http://hotmomusa.tumblr.com/ http://www.facebook.com/HotMomUSA NY’s Hot Mom USA just celebrated their one year anniversary and they show no sign of losing steam. For their 9th release, the imprint run by DJ Shiftee and Alex Burkat, has compiled 11 tracks celebrating both the 90s era vibe and the 90s tempo range. Look for this to hit the streets on Monday June 3rd. Overall the majority of the album focuses on heady vibe out tracks, I would recommend breaking out some fine ganja and blazing out ...

This is a very carefully put together mix – and it shows. Sandwell District have spent a good amount of time crafting this dark and brooding set, and they've gone for a kind of arch form that brings things in gradually, introduces some strong, up-tempo numbers mid set, and then tails away slightly at the end. We begin with the shimmering Silent Servant track 'A Path Eternal' and Function's atmospheric 'Voiceprint', but by the time Mary Velo's 'Detune' and JPLS' 'Basis' are in play the energy lev...

There's nothing like a good bit of vocal house and garage to encourage the sun to shine, and that's exactly the effect you get if you listen to the first mix CD from London's Groove Odyssey label. There is soul by the bucket load in this mix, which instantly charms thanks to Barbara Tucker and DJ Q's 'Groove Odyssey Theme', before guest vocalist Dajae steals the show on Bobby & Steve's 'Faith, Hope & Charity'. The same combination appear later on in two versions of 'Don't You Want My Lov...

This is described as ‘a journey through the archives of the fabled and historic KPM Music Library, but there’s no stuffy old relics here! In fact there is a wealth of original funk and groove, often used by DJs either in sets or for sampling, with an impressive live feel to the recordings that holds the whole way through. Duncan Lamont’s ‘Funky Express’ typifies the sound, with its bright and brassy approach, while John Cameron’s ‘Swamp Fever’ is cool and groovy. William Farley and Dennis Bovell...

‘Disco Circus’ has been an extremely well planned and received series by Mighty Mouse, and the fourth volume continues the winning blend of disco past and present, while never taking itself too seriously. CD1 is paced to perfection, kicking off with the chugging ‘Spaceship’ of Triangle Sun and moving through to piano-led hands in the air anthems like Phonetica Vs. Soulemotion’s ‘Impossible Love’, presented here in its Casio Social Club Acid Sunrise remix. Believe me it’s worth the long title! Fu...

Has there ever been a Soul Jazz release in the last few years that doesn’t immediately appeal? The latest inspired double pack from the label is a retrospective of Chicago house in a period where things were kicking off for the acid house movement. They present these tracks with a real sense of the period, with a graphic novel, a postcard set and some appropriately bonkers artwork. The music itself, freshly remastered, is an assault on the ears – but in a good way, as the squiggles and treble-he...

One of New York's very finest house labels, King Street Sounds becomes the latest to notch up a complete two decades in house music. While the ‘Mix The Vibe' series in many ways represents their achievements to date, this new celebration from Lou Vega contains everything about the label that's good. Vega's mix on the first disc is a complete success, with highlights including the sultry Roots Main Mix of Jon Cutler and DJ Romain's ‘De Ja Vu', Mood II Swing's ‘Inhale' and productions by Dennis Fe...

To mark Darkroom Dubs’ tenth anniversary (that makes me feel old!) Silicone Soul drop a third mix in the accomplished series of house that is largely deep but always robust. This mix is no different, being packed with high quality, smoky pieces of work such as Soukie & Windish’s ‘Flatmate Ghost’ and a couple of mixes of Terje Saether’s ‘Scared’, which works well with a breakdown that melts in the centre of Gregorythme’s remix. Gradually the pace quickens and the intensity heightens, through ...

It is clear a lot of thought and imagination goes in to Soul Jazz compilations, and it’s great to report a sequel to Deutsche Electronische Musik, their look at Krautrock and electronica largely from the 1970s and 1980s. As with the first, it’s really well put together, cleverly sequenced, and a thoroughly invigorating listen. Diehards will almost certainly have new music to discover, while those new to the game will find themselves entranced by the likes of Roedelius’ ‘Le Jardin’, which is an o...

I like the fact that you kind of know what you’re going to get with Future Disco - the clue being contained in the title. Number six in the series continues the journey into all things Disco-esque with a modern edge and is classically mixed together by Night Moves. I guess you could also add that this represents the more soulful end of the Dance spectrum with songs based in that tradition coming from the likes of Miguel Campbell, Motorcity Soul and essentially Crazy P. However, on the rhythm sid...

Fabric mixes can work really well when they focus in on the work of one artist, and this one – looking at Romanian producer Petre Inspirescu, is especially good. There is a really strong sense of continuity to his mix, with minimal beats and subtle rhythmic tricks first creating a sultry atmosphere of very deep techno, until Inspirescu starts to add classical elements to his sound. He manages to do it in a way that really complements the beats, with the cello line used for ‘In Miriste’ a great e...

Chris Tietjen pretty much has this Cocoon series to himself, and once again it's a look back on a year for the label that included the 13th Ibiza season. Be warned – it does take quite a while to get going, setting the scene and atmosphere but making the listener impatient for the beats to hit a bit harder – but the wait proves to be worthwhile when the likes of Daniel Stefanik's 'Rush' are the reward. From here on it's a breeze, with some striking tunes capped by the strange and almost otherwor...

If you've got the first two in this series then you'll have an idea of what to expect from 'Disco Love 3' – which doesn't disappoint with its good humoured and highly funked up songs. What proves most enjoyable here are the numbers where strings and saxophones are given greater prominence, so on that score Mighty Gents' 'Mighty Gents' and Bo Galigher's 'Oh! Baby / Get On Down' score highly. As the loosely mixed compilation progresses so we gradually get faster – so starts out as relaxing and sul...

For their fifth label compilation, Italian imprint Electronic Petz have decided to concentrate on exclusively new stuff, and on the strength of this release they've made a very good decision. Alessandro Russo (aka SLOK) is the man behind the label, and it's his bright and breezy 'Another Draft' that gets us off to a flyer. Santos Resiak is a name to look out for on the evidence of 'Skydancer', which has a nice combination of freshness and old school house sensibility, while Javier Carballo uses ...

Ben UFO packs a lot in to his mixes – in this case 28 tracks making up a CD’s length of music. The key is that he is able to pack all that music in without sounding rushed or squeezed, and one track leads very logically in to the next. This is a pretty dark mix all told, but there are some thrills and spills to be had, such as when the beats get thrown in to Minimal Man’s ‘Consexual’, or when the scattergun kick drums get thrown all over the place in A Made Up Sound’s ‘Malfunction (Despair)’. Th...

A compilation curated by the French electronic master is not to be sniffed at, especially when it seems to have been his idea to pluck some gems from the Infiné back catalogue. When you see the pictures of the albums from which the source material comes, you realise that the Parisian label founded by Agoria, Alexandre Cazac and Yannick Matray have actually established themselves as a real force to be reckoned with over the last six years. It might come as a surprise to learn that Jarre picks a r...

You could never accuse Kissy Sell Out of under commitment, and if you buy San City High All Stars you’ll get that, plenty of energy and some good time house that comes with a serrated edge. Running through many of Kissy’s high energy pile drivers is a bit of an acid theme, with the bass lines given a sharp cutting edge to them, while up top there are plenty of riffs and melodies that the DJ keeps together really well. Perhaps the best cut of all is Kissy’s own ‘Side Winder’, featuring Tom Piper,...

Renaissance have been making compilations for close on 20 years now, so it’s quite difficult for them to come up with a new approach. That said, if it isn’t broke then there’s no point in trying to fix it – and Nick Warren steps up with another solid addition to the ‘Masters’ series that uses tried and tested formulae. That said, a whole mix of down tempo stuff is a nice mood, especially when it’s of a Balearic variety that drifts in and out of focus. It helps to know that the faster kick drum i...

You can’t fault John Digweed for ambition where his Bedrock releases are concerned, but ‘Live In London’ is by some way his most daring project yet, a 4 CD document of the set he gave in Vauxhall’s ‘Fire’ club on 6th October 2012. With that in mind it’s best to review the whole set as one evolving album – and Digweed does the typical thing for him by starting spacey and gradually toughening up. That’s not to say he’s too predictable, though – far from it, as the cut out to acappella in Maher Dan...

The second of Cocoon’s ‘Dots & Pearls’ gets into its stride pretty quickly with a couple of dark and brooding productions, Subb-an feat. Jacob Phono’s ‘In The Night’ hitting hard with its punchy bass sound. Once a ground mood is established, Mark Reeve’s ‘Carry Me’ is a cracking, smoking piece of tough house, Ambivalent’s ‘Iwato’ flexes its considerable bass line, and Harvey McKay’s ‘First Strike From Mars’, probably the best track here, has a great bit of offbeat action going on. Wrapping u...