Back catalogue: House

Review: Much loved Michigan techno and ambient virtuoso John Beltran wraps up the so far so excellent Back to Bahia 7 series with the a final volume that proves to be the most dancefloor focussed offering yet. Leading with 'O Patio,' Beltran shows his class with a blend of jazz-funk and MPB that comes with a rather sunny Ibiza-inspired twist while echoing the vibes of Latin greats like Robson Jorge and Lincoln Olivetti. On the flip side, 'Belle Isle' is a perfect party anthem for those outdoor sessions - think beach gatherings or cookouts and you won't go wrong. This has been a brilliant series and while it's a shame it's over, this is a fitting way to end it.

Review: Celebrated composer, producer, techno talent and ambient craftsman John Beltran is a real Detroit don and now he is back on one of the city's own labels, Motor City Wine, with Volume 4 of Back To Bahia on 7". This one finds him going even deeper than before, starting with 'Laguna', which will soon uplift you with its Afro-Brazilian drums and live bass from James Simonson next to lush keys. 'Just Beyond The Sun' then gets fully Balearic with its mix of sultry trumpet, shuffling and Latin-tinged rhythms and wispy cosmic chords. A real delight.

Review: Detroit's John Beltran can do no wrong if you ask us, and what he does do is always famously varied, from sound design for TV to melodic techno excellence via ambient beauty. Here for MotorCity Wine he revisits his Back To Bahia series with a third volume that finds him flexing his Afro-Brazilian deep house chops. The 7" opens up with the jazzy boogie of Lsaura' which is steeped in Minneapolis funk and will get cultured dancefloors in a spin. 'As The Sunsets' that appears on the flip and is a superbly emotive sound with wispy late night melodies and glowing harmonies and shuffling Latin grooves. Essential.

Review: Blacks & Blues is a new name to 2000 Black, but the people behind the project are label stalwarts: Dego, Kaidi Tatham, Matt Lord (AKA Lordamercy) and vocalist Obenewa Aboah. With such talent on show, it's unsurprising that opener "Spin" - a cracking slab of broken-beat/soul fusion rich in military style drums, jazz-funk keys and summery vocals - is rather good. While dancefloor-friendly, the track feels loose, languid and tailor-made for outdoor parties. "Don't Know Why (Chant For Love)" is an even more lo-fi broken soul excursion (very Fatima), while "You Know The Feeling" recalls the jazz-funk-fired soulful club cuts of early 2000s broken beat heroes Bugz In The Attic.

Review: Luminaries of the St. Louis and Atlantan experimental dance circuits, Blvck Spade and Stefan Ringer reign over similar territories in the niche downland of raw, soulful house. Here the pair team up for the first time ever for a notable Touching Bass debut, with Ringer handling production and Spvde masterminding all things poetic, choral and verbal. Building on both artists' slowly accrued, and now prolific, contributions to such labels as Eglo, FWM and Dolfin Records, this newly erected album-temple hears the duo shift impossible sacral brickwork by the force of composition alone, with star relic 'YOURZZZ' especially cultivating an inner sanctum of humid cowbell, funky acid line, and theophanic vocal run.

Review: Those two little letters GU are always enough to get us excited. They are of course an alias of Glenn Underground, the masterful Chicago house producer, musician and DJ who still has a much lower profile than his talents deserve. Here he adds a Mix Mashup to Bobpstar's 'Mayday/Captured Restless Soul Mixes' and the result is a bubbly, mellifluous deep house cut with warm and liquid synths, chopped-up vocal fragments and a gooey sense of romance. It is another crucial offering from the Windy City mainstay, even if it is a one-sided 12".

Review: Over the past decade, Cory Champion has navigated multiple musical dimensions. As a composer, drummer, and bandleader, he has led the Clear Path Ensemble through two albums of celestial, dance-infused jazz under Cosmic Compositions and Soundway Records. Simultaneously, as Borrowed CS, he has crafted dubby techno, minimal electro, and soulful jazzy house. His second Borrowed CS release, Rise n Shine via Planet Trip Records, expands on his "Mystic Shuffle" sound and is a brilliant new blend of futurist machine funk, post-disco, and future soul with some fine features from the one and only Steve Spacek and smooth crooner Mara TK who help deliver grooves that shimmer and snap with rhythmic precision.

Review: Across four elegantly crafted tracks, Italian producer Bottone blends rich melodies with smooth, intricate production, creating a collection that feels effortless and deeply refined. Side -1 opens with 'On Hilly Earth', a laid-back yet deep cut where light, jazzy chords float over a deep, groovy foundationiperfect for early evening unwinding. 'Teach Me The Way You Walk' steps up the tempo slightly, embracing a warm, melodic house feel with a sunset-kissed glow, its uplifting vibe tailor-made for golden-hour dancefloors. The title track, 'Beggin' For Love', leads Side-2 with gentle, beachy rhythms and keyboard work that exudes warmth and relaxation. Finally, 'It's A Heart Feeling' closes the EP with a deep, emotive grooveiits soulful touch and flowing melodies making it an ideal end-of-the-night moment. With 'Beggin' For Love', Bottone crafts a great balance of sophistication and ease, showing he is a name to watch for in the future.

Review: Bread & Souls is a new project dreamt up by Italian entrepreneur and music lover Franco Fusari. For this he invited Mark de Clive-Lowe to direct and produce his roving vision: a series of collaborations with the cream of boogie and jazzdance's best performers and instrumentalists, including the likes of Bembe Segue, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, Tommaso Cappellato and more. Under the banner of Bread & Souls, these eight originals and six remixes hit hard yet smooth, sliding down the proverbial aural gullet like a well-made Manhattan.

Review: IRMA has assembled a trio of top remixers here to add their own spin to some fine originals from Bright Magnus. Up first is the LTJ Xperience remix of 'Jungle Corner' and it is a low slung and steamy funk number with loose shakes of a tambourine and languid bass riffs drawing you in. 'Selim/Miles' (DJ Rocca 606 remix) is a blend of smeared synths and woozy guitar riffs over more lush downtempo beats that make it perfect for the midnight hours. Last but not least is 'A Way' (DJ Rocca Black Satin remix) which is a more psychedelic sound thanks to the drawn-out synth percolations that stretch through the mix.

Review: Tetsu Shibuya, better known as simply Tetsu or BRISA is a Japanese producer and DJ known for works on the iconic Japanese Jazzy Sport imprint, King Street sub-label Nite Grooves and his own BRISA Music. Leading the EP is title-track 'Stir', in collaboration with Turbojazz BRISA delivers a classic slice of deep house built upon layers of bright stab sequences and loose organic percussion. Detroit's beloved Jon Dixon turns his hand to 'Stir' next, encapsulating the soul of his hometown in reshaping fragments of the original composition. The original of 'Reverie' opens the B-side, laying down a broken rhythm, low-pitched vocal hooks and elongated bass grooves for a more bruk tinged feel. Byron The Aquarius then extracts the core of 'Reverie' and spins it into bumpy, subtly nuanced house workout. Lastly the third original 'Flux' rounds out the release, shifting deeper in funkinfused realms with a playful plucked bass groove and heavily swung drums.

Review: Broken Keys is a multi-talented musician and producer based in Los Angeles. His cut 'Assorted Colors' has become a real underground house classic that now lands on wax for the first time as a special extended 12" remix that really locks you into the languid grooves. The legendary Galcher Lustwerk steps up to add his own distinctive take on the original and infuses it with a techy yet atmospheric groove. Broken Keys explores a different facet of his sound with three distinct cuts on the flip that range from blunted beats and sun-kissed Balearic to chilled-out future soul. They make for a diverse package perfect for the after-club or Sunday morning listening.

Review: We're big fans of Byron The Aquarius here at Juno HQ and it is hard to think why anyone wouldn't be. The master keys man and former hip-hop producer has been turning out a steady and quality stream of deep house deliciousness in recent years and that's what he does again here on US label Toucan Sounds. 'Baddest Behavior' (feat Brandon Markell Holmes) kicks off with chord-laced deep house bliss and a magnificent vocal, 'Freed 4 OG's' (with Coto Loco - feat Rasheeda Ali) is a more lively and percussive jam with more rickety beats and nimble chords and 'I Be Like Dat' brings lovely wet claps and low-key soul to a US garage groove. A series of remixes on the flip seals the deal.

Review: Byron The Aquarius is one of deep house's most vital innovators. The man with the background making hip-hop for the stars as really excelled in recent times with his always richly musical jams. This new outing is no different: 'Free' (feat Teddy Bryant) lays down solid deep house beats and salts them with soft focus chords and smoky vocals. 'We Still Slaves Out There?' has a dubby groove and more exquisite chords and soulful vocal coos, while two further teriffic tracks 'Slaves Of Reality (feat MDMA)' and 'Lonesome Road We Livin' round out a heartwarming and timeless deep house offering that is cuddly and life-affirming.

Review: Byron The Aquarius has the sort of mad skills on a keyboard that evade all too many house producers. He has also spent years making beats for hip-hop artists so has plenty in his arsenal. His fantastic EP 'Gone Today Here Tomorrow' is a still standout collection of cuts on Kyle Hall's Wild Oats label that now gets reissued on limited orange vinyl 12". It is a superb showcase of his skills that traverse lithe deep house, cosmic grooves, plenty of mellifluous melodies and seductive late-night sounds. 'Moments In Life' is a particular favourite here.

Review: Stefano De Santis kicks off Ten Lovers' new 'Best Of Various' release with 'Murk'; as the name suggests, this is indeed a dark workout from Rome's finest. The tone is set thereout for a thoroughly varied V/A, blending every curious hallmark from jazzdance, G-funk, Chicago house and progressive. The opener is a muted but no less expansive start, establishing the broken, one-beat-eliding, live-drummy mood that is then heard throughout. Batavia Collective's 'Rearview' thematically harks after an unconscious joy, considering what can only be implied, not stated, by way of a gorgeous, what sounds to be largely live, modal synth squeezer on which the slowdown is the real highlight. Future Jazz Ensemble's 'Over The Rainbow' is by far the most challenging, blurring any woulda-been established lines popularly splitting 'live' and 'electronic' with a reverb-drenched generative fill workout, while closer 'Outer Heaven' from Takahiro Fuchigami, hailing from Fukuoka, rounds things off on a note of Hancockian jive.

Review: Images And Anthems - Book I is an album by Lars Bartkuhn from back in 2008. The artist who is also known for his work in Passion Dance Orchestra and as Laurentius is a master of super cool jazz and laid-back lounge electronics that have hints of 80s nostalgia without being too slavish. Originally this one came only on CD and digitally and now it makes its first foray onto vinyl thanks to First on Vinyl out of Japan. Tracks like the lush 'Pulse' are gloriously airy and spring-like montages while there is a little woozy romance to 'Before It Enters My Mind'.