Groovin Italy Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Groovin Recordings is kicking off a new series in brilliant style here with three killer disco-boogie tracks. They were all first released between 1979 and 1982 and first up is Arthur Adams with 'You Got The Floor.' It's an uber cool groove with AOR vocals, loose drum funk and sprinkles of disco dust. There is more theatre to the soaring strings of Millie Jackson's 'We Got To Hit It Off' which has rickety drum loops and funky bass riffs. C-Brand's 'Wired For Games' closes won and might be the best of the lot with its coy male vocal, playful guitar twangs and nice raw claps.

Review: Absolute classic from the Blaze camp, this has never been repressed officially since its initial release in 93. Those clipped reedy synths, the nagging looping vocal on the chorus and sweet honeyed soul of Roger Harris, soul seeps off every hook, nook and shuffle. "Blaze Theme Track" set the benchmark: jazzy, dubby and oh-so-funk with its soft live bass keys jamming away with a life of their own. 24 years old and still untouchable.

Review: Groovin Italy landed a monumental reissue for the label with C'hantal's 'The Realm'. Originally released way back in 1990 on the dance and early Brooklyn based Powertraxx records. Staying true to the original release, it offers the 'Love In D Minor' mix but does one better in tucking in the Acapella version to the A-side so the B-side 2 versions have a little more room to breathe. The added bonus has to be putting on the more rare "Wild Club mix' to the party along with the original 'Rave Mix'. All and all, a very packed reissue of some of the best versions of the track, all on one record. This might just hold the number one spot for best techno reissue so far of 2024.

Review: The latest on-point reissue from Italy's Groovin' label takes us back to 1993, and the Peter Daou/Danny Tenaglia-produced debut single from vocalist Daphne Rubin-Vega. It's a far breezier, groovier and sweeter record than many of Tenaglia's later productions (which tended towards the muscular), with Rubin-Vega's quietly soulful vocal seemingly drifting across a backing track rich in warm chords and baggy, breakbeat-driven house grooves. All of the various mixes hit the spot, with the trippy, dub-style Reconstruction Mix, vibraphone-laden Groove Instrumental and low-slung Never Do Dub standing out. The Acapella Reprise, which features rich chords and vocal snippets, is also rather good.

Review: It's not every day we encounter Christian acid house, but the historic contributions to the scene by one Dimensional Holofonic Sound (DHS, real name Benjamin Stokes) are an exception to this general observation. An ingenious project which takes full advantage of the penchant for acid house producers to sample Evangelistic sermons, Stokes always went one step further by neglecting to omit the religious themes in these samples. The result was EPs like 'The House Of God', first released in 1990 and reissued here via Groovin. Raw, breaksy and rude productions are all compelled by a core vocal sample here, proving that acid house - the gateway to many contemporary religious experiences - belongs to no-one but the almighty.

Review: If you're a fan of 'dream house' - that immensely colourful, loved-up take on deep house pioneered by Italian producers at the turn of the 90s - then you may already know Don Carlos' Mediterraneo, a 1992 mini-album that contains one of the most celebrated (and, we will add, inspired) tracks produced in the period. We're talking about the undulating melodies, saucer-eyed chords and shuffling beats of 'Re-Mida Overture', of course, and as this timely reissue proves, there's plenty more to get excited about across the six-track set, including two takes on 'Play It Again' (a sunrise-ready 'Underground' version that's as deep as they come, and the lusciously emotive 'Paradise' mix), and the simply gorgeous, life-affirming title track - a cut just tailor-made for open-air dances and beachside festivals.

Review: This tidy two-tracker brings together a couple of sought-after gems from one of the true masters of neo-soul and soulful deep house, Peven Everett. On side A there's a chance to cop hard-to-find 2010 single 'Heat Up', a Clavinet-heavy chunk of organic, soft-touch, up-tempo soul meets deep house brilliance in which Everett's effortlessly slick and smooth vocals rise above rubbery bass guitar, heady keys and tasteful beats. Head to side B for something never-before-released on wax, the much requested 'Fantasy Eyes'. More electronic sounding but still loose, warm and organic, it's a similarly inclined chunk of dancefloor goodness that once again boasts some superb lead vocals from the veteran Chicagoan.

Review: Groovin' Records has a good relationship with Peven Everett. Over the years, the Italian label has released and reissued plenty of material from the legendary Chicagoan vocalist and producer. 'Bluelight Love' is brand spanking new - a superb, subtly Latin-tinged chunk of deep, soulful vocal house rich in jazzy guitar flourishes, organic-sounding percussion hits and dreamy chords. On the flip, Everett remixes it himself, opting for chunkier, bouncier drums, far weightier bass and a much more club-centric feel. The spacey synth solos that are a little buried in the A-side original version are far more prominent, too, while his superb lead vocal naturally takes pride of place in the mix.

Review: Groovin' Records has returned to the seemingly bottomless well that is Glenn Underground's back catalogue and picked out two more gems to get the reissue treatment. Naturally, they're both must-have cuts. On the A-side there's a chance to get reacquainted with 'Afro Gente', an in-demand 2009 jam that sees the Chicago legend pepper an infectious, richly percussive, Afro-Latin house groove with jammed-out electric piano riffs, spacey synth doodles and some killer organ solos. It's near eleven-minutes of heavyweight, life-affirming dancefloor heat from the Ron Trent school of deep house excellence. Over on the flip you'll find 2012 rarity '7th Trumpet', a shuffling, sunset-ready slab of languid deep house brilliance smothered in evocative, Latin-tinged synthesised trumpet solos.

Review: Roundtree hit hard with the few joints they gifted to the disco world. Led by songwriter and producer Kenny Lehman, they dropped an album and a couple of singles in 1978, but then made a surprise return in 1982 for a one-shot drop of boogified perfection on Aria. 'Hit On You' is one of those simply perfect jams with a nasty bassline and all the hooks you could wish for, and Groovin clearly know what they're after as they lead with the dub mix on the A side for this reissue. There's also the remix version of the track, and an additional retouch from Moplen thrown in for good measure to give you a prime cut three ways - no bad thing in our book.

Review: Italian producer and child of the 90s St. David aka Davide Disanto drops a prim and educated four-track EP here for his home label Groovin. Sunsoaked moods and echoic samples play off serenely in tracks like 'Summertime Jaz' and 'Set You Free', recalling the kick-heavy housework of Tom Jarmey. Two remixes from 34th Floor In Deep and ROP Sunset further cement the sultry, dusky jazz aesthetic that permeates the EP.

Review: On their latest must-check reissue, Groovin' Recordings take us back to 1998 and a killer chunk of what would then have been called 'US garage' produced by Deep Swing duo Eric Wikman and James Donaldson under their alternative Sunkids alias. The fact that it was 'executive produced' by Tony Humphries should tell you what to expect: gospel-influenced soulful full to bursting with bumpin' beats, rubbery bass guitar, righteous beats and powerful, life-affirming lead vocals courtesy of Chance. The flip side 'Reworked' version is a more stomping, high-energy affair informed by the popularity of filter-heavy funky house and disco-house. It's good, but it's the hands-in-the-air A-side that's the real killer.