Classic House - Meccano EP vol 1

I was reminiscing recently about tunes from my early DJing days and stumbled across this gem. I had to share it. Is was a bootleg remix of Tonja Dantzler "In And Out Of My Life" which came out in 94-95. It was massive to say the least, especially at The Box nightclub in Auckland - busted out by DJ Rob Salmon on many great nights I had there.

 
Meccano Vol 1 At Discogs.com

Tech & House Picks - September

Various Artists - Tunis Diaspora Three E.P. (Lace Recordings)

DJ Mourad kicks off with ‘Mujave Desert’ which is hard to describe the awesomeness of. It’s got the dubby groove of classic Mood II Swing and the bouncy off-kilter synth line of a 1980s Chicago house number. Add in modern production quality and you’ve got one hell of a record. DJ Nabil follows with ‘Nouba’, a synthy deep house number in the sort of Milton Jackson vibe – deep with hints of techno. It’s superbly arranged with a few interesting change-ups for good effect. DJ Dali’s ‘Introdaction’ is a cool round-out of the EP along a more Chicago tip with a sax line and boompty action. In all a very cool EP. 4/5
Tunis Diaspora Three EP at Junodownload

Aid To The Soulless ft Jon Pierce - I’ll Do Remixes (United Music)

This is right in the US soulful house tip with classic 90s vibe. Jason B’s mix is a shuffly low key affair with the vocal being the main focus. It’s arranged really nicely with an infectious feel. Rob Salmon’s remix has a more 90s gospel house feel and oozes class, making use of an uplifting piano vibe paired with Salmon’s usual deep bassline style and funky percussion elements. This will probably go over the heads of straight-up party house lovers but would be an epic moment in the set of a soulful house DJ. Cool New York vibes. 3/5
Aid To The Soulless - I'll Do at Traxsource

Rob's Future Garage Chart - March 2010

As always funky techno and oddball house rule the game but there's more to it than that. Tomas Jirku's remix of Orlando Voorn 'Angles' is 10 minutes of utter glitchy, cut-up techno madness and for a piece of summery piano house with a distinct 90s groove to it check out Rob Salmon's 'Bon Voyage'.

1. Mark O'Sullivan - Feel and Burn (Jobb remix) (Famillee Electro Records)

2. Orlando Voorn - Angles (Tomas Jirku Remix) (Nice & Nasty)

3. Marco Solforetti - Buenos Aires (Samba Mix) (Deeperfect Records)

4. Rob Salmon - Bon Voyage (Open Bar Music NYC)

5. Evren Ulusoy - Bachelor Party (Kruse and Nuernberg Remix) (Ready Mix)

6. Vince Watson - Love in F Minor (Club Mix) (Everysoul Records)

7. Nicole Moudaber & Smokin Jo - Home Sweet Home (Yellow Tail Records)

8. Andy White - Blue (Impact Mechanics)

9.  Antix - Hoard (Tim Richards remix) (Iboga Records)

10. Shane - Continental Fusion (Relaunch Remix) (Jetlag Digital) 

Classic Pic: Sound Patrol Orchestra - Tripping Among The Stars (Dub at Idful) (Organico, 1997). A brilliant and rare early Derrick Carter production full of live jazz elements meshed with a Chicago groove.

Rob's Future House Reviews #2 - January 2010

Beauville Feat. Jenny Halberg - Living Easy (Ospina Digital)

The groove on this Damien Carter produced release fits well in the soulful house vibe but that would be underselling it a bit compared to much of the junk passed off as soulful these days. ‘Living Easy’ oozes soul and has the sort of silky vocals which hail back to the best of this style in the 90s. Fisher Fiebak takes his remix on a more techy tip with a stabbed synth and big-room vibe while Rob Salmon creates a bass-driven deep house jam which rolls effortlessly with intricate percussion elements and nicely arranged keys. In another decade this would be classic Masters At Work and it’s good to hear the sound is still alive in some corners. Ospina Digital at Beatport

Amy James - Crunch EP (Pure Substance Digital)
It’s a little hard to categorise this release. On one hand it’s deep house and the other it’s futuristic prog-house. Title track ‘UV’ is a soulful house vibe the likes of which Louie Vega or Danny Krivit would be at home playing. It’s a laid-back, jazzy house groove with muted keys and straight-forward arrangement. No bells and whistles – just solid and funky. ‘Later’ is completely different with a futuristic prog-breaks arrangement. ‘Crunch’, however, is the peak-time addition to the release, a superb techno-inspired progressive track with a fantastic energy which avoids being at all obvious or banging. Some really nice synth lines and well-paced arrangement make this a good score for times when you want to bridge the gap between progressive and techno. Crunch EP at Junodownload

Timos - Smile & Move On (Sonido)

The main even really here is the original of ‘Move On’. It is a superb early-90s MURK inspired track with an obvious x-factor which keeps you hooked and interested with the bare bones: a hooky vocal which loops over and over, chunky beats and a deep dubby bassline. Very solid. 'Smile’ does a more minimal tech-house groove with understated synth action, light percussion and sparse arrangement which drops and hangs-ten a few times to nice effect. The M.in & Alex Piccini remix goes for a more straight-forward loopy track which is pretty effective as a tool. Sonida on Junodownload