Hizou Deep Rooted Music Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Well over two years has passed since the release of Keeping The Legacy, a compilation style EP featuring tracks inspired by "the classic sounds from Chicago, New York and Detroit". This belated follow-up begins with something rather special: a fine Jorge Caiado 'Morning Dub' of lesser known Abacus and Chez Damier hook-up "Closer". While it boasts their usual chunky, groovy bottom-end, the mix also makes great use of a yearning, cyclical electronic melody. Elsewhere, James Duncan delivers the hazy deep house bump of "416 Zone (Dub Mix)", Jacksonville laces dreamy, drifting chords over a killer bassline and heavy percussion on "Twilight Industries", and Satore reaches for the cowbells and Gwen Guthrie vocal samples on the disco-influenced throb of "Keep On".

Review: The crew behind the Hizou label is rightly chuffed that they've managed to secure this two-tracker from Andres, a Detroit producer whose releases - whether aimed at deep house dancefloors or hip-hop heads - are rarely less than superb. The two tracks the label has selected are suitably strong, too. Check first A-side "All U Gotta Do Is Listen", a warm and hazy chunk of break-driven mid-tempo deep house rich in jazzy samples, swirling crowd noises, chunky bass and dewy-eyed instrumentation. Andres' vintage influences are explored further on flipside "Night Time Is The Right Time", a P-funk influenced deep house bumper whose swinging drums and elongated organ chords casually tip a wink to classic New Jersey garage.

Review: Swiss producer Dan Piu is a true techno veteran, with an expansive catalogue that reaches back to the early '90s. His return to form in recent years has been a delight, with classic tracks and new productions alike resurfacing for a new generation of heads to fawn over. Following recent drops on Childhood Intelligence, Ovnie and Common Dreams, Piu rocks up to Hizou Deep Rooted Music with some stellar machine musings. "Quantum Computing" is a warm and soulful house groover with rich layers of synth work at its core, while "Robots In Rage" takes a more angular approach with skittering techno rhythms and plenty of analogue synth wriggles. "A Machine Will Never Do X" is pristine electro, and "F#UK The World To The Core" completes the set with a sumptuous ambient techno trip oozing sophistication and vintage atmospheres in equal measure.

Review: Spreading their reach with a various artists release for their fifth bout, the Hizou Deep Rooted crew have a clear vision of the kind of heavy-lidded, keys-rich house music they want to push. James Duncan is in fine form with the hooky looping and sturdy groove of "Untitled #2", while G Marcell lets the Rhodes lead the way in the light and airy funk of "Peace Awaited". On the flip Gari Romalis brings a rougher kind of sound that leans heavy on the dusty drums to create an intense, slow burning atmosphere, leaving it to Satore to finish off with some killer keys played in a subtle style that makes "Tribute To The Roots" an unmissable gem on the end of the record.

Review: Zurich Switzerland-based label Hizou Deep Rooted Music presents the latest effort by Hungarian producer Gnork entitled Prizba featuring four fine cuts. His last release was a couple of years back on Earth Plates, the excellent Lost In X. 'Krka Drive' is a journey into the deep taking in early Chicago, classic Detroit and northern Bleep influences all at once, '14 9 C' will propel you into free fall on this chill electronica experience reminiscent of Future Sound Of London and for something a bit different he closes it out with the dreamy electro fantasy of 'Izlaz'.

Review: Hizou Deep Rooted Music is one of those quality-assured imprints that is always well worth checking in with. This latest platter is another on that truly matters with Huerta opening up with 'DAYL' which showcases his distinctive blend of spaced-out breaks and silky tech house. Jacksonville's 'Data Log' is ahems down and deep late-night cosmic excursion and Nlxlb's 'Gravitate' keeps you afloat on mellifluous astral lines and twinkling melodic stars. 100Hz shuts down with 'Ggg', a unique mix of floating pads and barely-there rhythm that grow in stature as your journey to the certain edges of the galaxy unfolds.

Review: Hot on the heels of two key EPs this year on Frustrated Funk and Where We Met, young UK tech-fuser Reedale Rise steps up to the well-established Spanish pure house label Hizou with yet more treats. Flickering and fluctuating between lucid, dubbed out synth-rippled house such as "Flux Function" and "Shutter" and crisp broken beat liquid machine soul on "Telemetry" and "Psyche 6", Reedale's giving us a lot to chew on right here.

Review: Intermittent producer Gari Romalis (first seen appearing in 1996 before re-emerging last year) follows on the fine form of Rick Wade and DJ Aakmael to drop the fourth instalment for Hizou Deep Rooted Music. As you might expect, low slung house is the order of the day with a focus on samples running through errant filters and steadfast rhythms, all shot through a blue-eyed hue. "Dance Demo" lets the drums do the talking and keeps the musical elements to a minimum, whilst "Pray" gets a touch more soulful with a sweet bass lick and distant chord that gets cut through with a crunchy clap. "Detroit Shuffle" has a disco pulse running through its veins even as the drums bump and hustle in a divine, rugged funk, while "First Love" heads into a more driving refrain that simmers in all the right places.

Review: Chicago, Chicago. It's our spiritual home here at Hizou. The city's musical influence and legacy shine brightly and proudly throughout our label. Perhaps never more so than on our latest release from enigmatic native Chicagoan, Spirit Of The Black 808. Having inherited his brother's seminal record collection at a young age and name-checking Larry Heard, Theo Parrish and Malik Pittman amongst his key influences, Sprit Of The Black 808 is steeped in the traditions we adore. His debut EP for us soundly testifies to that. Title-track Infroduction is a shuffling, slo-mo jam laden with atmosphere and groove in the mould of the great Mahogani Music and KDJ, a little more Detroit by design perhaps then, whereas by contrast Electronic Love is downright and unashamedly classic Chicago. Layers of melody and a super-deep groove are stamped all over I FunKd Up, whilst ethereal uptempo tool Rough Joint completes the package.

Review: The lovely Hizou Music welcome Hugo Giner aka W&P Hgg to their family with a tight little three-tracker that's bound to stir quite the few necks in the club! The first tune "Unique Soul" is masterful, and its slow-burning beats blend so well with the ocean of pads below. On the flipside, "Welcome" is another splendid and thoroughly deep Detroit house number with traces of Mahogani running all through it. The Sons Of Empire remix of the same track is slower, moodier, more broken and also utterly impressive. What an EP, we hotly recommend it. Tip!

Review: Sliding on over to Hizou Deep Rooted, prime purveyor of all things deep and alluring Rick Wade might seem a little misleading with his new EP entitled Detroit Fury. As is evident from the man's back catalogue, there's not a lot that's furious about the Wade sound and it's here in abundance, with finely balanced drums, moody chords and that healthy dollop of disco velour to make sure everything moves properly. "Heavy" is a particular dream with its expertly wielded keys and lackadaisical tone, while the expressive bass line on "Gambit" will be inspiring 'hurt-so-good' faces everywhere.