Coming from a true originator and innovator in the north American house music scene, the unveiling of a new album from Julius Papp is always met with enthusiasm from dance music fans everywhere. From early appearances alongside Mark Farina at the fabled Mushroom Jazz parties, to sought-after singles on the likes of Nervous Records, Kenny Dope’s Dope Wax, King Street, and Yellow Recordings, to the high quality releases on his own NeoDisco Music imprint, Julius Papp has been stirring dance floors for a couple of heady decades. Now his third artist album -- the buoyantly titled Healing Force -- is ready to drop into appreciative sound systems worldwide, opening a new chapter in Julius's vibrant recording career.
Healing Force is meant to touch on the many aspects of Julius Papp's history and musical influences. The album excels at deep house and soulful, vocal house moments as well as in its slices of downtempo, jazz, and disco-influenced flavors. The album even opens with Julius's declaration of sorts -- as the voice in the loungey "All Styles" suggests: "you should absorb all kinds of musical styles." Other album highlights include the dreamy "Kosmosis" (which presents Julius's fantastic take on the familiar "E2-E4" riff), the funky '80s-influenced "Let It Move You", and the inspiring house track "Just Feel It". The smooth, soulful vocal house tracks Julius is known for are also here … the Reprise Mix of the lovely "A Thousand Years", featuring the amazing vocals of Gina Rene, and the Redux of "Primitive Future", with its spoken verse by Tonee Green, give the DJs and dancers alike something to groove on. Healing Force's eleven tracks are like a tour through Julius Papp's record crate, with diverse house, disco, and lounge vibes pleasantly sharing space, ready to warm up the speakers.
Rich Medina - "Banging!"
Abicah Soul - "Love it. Deep excursions."
Jask - "Amazing."
Sunshine Jones (Dubtribe) - "I love Julius Papp."
Hippie Torrales - "Nice, deep grooves."
Hollis P Monroe - "Summertime dopeness!"
Beppe Gioia (Garage Family / Citydeep) - "Memories … I love it."
Graeme Park - "Highly appealing."
Lars Behrenroth - "Super. Full support."
Husky (Random Soul) - "For the love of Papp! Always some nice downtempo grooves from the maestro."
Craig Stewart (Montana & Stewart / DCSTrax) - "A very tasty, well thought-out collection of eclectic music. Brilliant release from the maestro."
Evan Landes (Groove Junkies / MoreHouse Records) - "Julius always delivers the goods and this album is no exception."
Ant Plate (Rhythm Plate / YSE) - "Great and diverse release. Pretty much something for every deep house / soulful music loving DJ here."
Moodymanc (20/20 Vision) - "'Kosmosis' is the sound of sunshine to me."
Groove Assassin (Pacha / Defected) - "Julius Papp always on point … heavy production!"
Vincent Kwok - "What an excellent collection of tracks!"
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "It's always awesome to hear Julius Papp, someone whose 12"s I've been playing since the mid-90s! This is a superb collection, embracing everything from future disco to house to chuggy electronic goodness … a brilliant collection all round."
DJ Nova (Rodon FM, Greece) - "This mentor of west coast house music is back with another fantastic release … definitely one of the best house music albums of the year."
SimonG (Deep South Audio) - "Heavy weight player dropping a sweet collection … a good insight to the mind of a very talented producer."
Richie Roberts (The Dance Factory, BBC Radio) - "Every now and again a release comes along that just blows you away. This is one such. Perfection."
Available now from Traxsource, Beatport, and iTunes.