Santonio Echols - "Piano In The Light" (Emanuell Echols mix)
Brian Kage - "This Saturday Night"
Ryan Sadorus - "Down Below"
Review: Upstairs Asylum is kicking off the year in some style with a couple of killer new EPs. This one is the first in what is presumably a new series to showcase the talents of the Motor City. Mike Clark & Marcus Harris get things underway with 'Hey' which has a subtly uplifting feel thanks to the bright, sustained chords and cuddly drums. Santonio Echols's 'Piano In The Light' (DJ Emanuell Echols mix) is laidback, playful deep house with magical chord work and Brian Kage brings his classy depths to the smooth grooves of 'This Saturday Night.' Ryan Sadorus brings things to a close with the smoky 'Down Below.'
Hardcore Hip House (Tony Humphries mix re-edit) (7:28)
Acid Over (Mike Dunn edit) (4:43)
I Fear The Night (feat Chic - vocal mix) (6:42)
Video Crash (5:56)
Review: Pretty much does what it says on the tin, this one. Classic Tyree Cooper productions in all their glory, plus some remixes of them from fellow US greats. Cooper was, of course, an early pioneer of what was known as hip-house - a raw mix of hip-hop and house that was short-lived, probably because the man himself perfected it and few could ever do much more with the blueprint. 'Hardcore Hip House (Tony Humphries mix re-edit)' is dusty, raw, piano-laced house excellence, 'Acid Over (Mike Dunn edit)' is a more frenzied 303 workout and 'I Fear The Night (feat Chic - vocal mix)' is a jack track for dark and strobe lit floors. 'Video Crash' shuts down with a coarse and textural collision of drums, synths and crashing hits.
Review: The latest from The Robinson - that'll be Milan-based brothers Marco and Riccardo Augeri to you - opens with the jazz, live-sounding and improvised 'Life Decisions' with its cosmic synths reaching up to the stars over raw beats. 'Unconscious Habits' follows on, bringing deep, dubby drums, organic percussive lines and a deep jungle vibe while 'Running Algorith' is another humid deep house closer with warm, diffuse pads and a spiralling of deft percussion.
Gari Romalis - "Electronix (I'm Ya Dancer)" (7:31)
G Major - "Metro To Downtown" (6:27)
Chuck Daniels & Hazmat Live - "I Want You" (6:25)
Max Watts - "Velocity" (6:35)
Review: Norm Talley's Detroit label Upstairs Asylum comes through with another various artists gem here: Gari Romalis kick off with the sort of smoky house depths you always expect from this imprint. 'Electronix (I'm Ya Dancer)' is dubbed out but dynamic, then G Major's 'Metro To Downtown' brings an injection of soul warmth and percussive looseness. Chuck Daniels & Hazmat Live's 'I Want You' is a darker, more heads down affair with freaky vocals and digital synth patterns over gritty, US garage styled low ends. Max Watts then cuts loose with the undulating dub techno depths of 'Velocity' to round out a varied EP.
Review: You'll struggle to find any deeper or more alluring tracks in Norm Talley's catalogue than 'Powder', the wonderfully hypnotic, locked in and subtly spacey opener from the Motor City producer's 2011 EP on Mixmode, Tracks From The Asylum. It's a good thing, then, that Talley has decided to reissue the sought-after EP on his own label. The Detroiter doesn't put a foot wrong throughout, with the chugging, beatdown-inspired brilliance of 'Lost', which boasts some sublime piano solos, and the up-beat hustle of 'Private Party' being equally as essential as 'Powder'. Speaking of that track, Delano Smith's 'More Powder' version is also worth a listen, featuring as it does slightly bolder synth riffs and a tougher, techno-influenced groove.
Review: Norm Talley returns to his Upstairs Asylum label alongside fellow US house pioneer Delano Smith for Straight Up No Chaser, an eight-track opus featuring four solo cuts each. Talley's gritty, dubbed-out, low-rolling house style is present and correct throughout with the loopy chords of 'Blak Bottom' getting things going, 'The Flip' getting more cavernous and aqueous and 'ISO Vision' leaning into dub techno. 'Believe It' is a soulful deep house looper, while Smith gets bubbly with 'The Bassline', lays down thumping kicks on 'Travels 23' and his trademark synth smears on 'The Drive' while 'Remembrance' is a heady dub house cut that locks you into a state of perfect hypnosis.
Review: Norm Talley has put together a second volume of his Unity series on his own label Upstairs Asylum. It features his nearest and dearest from Chicago and Detroit, all of whom of course serve up perfectly smoky and stripped back deep house and techno grooves to make you move. Delano Smith's characteristic loops lock you in from the off on 'Big City Nights,' Norm himself pairs dub techno chords with suggestive techno stabs that keep you on edge and Brian Kage's 'Poly-Phonic Phonk' is heady, dreamy, richly melodic house bets listened to in a cosy back room at 4am.
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