textura

Albums
Autistici
Barker & Baumecker
Marc Barreca
Steve Bug
Terrence Dixon
Cornelius Dufallo
Christian Fennesz
Fur Coat
Stefan Goldmann
The Green Kingdom
Chihei Hatakeyama
Benjamin Herman
Insa Donja Kai
Julia Kent
Kid606
K. Leimer
loscil
Lymbyc Systym
MayMay
Markus Mehr
Mutamassik
Personable
Glen Porter
Tom Recchion
Karriem Riggins
Steve Roden
Strategy
System Of Survival
Henry Threadgill Zooid
Twigs & Yarn
Yousef

Reissued
John Coltrane
Roxy Music
Wayne Shorter

Compilations / Mixes
Deep Love 2
Fabriclive 65: DJ Hazard
Robag Wruhme

EPs
Ahern and Packard
Dreamsploitation
Henry & Louis
Jacksonville
Sven Laux
Phasen & Refurb
Pleq + Hiroki Sasajima
Sontag Shogun
Strategy
Strom Noir
Nobuto Suda
Andy Vaz

VA: Deep Love 2
Dirt Crew Recordings

In need of something to ward off the desultory gloom of fall and winter? Close your eyes and Dirt Crew Recordings's Deep Love 2 will make you feel like you've been airlifted back to the carefree days of summer. The fifteen cuts on the digital-only release (a sequel to last year's inaugural collection) weigh in at a hefty 100-plus minutes so there's ample music to get lost in. The Berlin-based Dirt Crew Recordings has been releasing deep house and funky techno since 2004 (mostly though not exclusively singles and EPs), and on this latest collection established and new artists contribute one fresh and sultry house track after another, with nary a one spoiling the uplifting mood.

Hailing from Rotterdam, Ben La Desh sets the release's breezy tone with a luscious house anthem called “Where Ist the Favor?,” eight entrancing minutes of sunkissed splashes and smooth pulsations; the also Rotterdam-based Last Mood perpetuates the vibe with the bass-driven “Metropolitan Area,” after which Amsterdam-based act Detroit Swindle solidifies the deep house feel even more solidly by royally funking up Elef's “Keep it Physical.” On his first ever released track, Gitchell Moore throws down with the best of ‘em in the exuberant floor-filler “Inside Information,” with a jacking groove and soulful vocalizing bolstering the tune's dynamic quality. Salz works up an old-school vibe by threading synths and vocoders into “Can't Dub Me Anymore,” a funk jam that suggests a vocalist-free Chic; Tigerskin (featuring The LazarusMan) likewise brings the funk to the raw and bluesy “Bubble Dress.”

Elsewhere, UK artist (and Buzzin' Fly alumnus) Chris Woodward moves the collection into a tech-house zone with the hyperkinetic flurry of “808ava,” Florian Kruse's crisp “Nice to Know You” works up a frothy dancefloor thump, and the set's serene side comes powerfully to the fore in “Butterfly” by Purple Velvet (aka Coat of Arms). In the collection's final third, Dirt Crew duo Felix B Eder and Peter Gijselaers also appear, together as Dirt Crew for “Sweeter” and under separate aliases: as James Flavour (Felix B Eder) for “Moose Jaw” and Break 3000 (Peter Gijselaers) for “New Soul.” Put simply, Deep Love 2 provides an abundance of great house music to dig into and get you either dreamily musing upon last summer's pleasures or looking forward to the ones to come.

October 2012