Moblack Italy Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Four cruel and bewitching dances are conjured on this split EP from MoBlack Records, the chart-topping Afro house label whose music has found itself on the well-used USBs of the likes of Dixon, Black Coffee and Ame. Immediately, one can hear the incipient threads of kwaito and amapiano on this shared vinyl slab, as traditional verbed-out Afro-style vocals hear neat processing along modern EDM production. Expository dreamers like 'Rahamah' segue calmly into headier and doomier cuts like 'Amanga' and 'O Pa Mi Titi Deabe'. All are replete with rare African call-and-response vocal samples lifted from evidently obscure sources.

Review: After kicking off the year with the stellar MoBlack Gold Vol. 2 VA, Mimmo Falcone's label does it again with a crucial cluster of spiritually charged, Afro-rooted house jams from on-point producers. This 12" kicks off with Manoo's remix of KingSfiso, creating a delicate, melancholic trip out of 'Ilanga' with Mbuso Khoza's vocals front and centre. David Moralez gets seriously deep into the groove with his Red Zone mix of Sound's Good Inc's 'Masen'hamba'. FNX Omar offer up a brooding cut driven by organic tones on 'Ghomari', and Re You & Soheil bring a more electronic palette to bear on their own Afro-house throwdown, 'Mapawani'.

Review: Moblack is back with mo' great beats from its ongoing Sampler series. The eighth volume is another doozy that covers all shades of house Moon Rocket, Mattei & Omich open up with 'Find Your Way' (feat Bel-Ami). It's a dreamy sound with lush vocals and shimmering percussion and melodies. Spellband then offer up some soulful sound and soft, cuddly house drums while Cosmo & Kramer remix Mabiisi with a raw percussive edge over rubbery and rolling beats. Sobek closes out with some cosmic turbulence and percolating percussive funk on 'True Anomaly.'

Review: The MoBlack label continues its Gold Series here with a tentth instalment that features four more house cuts in various styles. Jamek Ortega, Maxi Meraki and Samm kick things off with the deeply emotive chords and rolling beats of 'Don't Care Anymore' then Fahlberg's 'Wytal' kees the feel good grooves coming with more cultured deep house. CLARAA's 'Kukaya' (feat Ashimba - Fka Mash remix) is an Afro heavy sound with rousing and spiritual vocals and hefty kick drums then Re.You shuts down with 'Wabi Sabi', another Afro cut but this time with a little funk in the beats and playfulness in the big horns.