Delusions Of Grandeur Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The Hamburg-Berlin connection returns. Retreat label boss Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling of Giegling fame have been at it as Session Victim for the better part of 10 years and they're still in fine form. The third instalment of Listen To Your Heart features four splendid journeys into the deep. Starting off with the lo-slung disco loops of "Almost Midnight" on the A side, which is followed up by the sun-kissed/slo-mo balearica of "Castle For Sale". On the flip, they pick up the pace once again with "Almost Midnight" which showcases the classic SV sound: deep house from a hip-hop production style of technique which no doubt influenced a new generation of German producers such as Glenn Astro & Max Graef. Finally, recline, relax and light one up to the dubbed out ambient journey that is "Thermal Explorer".

Review: Session Victim return to the Delusions Of Grandeur imprint with their third studio album. Listen To Your Heart is the result of a year of cross-continental scripting which started in their Hamburg studio and wrapped up stateside in San Francisco's Room G Studios where the duo had worked on their 2014 LP See You When You Get There. Here is the second of three LP samplers. "Shadows" gets things rolling with a classic Session Victim groove, looped up pads and hooky spoken vocal samples. Next up we have "Unchained" which drops the BPM for a widescreen, slo-mo jam clouded in a smoky haze with jazzy touches, recalling the halcyon days of Pork Recordings. Flipping over we have a brand new LP version of previous single "Up To Rise", another sublime slice of blissed-out house music with a wonderful organic and live sound palette. Echoing Rhodes licks join the lead guitar tune for a Balearic beauty which will be stuck in your head long after the sun sets. Closing this second sampler we have "Over And Over", which winds things down somewhat for an inspired, bass-led roller.

Review: Shockingly, five years have now passed since perennial deep house/disco/Balearic fusionists Session Victim released their fine debut album, The Haunted House of House. To celebrate, the album has been given the reissue treatment on vibrant orange vinyl. It remains a terrific set all told - a contemporary classic that stretches 11 slabs of deep house gorgeousness across three slabs of wax. Throughout, the pair easily sidestep the genre's many pitfalls, flitting between comfy, melodic goodness ('Push Comes To Shove', 'Zoinks'), jazz-funk/deep house fusion ('AlpineGlow'), slick disco-house ('The Haunted House'), groovy slo-mo electronica ('Blison'), dewy-eyed Balearica ('The Light Scent of Decay') and Clyde-esque broken hip-hop ('Fine').

Review: Is there a more reliable production duo in deep house than Session Victim? They're naturally at the top of their game on their latest EP for long-term label Delusions of Grandeur. They begin by joining forces with dub-wise mic man Ras Stimulant on 'Motivation', a heady and hypnotic peak-time loop jam packed to the rafters with addictive electric piano riffs, delay-laden vocal snippets, jazzy flourishes and intergalactic electronics. Over on the flip side, 'Dromedary Twist' sees them wrap snaking sax lines around a chunky deep house groove laden with sustained chords and jammed-out Rhodes motifs, while 'Green Run' is a delicious downtempo jam of the sort that label co-founder Jimpster used to knock out during the early portion of his career.

Review: The always-cultured Session Victim have got increasingly refined in their work over the last decade or so. Always about much more than just throwaway grooves, they embellish their sounds once more here with the new album Listen to Your Heart on the regular home label Delusions of Grandeur. It arrives across six sides of opaque violet vinyl and is hugely limited. The house here is dusty and laden with great soul samples, lit up with gorgeous jazzy melodies and steeped in musicality. The opener is a real early standout while cuts like 'Up To Rise' are full of warm, joyous synth magic.