Picks of the Week

Soul Kitchen "Just friends" (Elation Records CD Promo)

Image Behind Soul Kitchen are Scott Mochar and Scott Wilson who present "Just friends" on scottish label Elation Records. Their 'Soulful Edit' is a laidback, funk flavored house track featuring sexy male vocal alongside jazzy keys and a saxophone solo. The 'Maz Lunden Ibiza' mix adds a rougher beat and balearic vibes to the song, giving it a summery feel, while Greg Kozo intensifyes the funky flavors and uses thumpin' beats on his take. Fabio Bacchini's remix is on an old school disco-funk tip, bringing memories of this golden era back. For his second remix he teams up with Patrick L to deliver a wicked funky house reworking. A great package offering something for everyone.

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Beat Messengerz featuring Keith Thompson "Black skin blue eyed boys" (Monster Bang Music Records CD Promo)

Paul Simpson and Keith Thompson come together for a remake of the Equal's anti-war classic "Black skin blue eyed boys" from the 1960's, maintaining the sound of the original while transforming it for the dancefloors by housing it up, with Keith Thompson providing an authentic and passionate vocal performance. DJ Romain's mix is a deeply thumpin' affair with slammin' drums, while DJ Smash reworks it into a latin-flavored tribal groover. Tom Moulton - who wanted to remix the Equals' original but never had luck with it - comes up with a marvellous interpretation that is reminiscent of classic jazz-funk from the past millenium.
 

Anto Vitale presents Shabu Music "Theorema del faya" (Original Instrumental)(Tea Party Music Records CD Promo)

Italian producer Anto Vitale presents the first of two upcoming releases on Tea Party Music, currently only available in its original instrumental version. "Theorema del faya" is a piece of inspirational dance music, being on a laidback afro-carribean tip featuring a wonderful instrumentation including lovely flute, great keys and a wicked guitar solo towards the end. A vocal version featuring Alex Senna and remixes by Ian Friday to follow soon.
 

Soulfood featuring Milena Gomez "Palavras" (Open Bar Music Records Digital Download)

"Palavras" by Soulfood is a lovely latin flavored production featuring sexy spoken words by Milena Gomez, a jazzy piano and warm keys over a latinesque house groove that is enriched with sweet percussion. The instrumental lets the keys do the talk, while the dub puts the piano centerstage and uses stompin' beats. Digital Downloads available at Dancetracks Digital.
 

Jeremias Santiago featuring KT Brooks "Keep pressing" (Next Dimension Music Records CD Promo)

This great track by Jeremias Santiago that premiered at the Winter Music Conference back in 2005 (and reviewed here at Spirit of House back in April 2005) finally gets a release thanks to those nice people at Next Dimension Music. "Keep pressing" is an uplifting production featuring a great vocal performance by KT Brooks over a percussively bumpin' groove topped with great keys and a wicked organ solo in the 'NY Latin Mix', while the 'Original Mix' is on a smoother, more laidback vibe.
 

N'Dambi "Can-t change me" (Ron Trent Mixes)(R2 Records Digital Download)

Chicago legend Ron Trent adding his unique touch to N'Dambi's "Can't change me", delivering a masterful interpretation that combines N'Dambi's magnificent soul vocals with a powerful yet soulful house instrumentation of sweet percussion, deep bassline and wonderful keys. The dub uses this foundation and takes the track to even deeper grounds, stripping most of the vocals. Digital Downloads available at Dancetracks Digital.
 

Black Joy "Untitled" (Freerange Records Digital Download)

Jerome Caron's "Untitled" was originally released back in 2003 on the small french label Project Records, now Freerange decided to give this moody deep house track a second life by re-releasing it complete with remixes by Kerri Chandler whose 'Bigga Mix' is built around a heavy groove and features laminar keys, while the 'Digital Soul Mix' smoothes things down using a gentle groove together with jazzy keys to create a laidback vibe. Digital Downloads available at Dancetracks Digital.
 

Exclusive Preview: Eliane Elias "Runnin'" (DFA Remix)(FallOut Records CD Promo)

DFA strike again with their subtle reworking of the beautiful the bossa nova tinged "Runnin'" by Eliane Elias (taken from her "Around the city" album released in autumn last year). Their take of "Runnin'" stays true to the original and keeps the vibe alive whilst transforming it for the dancefloors by adding a groovy'n'soulful house beat and warm melodic instrumentation to it.
 

SoulBasics "The theme (cisco bay)" (Grooveland Music Records CD Promo)

SoulBasics (aka Steve Fox, Nick Dobinson and Matt Bell) present their latest offering, the jazzy production "The theme (cisco bay)" which comes in three varied mixes that all feature a wonderful jazz-funk instrumentation that includes lovely strings, muted horns, jazzy keys and wicked beats. The mixes let you choose between a smoothly rumblin' deep house version, a broken beat interpretation and a groovy rub. A wonderful production that grows with every listen.
 

Steal Vybe "Surface 1 EP" (Steal Vybe Sub Grooves Records CD Promo)

Steal Vybe Music launch their sister label Steal Vybe Sub Grooves which is dedicted to release tracks from various genres of dance music. The first release on the label is the "Surface 1 EP" which brings you "Knight rider", a heavily thumpin' track featuring anthemic spheric keys that give the track a techy edge, while "Poly 6" is on a deep house tip perfect for after hours play with its soulful groove and warm melodic keys.
 

Karizma "Tech This Out 2" (R2 Records Digital Dwonload)

While we await the release of Karizma's debut longplayer "A mind of it's own" (scheduled for the end of this month), lets get a taste of it in form of this two track 12". Both tracks emphasise Karizma's giftedness for relentless beats and drums that take dancefloors by storm, with "The damn thing" being a jazz-infused banger thanks for the great piano used, while "Tech this out Part 2" is on an anthemic tech-house tip. Digital Downloads available at Dancetracks Digital.
 

Mad Mud "Discustingly" (Delicious Garden Recods CD Promo)

The next release on Delicious Garden will be "Discustingly" by Mad Mud, coming in a variety of mixes. The original is built aorund a groovy beat that is enriched with catchy keys and features sexy female vocals and a cool male rap. Lars Behrenroth turns the track into a moody, tech-flavored deep house track perfect for after hours play. Phonicfood takes the track to off beat territory by twisting the beats around on his remix, while his 'Hop Mix' features vocoded vocals over an old-school hip-hop beat. Lastly, there is Phonicfood's beat-heavy dub with moody keys.
 

Miguel Migs "So far" (Salted Music Records CD Promo)

"So far" is the first single lifted from Miguel Migs upcoming artist album "Those things" (scheduled for a March 20th release), featuring the sultry voice of L.T. The album version is on a laidback tip, spreading a mellow vibe through the warm melodic instrumentaion. Rasmus Faber provides a set of latin flavored, percussive remixes that keep it soulful while being groovy and powerful enough to rock any dancefloor. Eric Stamile's 'Old School Revival Dub' gives the track an old-school felling reminiscent of the classic 80's electro flavored club sound.