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| Artist: | Title: | Label: | ||
| Fred Everything & Atjazz | Back Together | Lazy Days | ||
| From a few months back, but worth the mention as a collaboration of two heroes of classy deep house - Mr Frederic Blais and Mr Martin Iveson - and both their product here is, not surprisingly, well worth a listen, with the darky dubby crunchy Atjazz Interpretation just edging it for me (although I might change my mind later on). | a | |||
| Soularis | Change The World | Street Soul | ||
| A spritely little 7" with the usual solid vocals from the reliable Pete Simpson, real instrumentation and a decidedly sunny soul weekender kinda vibe. Flip has chunkier bassline but is still an unabashed disco bouncer. | ||||
| Pirahnahead ft. Yaminah | I Do Love You | Whasdat | ||
| 4 solid mixes and another decent vocal on this breezy number, including a streetsoul version (courtesy of Pirahnahead's Soul Skate mix), but it's probably the Abicah Soul interpretion or the more percussive DJ Minx versions that'll appeal to househeads. | ||||
| Miguel Migs ft. Peven Everett | Love We had | Salted | ||
| Oh yes, very much my cuppa, with a rubbery synth bass, and Migs' usual ability to add space, swing and bounce to a track and the marvellous Mr Everett supplying just enough vox to ensure it remains a soulful affair. Excellent alternative mixes too, with Micky More putting in another fine shift with his dub. | ||||
| Various | The Flavor Savor EP6 | Salted | ||
| And, if that appealed to you, then Migs's Salted label delivers another fine 4-pack of funky westcoast vibe. Actually, maybe not top drawer material from this source but certainly usable stuff. Husky's The Soul of Sydney EP out last month and the jazzy Arco double-header from late December, both also on Salted, are perhaps better options if you're rationing your purchases. | ||||
| Nathan G | Sanpshot EP | Amenti | ||
| Like Husky, another Aussie making sounds very compatible with that funky Cali/SanFran vibe; both these tracks are solid groovers and useful in a range of sets - from the deeper and jacking to the more soulful. | ||||
| Scope | Big Bad City | Large | ||
| Scope have produced a few smart tunes in the past, deep but accessible to a wide audience, and this double header is no exception, with the sparkling swinging Deep Inside a real winner of a disco-flecked groove. | ||||
| Ptaah ft. Monday Michuru | Cosmic Laws/Fade Away | Street King | ||
| Heather Johnson | The Sweetest Gift EP | King Street | ||
| Jose Carretas ft. Sabrina Chyld | Let's Escape | Son Liva | ||
| DaSoul and Fabri Diglio | Neapolis Jazz EP | Son Liva | ||
| As I have said probably too often, not sure where this stuff gets played out these days, but always room on my decks for quality such as Phil Asher's work for Ptaah, and the space-disco stuff on the flip track from Silver City is good stuff too (and probably more vogue-ish). Similarly, Heather Johnson's delightful drifting satin tones can come across a tad awkward and melodramatic on some dance tracks (perhaps best suited to that delicate Ananda Project ambience), but they are showcased fairly well on a good mixed bag here. The ever productive Phil Asher returns with something of an epic chugging builder on the catchy Jose Carretas track, and the DaSoul & Diglio Remix also caught my ear . Never heard of DaSoul and Diglio but I am now going to seek them out after their excellent ultra-cool Neapolis Jazz EP. (Although, again, like most of these tracks, difficult to see how they'd fit into most modern sets except, perhaps, as bar/warm-up material, which is a shame as most of them certainly don't deserve to be marginalised.) | ||||
| Black Coffee | Never Saw You Coming | Seasons Limited | ||
| Black Coffee ft. Hugh Masekela | We Are One | Vega records | ||
| Another couple of excellent releases from the stellar South African who hasn't yet put a foot wrong with half a dozen quality releases in less than a year. The first features mixes by the dependable Franck Roger and DJ Spinna (on his Galactic Soul tip) and thay don't let us down. For some propulsive late night dancefloor action see also Franck Rogers's recent 'Let's Go Down' track on Earth Tone label. The second featuring fellow countryman and jazz legend Masekela is probably only for those with jazzy tastes and a solid sense of musical history, but it features some fantastically fluid bass... actually, some great playing and musicianship throughout. | ||||
| Sole Kitchen / Jamie Thinne | From Your Soul | Seasons Limited | ||
| And another slab of quailty from the fine Seasons offsheet from a few months back - 3 deepiish atmospheric versions featuring the breathy spoken vocal, and a great piece of jazz-house in the form of the Sole Kitchen 2010 remix. | ||||
| Nicolas Vautier ft. Blick Bassy | Sala | Do It Now Recordings | ||
| A plethora of mixes - 9 of them! - for this intriguing track combining a very compelling African vocal, some lovely melodic elements and solid deep beats. Really feeling this. | ||||
| TJ Kong And Russ Gabriel f. Robert Owens | Celebration | Large | ||
| A number of decent outings for Robert Owens of late and mixes here vary from the spacey synthetic Original to another masterclass from Soul Minority in how to combine old school elements with modern production values. | ||||
| Myra | Come to Me | King Street | ||
| More good stuff from King Street courtesy of Frankie Feliciano. I am a sucker for muted trumpet work which, along with the live bass and rolling percussion, ensures that this is a seriously classy jazzy number. (Kinda takes me back to those much-missed 'Jazz in the House' compilations on Slip 'n' Slide!) | ||||
| Alison David | Dreams | Papa | ||
| Andre Lodemann adds some moody electronic touches and a very attractive tougher element to the substantial vocal to this track from late last year. (I liked the original Afronaught version too, although I found the drumwork a little busy.) | ||||
| Monique Bingham | You Me World | Bigga Sounds | ||
| Anyone even vaguely familiar with my musucal tastes and/or these pages should know of my unbounded admiration for the sassy jazzy vocals of Monique Bingham and, thankfully, this outing on Bigga Sounds features them more generously than a track she did for the label a few years back (good though it was). Fortunately, there have been a string of excellent releases blessed by Ms. Bingham's great tone and classy phrasing over the last year or so. Long may they keep coming. | ||||
| Julio Bashmore | Everyone Needs A Themetune EP | PMR | ||
| This seem to be getting considerable attention of late and clear to see why, with a diverse set of aural elements combined to great effect. Atmospheric, clever and yet extremely accessible. Cool stuff. | ||||
| Maya Jane Coles | Humming Bird EP | Hypercolour | ||
| Maya Jane Coles is a name I've been seeing a fair bit of over the last 18 months, with some quality deep material behind her, and this selection really caught my attention; all trax have a mood or atmosphere that hooks you in - certainly, the title track's a winner and the slighty indi-esque dubby 'You' is well worth a listen too. Her recent remix of Tom Middleton's 'Cicadas' also proved preferable to the orginal for me. | ||||
| Kerri Chandler ft. Christopher McCray | Heaven | Madhouse | ||
| Frankie Knuckles and The Shapeshifters | The Ones You Love | Nocturnal Groove | ||
| The first new release on Madhouse in a decade - really! And it features the sort of proper soul vocal that takes you back to house's Philly and gospel roots. The beat is suitably unfussy in that typical Chandler fashion but the vocal can easy carry it and the Ozone mix offers some sweeping strings for a hint of added sophistication. Makes me smile. And the recent DJ Meme re-rinse of 'The Ones You Love' brought me back to another of the Godfathers - Frankie Knuckles and the Original mix of the track he put together with the Shapeshifters a year or so back. Quality mainstream stuff and no bad thing either. (For those of you still hankerings after good ole soulful house vibes, I also suggest dipping into the Solid Ground Miami sampler - the songs may not all be mindblowers but a bunch of legendary voices are on offer.) | ||||
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Raoul Kahn
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Thinking About You (Ross Couch Rmx)
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Eight Fifteen
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I wanted to mention this summery groove simply because I have long thought Ross Couch a deeply under-estimated producer, responsible for a back catalogue of very underrated material. His 'Night & Day' longplayer was probably one of the very best single producer-based collections in a genre rarely suited to the album format.
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Kevin Yost
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Metropolis 2.2
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i! Records
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Another hero of consistency - I think Yost was just out of his teens when he started making his atmospheric jazzy percussive epics... he's been at for many years now and long may he continue. More throbbing mood pieces here - 'Snake' being the track that first grabbed me.
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