SIMONCINO 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Modern Italian deep house legend Simoncino returns for the 'Distant' EP, a fresh seven-tracker once more inspired by the classic Chicago and New York house sound, as is par for the course for this artist. A vintage va-va-voom is heard splayed across the septet, with the opener 'Distant' seemingly lowpassed at at least 16k, and ensuers 'Smoke Channel', 'Fantasy' and 'Tributes' equally revelling in such trace sonic irony. Despite the novelty of lo-fi house, there's a wicked hi-fi remix by Mr Fingers on there, proving Simoncino's thoroughly-rubbed shoulders and proximity to the pulse of history.

Review: Second time around for Chez Damier's superb remixes of Simoncino classic 'Inga's Creme', which first surfaced way back in 2011 as part of The Warrior Dance Part 2 mini-album. On the A-side you'll find Damier's 'Club Mix' - a superb chunk of Prescription style peak-time deepness in which hazy, echoing synth sounds, ultra-deep pads and echoing spoken word snippets cluster around a locked-in, late-night groove. Side B opens with Damier's 'Morning After Mix Part 1', an even deeper and more dubbed-out interpretation tailor-made for misty-eyed sunrise sessions. It's followed by the 'Morning After Mix Part 2', a previously unreleased ambient house style interpretation built around gorgeous chords, bubbly melodies and slowly building percussion.

Review: Way back in the early 2000s, Hardrock Striker's (now dormant) Parisonic Records imprint debuted with a pair of EPs that breathed new life into classic cuts from 'Makossa Man', Manu Dibango. To celebrate the series' 20th anniversary, the Paris scene veteran has decided to bring back Soul Of The Makossa Man, this time via an EP containing four cover versions/sample-heavy productions. Simncino steps up first with 'Tribal Spirit Mix', a percussion rich hybrid dub disco/sturdy house number, before FTG delivers the hypnotic deep house excellence of the 'Deep In The Jungle Mix'. FTG returns to close the EP with the hybrid electronic/organic brilliance of the 'Afro Manimal Mix', while the 'Studio 937 Mix' by Groove Boys Project sounds like an unlikely collaboration between Dibango and the Burrell Brothers.