Back in stock: Deep House

Review: Hot Casa France reissue a sultry drum workout from master Turkish darbouka player Yasar Akpence's 2004 album 'Passion Percussion'. 'Desert wind' layers unbelievably tight darbouka trills and phrases over a pulsing, almost dembow-esque core, making for a perfect Balearic DJ tool for any occasion. We can imagine this one bookending hypnotic techno wormholes in a small hours Donato Dozzy set, with its wide stereo drum intrusions and tight production longing to be aired off a suitably weighty soundsystem. Truly chameleonic and compelling music!

Review: Minimal heads will be chuffed to see that the third volume of the Dis Chronicles series has now arrived on Repeat. It is another stylish collection of Grant Dell beats starting with a cut as Chicago Transit Authority. 'Emotive' is a perfect blend of jazzy keys and skipping garage drums with deep house vibes and swirling pads to add extra heat. On the flipside, Dell links with Jay Tripwire for 'Cosmic Kebab' which leans more into tech house territory but as the title suggests has nice starry synth work and to close out, Dell goes it alone on 'Rhythmic Science' which looks you into his precise beat work and diffuse late night chords.

Review: Quirky and lo-fi minimal moods from the Pirka label, successfully blending four tracks from various artists in their repertoire as far-flung as speed garage, deep house, and broken beat. Glitchingly restless come tracks like Hendriks Toth's 'Pescado Y Limon' and Jorge Savoretti & Lulla's 'Zoot', both of which we consider to be highlights thanks to their impressively slick and agile production quality and swing. The tunes by Guy From Downstairs and Unknown Collective are no less beguiling, spanning crossrhythmic pulses to speedy hat-clap hypnotizers.

Review: Jack D's Regional Groove EP, the second record on the Dias De Campo label, kicks off in style with tech house roller 'Magic Pipe' and the title track both boasting a pulsing atmosphere and a nice, upbeat energy. 'Dub Traveller' is also a strong track and 'Congo Experiment', the downtempo addition to the bunch to close things out, both catchy and fun. If you're into 90s tech house, then you'll really enjoy these very much.

Review: Toolroom head honcho Mark Knight has pulled out all the stops here and joined forces with some of house music's biggest names. His ow-slung new tune 'The Greatest Thing Alive' is a collab with the one and only Chicago don Green velvet plus James Hurr and it has already made an impact on global dancefloors since its digital release in October last year. Between these talents they all dig deep and cook up something perfectly chunky and detailed with fresh percussion. It's the sort of tune that will blow up in Miami and has the addition of Green Velvet's take on the classic 'Mannish Boy' from Muddy Waters.

Review: LADYMONIX invites us to take one last look at ourselves in the mirror, grab our phone, keys & wallet, and strut unapologetically out of the house and into her second EP. Created from her Detroit homebase but inherently inspried annd ruled by her mother city of Baltimore, this new record continues the dancer/DJ friendly formula of her debut release, giving us something to play at ever stage of the night out.

Review: Ladymonix brings the class on the four tracks she lays down for Frizner Electric. 'Club Nowhere' is like a superbly deep Fred P track if he were a more extroverted character, while 'Mood' manages to marry dreamy pads to heavy weight kicks with a real sense of drive. The house gets raw and steamy on 'Gonna Let' then closer 'Movin On' is a super silky late night jam. What's more, a portion of sales from this EP will be donated to support Femme Queen Chronicles, a series about the lives of four black trans women in the city of Detroit.

Review: Following up on the release of Another Day in 2020, Gerald Mitchell re-ignites his working relationship with Italian label Mother Tongue to lay down more of that quintessential Los Hermanos jazz-funk-techno sound. On this occasion, he's leading with the track 'Family', which was recorded with UK techno-turned-jazz-funk luminary Ian O'Brien in Tokyo. If you love the sound of Underground Resistance in 'Hi-Tech Jazz' mode you're going to be more than happy with this track, while the choppy Rhodes chords and gritty beatdown of 'Paradigm 4th Shifter' and 'Far Beyond Sight's dreamy synthscapes have their own spellbinding stories to tell.

Review: This EP's four tracks explore a range of styles within the house genre, from driving grooves to more ambient-tinged. The A-side opens with 'Mind Floating' (Ruffy Pagan Renip), a hypnotic track with a deep bassline, psychedelic synths and a driving beat, followed by 'Chcem Strongly' (Ruffy Surf N' Turf), a more relaxed and ethereal track with cosmic ambient techno and early trance influences. The B-side features two remixes of 'Mind Floating'. The Special Character Peaky Renip remix is a chord-heavy take on the original, while the original 2010 Secret version is a more electro-oriented interpretation. Carnedd Dafydd is a strong release from Luv Jam and Maria Slovakova, showcasing their versatility and skill as producers. The heavy balance of psychedelic and chill out is premier.

Review: You can't beat a good edits label and that's what we seem to have here off the evidence of the first release from NIN Edits out of Italy. Ninja Edits 1 opens with the fused charms of what sounds like sleek, proto-techno synths from Kraftwerk and disco percussion on 'Dance & Music'. 'Get Up & Down' is a deeper cut with some smoky and soulful pads and nice loose percussion that throws it back to the New York disco scene, and the most buttery and seductive of the lot comes last. 'Moon & Night' has a woozy groove and lush strings scoring high next to plenty of rich instrumental funk.

Review: Alex "Omar" Smith has something he wants to get off his chest. The much-lauded Detroit producer has teamed up with re-born Italians Do It Better sorts Nite Jewel for "Confess To You", which comes in two distinctive variations. The A-side "Mix" revolves around a tactile, boogie-era synth bassline, late night AM radio synthesizer chords, drifting sax solos and a crunchy, deep house-influenced rhythm track. Arguably even better is the flipside vocal version, which naturally sees Smith, Romana Gonzalez and company deliver a near perfect chunk of '80s soul/deep house fusion. It sounds like a softly spun summer anthem in waiting. Don't take our word for it, though; check out the clips and revel in the track's breezy brilliance.

Review: We've got some of that naughty and irresistible white label madness here from new and mysterious label and production outfit Outtaface. It comes with a label that references the energetic cartoon stylings of the late Keith Haring and a bassline that will melt your face. The 'Vocal' track mixes up disco, skank, rave, The Prodigy references and outer space designs into a truly unusual blend that will bring colour and craziness to the floor. The flip side dub slows it down, fleshes out the low and and allows the cosmic synth work more room to shine. A handy 12" for sure.

Review: If you love the sound of Get Physical and similarly anthemic German techno labels, you're going to love this release on new label Didschn. The label nods to a track Super Flu released back in 2010, which was remixed to great effect by Monkey Safari a couple of years back. Now Super Flu open proceedings on this new release in partnership with Ivan Mas on the epic, infectious 'It's A House Day'. Monkey Safari then hop on the B-side for 'Malmedy', which hits a sweet spot near the mid-00s melodic minimal you'd hear from the likes of Gabriel Ananda. Then Super Flu and Mar+Mer link up for 'AMA', a sensual, emotive hands-in-the-air moment to move the masses.