Let's Play House US 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: On his own Let's Play House imprint, Jacques Renault is back with a sterling four track EP of prime starry-eyed house fodder for all corners of the night. The appearance of The Emperor Machine on lead track "I Like It" is unmistakable, resulting in a mammoth sound full of electro punch to get a peak time crowd going crazy. "Akron" meanwhile takes a deeper route into warm DX7 basslines and bittersweet high-end chimes. "Make Up" moves back towards a bolder sound palette with an EBM infused thrust, and then "MAN" cools things off once more with its chirpy pace and charming arpeggio sweeps.

Review: Returning home to his Let's Play House imprint, Jacques Renault is in no mood for taking prisoners as his new jam "The Fake Out" pounds out on a bed of dense drum hooks, dissonant stabs and late night heat. Where the original values the impact of chunky breaks, The Organ Grinder remix instead opts for a clean line in beats that gives greater space to eerie synth touches and distant samples deployed with deadly precision. No Regular Play put paid to these raw sensibilities by working a healthy dose of analogue synth warmth into their remix, most notably in the bass region.

Review: Let's Play House return to Back To You, the single from label co-founder Jacques Renault that opened proceedings on 2013 with this clutch of remixes from some tip top talent. Already remixed in sumptuous fashion by Beats In Space artists Paradis, "Back To You" is reworked further by the first class talents of Tom Trago, Fantastic Man and Francis Inferno Orchestra. Rush Hour's Tom Trago takes the lead, embellishing further the thumping drums and hummed melodies of Renault's original with suitably instantaneous dancefloor results. The accompanying pair of refixes from Australian pair Fantastic Man and Francis Inferno offer some pared down in comparison, with the former taking a stripped back, slow burning approach and the latter launching into space.

Review: Producing house music is far from easy, but Jacques Renault time and time again manages to fools us into thinking it could be. His first rabbit out of the hat trick in 2013 is the functional and jovial Back To You EP on his own Lets Play House imprint. Lead track "Back To You" takes full advantage of some filtered horns and bouncing bongo percussion - it's not hard to see this track being embraced widely by DJs especially when samples washed in reverb and delay fill and litter the track, whilst subtle African chants add a individual edge. The same dubby horns - only dubbier - feature on the Paradis remix, only to be lightened by note and word sung vocals, triangle percussion tinkers and a reinforced bassline, deepening the track even further.

Review: Some seven years after dropping his debut solo single - an inspired collection of re-edits for the acclaimed RVNG of the NRDS series - Jacques Renault releases his debut album. Appearing on the Let's Play House label he runs with pal Nik Mercer, Zentrum is an eclectic, anything-goes affair, with an impressive cast of collaborators (The Emperor Machine, Luke Jenner and former Runaway production partner Marcos Cabral included) swinging by to lend a hand. As you might expect, it touches on many of his influences - drowsy leftfield disco, leftfield funk, eccentric broken beats, strobe-lit basement jams, wonky acid house (the rather brilliant "Touch You"), African rhythms, and vintage US garage amongst them - whilst retaining a distinctive voice throughout. Given the obvious eclecticism, it takes a few listens to really sink in, but it's certainly worth the effort; closer "Faith", featuring Karl Dixon, is particularly rewarding.

Review: New York City deep house hotshot and Let's Play House head honcho Jacques Renault is back with some remixes from his recent Zentrum LP. Starting out with the tremendously dark and soulful epic "Mi Casa Samba (Octo Octa remix)", Vito & Druzzi get stuck into "Faith" giving it an uplifting soulful house makeover; think Body & Soul NYC. "Words (Cooper Saver & Turbotito remix)" goes for more of a groovy nu-disco route, leading in nicely to another remix of "Faith" only this time by Lemonade, who gives it some smooth Max D style deep house flavour for summertime open air terrace party vibes.

Review: For his third album, Sky Islands, Jacques Renault decided to create an action-packed set inspired by the classic DJ megamixes that were once a huge part of dance music radio in his home city of New York. It's a simple idea, but one he's executed beautifully. It plays as a continuous mix on each side of this vinyl version, with the Let's Play House co-founder using at as an opportunity to flit between short tracks that variously touch on quick cuts built around rescued disco breaks, heady loop-house, sweaty percussion workouts, proto house, Bobby Konders style deep house and sleazy, basement-ready club jams. It's very dusty and sample-heavy, but that's kind of the point: this is an excitable, energetic concoction that's more about the finished product than the short and sweet individual tracks.

Review: On this intriguing package, Jacques Renault has signed up a quartet of like-minded party-starters to remix tracks from his 2015 debut album, Zentrum. Borrowed Identity kicks things off with a bluesy, Rhodes-heavy deep house rendition of "Faith", before classic U.S house revivalist Nicholas channels the spirits of Bobby Konders and Chez Damier on his deep, dreamy and intoxicating rework of the same track. Massimiliano Pagliara impresses with a bouncy, synth-laden disco-house interpretation of "Redlight Rubber" full of clipped guitars and spine-tingling vocal samples, before Max McFerren steals the show with a heady, rave-influenced breakbeat-house take on the Latin-influenced "Mi Casa Samba".

Review: Having initially started life as a semi-regular bash thrown by former DFA pals Justin Miller and Jacques Renault, Let's Play House has quickly morphed into a spin-off label and much-loved New York party brand. Named after a legendary 1989 Kraze record, their sound combines the best of basement-bothering analogue groovery with the latest disco-flecked and rave-influenced sounds. Here, resident Jacques Renault offers an introduction to the Let's Play House sound via a lovingly crafted, hand-stamped mix that takes in classic, little known jams and recent label material. As retro-futurist house excursions go, it's pretty damn hot.