Picks of the Week
Patrick Green featuring Nimba Burr "Qua tanka" (Sofitone Records CD Promo)
It took some time for this beauty to finally see the light of the day (Spirit of House did review the rough original back in Mach 2005), but it definitely has been worth the wait. Patrick Green teams up with Liberian diva Nimba Burr for the powerful yet soulful "Qua tanka" that is on an afro-house vibe featuring a lovely orchestration including an outstanding saxophone solo, lovely guitar and wicked organ ride, with Nimba Burr providing a passionate vocal performance. Beside the main 'Grass Roots Mix', there is the 'Organ Ride' which puts the organ center stage and a dub that slightly smoothes things down for a deeper take perfect for late night play. Mr. Cubanix goes even deeper, turning out a wicked reworking featuring catchy synths that make this a winner. Completing the package is very useful acapella version.
More Reviews
Dalminjo "How long has this been going on" (Deeplay Music CD Promo)
The classic George Gerswhin standard "How log has this been going on" is taken to the dance floors by Dalminjo who comes up with a smooth deep house interpretation featuring sexy male vocals and a melodic instrumentation that is spiced with chords and percussion reminiscent of Philly Disco to add a slight disco flavor. Manuel Perez (of Wrong Step) provides the remixes, with his 'Discodub' beefing up the Disco flavors a bit while his 'Machine Remix' and 'Machine Dub' take the track to deeper grounds by using a fiercely rumblin' groove alongside wicked synths.
Exclusive Preview: Filta Freqz "Is it true" (CD-R)
Here we go with some funky ass dance floor madness courtesy of the Filta Freqz guys (Simon Cortez and Marco Manrique). "Is it true" features the vocal chorus of the classic Ralph Falcon (of Murk fame) production "Been a long time" (released under the name The Fog back in 1993) over a sexy funk spiced backing groove to create a create a groovy funky house jam that will take dance floors by storm.
Vick Lavender Of Mr. A.L.I featuring Sparrow "Transit Remix EP" (Unified Records CD Promo)
The "Transit" long player by Mr. A.L.I (aka Jere McAllister and Vick Lavender) got released on CD earlier this year, with a remix album currently in the works. As a taster, Unified present the "Transit Remix EP" including a wonderfully orchestrated, jazzy up-tempo take of the beautiful "Transit" which features a sweet'n'sexy female spoken word, as well as two reworkings of "Tribe of niema" where it is all about fierce percussion that creates an intense yet laidback vibe. You can choose between the 'Ansestry Mix' which is all about the percussion and the 'Dens Diaspora Mix' which adds a jazzy piano on top.
Simon Grey featuring Robbie Smith "Together" (Ceremony Records CD Promo)
"Together" by Simon Grey has been a "Pick of the Week" here at Spirit of House back in March, now with the release just around the corner, a brand new mix has been added. The original is a truly organic production featuring a marvellous live jazz-funk instrumentation and fantastic emotional vocal courtesy of Robbie Smith, with the arrangement of the song being top-notch, featuring great breakdowns and builds. Label head Dave Storm is responsible for the beautifully edited dub version that is a great choice to the main vocal version, while on the remix Dave Storm teams up with Rocco to deliver a deeply rumblin' interpretation featuring wicked keys over a fierce backing groove.
Exclusive Preview: RyB featuring Angelita Jiminez "Brazilian breeze" (BSC Unreleased Deep Mix)(Mutated Music Records CD-R)
Here we have a splendid reworking by BSC of the beautiful afro-latin production "Brazilian breeze" that we don't know if it will ever get a release or not. Edground takes the sublime original version and takes it to deeper grounds by using a deep smoothly thumpin' groove that harmonizes nicely with the wonderful orchestration and sweet vocals by Angelita Jiminez, creating a laidback yet uplifting vibe.
Exclusive Preview: Alfredo Norese featuring Matador "A gozar" (Nervine Records CD Promo)
Alfredo Norese is a successful producer from Argentina you might remember from his release on Steal Vybe Music (more precisely the tracks "Ritmo Y Sabor" and "Lo Que Suena"). With "A gozar", he presents a lovely production featuring a sweet and soulful vocal by Matador over a deep'n'funky groove that is enriched with a beautiful melodic instrumentation, altogether creating an uplifting feeling you can't resist to dance to.
Anthony Molina featuring Karina Nistal "Floating above Mars" (DiamondHouse Records CD Promo)
DiamondHouse present a massive release by newcomer Anthony Molina that comes with none less than nine versions to choose from, with Karina Nistal providing a sweet and soulful vocal performance. Whether you prefer it soulful on a chill house or deep house tip, or if you like it slightly tougher but still deep, its all here in this package that features mixes from the likes of Anthony Molina himself, Kuningas, Dani Masi & Oliver Schmitz, DJ Circle, Dany Belvedere and Jazzyjok. There should be something for every deep house head in this package, so don't miss out.
DJ Hoffmana featuring SeeU "Pain for you" (Groove Sense Records CD Promo)
Italian DJ and producer DJ Hoffmana follows up the bangin' latin house track "Cierto es" with "Pain for you" featuring sexy vocals by SeeU. The original is a fierce deep house track featuring wicked spheric chords that give the track a hypnotic vibe. Stefano Ranieri toughens the groove on his interpretation while keeping it deep to make it appeal to a bigger audience, while FAT32 take the track to progressive territory.
Kyka "Digital Dreams EP" (Cabrio Records CD Promo)
With this release by Kyka, an Estonian DJ and producer who presents the three track "Digital Dreams EP", Cabrio Records present their first digital only release. All three tracks take you on a ride into deep house music - whether it is the deeply stormin' title track "Digital dreams", the funktified deeply rumblin' "Mistakes I made" or the slightly tougher "She made me do it", its all about lovely melodies created by wicked chords and synths over serious deep house grooves.
Exclusive Preview: Rasmir "I hear voices" (Mantree Records CD Promo)
Rasmir Mantree is getting more and more attention, and he truly deserves it as his latest production "I hear voices" proves. With each and every release, the man comes up with something fresh and unique as it is the case with this beauty here, a deeply rumblin' track featuring catchy spheric chords alongside wicked sampled vocals that altogether create a hypnotic vibe. The dub is even deeper, stripping the spheric chords to create a more intense vibe.
Exclusive Preview: QH vs QH "Hate on me, but hate won't change me" (ToT Mash-Up) (CD-R)
There are many - and we mean many - mash-up's around, but this one by ToT clearly stands out as it takes to tracks that are massive by itself - the Quentin Harris remix of "Hate on me" by Jill Scott and the Quentin Harris produced "Hate won't change me" by Byron Stingily - to the next level by combining them to an incredibly hot, absolutely relentless mash that will bring devastation to any dance floor every time it gets played.
Factor 60 "Factor sesenta" (Kid Massive Remix)(Feelin' Music Records CD Promo)
The debut release from Feelin' Music (a smooth, funkily groovin' latin house production released in July 2006) gets reworked by Kid Massive (aka Benjamin Pederson) who keeps the original latinesque feeling alive while transforming the track into a fiercely stompin' affair driven by a massive funky bassline that is guaranteed to rock any dance floor.