Back in stock: House

Review: Archeo Recordings bring us some more Balearic Italian treasure here with some gold initially recorded in Bologna almost two decades ago. It's a collaboration between friends Bottin and Lucio Dalla that has never before been on vinyl. 'Lunedi Cinema' was an ident that played before Monday night movies on of one of the main Italian TV channels for many years. This electronic version includes the Martedi Mix from 2008, a Minibar Bonus Track and also a mix by pioneering Italian dream house dons Leo Mas & Fabrice with a Bottin dub sealing the deal. It's a superb package of real Italo music history.

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: Alleviated's trawl through the (admittedly limited) back catalogue of Larry Heard's long-forgotten Loosefingers alter ego continues. The three tracks here were originally released back in 2004 on the When Summer Comes EP, and see Heard at his deepest and most sensual. The ten-minute title track is particularly gorgeous, sounding like a blueprint for all those hazy "beach house" releases that followed in subsequent years. Pleasingly, there's some more aggressive, in-your-face material on the flip, with the rubbery "Transmission X" and bold "Acid Bounce" recalling Heard's more robust, acid house-inclined work (Gherkin Jerks, "Washing Machine" etc). In fact, it's these two cuts that make the EP nigh on essential.

Review: Harry Dennis and Larry Heard began making music together as The IT in the mid-80s, releasing records on D.J International and Black Market until the duo took a break from collaborating in 1990. A staggering 21 years later they resurfaced on proud Chicago DJ and producer Kevin Starke's label, and following that split 12" they now debut on Heard's own Alleviated Records. "Somebody Somewhere" is a classic Chicago house track with pained spoken word lyrics talking about the struggles of life, while "Crying" is deep and kooky in a Perlon kind of way. "Utopian Dream" is piece of street poetry laced with club music that blends electroclash with house, while "Beauty In A Picture" is tribal and bassline driven. Club music doggerels from the street.

Review: It's been a minute since we last heard from Earl Jeffers, the Cardiff-based artist who has been steadily making his mark in the house scene with a soulful style that calls back to some of the foundations of deep rooted Black house music from the UK. As such, it's significant to see him returning from a three year absence in collaboration with the imperious Kaidi Thatham. Their joint effort, 'The Essence', is a soaring, invigorating workout overflowing with Thatham's incredible musicianship front and centre. 'Higher' is a skipping, up for it garage house heater with raunchy organs and an infectious bounce, and it comes with an additional 'Alt Mix' which takes things a touch deeper for the late night crowd.

Review: Omar S' Detroit proud FXHE now has a staunch reputation as one of those buy on sight labels for a reason. This new release by rising star John FM follows up the well-received Alone and Where My Roots Lie EPs. Starting with the soulful machine funk of "Jehks" truly capturing the sounds of the city of industry in its heyday. There's then the fine R&B jam of "Motion" somewhat reminiscent of Theo Parrish & Andrew Ashong, but it's his smooth vocal delivery which undoubtedly makes it his own! On the flip, the mysterious and melancholic Omar-S remix of "Alone" is absolutely sublime, but just wait for the tough acid fuelled groove of "Gump" which truly takes it home in right fashion.

Review: Jacopo Latini is an Italian producer just breaking through with some choice releases on Mood Waves and Conceptual Moods. He's back on the former label with a lush new 12" of progressive house that leads in with the epic strains of 'Rumore Bianco' - the kind of track to get a crowd swooning thanks to its emotive, plaintive tone. 'Illusion' leans in a little more on the bassline, but there's no shortage of melodic flourishes on top and the subtle fleck of trance we're used to hearing in house music these days. 'Rumore Rosso' is a punchier affair, while 'Synthesy (Acid Dub)' sports a more explicitly 90s flavoured demeanour

Review: Having spent six years apart from one another, Marvin & Guy now reunite with Life and Death for two infectious tracks, breaking their two-year silence from original releases. Departing from their signature melodies, the duo presents minimalist compositions tailored for the dancefloor. Born from playful experimentation with a synthesiser bassline, these tracks boast distinctive rhythmic and harmonic shifts - the irresistible appeal of' 'Who Dis' is its fatness and apparently simplicity. Incorporating sounds like shattered glass and Formula 1 engine roars - both meticulously recorded for these tracks - the joy and fun of the creative process shines through in the music and results in effective good time party tracks.

Review: It is very nearly a full ten years ago that Takuya Matsumoto dropped his masterful EKR's Galactic Dance EO on Clone. Fittingly, it now gets reissued by the ever vital Dutch label. All four tracks explore medic house with deep grooves and a far-sighted sense of reverie. The A-side is taken up with a pair of tunes that are split into two parts and both just roll and roam with a delightful freedom. 'The Sun On The Refugees' has a more unsettled melodic phrasing that loops and loops until its joined with some extra keys that release the pressure then 'Satellite Orbit Funk' is downbeat and dusty house a la Theo Parrish. Superb.

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: 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: Soon as you drop the needle on PH Project's opener 'Blue Yellow Twist' here we guarantee you will be twisting your face in mock disc guts. The bassline is a filthy and old-school gem with organ chord stabs and spoken word snippets adding the irresistible sense of naughty house funk. DMA then bangs the box with cosmic synths and hints of 90s post-rave, Pilot System cruise on a chunky bit of bass-driven house and Frozilla & TJ go deep on far-sighted chords and bubbly bass. This is unpretentious, functional but fun house music from a small but already well-formed label.

Review: Esteemed French producer Franck Roger lands on the Duck It label for the first time here. It is an imprint dear to him because of his Algerian originals and he cooks up a nice warm house vibe as a result. 'Pumpkin' is all balmy pads and trippy synth leads with a hint of Pepe Bradock. The tune is chunky and deep, with nice deft vocal sounds up top to bring the soul. RSlane remixes with a more contemporary and bumping tech house sound but still keeps plenty of the stylish cosmic melody in place. A tidy two tracker for sure.

Review: It would be fair to say that Henry Maldonado, known more widely as Son Of Sound, has been one of the few revelations to come out of New York City since the early 2000's. For a city which gave us so much in the 80's and 90's, there have been relatively few new names to carry on the dynasty, but Maldonado's sleek and thoughtful style for imprints like Disrtrict 30 and Speak Recordings has provided a bit of life and love to the American Dream. Moreover, the man appears on Delusions Of Grandeur, one of our all time favourite labels when it comes to house, and one that we wish was more present again. The deal here is simple; Son Of House provides us with three sultry, laid-back house groovers with plenty of soul and homebred sensibility, rolling and pushing its solid grooves over bouncy, seductive melodies and feel-good charms.

Review: Novi Orbis is a label that has said before it is on a journey into outer space and that sonic mission continues here with a new EP from Elias Sternin. He is a fresh new school soundsmith with who impresses with this one from the off: 'Musica Interminable' is all bendy bass and driving, swampy synths with thudding kicks that sound like a future rave in the stars. 'Magnetismo Inexplicable' is another nice and elastic mix of drums and bass with bright progressive chords and 'Three O'clock' (rework) then gets loose and tripped out. 'Portamento' closes down with a gurgling baseline and snappy drums to get you marching.

Review: Let the speculation begin, because here we have a new EP from an artist about which we know nothing on a similarly anonymous new label. T Recs has pressed up these two house cuts on alluring green wax and riddled them with big samples. The first will be familiar to fans of Donald Glover's 'This Is America' which has the vocal samples and crowd chants layered into a chunky tribal house cut. On the flip is a similar tune with tweaked vocals. Both will bring big reactions to the club.

Review: Piero Umiliani aka Moggi, is the man behind Omicron Records and plenty of seminal library records from the 1970s. The Italian jazz musician, most famous also for scoring many film soundtracks, here has one of his most dance-y tracks served up by Four Flies. It features an original version as well as a special edit retouched by Jolly Mare. The original was recorded in 1978 under one of his many other monikers, Rovi, as a way of not over saturating the market with his name at the time. It is a cosmic beats that chimes with the emergence of that sound and still does today.

Review: Samosa Records is back with a summer edition titled Afrikano Vol. 1, featuring four tracks from various artists. On the A-side, Vagabundo Club Social kick things off with the life-affirming boogie vibes of 'Mr. Mista', while by C. Da Afro & De Gama are equally uplifting on 'Sweet Dance' that's all about the beat and horn breakdowns.Over on the flip, Atchoum & Grincheux appear with the spiritual life music of 'Demokousse' remixed by Les Inferno who underpins the track with infectious breakbeats and finally Lego Edit provides goes poolside and sunset on the low slung 'Afromaniaco'.