Rob's house and techno top 10 - July 2011

Tom Middleton's latest 'One Clap Wonder' is nearing vintage Middleton in style and French deep house legend Jef K pops up on a floaty and hypnotic. Bedrock continues with a loopier, techier patch with Christian Smith 'Cabecudas' and David Phillips serves up yet another jacking drum-track with his usual quirky flare.

Rob's July 2011 house and techno top 10
1. Maxime Iko - Beau Rivage (Le Vie En Rose)
2. Tom Middleton - One Clap Wonder (Dave Storm Mix) (Dark Energy)
3. Kimouts - Sequenced (Jef K & Gwen Maze Remix) (Only Records)
4. Christian Smith - Cabecudas (Bedrock)
5. David Phillips - 6YGR (Global Ritmico)
6. Uno Mas - Grompet (H2 Remix) (Weplayminimal)
7. Recast - Consensual (Third Ear)
8. Herz - In My Mind (Main Mix) (Atom Record Industries)
9. Delano Smith - Wires (Sushitech)
10. Manny Ward - NYC Take A Bow (Slanted Black) 

Classic Pick: Janet Jackson - The Pleasure Principle (Legendary Club Mix) (AM:PM, 1996) Danny Tenaglia in what some consider his finest ever remix turning Janet Jackson into a bottom heavy big-room anthem  > on Youtube

Rob's Tech House Top 10 - June 2011

June has got a lot in store by way of great music. Deetron returns with a superb piano-led house classic Detroit number and Abe Duque pops up on an unlikely remix pairing with John Digweed and Nick Muir. He delivers with his usual raw business.

Rob's June 2011 top 10 tech and house chart

1. Deetron - Starblazer (Rejected)
2. Malik Alston - Dance Jazz (Soiree Records)
3. John Digweed & Nick Muir - 30 Northeast (Abe Duque Remix) (Bedrock)
4. Bassline - Deepness (Pure Substance Digital)
5. Philthy Phonics - Sticks & Stones (Pazul & Deepling Remix) (Ready Mix)
6. Octave One - I Need Release (Alexander Kowalski Remix) (430 West)
7. Darren Gregory - Shadow play (Orginal Mix) (Aenaria Chill)
8. Kevin Malandrone - Les Reves Electroniques (La Vie en Rose Records)
9. Franz Kirmann - Spinner (Catalepsia Rework) (Days Of Being Wild)
10. David Phillips - Keep Moving (Global Ritmico)

Classic Pick: Francois K - Mindspeak (Hard & Soul Mix) (Wave Music, 1996) Danny Tenaglia in his prime giving Francois K a hypnotic bottom heavy treatment. 'Mindspeak' on Youtube

December in Tech House (Part 1)

Robert Babicz - Pink Trees (Bedrock)

‘Pink Trees’ hits the new-school prog vibe to perfection with the dubby darkness Babicz is known for and some ethereal synth work straight out of a Vangelis-style soundtrack. Will go down well with Pappa/Digweed/Warren fans. The alt track, ‘Percofonik’, is actually the ticket here, a more housey percussive idea with borderline classic Reece style synth action and a grinding low end. It’s not Babicz’ absolute best but definitely smack bang in the middle of where modern prog is at. Buy 'Pink Trees/Percofonik'

Various Artists - Selected Works For Winter (03 Records)

03 Records dishes out a selection of remixed and unreleased tracks by DkA, Ecco, Secret Groovers etc which doesn’t disappoint. DkA ‘Verticalité’ remixed by Ecco is a dubby groove with stark percussion and morphed vocal samples while the Andras Bader remix of Caldyn ‘Combination 001’ goes for an similarly dow-key approach – also using morphed vocals over a sparse groove and some well arranged stabby synths. Norton White & Select’s ‘Home Sweet Home’ is turned into a dope prog number by Thomas Sari who takes it weird with cool used of an old school bass sound and big-room synth. Listen/Buy 'Selected Works for Winter'

Denis A - Remixes Vol 3 (DAR)

Moscow based label and artist Denis A drop the 3rd remix pack with a stunning cameo from longtime progsters Spooky. They take a quite housey angle with their remix of ‘Beholder’, adding pulsing delay effects on the main samples. The base track is quirky and the overall result is a really quirky groove which works really effortlessly. The ‘Heroin’ remix by Scotty.A is also dope. His long-term love of the prog vibe is apparent - you can see why in 2009 he won the Global Underground ‘bedroom producer’ competition and turned a few heads with his entry. This is solid stuff worthy of any self respecting prog DJ’s collection. Listen/Buy DAR releases

August Lazy Tune Reviews 2

Milton Jackson - Beautiful Liars E.P. (Dark Energy)

With a passing nod to the classic Maurizio vibe Milton Jackson returns with 'Beautiful Liars'. With a hypnotic groove from the get-go and a slowly twisting and morphing arrangement you get the impression this could be his best production ever. This track was a done deal even before the sublime keys started half way through and it still grabs me instantly after a pile of listens like a classic you've known for years. 'Beat Talk' takes a different tack, using an out of tune sample and a superbly recreated mid-90s style vibe in a sort of pokey part disco - part drum track. 5/5

Beautiful Liars E.P. at Beatport

John Digweed & Nick Muir - Satellite Remixes (Bedrock Records)

Recent release 'Satellite' gets two quality makeovers from Christian Smith and Maetrik. Smith does the sparse and hypnotic big-room tech vibe which he does so well - retaining the acid bass from the original but bumping up with synth line and big-room rises and reverbs. Maetrik goes in almost the opposite direction taking it more housey and funky. As he's shown many times recently he's got mad skills at creating infectious dubby grooves with heaps of appeal and zero cheese factor. He keeps it dark but adds heaps of swing and his usual quirky interludes and samples. 4/5
Satellite Remixes at Beatport 

Detlef - Sonim (Material Records)

One of my favourite drum programmers, straight out of Greece, drops yet another gem. 'Sonim' is little more than a hooky drum groove on first listen but has a saxophone sample cunningly morphed in and out of the arrangement which adds just enough extra x-factor to make the track stand out. 'Em Ti' is  more of the same although more ethnic is vibe - on similar ground to what M.in and Basti Grub have become famous for. It's a solid drum groove with stabbed samples and morphed background vocals used as rhythm fills. Nice stuff. 3/5
Detlef at Beatport