip with 'Maha Shatki.' Damar Davis offers pure cosmic deep house lushness on closer 'Kiss In The Dark.'

Review: D3 Elements is an always cultured deep house label and so it is no surprise to find the great US producer Alton Miller has been recruited for a new EP. He has a richly musical sound and roots that go back decades, and it shows: 'Clone' is the sort of stylish backroom house that layers diffuse chords with dusty drums and cannot fail to warm the heart. 'All Of It' explores more broken and Afro-tinged drum patterns with golden Rhodes chords and astral leads. This top trio is completed with the funky kick patterns and perfect soulful vocals of 'Waitin 4 You'. Detroit mainstay Kevin Reynolds remixes it into a hypnotic Motor City roller.

Review: D3 Elements continues to serve up delicious house music with its next EP, which this time comes from the Detroit native MoReese. He serves up three cuts of rich, musical club sounds that continue in the Motor City's fine tradition.

MoReese marries the history of his hometown, and influences such as Derrick May and Kevin Sanderson, with his own taste for jazz, funk and soul and the results are always magical. He has been touring the world for more than two decades now, playing all over the radio, events like WMC and special four decks set at Movement festival. This new release is sure to introduce him to European crowds who will no doubt immediately fall in love with his fully formed hose sound.

Opener Jupiter Heat marries a nice smooth groove, churning percussion and blistered bass with some simple but effective sax stabs that really elevate the track to the next level. It's the sort of roller, complete with a monologue about modern life, that will really get crowds shifting shapes. 'Linear' is a more direct and hard hitting deep house cut with solid rubber kicks, slick hi hats and lush chords, keys and frazzled synth lines all adding colour, heat and a sense of joy. Lastly, feel good bouncer The Mist is stuffed with the sort of soulful vibes Terrence Parker us famous for, and as a result immediately finds a place in your affections. This is another pure house EP that exactly hits the mark.

Review: French label D3 Elements returns to Chicago for its next EP, this time looking to the assured house talents of Hakim Murphy for three tracks of raw, dense grooves right from the heart of the Windy City. Opener 'Boxbeat' is a curious, freaky jam with bobbing percussive hits, wonky, pixel thin synth lines and free roaming pads that wrap the whole thing in a nice sense of spaced-out serenity. 'Taste o'Rainbow' has a much more firmly planted kick drum that pounds away uninterrupted below a free flowing brew of modulate synth sounds. It's expertly reduced and masterfully reserved and is sure to send dance floors wild as a result. The flipside cut 'Freshness' has pinging drums and a big, frazzled bass line as slithering chords rain down the face. Musical yet jacking, cosmic yet propulsive, it is a perfectly contemporary Chicago house sound that rounds out a fine EP from one of the best in the game.

Review: D3 Elements continues to mine the fertile soil of Midwest inspired house, techno and electro with this fantastic new album from Michael Dykehouse (sometimes found turning out experimental fare on Planet Mu and Ghostly). Here the grooves are immediate and engaging across nine tracks, from the bubbly "Meltdown Morning" to the spooked-out "Clock Division", touching on a range of styles all bound together by a commitment to classic drum machine beats and synthesiser tones. This is far from a throwback record though, instead celebrating Dykehouse's innate musicality through all manner of tempos and moods and coming out as a well-rounded long player in the process.