Junia: The Next Level EP (Magnetic Recordings)
Sometimes I truly don't understand why it's so hard to sell audiences on what I call straight-up House Music. I use that phrase to describe a sound that stretches across and uses multiple subgenres...
Borrowed Identity: Sexo Bonito (Quintessentials)
I'm not saying this guy has a cult but if he did, I'd probably tip the Kool Aid. I've yet to hear a bad record from Borrowed Identity and that's a fairly common opinion....
SLOUSE: Fishing In Slower Territories from Compost Records
If you (like so many British music journalists and tastemakers) lie awake at night worried that there just aren't enough dance music sub-genres ("Night Bus" or "UK Bass" anyone? No, I thought not.), your...
Gareth Whitehead, Marshall Jefferson and Robert Owens: How Can I
For me, it's a rarity to come across a dance music single where the original mix actually outshines the remixes! But, when you've got Marshall Jefferson on production and Robert Owens on vocals, what...
Songs You Want To Tell People About: Joy from Mega Jawns
Today, there are more people paid to write more words for less money about more music than at any point in human history, and it's not a point of pride to be one of...
T. Ruggieri’s Good Night From Chicago
Ah, Stockholm. Home to beautiful people, endless summer nights, clean air and hordes of marauding Finns rampaging through the town on Booze Cruises from Helsinki... The city is also home to Oh!, one of...
Mr. Raoul K’s Stunning LP Still Living In Slavery
There was no album I've looked forward to more than Mr. Raoul K's Still Living in Slavery; I was not disappointed. Mr. K has his eye fixed on a point so far on the...
Free (Is All I Wanna Be) by Ralf GUM and Portia Monique
I gotta be honest: one of the things that really called me back to writing music reviews again is the resurgence of true songwriting – an honest to goodness S-O-N-G, with lyrics and substance...
Doorly, Cajmere & Dajae: The Way on Cajual Records
I believe I've finally figured out Cajmere's secret formula to success: make hot songs/tracks/grooves that please the crowds, the DJs, AND the sound systems! And as long as the signature sound remains constant in...
Karizma’s Beats & Bobs Vol 1
In a post-apocalyptic world where the fallout from the EDM Bomb has caused our musical landscape to resemble the set of a Mad Max movie, I imagine Karizma to be the supercool guy who...
Franck Roger’s Home Invasion #4
It was just about a year ago that Franck Roger dismantled (or at least mothballed) his label Real Tone at its peak. Real Tone broke a number of artists internationally (Maya Jane Coles, whose...
Forever Monna – Again and Again and Again
Are you going to remember this in six months?
That’s a new litmus test I’m trying out with new music. It’s limited and a bit pretentious - not everything good is meant to stand the...
Jennifer Hudson ft. R. Kelly: It’s Your World
Jennifer Hudson, R. Kelly, Wayne Williams and Terry Hunter. What do these legendary names all have in common? Well, the obvious answer is Chicago, but I bet you NEVER would have uttered "House Music"...
The Chilean-Midwest Deep House Connection: Rick Wade, K Alexi and Jorge C. on the Combo EP
I know very little about the underground scene in Santiago de Chile where Ojodeapolo records originates - just what some DJ friends say when they pass through, and they don't pass through all that...
Marc Cotterell and Karl The Voice Team Up on The Land
I'm pretty convinced that this release from Marc Cotterell and Karl The Voice was made STRICTLY for the dance floors around the world, for the drum track is definitely the heart & soul foundation...
Ortella: Mad In Lyon EP (Rutilance)
The vinyl industry is still in a state of rehab after a debilitating stroke dropped it to the floor. After years of re-learning how to hold a fork and use the stairs without grasping...
DJ Skull Returns to Sect: The Heavy Thinker EP
A record that starts with the dynamite needs to end with an atomic bomb. DJ Skull understands this: still firing all synapses, his follow up record on Sect after The Dark Knight EP is...
Detroit Swindle: 64 Ways Remixes from Dirt Crew
I told you to wait for the remixes didn't I? Dirt Crew really took the perfect amount of time to let Boxed Out simmer. Since my last review, my friends and I have all...
Alinka Says You’re Basic
There are at least a few people in this thing determined to Keep House Music Weird. Chicago's Alinka is one of them. She debuts an EP for Get Up that is destined to become...
David Marston Makes Beautiful Music on Jamaicalia from Soul Clap
This took me four or five spins to get it. I'm not sure why. But in the end, I didn't just figure it out, but came to realize that I like every track on...
MUST READ!
LOVEFOXY / The 5 Mag Cover Mix
A new 5 Mag cover mix and it's a gorgeous set from emerging DJ, producer and artist LOVEFOXY
