Rob's September House / Tech Chart

Kicking tunes aplenty this time of year (actually, when are there not?) including a huge Detroit style number from Itokim, a superbly quirky and jazzy number by David Ortiz and veteran Robert Hood back under his Floorplan guise with a variation on his trademark loopy techno.

Rob Warner's September house / tech chart
1. Itokim - Waiting For Changes (Electronical Reeds)
2. David Ortiz - Jazztonic (Drum Mode)
3. Elextra feat Chicaiza - Instead of One, Two (Lee Webster Paradise Mix) (Anusual)
4. Sukotto - Everyday (Pure Substance Records)
5. Floorplan - Basic Principle (M-Plant)
6. Scuola Furano - Buenos Aires (Original Mix) (Undertones Gang Rec)
7. Stelios Vassiloudis & Sasse - The Z (Steve Bug Remix) (Bedrock Digital)
8. Estroe - Fablalta (Snejl Recordings)
9. Toob - Chromaphon (Radioactive Man's Black And White Remix) (Process Recs)

Classic Pick: Etienne De Crecy - Prix Choc (Super Disctount, 1996) The pinnacle of classy French deep house in the 90s and played in cafes across the globe > on Youtube

Rob's August House / Tech / Chart

The eternally progressive Pure Substance label hits out with one of it's best releases to date, a wicked jammy house number from Alex Deep. M.in shows no signs of producer fatigue and keeps his output top notch in his new collaboration with Jonas Fahz.. And to top it off, the first time I've ever had two, let alone three productions by kiwis - even if one is my own.

House / Tech / Chart / August 2011
1. Alex Deep - Nothing More (Pure Substance Digital)
2. M.in & Jonas Fahz ft Peter Eilmes & Nick Maurer - Welcome To My House (Trapez Ltd)
3. Filterwolf - Never Ever (Daniel Heidt Remix) (Filigran Records)
4. Dave Nash - Keep it Up (Flaming Soul Deep Remix) (Ready Mix)
5. Future Mode - New World Order (Shaveer & Rob Warner NYC Dub) (Ready Mix)
6. Rob Salmon - Middle Blues (Faucet Records)
7. Chuck Cogan - Intensity (Original Mix) (Ooze Recordings)
8. Carl Taylor - Perplexer (EPM Music)
9. Dilby - Party Starter (Joel Armstrong & Skai BeatsNBass Dub) (Dot Dot)
10. Luka - African Nights (Charles Moui Remix) (Drum Mode)

Classic Pick: Blaze - Wishing You Were Here (A Vision For Jane Mix) (Slip'n'Slide, 1999) 20:20 Vision crew turning soulful garage into hypnotic tech house with ease  > on Youtube

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

Top 10 Chart - Jan 2010

My top ten 'Future Garage' chart for January 2010 kicks off with one of techno's rising stars, Japanese artist Itokim who's released a string of spacey tech-inspired gems over the past year or so. Milton Jackson and Tom Shur-I-Kan's Dark Energy goes deeeeeeep with Pablo Fierro's 'Get Up Away' and Timos's 'Move On' is a groovy, drum-led number with vocals reminiscent a few classic 1990s Murk productions.

1. Itokim - Long Way Down (Organica Music LabWorks)

2. Pablo Fierro - Get Up Away (Shur-I-Kan Remix) (Dark Energy)

3. Timos - Move On (Sonido)

4. DCNT - Clocked (Sonata)

5. Shoxy - Hit The Floor (Jesus Loved You)

6. Marco Da Mata & Satine Collectif - Mundo Estatico (Original Mix) (Ready Mix)

7. Python - Long Way Home (Original Mix) (Pure Subtance Digital)

8. Orchun K - Confessions Of A Shiftless Prayer (Mecha Recordings)

9. Ozgur Can - Fall In The (Weplayminimal)

10. Hrdvsion - Oh, It's Mastered (Living Records) 

Classic revisited: Elegia - Basic (Laurent 'Laboratoire' Garnier Mix) (F Communications, 1999)

Rob's Music Reviews - July 2009

Unusually for me there have been a number of progressive tracks which have caught my ear this week. The Quasar & The Pressure and Victor G both show that prog is not as dead as some claimed and, when done right, can be more futuristic than much German techno. At the other end of things is the superb new EP from Santé and some dope remixes of Milton Jackson.

Santé - Damabalaa E.P. (Souvenir Music)

In the summery South American groove that’s worked for them before Santé hits the mark with a smooth ethnic groove layered with haunting vocals, a wooden flute, Deep Forest-esque samples and a few subtle piano stabs. This is a nicely balanced meshing of elements which is made even better with the addition of a dub version which is more of a peak-time dance floor version. With ramped up percussion and a harder hitting groove it’ll cater perfectly to the more tribal house oriented fans. A must for followers of the Laurent Garnier, Luciano etc sound.
Santé - Damabalaa E.P. on Beatport

The Quasar & The Pressure - Take Me Over (Ready Mix Records)

Starting out as if it’s going to turn into a mid-90s MAW track ‘Take Over Me’ quickly shows it’s not the average filler prog and is one of those few releases which flawlessly meshes styles and hypnotizing you almost immediately. Sultry synths, vocals with spacey FX and a deep, rolling bassline give it a groove which would work on most dance floors and the Hungarian trio show their class in keeping it interesting without resorting to any gimmicks to keep your attention. The Gorge remix is a more subtle and low-key, perfect for late night sessions.

The Quasar & The Pressure - Take Me Over on Beatport

Victor G - Sleepy Days E.P. (Pure Substance Records)

Victor G steps into minimal prog with the original mix in an edgy, steppy groove that slowly builds into a layered dubby prog number which would sound epic in a big room and probably scary as hell at 6am with a super low sub-bass pulsing through it for most of the track. The Andy Slate remix of 'Sleepy Days' is fantastic with a heavy, distorted kick and deep bass which hails back to early Maurizio releases. Slate meshes old-school sounds into his productions making this an example of how to make nasty bottom-heavy grooves without ramping up the BPMs or cheese-factor. The bonus 'No Maybe' is a more funky number with a bouncy synth and nice use of delays and FX on the elements. Well worth checking out.

Victor G - Sleepy Days E.P. on Beatport

Milton Jackson - Never Be Wrong (Remixes) (Dark Energy Records)

The original of ‘Never Be Wrong’ was solid enough as it is so it is a nice surprise to hear new mixes which take it in very different directions. The Burnski Orange mix is a deep take with a nice synth line, a heavy drum kit and groovy bassline which gives it a warm-up sort of vibe. The Sei A remix is more peak-time and twisted. Like some of his other productions it’s got a real Detroit influence to it with small twists and turns coming and going, never sticking to a groove for long. It would fit in well with lots of classic techno and just as easily with the more Chicago house oriented music. Nicely done!
Dark Energy Records on Beatport
Enjoy!

Rob Warner - Top 10 Chart - March 2008

Rob's "Future Garage" Top 10 Chart March 2008

1. Christian Scott - Thank You Lord (Sweet Mix) (Slanted Black)

2. Stan Kolev - Flashback (Eelke Kleijn's Remix) (Ready Mix)
3. Loan Souls - Sun Is Shining (Dirty Souls Luca Ricci Rework) (Aenaria)

4. Manuael de Lorenzi - More n More (Immigrant)

5. P.J.C Project - Smalltime (Milton Jackson Mix) (Helvetica)

6. Tobias Hoppe - Qis (Extended Breaks Mix) (Pure Substance)

7. Tom Macoye - Number 5 (Vezotonik)

8. Terje Bakke - Rocketbird (Only Records)

9. Jeff Bennett - Instant Need (Paul Hazendonk Remix) (Kungfu Dub)

10. Greg Puppa - Sense Da Groove (BP Zulauf Mix) (Helvetica)

Music Spiel Reviews with Rob Warner - January 08

Rob's Music Spiel - New reviews for Jan 2008

It's bombs away for 2008 as house maestro Milton Jackson returns with his latest Urbantorque release alongside Sei A, as does Valentino Kanzyani and Marko Nastic with a more minimal number on he new WOW! Records label. Tribal and progressive make a renewed showing with Keith Blackstone, R.O.R. Collective and Sancho & E-Lation. Read on...

Milton Jackson & Sei A – Jinzou (Urbantorque)
After a cracker year in 2007 Milton Jackson returns with Sei A with a more low-key track in that hazy in-between style Jackson is known for. It's full of mellow chords, blips and subtle transitions between deep house and tech-house – you could call it future garage – classic but futuristic. Scope add a twisted bass-heavy re-edit with raw Detroit influences as well as a full remix which is a heavier version for the floor. Manuel Tur adds the final mix which has a soulful house touch with an old-school piano line and epic break. Cracker record! myspace.com/miltonjackson06

Keith Blackstone- Enhancer/Yube (Fatal Music)
Fatal Music kick the walls down with their usual subtlety of tribal rhythms and big-room fx. The original of Enhancer is a dark and jacking pure NYC house track full of sinister synth stabs and pitched down, drugged-up vocals. Jaimy's remix is tribal to the bone with a breakdown to tweak out even the most sober person in the. 'Yube' is a more minimalistic number with a low sub bass to rumble the speakers overtop of the snappy groove and spoken vocals. A few small change-ups throughout the track and a funky old-school stabbing synth give this tune an infectious hook. myspace.com/keithblackstone

R.O.R. Collective - Scarface (Slanted Black)
If percussive, syncopated rhythms are your thing then you can't go past the label which is fast becoming a tribal house institution. Scarface is a track with a tribal groove which gets more and more intense as the track goes on. In fitting with its namesake the track uses elements of the theme music from Scarface. You'd think this would make for another movie-sampling cheese-fest but you'd be wrong. R.O.R Collective weave it into the groove and arrangement subtly and without overdoing it one bit. Find yourself a dark room with a large sound system and this will shred. myspace.com/rorcollective

Sancho & E-Lation - I Want Your Soul (Pure Substance)
The original of 'I Want Your Soul' is straight up big-room synthy prog with a great energy and nice arrangement full of little drops and direction changes. Sancho does his own mix – a straight-up clubby version with a bouncing party groove and looped/cut up vocals. Aber's Soulhunter remix is more laid-back and melodic and has Nick Warren written all over it with subtle synths and deep rolling bass sitting underneath a stabbed melody. Starlab add an in-your-face mix in the form of a glitchy breakbeat remix full of distortion and endlessly edited segments to create a pretty intense mood. www.myspace.com/sanchoandelation

Valentino Kanzyani & Marko Nastic - Twisted Movement (WOW! Records)
Twisted Movement shows the more restrained side of Kanzyani and Umek with a simple, chipper groove using their usual flawless production skills. With little more than a percussion kit and some nicely tunes FX they produce a groove which most can only hope to achieve. Add some muted saxophone-esque sequences and the result is as twisted as the track's name implies. 'Unexpected Cure' is a more dance floor track with a house groove and solid, almost Kerri Chander style, keys and bass. Nicely delayed snippets and quirky steel drum rolls round this off as a useful tune to have in the crate. myspace.com/djmarkonastic