Tags: Balearic House

Review: Last year's 'Will We Ever Dance Again' 12" was a big one for Coyote who now follow it up and impress once more. First up they do so on 'Baka Re-Rub' by paying their respects to the iconic Jon da Silva remix of The FADS track. It's steamy, tropical, full of loose drum energy and jangling synths that lightened up any club. On the flip you find 'No Entry' which is a big house anthem plenty of classic tops, uplifting arpeggios and pianos, and dramatic strings next to big acid lines. It's an all out, hands in the air gem that brings the good times.

Review: Faze Action's Afro series hits a fourth and final volume with Zeke Manyika and Faze Action themselves at the helm of two new singles. The vibes on this one take their cues from Afro Latin and Balearic worlds with opener 'Maswera' bringing nice open-air festival sounds, rich horn work and expressive drum funk. Manyika's chants are the icing on the cake for this one. Then comes a nice dubbed-out remix of 'Rugare' by Faze Action with lively disco drums and loose-limbed percussion. The original on the flip is a more straight-up and dazzling disco cut while a paired back instrumental of 'Maswera' closes things down in style. Timeless Afro bombs for sure.

Review: Ilija Rudman struts out once again on his own turf with this latest slab of sizzling discoid delectability, shaping out all manner of warm and fuzzy grooves across varying tempos and intensities. "Metronomia" is a laid back workout, but it's the bombastic funk of "So Much" that steals the show on the A-side with its crafty construction and killer bass hooks. "Hibiscus Theatre" meanwhile ploughs deeper into the soil with its swirling pads and shimmering percussion lines, and then "If You Change Your Mind" rounds the EP off with some exemplary deep house for the more reflective souls to get down to.

Review: Coyote drop a special 7 inch single. Inspired by recent events over the last 2 years and their continuing love affair with all things dub and reggae sound system.related. They have been playing lots of this type of stuff at their monthly night at The Bodega in Notts. Apparently causing some heat at recent ALFOS parties too. Bubble Up!

Review: Proper party music from two of the most trusted names in the game. Paradise Row is a brand new label and production outlet for both long-standing pillars of the modern disco community, and each of these three launch tracks tip nods right back to the roots. From the brazen piano slapping of "Hanging Out" via the shiny guitar, chugging synth bass and dubbed out vocal tactics of "Machine 16" via the early Chicagoisms-meet-Balearic -guitar-twangs of "Aperol Sunset", there's no fronting or pretention here; just lush floor-focused music that is designed to make you smile.

Review: Always fun house craftsman Ali Renault secured another big tune with his 'Piano For The People' which is a chuggy groover that locks you in with its rich atmospheres. Now it gets offered up with remixes from, firstly, Aikhi, who flip it with laidback downtempo drums and some classic and well known chords. Calm then brings his Mellow Acid Dub to sink you in even further and last of all Double Geography bring some more crunchy drum textures and psyched-out synth sounds with echoing vocals and dark, late night sense of mischief.

Review: Out of the Blue is arguably a more personal collection than many of Phil Mison's previous compilations. It was inspired by his first few trips to the White Isle of Ibiza, and specifically the unlikely set of circumstances that led to him filling in for the legendary Jose Padilla at the Cafe Del Mar. Musically, the track list is reflective of the story, joining the dots between impossible-to-find rarities (see the loved-up jazz-rock of "Jelly" by the Cactus Rose Project and the life-affirming fusion business of Christoph Spendel Group's "Forever"), huggable Balearic synth-pop, flamenco-inspired sunset gems and a smattering of head-in-the-clouds Italian dream house gems. Given Mison's heritage and status within the Balearic scene, it's little surprise to find that Out of the Blue is utterly brilliant.

Review: Naples does disco like nowhere else and that is from where this EP originates. It is like a siren call to Balearic beat lovers with its hypnotic drum loops and dazzling Italo melodies, The angelic vocals rise out of the mix next to pixelated pads on 'Sirenusa' and soon have you shaking your ass. On the flipside is 'Vetara' which is edgier and driving for the later night hours. But it is still lush and cosmic disco, with swathes of retro-future synth sounds, chugging drums and crispy 80s textures. Irresistible stuff.

Review: The latest in Heavenly's colossal milking of the late Andrew Weatherall's extensive remix career comes in the form of a CD bundle of the first two collectible vinyl compilations, the Weatherall Remixes Volumes 1 and 2. The man occasionally known as Lord Sabre provided plenty of reworks for the London-based imprint over a 30-year period, and you'll find most of his greatest here, including the legendary two-part dub of St Etienne's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', his peerless, 15-minute peak-time 1992 take on Flowered Up's 'Weekender', a delightfully dubbed-out, Asphodells-style rework of Gwenno from 2015, and a stunningly spaced-out dancefloor dub of Mark Lanegan's Band.

Review: We all know and love Ron Trent as a house music maestro, but as his elevated productions have betrayed over the years, his chops reach well beyond the simple demands of functional club stuff. In line with his more eclectic output, What Do The Stars Say To You heralds his WARM project in a frankly stunning burst of musicality that harks back to the glory days of 70s and 80s studio prowess. This is still music driven by a groove, but it's certainly not a house by numbers affair. Instead you get soaring violin solos (from Jean Luc Ponty no less), infinte threads of nimble keys work and enough downtempo, slinky grooves to buffet a yacht from the Balearics to the Florida Keys and back again. Featuring members of Azymuth, Gigi Masin and Khruangbin amongst others, this is a return to the craft of exquisite album making, as handled by a true master in his field.

Review: Neapolitan producer Partenope certainly wears a big Underground Resistance influence on his sleeve in the case of 'Odysseya' - it's even mentioned in the press release, and we're not going to argue either. But it's no bad thing, especially as it's a general love of the soulful, uplifting, musical end of the techno scale rather than a creative plunder of any UR track in particular. The label has pulled out the big guns with a Gerd Janson remix to accompany it too, and Janson certainly delivers with his warm production bringing out the best via three way acid trance techno hybrid.

Review: Eddie Logix makes his return to Rocksteady Disco fold with this fresh new 12", 'Flight Risk'. It's a varied affair that pulls from a wide range of genres including leftfield, deep house, disco, Afrobeat, and even Balearic. Some of these tunes have already been picking up high-profile support from the likes of Leo Mas, Chris Coco and Danny Krivit - no wonder given that his last on the label sold out immediately. 'Sky Dive' is a nice loose limbed funky deep disco jam, 'Home Suite' has a superb new age flute lead and 'Missing Pixels' is a tribal Afro dancer. 'Mount Juniper' is the lively and tropical house number that has you dreaming of cocktails by the sea.

Review: After a standout debut on the label in 2020, Andrea Ferrari returns to Rollover Milano with a new EP charged with Balearic mystique and a truckload of silken synth wares. 'Deep Blue, Green Eyes' is a boxy beatdown in the rhythm section, but the cooing pads, FM chimes and bubbling FX create a delectable dreamscape to drift off into. By way of comparison, 'Subacqueo' jacks up the pressure with a trance-leaning cut splashed with some particularly wigged-out acid lines. Bell Towers takes up the mood of the track and injects a little uptempo joy on a typically sweet remix draped in blissed out melodics, and then the record gets rounded off with some deeper peak time immersion on the seriously immersive piano house stylings of 'Morning Routine'.

Review: Mirko Hecktor and Tom Sprenger founded Terra Magica in 2021 as a platform for their brand of psychedelically-charged house and techno, and they've quickly built up a strong identity and a burgeoning community of likeminded astral travellers. Look no further than this quality split release for all the proof you need, as Lucas Croon threads Balearic, prog and trance together before the label bosses (Hektisch Sprengen DJs) weave some mystical mantras of their own and Dea revels in boxy Chicago jack crossed with Island boogie. It's an eclectic mix to be sure, with another three joints taking in uptempo proto-trance and anthemic emo-acid-breaks aplenty. Draw for the big feelings and get freaky in the process - what's not to love?

Review: Frankfurt's Chiwax welcomes Italian veteran Stefano Curti aka basiC realitieS to the label. A great artist who has been delivering timeless music since the early '90s under other aliases such as Bio Muse, Running Man and Moody Boyz Vibraphone Productions. Four cuts are featured on the Integrated Love Signals EP: the sublime and Balearic tinged deep house of 'Clouds 2020' and the hypnotising journey of 'Reflections' on the first side. The B-side cuts channel classic Chicago; the emotive 'Bubbly Devil' being very much reminiscent of Larry Heard while the rough and ready jack of 'Multiverse Journey' calls to mind Trax Records.