From Rivera's Groove Box #286: John Tareugram - Born Ready

John Tareugram is a new and upcoming house producer from France. He mixes together very masterfully deep house with elements of funk and disco. Definitely a name to watch out for!

From Rivera's Groove Box #285: Beautiful People - I Got The Rhythm

Surely one of Pal Joey's finest productions ever! The track just builds and builds and has so many beautiful sounds layered on top of each one - very superbly mixed together. This is a a tune that once heard is not forgotten. I think it easily ranks as one of the best deep house tracks ever put together.

From Rivera's Groove Box #284: Kitchen Sync ‎– Serious Work

Kitchen Sync is a project of Scott Kinchen - brother of Mark 'MK' Kinchen! This 1993 track is in my opinion very underrated, and is not being mentioned alongside other notable garage house tracks from that period. The production on this one is very raw and minimal. A boompty style clunking beat loop with a very basic bassline, together with some deep pads and vocal snippets. I also recognize the keys of this track being the very often sampled Kenlou dub mix of St. Etienne's 'Nothing Can Stop Us'. Strictly Rhythm is just one the best house labels ever, because they have so much gems in their discography. You can always trust that red brick wall!

From Rivera's Groove Box #283: Taxi C.A.B. - Chunk-A-Nova (Red Dog Mix)

Classic Chicago house track made by Adam 'DJ Chunk-A-Bud' Maljan. Originally released in 1994. This funky disco track is a timeless dance floor classic. It uses very effectively the drumloop and vocals from Jackie Moore's 'This Time Baby' and the musical elements of Wood Brass & Steel 'Funkanova'. The production is very minimal with rough sampling, but it's all done in a way which makes the track stand out, and giving it a unique lo-fi aesthetic. Detroit came out with their own version of this track, made by Terrence Parker in 1996 - 'Love's Got Me High'. It's basically the same track, but it features an additional bassline and new vocals. Both are great tracks! I like Chunk-A-Nova a little bit more, because DJ Chunk-A-Bud didn't do a lot of tracks, and it is his most memorable, while from Terrence Parker's discography I can choose a lot other classics. I also read that Adam 'DJ Chunk-A-Bud' Maljan has sadly passed away in 2016. 

From Rivera's Groove Box #282: Luca Lozano - Ibiza Bullshit Necklace

Sometimes I stumble oddly on some popular EDM music videos, and I can barely watch those for a few seconds. I find the music to be extremly loud, dumb, obnoxious... and the videos offensive with their showing of gross-out partying. But when I say to people who have no clue, that I'm into 'electronic dance music - you know, the underground stuff'... they surely must think of me being one of those EDM junkies?! Yuck... and yeah I wouldn't give a damn, but it's always so awkward trying to explain... anyway here's an modern underground house track with some classic hints!

From Rivera's Groove Box #281: Soho - Give It Up (Passion Mix)

A Pal Joey joint. Can't believe it's from 1990. House music in that year was still very clunky sounding, rough stuff with acid and Chicago influences. But here we have a nice example of the new garage house sound emerging from New York city.

From Rivera's Groove Box #280: Disco Elements -Take To The Dancefloor

In the early 90s, disco house tracks like this were called 'neodisco'. Far from the nu-disco sound they have now. Very lovely house track, with a superb use of Imagination 'Burnin Up'.

From Rivera's Groove Box #279: Kettenkarussell - Maybe

I think I found my favourite Giegling track yet! I find the label and all its doings very fascinating. For example, you can only get this record from Giegling parties, not in a record store or online order. Superbly crafted deep house music.

Ricky Inch - Galaxy 77 (Ossom Records, 2018) Album Review

Riho Ints, alias Ricky Inch, is one of the best examples from the Estonian contemporary soulful dance music scene, and his long awaited solo debut album 'Galaxy 77' is the proof of it. This record brings together all the different shades of house music – deep, funky, disco, tech, underground. - you name it. 

The albums tone is settled with the introduction track 'Connections' with its lively sounding bass guitar and creative electric piano keyboards by Osamu Fukuzawa. A vocal which comes from the soul is delivered by the Bulgarian r&b singer Todor Gadjalov. What follows is an 180-degree turn with the tech house sounding 'Side Effect' with its clunky drums. The albums run-through theme of space and cosmic exploration is represented in instrumental, synthesizer filled nu-disco flavored tracks like 'Galactic Ride 77', 'Space Funk', 'Potatoes On Mars' and 'Lone Jet'. We even get some UK garage influenced skippy beats with 'String & Basso'. There's plenty of dancefloor filling material with tracks like 'Dolce Vita Duty' which has that strobe lights flashing dark room sound. Vocal rich 'The Way I Do' and 'Really Want To Know' are radio friendly songs with a pop-house touch, but not in a tired and predictable way like so much of new dance music. You can hum the melodic 'Sentimental Man' even days after listening. The album finishes with the downtempo lounge feeling track 'The Message'. 

All of this is the artists introduction to his own musical galaxy, where there are no exact boundaries between genres. If its got a good vibe, then everything goes. The album features a roster of talented guest musicians and singers, all masterfully orchestrated together and produced in the studio by Ricky Inch. The result is personal, real and sincere.

From Rivera's Groove Box #278: Tom Smeyers - My Way

Tom Smeyers seems like a humble guy. A Belgian DJ and producer of classic 90s sounding house music, influenced by garage, deep, disco and funky grooves. He's done just one digital release on Guesthouse Music, and a vinyl only release on Sneakerfreaks. Quality before quantity, that's admirable.