Today Only: Deep House sale vinyl

Review: Aniruddha Das (DSPSSSSD) and Gary 'Roy' Stewart (Dubmorphology) have been collaborating since the mid '80s as Dubnoiz Coalition. While Das went on to acclaim as part of Asian Dub Foundation, Stewart is an experimental artist producing sound design and immersive works for the likes of Tate Museum. Back in 1990, they created some of their first tracks as Ani-Roy, mixing the early influences of acid house with their interest in drone and sound effects, the results being the improvised jams 'Tilt' and 'Fari 116'. They were pressed as very limited white labels, remastered and reissued some 30 years later here on Platform 23.

Review: Casino Times is a London-based project of producers Joseph Spencer & Nicholas Church; a partnership that is rooted in house & techno since 2010. The duo have released on labels like Wolf Music, Mireia and their own Casino Edits. This one's courtesy of Swdens Omena imprint, the new label run by Tooli of Local Talk fame. A Change In Motion Part 2 sees the pair enter a new phase sonically, experimenting with the more experimental side of the spectrum. There's some punchy and futuristic electro to be heard on 'Ultra Synthetic' and 'Unfold', as well as sublime downbeat offerings like 'Tides' and 'Run Mods' and some swung-off kilter beats offered up on 'Something Else' (feat DUANE).

Review: Elvis Cassetta sure has a fancy name that would suit a glam-rock frontman or indie dropout much more than a deep house don. But that's what the Zurich-based artist proves himself to be here with a first release on his own new label Why Not. It is trad US house on the opener, with dusty drums and well-deployed vocal samples next to smart chords. There is more bump n grind to 'Focals Finest' and the best of the lot might be the twitchy cosmic tech of 'Jupiter Groove'. Silat Beksi remixes the same one into something balmier and psyched out.

Review: Cyclo Records starts the New Year right with a label debut from Dis Oui, a collective from South-West France. In its original form (track one), 'Take a Pill' is an intriguing fusion of styles, in which hands-aloft piano stabs, subtle acid tweaks, rushing chords and heavily accented English vocals rise above rock-solid electro-house beats and a joyously squelchy bassline. There's an accompanying instrumental mix for those who are less keen on the vocals and a fiendishly heavy, mind-altering 'Acid Mix'. This is naturally built around a wild, intense and psychedelic TB-303 line and offers a breathlessly rugged, ragged and intense take for those searching for something that's as raw and gnarled as it is trippy and strobelight ready.

Review: MyHouse YourHouse based out of Cordoba, Argentina is back with this excellent various artist EP. Get ready to be transported to a world of sound, as they leave you entranced and captivated. Let the rhythm spin you on a journey of excitement and discovery. On the first side, Ruper Eliis nails that classic '90s NYC swing on the groovy "3Dimension" followed by Martin Bellomo (Momentz) with the deep and introspective cut "Earltraxx". Turn over the disc and you're then treated to label boss Rypli's trippy minimal funk jam "Past Is The Past" and finally Bernards serves up some proper late-night mood music on the ultra deep "It Doing Fusion".

Review: The idea of the 'Dreamworld' has pervaded all dance music since its beginnings, and 2024 proves no exception to this rule, with the latest astral projection of its kind coming by way of producer Jalil. Debuting 'Dreamworld' for his local label Stillwell, this is an acid house EP of carefully lucid exploratory proportions. Jalil builds a jocose yet driven palette from found samples against sombre backings, working a seemingly endless spate of transitional hits and impacts about a central acid line on 'Oberheimer'. He then dashes this intro's sense of withdrawal with an audacious pinch-point in the form of 'Moods Of Madness', a favourite of ours, adding aqueous chord-data to an already osmotic pulse.

Review: The inaugural reals on Word To The Wise from Mah'Mood sold out in quick time. It was a super way to kick off the label and now the second EP six or so months later is just as good. It's a deep house exploration from Sebastiao Loopes that opens with a languid groove and some freeform synth work. The energy is pent up and the bass bulbous. The grocers cut from from easy characterisation after that with the downbeat and stonier sounds of 'Clouds' and lurching beat structures of 'Dancehall Private Party' before closer 'Strictly Bouncin' rounds out on a lazy and swaggering groove that slowly lifts you off your feet.

Review: Marius Circus is well known and loved for a signature analogue sound and once again that is laid out for us all to enjoy here on a new EP that comes with a remix from men of the moment Jazxing. First up is the deep, unhurried and dubbed out 'Lost On A Path To Nowhere,' a subtle late-night sound with wispy synths and a muted bassline that grows ever more prominent. The Jazxing Pathfinder remix is more tropical and steamy, and on the flip 'No Way Home' douses you in more blissed-out chords before the downbeat boogie of 'Space Crumbs Trail'. This is yet more essential summer goodness from Is It Balearic.

Review: Many people's first taste of Nocow was amid the second half of the dubstep era - a time when boundaries between established genres and more explorative, contemporary and adventurous beats were blurring, feeding directly into the beautiful mess we see before us today in the dance music scene. Since then, he has graced us with a raft of excellent work which, much like the ethics of the time he emerged from, never really stand still or regurgitate. The difference between Odinocow and 2017's Ledyanoy Album is a case in point. Whereas then we were going through sounds that owed much to 1990s ambient techno, IDM, and associated noises, here we take a very different path, with a haunted R&B undertone running throughout the work, and plenty of nods to polished beach house, trance, and chill wave.

Review: [Emotional] Especial looks back at the first 9 releases since its inception to provide a
selection or "Eleccio" via a special dubbed out DJ meets studio mix from label stalwart
Jamie Paton. Ever since the first white labels appeared at the end of Summer 2013, [Emotional] Especial
has been busy putting out music that are their own warped take on club music. Mixing the
influences of dub, electro, disco, proto-house, house and techno, a sound appeared without any preordained plan. To celebrate the end of the first series of releases come EES10CD - a DJ meets studio
compilation mix created by label artist, remixer and even in-house designer, Jamie Paton. Freaturing tracks from every EP, including two unreleased remixes are the tight productions
of Richard Sen; the wiggle of Scott Fraser; deep, chugging Cage & Aviary dubs; the Eastern
influences of Baris K and newcomers Khidja; the quirky discoid wonk of Maurice & Charles and finally not forgetting of course, the stand out Timothy J Fairplay touches. Whether
alongside Mr Weatherall, Andy Blake or in solo remix mode, young "Junior"s skills (and name)
grows and grows.
All this is perfectly put together by Jamie Paton, the man who launched the label with his
Bizarre Feeling EP. As well as the inclusion of several unreleased cuts, Jamie has edited the
"selection", adding live studio dubbing, FX and the odd mega-mix to make it truly (E)special.

Review: Exploited is one of those ever-present labels that have never made big headliners or had breakout anthems, but that's probably helped it stay relevant rather than getting chewed up and spat out by the hype cycle. Label head Shir Khan is back here to present a 36th Black Jukebox EP, with Paul Rudder & Kresy serving up the tunes. Their first collab is warm Euro-centric deep house which then gets remixed by Kresy into a 'Continuum mix.' On the flip side, Rudder goes it alone with another warm, well-designed and catchy house roller in the form of 'Her Dream Road'. This time, Kresy serves up a heady Mellonized mix to close out.

Review: Rubicon marks the first physical edition of Galcher Lustwerk's driving-themed alias, Road Hog. Collecting tracks from seven releases spanning from 2014 to 2021, Rubicon serves as the project's Greatest Hits (for now). Including tracks from the Cleveland-dedicated album 'Tour De Hog' as well as the sharp toothed 'Spares' and 'More Spares' the pithy 'Haul Ass' plus some cinematic favorites from 'DWB' and 'On The Lam'. Originally meant to be digital only and listened to while driving, demand for certain tunes to be pressed to vinyl has risen with each release. From the Road to the Club, Lustwerk's got you covered.

Review: You can always count on Capracara to bring something a little spicy to the table, but the results are even more unpredictable when you throw UK house magician Simbad into the mix. If you like your house music extremely grubby, blippy, analogue and slightly unhinged, but still soulful, you're in the right place. 'Roubaix Cube' jerks and bumps along with all kinds of bleeps and rugged beats, and the pads sound delirious but still inject some real heart into the track. 'Prowler Report' heads further off into discordant freakiness, but there's still plenty of punch down low. 'The Ozone' is the smoother offering, with some gorgeous keys, chords and pads interweaving for a still-rugged but oh-so-sweet strain of deep house music.

Review: Waze & Oddysey's W&O Streetracks imprint pulls together the likes of Eliphino, Ejeca, Citizen and XXXY for its first (unmixed) compilation released this Winter, W&O Streettracks Vol 1. Having clocked up eight releases on Street Tracks, it's the ideal time to throw down a milestone and document the sound of the label in one package and W&O Street Tracks does so with panache. The result of Waze & Oddyssey's plunge into their address book is a 12 track compilation that neatly reflects modern house music. Ejeca, Citizen and W&O themselves sit alongside newcomers like Mediman and Sage Caswell while the emergent talents of New Jack City and Eliphino make for a nicely profiled piece of work