Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: German mainstay Johannes Albert returns after a six-year hiatus with his third club album, Private Dancer, and it's worth the wait. As expected, it is a deep dive into refined house music full of maturing production, warm textures, subtle grooves and emotive undertones. The standout title track features longtime collaborator Iron Curtis, and together they craft a hypnotic blend of classic deep house with modern minimalism. Highlights include the gentle grooves and percussion of 'L'Chaim', the steamy nocturnal soul of 'The Night (Moves On' and 'Follow The Strings', which is a more punchy heater. It's the sound of a seasoned producer delivering understated dancefloor gold.

Review: A key figure in Brazilian jazz-funk and a founding member of Azymuth, Conti merges deep house, samba and jazz-funk into a seamless experience. His signature percussive style is on full display, effortlessly blending electronic elements with organic instrumentation. His fourth solo album returns with a much-needed reissue, highlighting his ability to craft intricate rhythms and dynamic grooves. 'Bacurau' is a raw exploration of rhythm, built solely on Conti's percussion and electronic textures, bridging Brazilian dance music with African influences. The title track takes a deep dive into 1970s disco, its bassline and shimmering synths channeling both American and Eurodisco flavors. 'Jemburi' leans into late-night jazz, exuding a cool, laid-back vibe, while 'Ecos Da Mata' evokes the cosmic fusion of Sun Ra meeting a Brazilian dancefloor. With production assistance from Daniel Maunick and additional contributions from keyboardist Fernando Moraes and bassist Alex Maheiros, the album pulses with energy, balancing electronic experimentation with soulful, dance-driven grooves. A timeless work, it effortlessly connects the past and future of Brazilian jazz and dance music.

Review: This deep-digging compilation from Italian label Right Tempo offers a lovingly remastered sweep through jazz-inflected house from the decade between 1995 and 2005-a period where groove, musicianship and warmth reigned. The Daft Punk remix of I:Cube's 'Disco Cubizm' is an obvious highlight: clipped funk licks under elastic synths, reshaped with robotic swagger. The original mix rides smoother, more submerged. Josma's 'Voices Of Los Angeles' shimmers with Rhodes flourishes and disco flickers, while Mondo Grosso's 'Souffle H' (King Street Extended Club Mix) drives forward with crisp drums and brushed keys. Cricco Castelli's 'Life Is Changing' appears in two versions-both tightly arranged, with swung jazz-funk energy. Jo Boyer's 'Isabelle And The Rain', given a heady edit by Da Funkie Junkie & Cosmic Girl, closes the set with downtempo sparkle. Elegant, playable, and reissued with care.

Review: Master drummer and producer Alexander Flood debuts his rhythmic first record on Atjazz, following up the sumptuous first single 'Life Is A Rhythm'. A truly exciting record on foliate green vinyl, this LP packs a production paradox, bringing both boomy bodyweight and a shape-cutting, 2-stepping sense of ease at the same time. With extra layers of perc in the rhythm section, with Brazilian percussionist Aduni on congas and Cuban percussionist Alexander Scull Castillo on bata, it's actually really the dance-flooring production that grabs us here, heard best in the plum chords and erratic pianos of 'Don't Wait For Me', and/or the live bruk ghost dance 'Sidestep'.

Review: Gerardo Frisina's unmistakable fusion of Latin jazz, funk and soul with contemporary electronics entered a new phase with the announcement of his 'In Sight' series, a two-part project for 2025 set to rescan the multi-genre terrain and project it, rocket-like, into new stratospheres. The Schema Records founder now delivers the second promised instalment in the series, complementing a delicious first volume added to a brilliant swathe of 7"s and LPs, centring on not just his own talents but those of others, mainly those artists of his local Milanese Afro-Cuban jazz, soul and dub ken. Yet seven more finger-pinchers come tethered to adjacent movements in bossa nova, soft-adult cinematics and downtempo here.

Review: It's a remarkable statistic that Payfone - the long-serving production partnership of Phil Passera and Jimmy Day - have not released an album before, despite building up a killer catalogue of singles over the last 12 years. The vinyl-only Lunch, then, is a genuinely significant release .- and, happily, a rather brilliant one too. Featuring an impressive roll-call of guest vocalists and musicians, it sees them deliver six excellent riffs on their analogue-rich, hybrid house/Balearic/nu-disco sound. The plentiful highlights include the dubbed-out, low-slung and atmospheric opener 'Movin' On', the infectious, spaced-out boogie of 'Joan of Arc' (whose chorus will be stuck in your head for days), sensual jazz-funk jam 'Spend The Night' and the warming, sun-soaked delight that is 'Pony Bar'.

Review: California producer Space Ghost teams up with South Carolina-based singer Teddy Bryant for a sun-soaked ode to late 80s and early 90s soul. The record opens with the silky swing of 'Some Things Last Forever', giving way to lush, G-Funk-laced grooves like 'Majestic Fantasies' and club-focused cuts such as 'Unconditional (Club Mix)'. Bryant's vocals glide over Space Ghost's plush instrumentation, with tracks like 'Cheer Me Up' and 'Ultimate Love' channelling UK street soul and the balladry of classic r&b. 'Shine' and 'Ultimate Love', both featuring Morgan, add extra emotional weight. The pair clearly draw from a shared love of Teddy Riley, Jam & Lewis and DeVante Swing, but there's a lightness here that feels rooted in the present too-music that remembers the past without ever getting stuck in it.