Moodymann, Carl Craig remix Alexander Robotnick’s seminal “Problemes D’Amour”
The surprise sleeper hit of an illustrious career - Alexander Robotnick was already working on video art, soundtracks and world music when it began to gain a cult audience - "Problemes" has been reissued many times but never quite like this.
Dez Andrés comes alive on Back In My Space
313 Business: For a certain type of DJ and digger a new record from Dez Andrés is a present for your birthday, whenever your birthday happens to fall. "Back In My Space" is Christmas and your birthday all in one.
Four cylinders of sweaty funk’n’jazz on Thierry Tomas’ Tomat EP
This record is so good that record producers are going to hate Thierry Tomas and still make him a bit of coin when they buy two copies of it. Tomat is an album of jazz, funk, smoky lounge and hazy afterparty music, tied together under the theme of "rethinking the soundtracks of Soviet cinema and Polish jazz of the second half of the 20th century."
Earl Jeffers, Gerd Janson and Tatyana Jane remix Marina Trench’s “Imperméable en été”
Marina Trench's Sweet State label kicked off 2023 with a solid EP and this remix EP based on it, featuring Gerd Janson, Earl Jeffers and Tatyana Jane.
Sunny summertime jazz from St. David on the Timeless EP
Groovin is responsible for some of Italy's best reissue records, often with a Chicago house focus. Timeless by Italian producer St. David is what it says: two tracks and two remixes that could have been lifted from a Strictly Jaz Unit EP because they sound that good.
Legendary Runway has a story that compels and a bassline that wants to eat you alive
One A pays tribute to iconic model Pat Cleveland, the Girls from 7th Avenue and the birth of voguing on Legendary Runway.
Claremont Editions Vol 3: A warming winter Balearic treat from Claremont 56
The third edition of Claremont 56's compilation series gathers low-tempo high-temperature grooves via label rarities, unreleased versions and brand new music too.
Funkyjaws subscribes to the eternal truth that everything goes better with acid
The third release from Funkyjaws' eponymous label passes the hat around and collects a wide variety of tracks from friends, who proceed to fuck the shit out of them with reconstructed 303s.
Session Victim’s “The Intangibles” is a quality 3 tracker on Delusions of Grandeur
When you need a neat deep house jam with an aesthetic that is somehow both devotional and soulful yet feels taut and restrained, then drop this.
Dana Ruh hones deep house to perfection on Smallville 59
Smallville packs a lot of sound in a 12" and Dana Ruh packs a lot of energy in this four track release. Different Places Different Faces offers Ruh's take on modern but timeless deep house.
The Last Love Note from Brooklyn
Though nobody could have guessed at the time, this would be the final record for Love Notes, one of our favorite labels and one of the best to emerge in the last half of the '10s.
Love & Resistance is another unsurprisingly strong EP from Crooked Man
9 minutes and 59 seconds of signature Crooked deep house from Crooked Man on Love & Resistance.
Jerical’s Flesh EP is raw as hell, cultivated Midwest techno
Five tracks of perfectly shaped techno, grown in the hydroponic lead-tainted labs of Rockford, Akron or Flint or certainly from the blueprint sketched on formica countertops in one of those Midwest stations.
#ListenUp The Aquatic People: A Dancer’s Guide
Elegant but stirring deep house from The Aquatic People on A Dancer's Guide, a handbook for deeper living from Paille Records.
Poptimistic house on Bowyer’s Bob’s Your Uncle EP
Bowyer has an upbeat and inventive take on dance music - poptimistic house produced so well the tracks are cut like diamonds, set in a dyed-in-the-Union Jack Britishism on Bob's Your Uncle.
The essential Karizma in 10 tracks
An impossible task but 10 tracks make for a fine vol 1 in an r2 records collection called Karizma Klassics.
The late Uncle Chucc shines on A-Trak & Lee Foss’ “Free”
This is fine, fine work: exactly like you'd imagine a mid-'90s Def Mix remix of the Goodie Mob classic would sound, with Uncle Chucc giving a tremendous performance interpreting Cee-Lo Green's legendary vocals.
Gratts, Mr. Beale, Nathan Haines collaborate on the bright “Sun Circles”
Normalize artists moving away from Berlin. Start with Gratts. Having an optimistic outlook, "Sun Circles" is framed as a welcome to South Australia rather than a kiss off to techno disneyland, and indeed you can feel the sun's rays on his skin on the original mix of the single released by Be Strong Be Free.
Music for driving, alone, with Hector J Rodriguez’s “You & Me”
Warm, comforting, yet slightly melancholic, Hector J Rodriguez's You & Me is the House music equivalent of a sad movie you really enjoyed
Idle Hands’ in-house City Road label drops a V/A “for all the record shops”
Garage, grime and UKG-adjacent stuff from Wilfy D, OH91, DJ Polo and Sir Hiss on Idle Hands record shop's private label.
MUST READ!
Library of Congress adds Jamie Principle’s “Your Love” to National Recording Registry
The classic of classic Chicago house tracks was selected for preservation as one of "the defining sounds of history and culture." Here's how it was made.
