Tags: 80s House

Review: Nu Groove's ongoing edits series turns its attention to one of the legendary NYC's most iconic early release, Bas Noir's 1988 garage-house classic 'My Love Is Magic' - a piano-powered vocal number fronted by two female singers from New Jersey and produced by the Burrell Brothers. Their original club mix is featured (A2), alongside a trio of fresh re-edits. Bushwacka kicks things off with a deeper, more sonically detailed and marginally punchier rework that makes much of the Burrell brothers' percussion and piano stabs, before Mark Broom takes over on side two. His 'dub retouch' fittingly sounds like a piano solo-sporting NYC house dub of the late 1980s - no bad thing in our book - while his more revolutionary 'A12 mix' re-casts the track as a harder, heavier peak-time loop jam.

Review: You will of course know if you are reading this that Nu Groove was a seminal New York house label that lay a blueprint for deep stuff back in the 80s and 90s. This fresh 12" serves up a third volume of label edits from various artists from across the spectrum. Metro's 'Turnstyle Turbulance' is tackled first by NiCe7 who brings bumpy drums, then Mark Broom's Vox Flanger Mixx of an N.Y. House'n Authority classic is a steamy jacker with lovely old-school vibes. Our favourite though is Asylum's 'Guitarz' (Honey Dijon & Luke Solomon edit) which is a nice mid-tempo workout with seductive claps and excellent hi hats.

Review: Four tracks of peerless Nu Groove jack attack, rejigged by a stellar roster of producers including Honey Dijon and the late Soulphiction, whose mardy remix of Rheji Burrell's classic stompa 'Come 'N Get It' opens proceedings in sleazy style. The Acid Jerks dub of Tech Trax Inc's eponymous 1990 banger is also a highlight, with driving, introspective organ basses underpinning snappy piano action and whispered proto-producer tags. These two are followed by a rushy, beefa-ready remix of Dee Gorgeous' 'Better Than Sex' by Dirty Channels, and an excellent spartan percussive acid flip of Ny House'n Authority (Burrell at it again)'s Ravenswood House by Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon.

Review: The genius of Nu Groove's ongoing 'Edits' series lies in the quality of its subtle 21st century tweaks of classic cuts from house music's golden age. You'll find plenty of fine examples of this on the latest instalment, volume four. Check first Nice7's bumpin', bass-heavy and organ-rich take on The Sound Vandal's 1991 gem 'Tonight's The Night', which the producer has successfully stripped-back and subtly beefed up, before admiring Hugo Massien's bleeping, tech-tinged remake of the Burrell Brothers' N.Y Housin' Authority classic 'Apt 2A'. You'll find tweaks of two more Burrell projects on the flip: a pleasingly driving Mak & Pasteman edit of the techno, acid and bleep inspired Utopia Project cut 'File #3', and a blissed-out, chugging and saucer-eyed Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon rub of A.B.T's Donna Summer sampling 'Luv 2 Luv U'.

Review: If you're looking for raw, ruff and retro, this is probably the best you'll get. New York label Nu Groove continues to spotlight the artists that made the label what it is today: a firm favourite of crate diggers then and now. With this being the fifth in the series to reissue their select most vital tracks, which here come re-edited and remastered, 'Nu Groove Edits Vol. 5' opens with Ny House'n Authority's 'Fort Green House' after its re-edit by Arms & Legs' Daniel Steinberg, which sets the tone for a janky and roomy pandora's box of groovers. Also of note is the sweet, washy piano house arkenstone that is Underground Kids' 'Get Up', trumping a B-side that is, while still great, has nothing on the A2.