Kaoz Theory Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The UK's Josh Butler sure knows how to kay down robust house grooves. He pops up on a wide array of labels, always with useful sounds that draw on the past but never kowtow too much. For this one, he joins the ranks of Kerri Chandler's seminal Kaoz Theory for a smooth outing that opens with two versions of 'Be There.' It's deep house with a smoky vocal and an authentic touch of the classics. 'Piranha' then sinks into a slinky groove with the right amount of swing and 'Chess' is a supple cut embellished with cheeky stabs and a hint of garage skip.

Review: Kerri Chander's sound is so unique it almost deserves its only genre. He brings more musicality to house than almost anyone and for that reason is often called the Stevie Wonder of the genre. His latest album is a real labour of love that saw him write each of the tunes on the very dance floor of the clubs that are mentioned in each title. In some cases, he used found sounds, calculated the delay of kicks off a wall to phase them through a mix and even record himself playing on a green room piano at Printworks to use in the final tune. It might be the best album of his career and a selection of the tunes from it make it onto this third essential sampler.

Review: As the title suggests, this four-tracker from the mighty Kerri Chandler is made of material recorded in - but for whatever reason never released - in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He first unfurls 'What Shall We Do', a sturdy but snappy New Jersey deep house number rich in attractive organ stabs, warming bass and bluesy lead vocals from 'Grampa', before unveiling the squelchy acid bass, dreamy pads, colourful melodic flourishes and loved-up harmony vocals of 'Tonight'. 'Into The Night' is a beefier, bolder and weightier slab of intergalactic peak-time deep house, while 'This & That' manages to be both funky, jazzy, loose-limbed and stuttering - a remarkable achievement in anyone's book.

Review: New Jersey house don Kerri Chandler is rightfully lauded as a hero of the scene. He continues to pour his heart and soul into every record and imbue his music with real-world emotions that elevate his tunes. He is of course a master of a deep but driving sound that borrows from soul, funk and jazz in ignitible ways. The third volume of his Lost & Found EP series on his own label Kaoz Theory is packed with more gold, from the slinky depths of 'Let It (Give Me Back My Love)' to the soul staring vocal work of 'Another Dawn' via more paired back sounds on 'The Bassline' (Kerri Dark mix) and the percussive energy of 'The Breeze.' Yet another essential Kerri 12" for your collection.

Review: Kerri Chandler's first album in over 14 years, 'Spaces and Places', is a celebration of club and sound system culture. The album features 24 tracks, each inspired by and recorded at a different club around the world, such as Ministry of Sound, Sub Club, Watergate, Output NYC and more. The album showcases the veteran NYC producer and DJ's signature sound of soulful, deep and groovy house music, with vocals, piano, sax, strings and synths. 'Spaces and Places' is a testament to Chandler's love for music and dancefloors.

Review: There are two kinds of house-hunting. The first and most popular kind is unfortunately the one that scams unsuspecting people out of their money for the basic human right that is shelter. The other kind, however, is much more enjoyable - it involves scouring the internet or local record shops for the genre of music known as house music. Kerri Chandler is our favourite estate agent (words we never thought would escape our lips) in this regard; his latest EP series 'Lost & Found' is sure to help you remember the joy of the latter kind, and forget the former. Dubby and soft pulsers like 'Fluff Rehab' are futuristic bouncers for the highfaluting ear, replete with rapid-delayed spring noises and ruff chord stabs. Ensuers 'What If', 'Who Are You' and 'Dem Joy Ride' are pure and nigh-perfect deep house ruminators, and all are lifted from Chandler's coveted archive.

Review: Evergreen house master Kerri Chandler digs back into the vault for 'Lost & Found Vol. 4', the latest instalment in his archive series on Kaoz Theory. A genuine house pioneer, he continues to shape the genre while staying mighty true to the scene's roots. And it's fair to say there aren't many out there making more authentic house music than this veteran US producer. Vol. 4 unearths more hidden gems, including 'Since I Met You' featuring the late Michael Watford, the piano-laced joyride of 'Grandiose Garden' by Alopeke, and the brooding soul of 'Circles' featuring Natalia. Closing things out is 'The Dark One', a deep and driving cut built for the floor, with its dramatic string stabs and searing synths.

Review: Remarkable future deep house from an artist whose reputation speaks for itself, nonetheless through the wing-flapped wings and freedom trills of the past. As he came of age in New Jersey in the mid 1980s, Kerri Chandler's groove-driven productions and rapt DJ sets could easily be said to have "evangelised" the dancefloor, with the deep and soul-bearing tilt of his sound seeming to promise salvation. Undoing and atonement come to those who shrive not in speech, but by moving their feet. 'Caged Bird' first came in 2020 - well past Chandler's 90s purple patch - but nonetheless contained as ever the slickly sophisticated jazz and vocal reflections likely inherited from Chandler's father, the late great jazzer DJ Joseph Chandler. Nae sings on the track, and her lyrics name-check Maya Angelou, who adapted the infamous poem 'Sympathy' by Paul Laurence Dunbar under the name 'Caged Bird'.

Review: He may have been at it for more than 30 years, but New Jersey hero Kerri Chandler is still capable of delivering fine, life-affirming music with soul. 'Caged Bird', featuring vocals from South African rising star Nae, is one of the legendary artist's most ear-catching and soul-enriching efforts for some time. For proof, check his 'Full Vocal Media Mix', where Nae's pretty, picturesque vocals, bittersweet piano refrains and sultry strings rise above a crunchy, unfussy, hot-stepping deep house beats. The accompanying remix package is predictably strong too. Italian producer Moplen steps up first, opting for bouncier, NJ-influenced beats, squelchy synth bass and some rather lovely electric piano chords. Atjazz handles the B-side, delivering vocal and instrumental takes that up the tempo, showcase tech-tinged deep house sounds and cannily loop up Chandler's simmering strings.

Review: 'Organized Kaos' is a new series from Kerri Chandler's Kaoz Theory label that offers first vinyl outings for cuts from the imprint's vaults. For volume one, Chandler has selected missives initially released digitally in the middle of the last decade. First up is the legendary New Jersey producer's own 'Who's Afraid of the Dark', a typical late-night roller in which sci-fi synth stabs, pianos and his own hushed, spoken word snippets rise above detailed drums a dark, infectious analogue bassline. Turn to the flip for Josh Butler's 'Sunday Club', a subtly UK garage-influenced number that pairs crackling, swinging drums and deep sub bass with woozy deep house chords and mind-mangling, low-register analogue riffs.

Review: American artist Chris Stussy has risen through the ranks to become a real new school house leader in 2021. Proof of that comes from the fact that he now makes a big step up with an EP on the Kaos label run by the one and only Kerri Chandler. He serves up his signature spaced out sounds across four silky cuts. 'Central Frenzy' gets underway with balmy pads, 'Riva De Biasio' brings nice bendy synths and tropical colours, 'Deviant Shadow' picks up the pace and offers up a sublime tech house sound and 'A Glimmer Of Hope' closes in pensive deep house fashion. A fine EP.

Review: Kaoz Theory's Organized Kaos series exists for one reason: to collect together on vinyl previously digital-only gems buried in the label's ever-growing catalogue. Volume two naturally sticks rigidly to this script, first offering up a 2015 cut from Dam Swindle (from the time when they were known as Detroit Swindle) - the chunky, rhythmically elastic and insanely bass-heavy brilliance of soul-flecked gem 'Ballin'. Over on the reverse there's more previously digital-only gold in the shape of Ben Rau's 'Be Who You Want To Be', a driving, thickset and suitably heavy chunk of peak-time deep house heaviness smothered in spacey chords, cut-up vocal snippets and booming TB-303 bass. Two tried and tested cuts land on wax for the first time, what's not to like?

Review: Kerri Chandler has once again dipped into the vaults of his long-running Kaoz Theory label and picked out two previously digital-only gems deserving of a belated vinyl debut. On side A you'll find Demuir's soulful and uplifting 2020 jam 'Lusting U', a rolling chunk of semi-organic house warmth featuring superb lead vocals from British vocalist Bluey Robinson. Over on side B, it's all about DJ Sneak's 'Judy Russell', a killer cut first featured on his Movin' Parts EP three years ago. A bit deeper, woozier and more loose-limbed than some of his more muscular and forthright workouts, it sees the veteran producer wrap synthesized vocalisations and sunny chords around a chunky bassline and swinging house beats that sound like they could have come straight out of Kenny Dope's MPC.

Review: The genre-defining deep house label Kaoz Theory headed up by the one and only Kerri Chandler has a real doozy on its hands here with the talented Devon Miles bring his Afro soul and acoustic guitar skills to a pair of new singles. 'Beautifull' appears twice on the A-side, one as a vocal mix by Kerri with skipping Afro house rhythms and gorgeous melodies next to jazzy horns, and another as an instrumental. The same tune comes three more times on the flip with Opolopo remixing and adding some extra weight for the club. The more meandering original is the one brave DJs go for despite its lack of rooted groove.

Review: Although he's made plenty of appearances on Visionquest, an imprint renowned for the tech-tinged nature of its output, Guiseppe Tuccillo's house productions have always embraced dancefloor nostalgia and in particular dancefloor sounds from the late 80s and 90s. He's in that made on this surprise EP for Kerri Chandler's Kaoz Theory imprint. Both 'The Waves' and 'Apple Eyes' are warming, thickset and hypnotic affairs that doff a cap to Chandler's trademark brand of timeless New York deep house, while 'Breaking Leds' also incorporates raw, rave-igniting stabs, breakbeats and deep sub bass for a more UK-circa-1990 feel. Closing cut 'Apple Eyes', meanwhile, is a more shuffling and loose-limbed take on some of Chandler's premier late-night dancefloor dubs.

Review: Tuccillo is an Ibiza-based groove maestro who turns out functional house that is never lacking in charm. And that's exactly what he does here on the great Koas label headed up by Kerri Chandler. 'Sundown' is pure vibes with its warm waves of rising chord loveliness and subtle sense of Balearic magic. 'Holding On' has a more choppy, garage-inspired groove with some nice muted horn leads and splashy finger clicks. It's a luxuriant sound that leads into the equally blissed out and smooth 'Whatever' before 'Velvet City' closes down with a super sweet bassline and more heartfelt house vibes.