The Narcoleptic - Robots Like Zombies (Get Up Recordings)

Get Up Recordings’ sound is highly influenced by the New York City scene where it’s based out of, but it is equally influenced by the house music capital, Chicago. As such, the label is pleased to welcome Chicago native The Narcoleptic, a.k.a. Matty Harris, to the Get Up family. His single “Robots Like Zombies” is a sublime, infectious, and very deep dance floor groove. With both remixers hailing from the west coast, Arturo Garces of Jump Recordings and legendary San Francisco DJ David Harness each smack their signature style all over it.

The Narcoleptic started spinning in the suburbs of Chicago, but it wasn’t until he took on his residency at Smart Bar’s Tuesday night party Pump, with fellow residents Derrick Carter, Miles Maeda, and Terry Martin, that music really began to unfold for him. His career has been a slow and steady build up with releases on labels such as Classic Music, Jump Recordings, and Loveslap!, all perfect for his style of quality over quantity. His track “Robots Like Zombies” is in a similar class, mysterious and subtle at the start of the track and building into a groove that is unforgettable.

Jump Recordings head honcho Arturo Garces was born and raised in San Jose, California, and has been surrounded by dance music his entire life. Interested in making his own music, Arturo got hold of a sampler in 1995 and hasn't looked back since. He has releases on both established and strictly underground labels such as Robsoul Recordings, Cross Section, Magnetic, Oomph, Smoke City Music, Subliminal Soul, Jump Recordings, Solid Trax, and Sneak Classics. His approach on his remix of “Robots Like Zombies” blends the driving, beat-laden beauty of techno with the soulful, deep melodies of house. This is the same timeless sound that has helped define the unique Bay Area sound.

David Harness has been described as a man who lives, breathes, and emanates everything that is beautiful about deep house music and classic garage. He began DJ'ing in his hometown of Monterey, California in 1990. As his popularity grew, he was invited to establish a residency at Tilt and the Sound Factory in San Francisco. His success as a club DJ led to a spot on the popular radio show Your Mama’s House on the Bay Area’s number one radio station, KMEL FM. Then in 1996 he started DJ’ing at The End Up’s “Sunday T-Dance”, and the rest is pure House history. In 2000, David started his own production work, which has led him to work with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Simply Red, and Alicia Keys as well as establish a relationship with fellow producer Chris Lum, resulting in the birth of their label Harlum Musiq. His remix and the Bonus Beats for “Robots Like Zombies” find a tech-y, syncopated beat and bass line rhythm, which really highlight his abilities to reinvent tracks. The melody mirrors the bass line, giving the track a fierce commanding harmony.

DJ Sneak - "Good remixes all around."
Chris Fortier (Fade) - "The David Harness remix for me."
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "Great release."
Lomez (Better On Foot) - "I'm digging those David Harness Bonus Beats."
Andrew Macari (Greenhouse / Tastie) - "Yeah! The Arturo Garces remix is a great jackin' house jam … love it."
DJ Craig C (Pound Boys) - "I love David Harness … his mix is werkin' me out!"
Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit) - "Arturo Garces is the man here … turning a dark feeling track into a deeper, moody groover. Well done."
Hippie Torrales - "Nice remix from David Harness."
Jason Hodges - "The Arturo Garces remix is the cut!"
Chris Harris (Tronicsole / Nordic Trax) - "The original is a nice mood builder."
DJ Di Costa (MoodyLushious Influences) - "That Arturo Garces remix is ace … absolutely smoking hot!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "A slammin' main room shaker."
Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep) - "All tracks here are cool, with Arturo Garces's remix edging it for me. Groove and samples all working well."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.

Tonepushers - Windmill (Purespace Recordings)

Purespace Recordings prepares another EP from the Canadian Tonepushers duo of Joe Silva and Ali Khan. Individually the two have released on labels like Stickman, Viva!, Cocoon, and Fabric London, growing as international forces to be reckoned with and developing their own live performance styles to present their respective bodies of work. Branching off into other areas of writing, Khan's ethereal and ambient sensibilities have also made for successful forays into video game soundtracking.

Combined, Tonepushers blend funky tech house with atmospheric techno, nomadically exploring a twisted electronic terrain. Since 2004 the long-standing producers have mixed and matched their abilities, uniquely tailoring their live sets together with lush presentations across the energy spectrum. Their latest lab experiment in chemistry results in the dubby techno call-and-response of "Windmill". Whereas usually vocals are dubbed in a hynpotic and calming way, here they sound anxious and lost. In the first remix, Lucid Flow label owner and Berlin techno guru Nadja Lind swishes the chords and effects of the original around until it's chilled to her liking, adding perfect percussive cues like rim shots and more driving, linear hats, seemingly minor touches that wind up making a huge difference.

Two fellow Winnipeg artists finish off the release in their own remixes; Robert Alexander removes most of the low end resonance in favor of a grittier mid-range, propelled by a drum machine groove, while Viktor Dudley's debut effort ends things as the most hard to place cut, distinguishing his remix with the helicopter-blade-like beat-slicing of a layered kick from the higher cut off range. Dudley must have taken the "Windmill" title to heart.

Purespace and the Tonepushers deliver a warehouse willing, industrial inclined, dub devoted, and techno tendentious exhibition.

Terry Francis - "The Nadja Lind remix is for me … cool."
Malbetrieb (Klopfgeist / Paradigm) - "Nice!"
Larry Tee (Carnage Music) - "I love it!"
Daniel Bortz (Suol / Pastamusik) - "This is a cool one."
DJ Harri (Sub Club) - "I'm loving the Nadja Lind remix."
Craig Stewart (Montana & Stewart / DCSTrax) - "I'm feeling the original … a stunning sound for the floor."
Chris Fortier (Fade) - "Good stuff."
Sumsuch (Colour and Pitch) - "I love the Nadja Lind remix, and the breakdown on Robert Alexander's remix is bleakly beautiful. Very good."
Vegard / Of Norway (Connaisseur Recordings) - "I don't know if Dunno if Viktor Dudley is a genius or just mad … and that's what I love about it! What a bold remix."
Tyler Stadius (Deepsite / Dialtone Records) - "I love the original and the dark driving remix from Nadja Lind."
Alinep (Asia Music / UB Radio) - "I'm liking Robert Alexander's mix here … trippy."
Taigo Onez (The Essence Radio Show) - "Viktor Dudley comes with it on the remix … quality!"
Simon Kirk (Simon Kirk Radio Show) - "Very tasty release. I love the original and the Robert Alexander remix … futuristic and right up my street."
Tariq Ziyad (New Urban ERA) - "Techno at its finest … love it."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.

Various Artists - 5 Year Anniversary Sampler (Wind Horse Records)

Wind Horse Records’ evolution on the world stage never fails to captivate. The label has helped develop India’s many talented resources for export to the outside world while pioneering the deep house movement in its own country with releases, parties, and ground-breaking collaborations. Inspired by his own travels and life on three different continents (South Asia, Europe, and North America), Hamza is the guiding light behind Wind Horse. Hamza’s musical mission has been to seamlessly merge floor-driving house music styles with a reverent helping of more traditional south Asian influences.

Under his vision the label has reached its most important release to date and a comprehensive representation of their progress, the 5 Year Anniversary Sampler. Not just a showcase for the label, the compilation also celebrates the success of Indian producers in achieving a cocktail of world sounds without fully assimilating, keeping with the common thread of a culture that has so much history and such a rich musical heritage. The artists are honoring the same aesthetic and passion as their elders have in their classical, traditional forms of music – the same medium and feel, but with different paints and processes. These are exactly the sort of intangibles that raise labels above the foray of an over-run market place of commodities for sale and grants camps the staying power and weight of a true cultural force.

In five years the label has gone beyond even their highest expectations to reach the level they’re at today. To celebrate, Wind Horse Records has gathered from their full range of music. They go from worldly, in a collaboration of Hamza with celebrated international Danish jazz pianist Niels Ian Doky and renowned Tibetan vocalist Yunchen Lhamo, to other-worldly, with Yidam’s new analog techno alias 5volts; from soulful, in working with DeepWit artist Alvaro Hylander to include the fine track “Change”, to soul-escaping, in the hypnotically deep and atmospheric qualities of Priyesh Patel’s productions; from the ambient “Lonesome Train” by Vinayak A to the ambiance of far out beats by Aman Anand and Soulspace. Staple Wind Horse artists like Kartech and Audio Units are joined by the debut of Mumbai producer Farhan Rahman and the Bangalore-based southern India transplant Stalvart John to hammer in the foundations of the label: a distinctly Indian sound naturally swallowed in deep, tech-house stylings and a knack for harboring an established crew while always introducing new talent.

It’s easy to feel like Wind Horse Records has been blessed in their ability to release music from such a wide range of artists from all corners of the globe, with some folk tale-like stories to prove it. Decidedly capturing and presenting the label’s growth on the 5 Year Anniversary Sampler, supporters and new fans alike can feel confident that there’s even more on the horizon for the next five.

Laurent Garnier - "Some superb tracks in here … great release."
Nick Warren - "Wonderful album from a label to be proud of."
Nick Holder - "Dope!"
Pablo Bolivar (AvantRoots) - "This is very nice."
Jose Marquez (Tribe Records / Djoon Experience) - "Great release with a wide variety of sounds to fill the needs of the dance floor."
Massimiliano Pagliara (Live At Robert Johnson) - "Nice compilation."
Adam Collins (Euphoria Records / Omni A.M.) - "This is a really beautiful collection of music. 'Enlightenment' is unreal. So magical."
Ejaz Ahamed (Pacha Dubai / Disclosure UK) - "I love this release … it's the bomb!"
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "This compilation demonstrates the variety of the label and is a superb collection of high quality beats. Always a pleasure to listen to and play out."
Tyler Stadius (Deepsite / Dialtone Records) - "Beautiful music. I look forward to giving these many more listens."
Ivan Garci (Great Stuff / Deepwit) - "Fantastic tracks here … I love it."
DJ Di Costa (MoodyLushious Influences) - "Outstanding package. I'm loving the layers and the depth of this entire release. I'm truly enchanted."
Robert Lochmann (Jazzmadass Radio Show) - "This is the sound of the beach in summer 2015."
Jean Jérome (Radio FG) - "Just fantastic … well done."

Available now from Beatport and Juno Download.

OBu - Time Machine EP (Dimentique)

French producer OBu makes his huge Dimentique label debut with the stunning Time Machine EP which includes two original tracks and two remixes, combining to provide a sweet package for imaginative deep house fans. OBu really taps into his own stylistic sense on "Time Machine" and "Esprit d'Eclat" which break out in uplifting, colorful, and melodic organ and piano sounds that carry over into a very majestic feel -- perfect for the summer circuit. Turkish producer Planet King provides his touch to "Time Machine", introducing tech elements like pitch maneuvering toms. He also draws on his classical guitar background to create some truly mesmerizing finger play for additional atmosphere. Belgian artist Groove Riddim's take on the title track is quite different, giving it a complete makeover with a classic early '90s vintage deep house sound and extended vocal samples, very much in line with his previous work on the Plastik People Digital label.

Tensnake - "The original of 'Time Machine' is nice."
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "Great remix from Groove Riddim."
Vanilla Ace - "The original is the one for me."
Lupe Fuentes (InHouse Records) - "The Planet King remix … nice groove!"
Lorenzo al Dino (7th District Inc. / Royal Plastic) - "The two originals rule this package … well done!"
Belabouche (Midnight Riot / DiscoDat) - "Good solid tunes … I will play 'em!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "Bumping and jumpin' Groove Riddim remix … nice swing and groove."
Tom Conrad (Adaptation Music) - "A great summery vibe on the original of 'Time Machine' … I will be playing this for sure."
Tee Cardaci (Low Down Grooves / Sine Qua Non) - "Damn, Planet King killed this! Can't wait to play it out."
Jamie Topham (CDPool) - "Strong release once again from Dimentique … and a cheeky little MJ sample to boot. The original of 'Time Machine' is by far my favorite, but Planet King's remix is nothing to be sniffed at either. Good stuff."
Michael Fossati (Spirit of House) - "Lovely deep, old school inspired production."
Sam Hopkins (AccuRadio, Chicago) - "The original and the Planet King remix of 'Time Machine' are both stellar … I love this track."
Revival88 (Strictly House FM / Househeads Radio) - "Absolute tune. Fierce remixes with the Groove Riddim version being my favorite. Wicked selection."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.