UM's High 5ives - 29.04.14

Deep Active Sound ft Raha - Blur Story (Glorian Rietze Remix) - TheSounds



Kevin Yost - Day In Day Out (Lomex Remix) - iRecords



Shur-i-kan - Second Life (Original Mix) - Onethirty Recordings



Carlos Hdez, Rishi K. - Fall Away (Deephope Remix) - DeepClass Records



Brillstein - Ode 2 Da Nude (Original Mix) - Play It Down

Carlos Hdez, Rishi K. - Fall Away EP - DeepClass Records

Carlos Hdez, Rishi K. - Fall Away EP - DeepClass Records
Released: 28.04.14

Collaborations are very much in vogue right ow it seems, with Rishi K. and Carlos Hdez joining forces on DeepClass. Three tracks here including one remix from Deephope - another name getting plenty of exposure right now. It’s the closing track that grabs the limelight, with it’s later night mood and strutting bassline, lapped with filtered electro keys and a little guitar flutter. Deephopes remix reinvents the mellow opening track into a more traditional deep house arrangement but ‘Answers’ is by far the best cut here.

Marco Grandi - That Feeling - Ready Mix Records

Marco Grandi - That Feeling - Ready Mix Records
Release Date: 28.04.14

A steady flow coming from Ready Mix with Marc Grandi dropping the latest. One original and two remixes to check out. That Feeling is a nice enough track, chugging baseline and a good vocal sample rolling with some funky guitar bits filtered to hell and plenty of other elements - late night, easy going, but well produced for sure. Spennu’s remix does little for me and Felipe L’s remix rounds things off in a similar vein to the original, just a bit tougher.

A tricky EP to really fall for, the title track probably the finest track with such intricate production, but the EP as a whole didn’t grab me that much.

Christian Nielsen - Slanguage EP - 8bit

Christian Nielsen - Slanguage EP - 8bit

Released: 28.04.14

So, I’m old enough to remember when Christian  Nielsen was known as Chris Minus, but after a little break Christian has stormed back into the world with some killer tunes and this latest on 8bit continues. Slanguage, all tribal grooves and intense, uncompromising beats just grabs you and shakes you all over. Mr. V. Spitting joins Nielsen on Far From Lazy. But it’s back to the dark, sticky, throbbing sounds on Back To Basics and Femot.

Nielsens new tougher sound with a kind of funky darkness just gets me right now, Mr V aside the EP’s cracking with Slanguage and Fembot the tunes of choice.

Kruse & Nuernberg - Boom Boom Ciao - OFF Recordings

Kruse & Nuernberg - Boom Boom Ciao - OFF Recordings
Released: 21.04.14

Core roster artists Kruse & Nuernberg drop two heavy hitting ‘dance floor weapon’ (hate that phrase). The title track is just a crude sledgehammer techno track really - all hi-nrg chords and thinning dirty bass. Two Stories heads in a deep house direction. Still fairly heavy beats, chugging hi hats (if that’s what you call them?) and building to a hands in the air moment or two with looping, swirling vocals and rising chord stabs. Let’s call it deep tech house and be done with it shall we?

UM's High 5ives - 22.04.14

Blood Groove & Kikis - Dice (Rishi K. Remix) - Spring Tube



Olej & Stereoteric ft Annuli - Spring Sky (Deep Active Sound Remix) - UM Records



Kruse & Nuernberg - Two Stories (Original Mix) - OFF Recordings



Maximiljan - Daze (Original Mix) - Leena Music



Unus Emre - Bellow (Alvaro Hylander Remix) - Series Music

Saytek - Propagation EP - Detone

Saytek - Propagation EP - Detone
Released: 20.04.14

Darren Emerson’s label with Saytek, now that could go either way I guess - either hard out scary Techno noise or a sweet housier track that you can get down to! Guess what - this two tracker goes both ways. The title track is almost lost on me, all high energy crescendo’s and dark tribally kinda beats while The Beginning is much more immersive, with a cantering bassline and aquatic elements to capture a classic groove that might have graced Emmerson’s previous label Underwater. Gotta admire Saytek’s productions though - multi layered and crafted.

Dr. Yohanson & Banbaten - Marine Jazz Man - Society 3.0 Recordings

Dr. Yohanson & Banbaten - Marine Jazz Man - Society 3.0 Recordings
Released: 19.04.14

Russian DJ Alexey Sheraburov aka Dr. Yohanson & Banbaten are dubbed two of the best Russian DJ’s in the promo spiel, and who can argue? There’s so much coming out of Russia right now on the scene it’s impossible to know and easy to claim. The EP has a whopping 6 tracks, 2 originals and 2 remixes of each with Minlab, Pedro Campos, Jerry K and David R Maddocks making up the line up - again a bit of a “who?” list for me (who has a bad memory. Of the tracks The Deep Mood is by far the better, with a great bassline that stomps along, throws in some keys and a vocal snippet and whips up a real dance floor groover.

Maximiljan - Music Is - Mobilee Records

Maximiljan - Music Is - Mobilee Records
Released: 18.04.14

Mixed bag this one - two opening tracks were all hard and heavy and nearly had me skipping to the next promo, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The final two tracks are great! Daze rumbles along with jazzy keys and a late night bassline. Orignal High is a bit bouncier, with a retro flavour, but a dirty little edge to it - cracking!

VA - Collected Works - OFFSPIN

VA - Collected Works - OFFSPIN
Released: Out Now

Four tracks from OFF sub label OFFSPIN, Vanilla Ace, Hector Couto, Raffa FL & Ruben Mandolini and ICS supplying the tracks. It’s a tech heavy EP with plenty of big name drops to their credit amongst them it’s sure to get plenty of attention. Couto samples a classic “watch yer bass bins I’m telling ya” amongst his old school rave tune. It made me smile! And that kind of sums up the entire Ep for me - plenty of mid tempo plodding, lashings of retro touches but nothing that made me wanna play it again.

Moti Brothers - Made In Hungary Vol.2 - Ready Mix Records

Moti Brothers - Made In Hungary Vol.2 - Ready Mix Records
Release Date: 15.04.14

Deep house albums are few and far between and in Moti Brothers and Ready Mix Records you have a combination that are sure to deliver, despite being on their Soundcloud page for a year it's great to finally see this out. BiG AL’s label have a knack of delivering, for me anyway, and this is no different. Ten tracks to check out, with highlight for me being New Love Ending, with it’s drifting ambience and soft, warm, oozey bassline. Sunlight with vocals from Zsofia Trecsko is another blissful track that you get lost in the swirling mood of. As things progress Get Down lifts the tempo a little with vocal stabs and some more typical Moti Brothers boldness to the sound. It’s an album made like a set for me, dreamy, drifting and mellow throughout. 

New Love Ending is the pick of the crop for me with Sunlight - I just wish they’d been more vocals used to really draw you in time and time again.

Arian Darko - Summervision EP - Itom Records

Arian Doko - Summervision EP - Itom Records 
Released: 15.04.14

Synonymous with quality in my mind, Itom’s latest comes from 19 year old Arian Doko hailing from Sweden. Summervision opens with a moody hypotic flow, eerie in places but washing over you with supreme warmth and ambience - a track to chill to. Hard To Catch is a tad chunkier but continues in a great vein, probably the track that’ll find it’s way into Dj sets. Two further tracks add to the EP with the closing track reaching some impressive heights, again full of moody ambience and warmth.

As debuts go, they don’t get much more impressive from the young Swede. Summervision and Eclipse both stunning, mellower deep house that so many find hard to producer with such elegance.

Chi Thanh - Stone - OFF Recordings

Chi Thanh - Stone - OFF Recordings

Released: 15.04.2104

Never sure which side of the coin you’ll get with OFF, sometimes they nail it and others just seem throw away. Chi Thanh maybe a newcomer, but what a mood! hypnotic house, with haunting vocals (very London Grammar tonally) on the title track. Hotel d’Amour goes all deep and throbbing with a nice rhodes building a warm groove. The robotic voice used isn’t a captivating as the previous track, but it’s a decent tune, one I’ll play. Third and final track Nocturn is a bit like background movie music - oppy, synth laden and all a bit forgettable. 

Stone’s the track to watch out for here, but Hotel D’Amour runs it close!

UM's High 5ives - 15.04.14

Marc Cotterell, Marck Jamz - Takin It Back (santiago Santamaria Remix) - Plastik People



Dee C'rell - Edifs Tale Featuring Lost Room (Original Mix) - DeepWit Recordings



Tim Andresen - Can You Feel It - DeepWit Recordings



Roland Clark, Rafael Yapudjian, Marcelo Nassi - This Life (Rishi K. Remix) - iRecords



Marvin Zeyss - Farewell (Original Mix) - MARVIN



Christian Nielsen - Fembot (Original Mix) - 8Bit

Audio Units - Pandoras Box EP - DeepClass Records

Audio Units - Pandoras Box EP - DeepClass Records 
Released: 14.04.14

DeepClass introduce a new producer in Audio Units. Three original tracks on the EP - opening with he title track brimming with floaty vocals and spacey pads flowing on a groovy bassline. It’s got a hint of disco in there somewhere, the kind of track that the female deep housers will be drawn to, emotive and uplifting. The other tracks continue the same kind of uplift, disco, hand clapping, floor filling essence but just don’t reach the heights of the opening track.

VA - Spring Moods Vol.3 - DeepWit Recordings

VA - Spring Moods Vol.3 - DeepWit Recordings
Dee C’rell, Bourne, Distortion Inc., Jarquin & Cano, Tim Andresen
Released: 14.04.14

DeepWit’s season series continues with Spring Moods Vol.3. 5 tracks from the likes of Dee C’rell, Bourne, Distortion Inc., Jarquin & Cano and Tim Andresen. I’ve loved DeepWit for long time, not least as Alvaro and Sierra are just so great as people but after a quite period when life took over the pair have bounced back with some great sounds and this is not different. From the scratchy lounge sound and killer vocals on Dee C’rell to moody hypnotics of Bourne. Distortion Inc deliver more sounds to loose yourself in while Jarquin & Cano go all bouncy deep house on proceedings and it’s very reminiscent of lots of things right now, leaving it to Tim Andresen to close our the sampler with a luscious groove that’s uplifting and the perfect ending.

So hard to pick one of two here, Dee C’rell for simply being so entrancing, Tim for a rolling groove to submerge in or Distortion Inc - oh hell, they’re all quality.

Sebo K - Avalanche - Mobilee

Sebo K - Avalanche - Mobilee

Released: 11.04.14

Two tracks on Mobilee from Sebo K - the opener a bit hard and crazy for me but the second track - It’s Alright ticks the boxes. Solid bassline, quality percussion and a nice vocal loop whip up a frenzied air without killing, the track builds and rolls and thumps away at your core. A solid set builder.

Jero Nougues - The Traveler - 5 and Dime Recordings

Jero Nougues - The Traveler - 5 and Dime Recordings
Released: 09.04.14

Argentina’s Jero Nougues becomes the 30th release on 5 and Dime with two originals and remixes from Nacho Riveros, Tom Lown and Portofino-Sunrise. The originals are pretty similar sounds, light, bouncy deep)isn) dance floor tracks that bump along at a decent tempo with good breakdowns and rises for mixing. Riveros’ remix is again pretty similar in mood and sound, just a but dirtier with the bass. Tom Lown takes a more electronica view of the track, dropping a more cinematic mood and creating a track you could sit back and immerse yourself in. Portofino-Sunrise’s is the pick for me though, much lazier Ibiza style sound, chilled but a bassline that caresses you, very impressive.

Tom and Portofino showing how it’s done on the back of solid originals.

UM's High 5ives - 09.04.14

Spoke too soon! After many, many quiet weeks it's all kicked off this week with a deluge of new music to check out - all the more reason for your essential guide to the very best 5 worth parting with your hard earned cash for!

BiG AL - Grace (Original Mix) - nUMusic: Deep House Vol.3 - UM Records

Tim Andresen - You (Original Mix) - What Happens

Tamandua Twist - Jubuticaba 3.0 - Ready Mix Records

Loz Goddard - Looking Back (Dual T Remix) - Savoir Faire Musique

Deephope - The Childhood (Deep Active Sound Remix) - iRecords

VA - Miami WMC 2014 Sampler - Ready Mix Records

VA -  Miami WMC 2014 Sampler - Ready Mix Records

Artists: Tim Andresen, Tony S, BiG AL l Rishi K., Tamandua Twist

Release Date: April 7th 2014

BiG AL’s impressive Ready Mix Records goes all Miami with  a glimpse of what’s to come on the label. Deep housers will be pretty familiar with What Happen’s head honcho Tim Andresen, BiG AL, and prolific producer Rishi K. Although Tamandua Twist is a new one on me. So, Tim opens with a easy going roller, Tony S follows up with his trademark sound, Tamandua Twist pleases with a intricate production. BiG AL’s tune is a steamy little ditty and Rishi wraps it all up with a track that seems to capture much of the things I love about his productions - mood, bassline that gets to you and an interesting flow.

Rishi K. and Tamandua Twist certainly stealing the show here.

Loz Goddard - Looking Back - Savoir Faire Recordings

Loz Goddard - Looking Back - Savoir Faire Recordings
Released: 07.04.14

Loz Goddard back on Savoir Faire with a four track single. Looking Back opens with a lo-slung dreamy mellower track. Swirling keys and a dark under belly roll with layers of production, creating a huge sound to enjoy. Remixes from Jazzloungers, Chris Dewell & Max Casebolt and Dual T. My pick is the Jazzloungerz remix - with it’s prolonged build but lifting the tempo and making the sound even more swirly.  The others offer more expiated house sounds, Dual T’s being the more appealing to me.

The Original Mix really is one to admire - quality production that not everyone will appreciate listening to clips online - but trust me!

Odahl - Your Love EP - Pole Position Recordings

Odahl - Your Love EP - Pole Position Recordings
Released: 07/04/2013

Swedish producer ODahl continues the Pole Position nu disco journey featuring Frank H. Carter III on the opening track which is very retro house for me - like C&C Music Factory got an update - real cross over potential to garage clubs and handbag adorned dance floors. I 3 U continues to nu disco smiles while Your Love and it’s subsequent instrumental version wrap up the EP with a bubbly house way.

Love Is Strong probably for me of the package, but not sure I’ll ever really take to vocal nu disco in that way a dark deep bassline can grab you by the guts. 

Viktor Birgiss - Ljosaskipti - Lagaffe Tales

Viktor Birgiss - Ljosaskipti - Lagaffe Tales
Released: 02.04.14

Lagaffe Tales founder Viktor Birgiss returns to the label with a two tracker. Ljosaskipti is a mellow, wandering affair with beautiful ambience and made to reflect Icelandic winters - that sums it up for me, beautifully calm. Hagl is a fuller track with definite bass yet retaining the ambient flavours.

Mezmorising and subversive sounds - Ljosaskipti the one I could kick back with a mulled wine and stare out onto the frozen landscape in tranquil contentment.

UM's High 5ives - 02.04.14

Sporadic, but always worthwhile, UM's High 5ives reappears this week with a round up of the hot new releases...

Mat.Joe - Brighton Beach - OFF Recordings

Distant Relatives JHB - Oceanfront (Tom Lown Remix) - DeepWit Recordings

Dilby - Autumn Blues - Bondage Music

VA - A Rather Coy 2014 Pt.1 - Oh So Coy

Maya Jane Coles - Don't Put Me In Your Box (The Remixes) - Hypercolour

Mat.Joe - Way Too Bad - OFF Recordings

Mat.Joe - Way Too Bad - OFF Recordings

Released: 20.04.14

The Berlin based due have been recruited to the OFF core artists roster after and impressive 2013. Their two tracker opens with Way Too Bad showcasing their sampling skills, a rolling groove full of soul that swirls over funky drums and a bassline made for the dance floor. It’s not the most exciting track, whilst good elements it just does very little once up and running and can surely only make a filler track rather than one to send the crowd into orbit. Brighton Beach goes deeper with a uplifting mellowness, kids late night, but early morning at the same time - twinkling cool moods.

Lio - Subwaves - Blue Dye

Lio - Subwaves - Blue Dye
Released: 31.03.14

Four slices of deep house from Blue Dye and UK producer Lio. Holdin On’s got a mellow spacious vibe, nothing stunning but a steady filler track. Then comes a couple of remixes, starting with Lash. A dirty little techier track that’s got a a nasty sound and does nothing for me personally. Plexon goes all dreamy on his remix, perhaps closer to the original’s spirit. One for those terrace sets, moody and steamy and by far the better tune here. The Ep closes with another original track called Subwaves. It’s got a nice groove to it, again the sound kind of washes over you nicely, but doesn’t quite grab you.

Plexon standing out, but only just.