Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: A decade or so after making his debut, Greek producer Lee Burton is rightly revered as an artist with a trademark sound and a variety of rock-solid EPs to his name. Chris Stussy has long been a fan, hence bringing him to his Up The Stuss label for the first time. Burton has delivered, giddily skipping between sub-heavy, acid-laden peak-time hedonism ('Sinewaves'), rolling deep house funkiness smothered in intergalactic melodies and spacey chords ('Burning'), deep and acidic techno (the big room ready headtrip that is 'ITICF'), and the kind of immersive, loved-up and acid-flecked house goodness that's tailor-made for those light moments just before dawn ('Love Motion').

Review: A rare outing for Josh Butler's occasional Origins Rcrds imprint, which has so far released a handful of singles and EPs since launching in 2017. It sees the rising star and Kerri Chandler favourite join forces with Bontan, a fellow UK producer best known for his outings on Hot Creations and Crosstown Rebels. It features three passes on 'Call You Back'. There's the original mix, a fluid, loose and sub-heavy slab of tech-house/deep house fusion rich in undulating melodic motifs, sparse riffs and shuffling drums, a fine DJ tool based around the melodic hooks, percussive builds and vocal samples and a rock-solid build-release-build drum track built around weighty kick-drums and hissing drum machine cymbals.

Review: Big Strick's 7 Days Entertainment welcomes the boss man's own off-spring Butterbandz and Generation Next to the label and both serve up a fresh pair of cuts. Butterbandz opens up with 'Perfect Numb' which is a deep Detroit house jam with signature dusty drums and menacing basslines. 'Rain Man' lifts its head with broad chord work swirling around a more suspensory house cut with steely tech drums. The same lovable lo-fi aesthetic defines the flip with Next's 'Roxbury' layering up piano chords and lush pads over crispy drums and 'Whatever Major Loser' then closes out in raw, punchy fashion. Acid lines and simple but effective chords take centre stage as the pulsing bass never lets up. Pure Motor City goodness all around.

Review: Byron The Aquarius (Byron Blaylock), from Birmingham, Alabama, debuts his latest EP for French Synchrophone sublabel Phonogramme, 'Dey Know Vol. 1'. Topping up an already hugely impressive backlog of releases on the label recently - from the likes of Abacus, Steeve O'Sullivan and Vitess - the producer and water carrier adds to their catalogue for a varied scrubdown of the more militant ends of techno's sonic politic. An impressove sense of variation is achieved on the expositionally minimal 'Black Is Black', which contrasts greatly to the ensuing space-quagmires of 'Dr Devil' and then the crude, bleepy and frank analog sonics of 'Real MF From The Avenue'. Dreamy narrations of local life abound, precluding the closing 'Rock That 808!!!', a track that is far more sophisticated and well-developed in sound than its wilfully blase title might suggest.

Review: House music doesn't get much more storied and authentic than that served up by the iconic New Jersey label Nu Groove. It very much shaped the clary sound of the 90s and still has fans excited today whenever reissues drop. This is not that, however, and is in fact a new set of recent cuts from veteran Swiss producer Deetron and underground mainstay Bruise. The sounds are inspired by the soulful techno and house that emerged in the Mid West and build on solid drums with silky loops that look to the future. 'AM_909' in particular is a lush and warm cut of epic proportions.

Review: Welcome to Nila's Quest, a brand new label that starts as all good day's should, with a healthy serving of breakfast. It's an Argentina Breakfast, to be precise, and the first of what we can only assume will be a series of releases under this title. Jovit is first out of the blocks with the cosmic and crunchy tech house of 'Gamma Goblin' while Ian Puchetti then gets all blissed out and beach with his Ibiza tinged deep house cut 'Dreams'. There is a charming sense of 80s synth nostalgia to the snappy beats of Bruno & TOBI's 'Te Quiero' then Dual Sense's 'Morning Driver' closes out with a perfect soundtrack to late night driving.

Review: Fool's Paradise is the exciting new label from Toolroom Records' Mark Knight. Coming straight from the heart, it's a natural progression from his hugely acclaimed 2021 album release, 'Untold Business', which saw Mark go back to his roots, paying homage to the more funky, soulful, and vocal house from the 1990s from where he came. With a focus on real instrumentation and production, coupled with great songwriting, this new Toolroom sublabel will be a platform for high quality house music designed to stand the test of time. Launching the new label with a mighty bang and delivering the first in our exciting new vinyl sampler series is head honcho Mark Knight, who joins forces with his Australian Toolroom labelmate, Sgt Slick, and British Soul sensation, Beverley Knight, on a dynamite cover of Prince's 1979 classic, 'I Wanna Be Your Lover'. Respectfully transporting the song onto today's dancefloors, Mark & Sgt Slick deliver a classy uplifting soulful house production, loaded with funky guitars, warm pads and sublime key performances. Adding the icing on the cake and putting her own stamp on things, Beverley belts out one of her signature spine-tingling vocals, garnished with lush harmonies and BV's that would indeed make The Purple One proud. Completing the vinyl package is dance music stalwart, Opolopo, and British soul icon, Jaki Graham, whom together bring the dancefloor heat with their new single, 'Fire'. Powered by a potent soulful house groove from Opolopo, loaded with warm piano hooks, emotive synth melodies and a sublime popping bass hook, 'Fire' see's Jaki flaunt her electrifying vocal talents with a show-stopping performance on this irresistibly catchy song.

Review: For many in underground music, the words Back To Basics mean only one thing - the chaotic and anarchic Leeds house party founded by Dave Beer. The GLBDOM label is slowly broadening out that definition though with this ongoing series under the same name. It's been good to date and this third volume doesn't disappoint with Manuold, Bress Underground, MacLO duo, Jon Billick and Scruscru all offering up their own takes on deep house. From the mid-tempo and cosmic to the more raw and punchy, via the loopy and the future-facing, it's a classy collection.

Review: Time to Attack the Dancefloor once more as we supply some heavy Disco & House weaponry. Featuring the brand new remix of Opolopo's storming 'Stroke my Disco' by dutch funkateers Fouk who double down on the Piano and Clav workouts for the peak time. Exclusive new material from Wipe The Needle who's 'Skyscrapers' track is a modern Jazz-Funk masterpiece, heavy on the flute and soulful bass. On the flip Dave Lee takes it back to '97 with his rework of Backroom Productions 'Classic Vibe' which sees him flex his house-ier muscles, re-arranging the classic elements and adding extra keys to this much loved underground tune. Finishing off the EP is Dave's remix of nu-soul diva Raquel Rodriguez, where he crafts Raquel's dynamic vocal delivery over chunky Disco drumming & soulful synths before letting loose into Roy Ayers-esque vibes finale!

Review: One of Italy's premier deep house labels, MoBlack is back with their ninth volume of their gold series. This edition features four different producers that each take their turn pushing boundaries within the sound of their culture. Rancido & AfroTura & Bun Xapa's 'Kibe' has a driving beat to it with a strong vocal performance by Aziz. This track sets the tone for the album. Frankie Lluc's 'Burlan' is deep and tribal, riding an organic free flowing tech house to great success. For the second side, Klement Bonelli presents 'Pesna', a unique euro house sound rooted in early Italian disco. We can't help but think it reminds us of 'Rhythm is Dancer' by Snap. Fahlberg's 'The Light' ends things on an uplifting note with a dreamy piano builder that delivers. We think this is a great example of different regional producers making house music.

Review: Slothboogie are back with more of that disco-fied deep house goodness courtesy of Ruff Stuff and Bress Underground, two Italian producers devoted to the classic approach to the genre. 'Foundations' is a slinky, funked up late night workout with a loopy, hypnotic feel, while 'Sliding Sine' has a more synth-focused, dub-splashed approach. 'The Community' is a rawer jam with tough drums that wouldn't sound out of place on a Chiapet record, while 'Something About It' is peak time garage house at its finest. If you need to work the floor good and proper, these jams won't let you down.

Review: Scottish artist Barry Can't Swim has made big moves in the last year or so and finally, he capitalises on his ever-growing momentum with a debut album on the mighty Ninja Tune. The multi-faceted talent explores his most broad and diverse range of sounds to date here with 11 sublime tracks that move from deep house to jazz, heavy and percussive Afrobeat to lush ambiance. Each of the tracks feels like a fine technical achievement with complexity at its core but never at the expense of good vibes, such as the choral harmonies on 'Always Get Through To You', smart samples of Brazil's Trio Ternura on 'Dance Of The Crab' and digital and organic blends on 'Woman.'

Review: Experimental deep house superstar Bella Boo returns to Studio Barnhus for her latest album DreamySpaceyBlue, and expands outwards into a more varying tempo range in the process. If album titles are anything to go by, this one should give you an indication of the kind of sonics you'll hear when popping this 180g cream vinyl record on the belt-driven plate. Moving in more bittersweet, heartstring-tugging directions after a jankier set of EP movements years prior, the likes of 'Can't Stop' and 'Heartbeat/Into The Night' move through every influence from Jersey bounce to breaks, pitting deeply affected vocals and spacious synth bubblings against a thematic backdrop of "dark times (demanding) love, healing and forgiveness."