Deep House charts

Review: Razor-N-Tape's Family Affair series makes a welcome return here with a third great instalment. This series is something of an annual end-of-year tradition by now (OK, it's arriving a touch late) and this one hits as hard as any with five tracks taken from the full and standout compilation. It is two great remixes of classic RNT material that gets things underway with Ezel offering a dub of Cor.ece and Bruce Leroys sublime deep hose mix of Guinu, then JKriv's 'Better Than Her' is a fat bottomed bit of deep cut electro funk and elsewhere Kim Anh gets raw and cosmic, and Cody Currie's 'Ghost' is broken beat perfection.

Review: It would be fair to say that Studio K7 has pulled off something of a coup in getting Kenny Dixon Jr. to agree to compile and mix the latest installment in the long-running DJ Kicks series. It is, somewhat remarkably, the legendary Detroiter's first commercially available mix set. This triple-vinyl edition features a whopping 19 cuts - all in unmixed form - from the 30 track mix. Musically, it's a blazed, jazzy, soulful and groovy as you'd expect, and contains a mixture of downtempo beats, nu-jazz and hazy house cuts from the likes of Flying Lotus, Dopehead, Peter Digital Orchestra, Nightmares On Wax, Soulful Session and Lady Alma.

Review: Few vocal deep house records are quite as timeless as Cece Rogers' "Someday", a Marshall Jefferson produced anthem that has continued to be constantly played by discerning DJs ever since its original 1987 release. As most will tell you, it was also the major sample source for Liquid's rave anthem "Sweet Harmony". This South Street reissue replicates the track listing of that initial Atlantic release, albeit it in re-mastered form to sound a little meatier on modern club soundsystems. On the A-side you'll find the essential Club Mix, where Rogers' impeccable vocal and Jefferson's meandering piano solos naturally dominate. These piano solos take more prominence on the "Some Dub" version, which in true '87 style still includes key vocal passages drenched in dub delay, while the Accainstrumental is - ironically - a little more like a contemporary house Dub.

Review: Serial collaborator DJ Sotofett pops up on Honest Jon's with a typically excellent doublepack built around a quartet of studio hook-ups. Aside from Versatile boss Gilb'r (here lending a helping hand on some African-influenced ambient house), most of the collaborators are new additions to the eccentric Norwegian's out-there audio universe. The two tracks with Phillip Lauer and JKS - an intergalactic ambient affair and a chunk of early Fila Brazillia style deep house - are particularly potent, while there's something deliciously warm and evocative about the Norwegian's explorations with Finn Jaakko Eino Kalevi. Best of all, though, are the two tracks with African vocalists Karlolin Tampere and Maimouna Haugen; "Nondo Riddimix", which boasts deliciously dense drums and sparse, exotic melodies, is arguably the highlight.

Review: If you've ever got a few hours to spare, check out Legowelt's discography - the Dutch analogue fetishist is astonishingly productive (and, of course Legowelt is simply one of Danny Wolfers' many pseudonyms). Here, he adds another label to the growing list with a surprise appearance on Andrew Morgan's Washington D.C-based Peoples Potential Unlimited imprint. Unsurprisingly, Wolfers explores many of his favourite themes on Puzzles in Life, merrily skipping between melodic, bubbling deep house (the excellent title track), slo-mo Detroit futurism ("Video Phone To Space"), super-slo stargazing boogie (the superb "Cruise Till The Sun Shines") and woozy, intergalactic ambience ("Los Alamos Motel"). In many ways, this is an unusual turn from PPU, but it's a calculated gamble that's more than paid off.

Review: Ilija Rudman struts out once again on his own turf with this latest slab of sizzling discoid delectability, shaping out all manner of warm and fuzzy grooves across varying tempos and intensities. "Metronomia" is a laid back workout, but it's the bombastic funk of "So Much" that steals the show on the A-side with its crafty construction and killer bass hooks. "Hibiscus Theatre" meanwhile ploughs deeper into the soil with its swirling pads and shimmering percussion lines, and then "If You Change Your Mind" rounds the EP off with some exemplary deep house for the more reflective souls to get down to.

Review: Frankfurt producer Shan has enjoyed a long and productive friendship with Running Back Gerd Janson. To date, it has included a swathe of collaborative tracks and remixes, as well as regular solo releases on the label. Shan's latest EP for the imprint is naturally packed with playable material. Saucer-eyed, retro-futurist opener "Who Run Tings", for example, underpins jaunty, Inner City style stabs and piano riffs with corking, hip-house style breakbeats, while "Awakenings" offers a slightly more muscular, big room-friendly take on the turn-of-the-'90s piano house blueprint. Shan deviates further from the script on the Nu Groove style vintage deep house musicality of "English Summer" and deep '80s synth-pop-meets-deep house flex of closer "Take Me To The Top".