EP Review: Believe In Reflecting - Roaming

Believe In Reflecting is the debut release from Roaming, the new collaboration between Christopher Rau and Moomin. Whilst both Rau and Moomin have already released one track together under their own names on Oliver Deutschmann's Futureworld compilation this marks their first proper outing.

There are two original tracks that make up this EP. Opener 'Our Dream Of' is a deep,  breathy track with whispered utterances, snatches of brass and a building electronic bass. It's simple but done well - tight, intimate and well baked.

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Believe In Reflecting - Roaming​

Closing track 'Believe In Reflecting' is less restrained - still warm but with a shimmering, breezy sound coming from the combination of rubber-band baselines and soft keys. Intriguingly it is punctuated with off-time samples of 'Christmas Time Is Here'' from Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The jazzy, soft brushed drum sounds and angelic vocals of Guaraldi's festive masterpiece are so fundamentally ingrained in my annual Christmas experience that hearing them within an upbeat, summer worshipping dance track admittedly throws me for a bit of a loop. Other than that the track is a uplifting and progressively pleasing however and perhaps, if your Christmas isn't as dependent on the proper placement of Charlie's Christmas blues tale as mine, you may not even notice the discord.

Sandwiched between the two original tracks is a remix of 'Believe In Reflecting' by Smallpeople, the owners of label behind the release - Smallville. It loses the Christmas samples, and therefore my conflicted emotions, and yet also loses a little of the charm. It retains the gentle, jazzy keys and builds warmth through a series of ambient chords but it doesn't boast quite the same lazy sun drenched vibe.

Believe In Reflecting is released through Smallville via 12" and MP3 on Monday, stream it below on Soundcloud:

Album Review: Dimitri From Paris Back In The House - Dimitri From Paris

​Dimitri From Paris seems to have been around for an absolute age, long flaunting the kind of flamboyant disco that has recently come back in to vogue. The likes of Future Disco have attempted to lay claim to this style of music over the past half a decade and so it is easy to forget that much of France has been playing disco influenced house since the mid-90s.

This double CD set is actually two separate mixes. The first is entitled A Night at The Horse & Groom and was recorded live in London whilst the second, A Night at Dim's Mansion was recorded in the studio.

Stylistically the mixes are actually remarkably similar and if anything the latter of the two feels a bit more intense, capturing the sweaty ambience of the nightclub despite being laid down in the studio.

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​Back In The House - Dimitri From Paris

The track list across the complete album is fairly exhaustive, taking in a total of 38 tracks. And with a focus as broad as Dimitri's it inevitably feels a little scattershot at times, a mixture of new classics rubbing shoulders with the genuine article in a way that at times feels a little like tokenism.

The first set eases things in gently with Soul Clap's soulful 'Take It Slow' opening the mix, shortly followed by the always excellent 'Love Saves The Day' by Kaine and Kathy Diamond - here given a polish by the equally brilliant Mario Basanov.

And there is an undeniable danger here that Dimitri lets the contemporary talent outshine the classics - Morgan Geist may not exactly be a young upstart but his first two Storm Queen singles both feature here and despite their recency they are as strong as anything else featured. Maceo Plex also features twice in the first mix, his chunky, thick bass lines on 'Can't Leave You' almost certainly creating a massive reaction from the crowd. It's difficult not to simply wish you had a mix from either of these modern masters.

Yet Dimitri's sets are both undeniably good, particularly where they embrace the past in equal measure with the future. The second disc takes in Marshall Jefferson, KC Flightt, Holy Ghost!, Sébastien Tellier and even Dan Hartman's 'Relight My Fire'.

Sure, it may all be a little obvious but that is kind of the point. If you want a finger-on-the-pulse mix then you would be unlikely to consider a Defected release anyway. If you want a set of familiar tracks that has been put together with an audible degree of care and attention
to grease the wheels of the remaining summer weeks then you could do much worse.

Dimitri From Paris Back In The House is released through Defected on Monday, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3.​

EP Review: (Who Knows) Where Love Goes - Last Magpie

(Who Knows) Where Love Goes - Last Magpie​

A lose and open-air funk number that rises its head here on Magpie's '(Who Knows) Where Love Goes'.

Heavy sun beats down on the title track's ambient house but it's the warm garage rhythms that capture the soul and ensure this track lodges itself in your brain. The lofty title track has just enough time to soak in, a tight bassline tapping out the all important melodies and a blissfully intimate bass. Things quickly accelerate following this gentle start however...

'Pilau Rice' quickly slips past, tightly grab the listener and pulling them forward into a sweaty, intimate play on words. As innocent as the lead in may have been this is no time for mere pleasantries, a bumping bass creating a crescendo bodies will struggle to ignore.

For every intense up-beat 'Pilau Rice' hits following track, 'Don't Know Why', embraces a corresponding drop. The pacing may be a little disconcerting when consumed in one sitting but it is difficult not to feel and subsequently embrace the amorous hot embrace played out on the closing two tracks of this release.

'Don't Know Why' is drenched is sweaty reverb and old school house atmosphere - particularly evident on the closing refrain. 'Club Whore' on the other hand is slower to build but bass the close and heavy bass is uncompromising in its approach.

If you have a feel for deep, heavy takes on soulful house and dubstep it is hard to resist this forthcoming release from Last Magpie - it's warm, familiar and sexy.  It is released through Hypercolour on 20 August, check it out on Soundcloud below:

EP Review: Gone Ghost - Hand Plant

​Following it's launch last month Disco Bloodbath recording released Gone Ghost, its sophomore single, last week on vinyl (the digital release drops on 21 August).

Hand Plant is a collaboration between one half of Disco Bloodbath (Ben Pistor) and one half of Maxxi Soundsystem (Sam Watts) and they aim to capture the spirit of:

Old and new synths, samples, berlin, aircraft, what happens in the early hours, ecstasy pads that make you rush...

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A hand plant. In a pot. Of course.

​And to be honest this release pretty much nails it. It's a frigging wonderful rapture of electronic soul and technology - Pistor and Watts are dragging us on a dawn chase and it's an otherworldly experience. Spectral melodies and large synth work sews an analogue rush of endorphins and a injection of squelching acid on the title track.

Shorter but way more vicious, 'Arpy' has a utterly unforgiving rapid fire bass line that initially reminds me (yet again) of Adonis' 'No Way Back' but cosmic synthesisers ​end up carving the record in two. The subsequent crescendo of layered staccato keys and ping-pong (or should that be wiff waif?) rhythms are sure to leave you breathless.

Also featured is a storming acid remix of 'Gone Ghost' by Jamie Blanco​ - think early acid house complete with eighties synth-pop drums and a fair amount of echo. It calls to mind the classic 'Happy House' mix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Paul Rutherford's 'Get Real' but here the drums feel tougher and here Blanco has combined it with the strongest melodic elements of the original to make something genuinely beautiful that transcends genre.

Check out the full ​version of 'Gone Ghost' in the YouTube player above but also listen to the all too short preview of Jamie Blanco's mix in the player below. It's way too good to pass up. Consider this one of my favourite things so far this year.

Gone Ghost is released through Disco Bloodbath Recordings - the vinyl release is out now and the digital release is due on 21 August.​

EP Review: Crying Over You - J Cub feat. Bibi

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​Crying Over You - J Cub feat. Bibi

​Crying Over You is the latest EP to come out of the Saints & Sonnets, Huxley and Jimmy Poster's label.

J Cub is actually Jacob Kelly and here he teams up with vocalist Bibi to create​ a blissfully laid back house track. Slow, soulful vocals from Bibi front a track of tight hi-hats, warm pads and a gently rumbling bass. The original track isn't even remotely aimed at the dance floor - it is a pure, chilled house record for lazy days by the pool.

Instead two remixes have responsibility for​ creating something to make you move and so the original is actually bookended by these two mixes. BNJMN's take opens the EP and it's an organic-feeling dub of the original. The vocals are edited to turn them into additional instrumentation within the record and the track strikes a series of uplifting chords - the layered percussion create something less dense than a house track, closer to the soulful spin on dubstep that Joy Orbison has had such success with, albeit slower.

​The closing remix comes from Dial's RNDM and it is the most conventional of the three versions here. The vocal is cut up and spliced across the track's length, giving it a deep, sensual sound. It still ultimately retains the laid back feeling of the original but layers in some faster low-end bass lines resulting in a more progressive house feel.

Whilst the original is a pleasingly chilled effort it is the BNJMN mix that really shines here.​

Crying Over You is released through Saints & Sonnets on 14 August on 12", following thereafter digitally.​