It’s Been A Minute…

… since I did any record reviews. I mentioned the recent Dam-Funk 7″ back in May (and I got the most recent Stone’s Throw EP by him which is just as awesome as you would expect), but I never got around to talking about the things I got in Chicago in March, nor anything else new since then including my haul in Detroit. We’re talking about way over 130 new and old records in that time period, so I can’t cover everything. But I’m gonna run down some of the highlights of the newer shit.

Possibly my favorite house producer, Andrés dropped his first ever remix for Kai Alcé’s NDATL label. While it is Kai’s remixes that may be more deejay friendly, Andrés’ mix is a nice deep set starter with a long intro with spoken word that morphs into his distinctive take on soulful house. Even better than that, though, is his brand new LP “II” fresh out on Mahogani. Featuring more downtempo cuts than his last full length as Andrés, this is a contended for album of the year and is perfect summertime music. Adding vocalists to the mix is a step in the right direction, hopefully now more people will notice just how amazing Andrés’ music is. His deejay sets are no joke either!

Probably the best new thing I got in Chicago was Tevo Howard’s “Without Me” which actually came out sometime last year. This is new school deeeeeep house straight out of Chi-town, and really it smokes just about everything I’ve heard in a good long time. His productions on the other Beautiful Granville records is dope as well, and the soundclips floating around the web for his upcoming release also on BGR sounds off the hook. Hunt this guy’s shit down, whatever you have to do.

A record I heard for the first time when I was chilling with Jerome Derradji in Chicago but didn’t come out until more recently is Bruce Ivery’s debut on Stilove4music. Jerome was playing this shit off of his laptop and it sounded dope, banging it out loud sounds even better. Two minimal techno influenced house tracks and a SMOKING disco edit give you a lot to play with, possibly the best of the recent output on Stilove4music, all of which I’ve picked up and all of which are dope.

Osborne continues his run of ridiculously ill 12″s with the “Hovercrafting EP” on Spectral Sound. “Wait A Minute” picks up where Daft Punk left off, combining vocoded disco with Osborne’s house sound to give you a future funk masterpiece. Arto Mwambe really had nothing to add to this track, and his remix ends up being a waste of space on the vinyl. The B-side cuts, however, more than make up for it. “Fire” is another disco burner, this time reminding a little more of Los Hermanos combined with Daft Punk for a very synthetic but still live feel. “The Count” is the real winner here, with its simple jack beat and bleepy synths. Check the awesome video on Youtube which “samples” old New Dance Show footage:

Can this guy do any wrong?!?!

I had to support my fellow blogger Jez over at Innersounds by picking up Don Froth’s “Foam EP” at Gramaphone. Jez had mentioned it on Innersounds when it first dropped and I had been meaning to pick it up but hadn’t seen it around. When I found this record in the bin, I didn’t realise what it was but I was feeling the slow motion house and disco tracks quite a bit so I bought it. It was only after getting home that i realised that it was a record I had already been looking for! Nice serendipity, and a great EP for those who like the tropical strain of cosmic/beardy disco as well as those who play house at -8.

For more deepness, Leonid’s “Sadim” on Sistrum is dope as are the two B-side cuts. Black Jazz Consortium’s “New Horizon EP” contains four tracks of that deep house shit, giving good value for your dollar. Walter Jones does his best to keep DFA one of the most relevent house labels out there in ’09 with the irresistable “Living Without Your Love” on his most recent 12″. The A-side is a really nice SLOWWWW disco/house burner as well! Norm Talley reissues the HOT jam “The Journey” from the one 12″ of his I didn’t already have and throws a new cut “In Yo Soul” on the flip for an essential 10″ as part of the Beatdown shenanigans on Third Ear. Mike Huckaby dug into the vault for the most recent Deep Transportation release. Two cuts from the classic “Deep Transportation Vol. 2” on Harmonie Park get the reissue treatment, and for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to have the original (unlike me 😉 ) this is a great opportunity to pick up some tracks that would be otherwise damn difficult and expensive to get a hold of. Delano Smith dropped an all new 12″ along with Derwin Hall to help satisfy those Beatdown cravings, while Rick Wade brings his distinctive deep style on the debut release for Lawrence’s new Laid label. There’s so much good deep house coming out of the US right now that it’s hard to keep up with it all.

Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats label dropped a sweet new 12″ that features Amp Fiddler’s son Dorian Fiddler on drums. Dorian recently passed away at age 17, far before his time. Much love and respect goes out to Amp and his family in this trying time. RIP.