Harlem Knights – Melange De Deep

May 19, 2013 in Albums

Harlem Knights Melange De Deep Ready Mix RecordsI do like to mix it up a bit here at TIWWD, so after two very fine compilations with ‘deep’ in the title… here’s an artist album with ‘deep’ in the title. Crazy, eh? But now you see, here’s a thing. Yours truly spent most of this weekend on motorways, with Mrs TIWWD and three CDs for company. And we listened to the DeepWit comp, and it was great… and we listened to the Deep Edition comp, and that was great too… and frankly I stuck this in thinking, it’s gonna be hard for the debut album from single artist to compete, really.

But I needn’t have worried. This might be the first full-length from Adel ‘Big AL’ Ghandour and Levente Szabo (AKA Harlem Knights), but between them they have quite an extensive track record, and it shows. Funk-fuelled deep house vibes are the general order of the day, with garage-y vocal snips and phat-ass basslines aplenty. On The 16th Street [Original European Mix] provides the solitary excursion into more downtempo pastures; otherwise, it’s time to get on the dancefloor and set booties to ‘shake’.

She Said is a particular highlight with its deep male spoken vox and dubby feel, but really there’s not a duff cut in sight – making this the THIRD very fine deep house long-player to grace this blog tonight.

Out: This week on Beatport, everywhere else from 29 May.

About: This comes to you courtesy of Canada’s Ready Mix Records, who you can find on Soundcloud or on Facebook.

Tags: , , ,
No Comments »

Various – Deep Edition Vol 1

May 19, 2013 in Albums

Deep Edition Vol 1Another label comp… from another label that’s got ‘deep’ in its very name, and that crops up on TIWWD really quite regularly! So as with the DeepWit album below you should already have a pretty good idea what to expect here.

So again, what can I tell you that you don’t already know? Well, I can tell you that compared to the DeepWit set it’s a little less late night n’ contemplative, a little more beat-driven and floor-oriented. I can tell you that the artists featured include the likes of Hohle, RJ Fletcher, T. Lavonte and Desos, not to mention of course label boss Martijn. I can tell you that the latter does the honours when it comes to the mixed version of the album, though it’s also available with all tracks in their full-length unmixed glory. I can tell you you that Dudley Strangeways and Zade Cross supply a couple of goodies that haven’t been out before. I can tell you that Ruben F’s I Can’t Change does a remarkably good impression of the original house anthem Move Your Body.

Or I could simply tell you that, again, this is a sterling compilation from one of TIWWD’s current fave labels.

Out: This week, on Beatport; everywhere else from 27 May.

About: Find Deep Edition here, here and here (Soundcloud, Facebook, web)

Tags: , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Various – Best Of DeepWit Vol 1

May 19, 2013 in Albums

Best Of DeepWit Vol 1Got a few long-players to tell you about tonight, starting with this ‘best of’ collection from Denmark’s DeepWit Recordings. But as this is a ‘best of’ comp, and as it’s quite rare a DeepWit release doesn’t get a glowing review on This Is Why We Dance, I’m gonna keep the review for this one nice and short.

So here goes: if deep house that’s laidback, melodic and atmospheric without ever becoming soporific sounds like your idea of a good way of spending 71 minutes and 47 seconds, then step right this way. Because with cuts from the likes of Deep Spelle, Cadatta, Pablo Fierro, Max Volkholz and of course DeepWit label boss Alvaro Hylander, this is freaking superb, quite frankly.

Out: 27 May (so yeah, this is an earlier review than normal. But that’s for very important, and secret reasons. And not cos I misread the date as 17 May at all).

About: Find DeepWit on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Tags: , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Alex Marcu – Broken Trust EP

May 17, 2013 in Singles

Alex Marcu Broken Trust EP Family GroovesBy sheer coincidence, here’s another new label who are up to number three… allow me to introduce Croatian imprint Family Grooves.

This third offering is a four-track EP. Broken Trust itself is an atmospheric tech-house chugger with a slightly disconcerting breathy female spoken vocal (saying “drop in, drop in, drop” I think but I can’t be sure, she could of course be saying something in Croatian) plus what sounds like it might be a snatch of Mantronix or some such. Atmospheric continues in a similar vein, Budila is somewhat glitchier and techier, while finally Moniat is a more rolling, house-y affair.

They’re all plenty playable but it’s Broken Trust and Moniat that stand out for me.

Out: Last week, actually… but I was late picking it up and I do like to support a new label when I can!

About: Family Grooves is run, aptly enough, by the husband-and-wife team of Izabela and Silvio Habrar, and is based in the town of Trogir. Here’s their website, Facebook and Soundcloud.

Izabela was also kind enough, BTW, to send through the label’s first two releases: No Government’s The Bell Ringing EP, which came out on 10 April and features a nice mix of tuff tech- and more classic-sounding house grooves, and Biella & Astrall’s What Soul Ever EP, released 24 April and home to more high-calibre tech-house chuggery. On the evidence so far, this is gonna be a label that’s worth keeping an ear out for…

Tags: , , , , ,
No Comments »

Various – No 109 EP

May 17, 2013 in Singles

No 109 EP Street KingAnd now for something completely different. No old school samples here, just seven very fresh slices of house music, in this latest in Street King’s series of numbered V/A eps showcasing up-and-coming talent.

Some of the names will be familar (Eric Powa B, Nil By Mouth, Soundealers), some won’t, or at least weren’t to me (Gassy & Delgado, Prosix, Fabian Argomedo), but rest assured the quality standard is high throughout. Not going into every track one-by-one but standouts for yours truly include Erica Powa B’s deep, jazzy Riffi In Machupichu and the space-y, bassy throb of Nil By Mouth’s Lunate. Gassy & Delgado’s bouncing, hip-housified We Do It Old Cool is pretty fine, too.

You’ll have your own favourites though and, covering various styles of deep and tech house, with the funk and soul flowing freely, this is definitely an EP you want to check for yourself. I very much doubt you’ll come away disappointed.

Out: This week on Traxsource, everywhere else from 25 June.

About: Street King is as you know part of the King Street family.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Shallow Taxi Club – Nights Turn Brighter

May 17, 2013 in Singles

Shallow Taxi Club Nights Turn Brighter Grass Green RecordingsThere seems to have been something of an accidental theme on the blog this week, with lots of records featuring old school samples. Well here’s another one… the last one, I promise.

But to be fair Flashback, which opens this EP from Auckland’s Shallow Taxi Club, is something of a monster. Take the weird whistling synth riff and exuberant pianos from Djaimin’s Give You, add a bombastic “we’re going back” vocal and you’re away! Elsewhere on the EP, STC shows there’s more than one string to his bow: Mark My Words (presented here in Monkey Boots Remix form) is a sumptuous groover sitting somewhere on the soulful house/garage/disco/boogie continuum (I’ll let you decide where), while Mark My Words is more straight-up ‘disco house’, but disco house done exquisitely well. Disco house how Steely Dan might have done it – and yes, those are strong words. But I stand by ‘em.

I’m somewhat less taken by Monkey Boots’ synth-tastic remix of the latter TBH, but not to worry – three stormers outta four is so far from bad you’d need GPS to get there.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Grass Green Recordings, a new label (this is number three) who like STC himself hail from New Zealand. Find ‘em here, here and here (Facebook, Soundcloud, web).

Tags: , , , , ,
No Comments »

Sare Havlicek – Insinuations & Allusions

May 16, 2013 in Singles

Sare Havlicek Insinuations & Allusions NangAnd from some very fine deep house, to some very fine nu-disco, courtesy of one of TIWWD’s most favouritest purveyors of the same – Sare Havlicek. Yet while the quality on offer here is no surprise, the musical content perhaps is, because Insinuations & Allusions sees the Slovenian don moving away from his usual cosmic/Italo vibes into more overtly spangly 80s territory.

There’s a cheeky little Syndrum roll that’s pure Blue Monday, for a start, and that’s not to mention the chorused vox that recall countless spandex-clad 80s boogie outfits, or the Troutman-esque  voicebox fetishism. A melange de pastiche, you might call it… but it’s pastiche done very well. As for the remixes, they come from Inigo & Dan Solo, Sasha Kojevin, Tiger Cubes and Copycat & Martin Brodin. The first two don’t vary hugely from the original (a lil’ more slap bass here, a few added stabs there), while the latter two nudge us a little closer to house territory (Tiger Cubes in an ‘Ibiza hands-in-the-air’ stylee, while Copycat & Brodin head in a deeper direction).

But truth be told, the whole affair is defined by those 80s-tastic vocals – they dominate all five mixes and could prove a tad Marmite. Assuming your floor can handle the vocals, though, it should rock to any one of the mixes.

Out: This week

About: This is brought to you by the mighty Nang Records.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Jonny Bee – Again & Again

May 16, 2013 in Singles

Jonny Bee Again & Again UM RecordsSome typically high-quality deep house grooves here from New Zealand’s UM Records.

Leading the charge is Again & Again itself, which in its Original form is a lush, luxuriant, late-night affair, with atmospheric, lingering chords, a gently meandering piano top-line, disembodied vox and some lovely rich bass pulsing away underneath; Matty Gillespie then serves up a more obviously ‘dancefloor’ remix with slightly tuffer beats and a more funktifed b-line. You also get two mixes of Apartment 173 – the dubby and sultry but still fairly driving Original, and a more late-night Nico’s Neighbour Next Door Remix – while rounding out the EP is Hypermatik, an afterhours-friendly, eyes-wide-shut kinda groove with a female voice urging you to “get a life”. Or possibly discussing “ghetto life”. Hell, she could even be talking about David Guetta’s laugh, for all I know. Hard to tell.

With UM’s usual high standards applying as I said before, it’s hard to pick a standout here. But if pushed, I think Matty’s rub of the title track just edges it for me, with the uncompromisingly deep Hypermatik coming a close second.

Out: This week

About: You can find UM Records on Soundcloud, on Facebook, or at the website they share with sister label Untitled Music.

Tags: , , , ,
No Comments »

Yakka – No More Wars

May 15, 2013 in Singles

Yakka No More Wars Beatality“Aha!” I hear you cry. “Given the preponderance of well-known vocals that seem to be cropping up this week, I’m guessing this is gonna be based around a line from Timmy Thomas’s classic Why Can’t We Live Together? Probably placed atop exactly the kind of jaunty deep-tech-disco house backing we’d expect from Beatality, who I notice are responsible for this single?”

“Damn straight,” I say.

“The same Why Can’t We Live Together as Sade once covered, of course,” you add (helpfully enabling me to fill out this review a little bit cos there’s just the one mix).

“That’ll be the one,” I add. And we both nod sagely, and then we agree it’s a neat little toe-tapper and leave it at that because we’re tired.

Out: This week

About: You can find Croatia’s Beatality (slogan: “House music: beats with soul”) on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

Tags: , , ,
No Comments »

Mattik & No Rabbitz – Remember

May 15, 2013 in Singles

Mattik & No Rabbitz Remember Haute MusiqueHaving ended last night with a couple of tracks that utilised very well-known old vocal samples, tonight let’s kick off with another one. Er, sort of.

See, there’s a painful irony in this being called Remember, because let’s face it the rave years have not been kind and yours truly spent several frustrating days trying to recall where exactly the vocal here is lifted from. I knew it was the verse (note: not the chorus, that’d be easy) from some out-and-out handbag anthem from the mid-90s, but what, exactly? Blast Crazy Man? No. Duke So In Love? No. Tony Di Bart The Real Thing? Definitely not. But along those lines, definitely. And then it came to me… what cheeky Greek whippersnappers Mattik & No Rabbitz have done here is lift the verse from Full Intention’s I Love America… the bit that’s NOT from the Patrick Juvet original, just to confuse matters further. And bugger me was I relieved when that finally came to me.

Anyway, the Greek whippersnappers’ Original puts said vocal over a nice jaunty, strutting deep/tech riddim, while Onur Ozman takes us on a deeper ride as you’d expect, and I’m rather liking both. That is all.

Out: This week

About: This comes to you courtesy of Big Al’s label Haute Musique, who you can find on Facebook, on Soundcloud or (big mid-90s overlong drum roll…) their own website.

Tags: , , , ,
No Comments »

← Previous Entries