Sound in Color have been quiet in 2006 but have an amazing line-up for the rest of the year. For those who don’t know, Exile has been around for over a decade as a member of Emanon and has also worked with Stones Throw artist Aloe Blacc, who features on “Dirty Science”. Exile has produced some heavyweight beats and then hunted around to find the right vocalist for each of his productions. M.E.D. seems to be guesting on all manner of projects recently and turns out a corker here. Blu is maybe a name you’ve not heard before and has an album due on Sound in Color later this year, and judging by these tracks, it’s gonna be interesting. All in all, Sound in Color deliver another cracking album.

Simon Harrison

Sonar Kollektiv have been amazingly consistent with every release over the last few years, with a slight bias towards things with a 4/4 beat but whatever the style, quality seems to be the most important thing. Michel Baumann is the man behind Soulphiction and also helped set up the well known and sought after Philpot Records, mainly due to the Moodyman/Theo Parrish influences in releases. “State Of Euphoria” is a big nod to the two legendary Detroit producers and covers downtempo and midtempo building up to good quality house. Baumann certainly knows his music and has injected jazz riffs, disco loops and broken beat influences into his productions. This has been hailed as house album of the year by many: it’s maybe a little early to say but it’ll certainly be up there.

Simon Harrison

Back some ten years I was very lucky to be working in a record shop when the limited first releases on Phono records appeared with productions by a new name – Herbert. Still to this day, I dig out those first 12″s and of course he churned out some brilliant albums and remixes over the years. Herbert has been known to sample all manner of things over the years and this album cover features 37 pictures of the 723 objects sampled in the making of “Scale”. As with all of Herbert’s previous albums, there is a serious message behind the songs, which will certainly make you think. “Scale” is the most obvious album to date with disco, jazz and house bits thrown in there but it just goes to prove this man is a modern day genius.

Simon Harrison

Dabrye will be known to most people because of “Game Over” featuring Jay Dee (RIP) which had the darkest beats know to man. Part two of Dabrye’s three part album series takes influences from his home town Detroit and continues to push the boundaries with not only hip hop but also electronic music. With a massive list of top of their game MCs aka Waajeed, MF Doom, Wildchild, Beans amongst others, this is the kind of music the masses need to hear, rather than the jiggy nonsense that is featured on our air waves and blasting out of young kids car speakers. Forward thinking and all the better for it.

Simon Harrison

I first picked up on DJ Spinna back when he was producing hip hop and it was a great surprise to me and probably the house heads: that all of a sudden he was knocking out quality house productions equal to, if not better than some of the masters of the 4/4 beat. This was strengthened by the release of “We Can Change This World” featuring Heavy, which has been blowing dancefloors apart for a few months now and set to be a massive summer hit. It’s not all uptempo with guests like Little Brother’s Phonte, N’Dea Davenport, Eric Roberson and Lizz Fields these tracks just ooze soul. The latter half picks up the tempo with yet more quality vocalists including Trish Angus, Christian Urich from Tortured Soul and the Free Radikalz. Spinna proves yet again his versatility with a cracking second album.

Simon Harrison

The Broken Keys are a collaboration between friends Nostalgia 77 and Natural Self. With a background between them that spans all manner of styles, this was always going to be interesting, especially if you’ve been checking out their solo projects. As with all collaborations you never quite know what will come out of the mixing pot but here these guys have gone for funk which captures soul, rock and hip hop. I’ve never been a huge fan of rock but the influences in “Gravity” work in so many different ways, that you just can’t help being sucked in. There are tracks for DJs and for home listening, so don’t miss out.

Simon Harrison

Since the beginning of house music there has always been compilations that try to capture the early days and as time goes by some tracks do sound dated, but maybe it’s a “you had to be there” kind of attitude that makes sense. DJ Deep’s series started in early 2005 with some downright house classics and I’m glad to say the quality continues with Vol.2. Some of the big producers are on here but thankfully nothing too obvious: these include Mr Fingers, Jovonn, the underrated Romanthony, Mike Dunn, Pleasure Control and Risque 3. If some of these don’t mean much to you, you should definitely give this a listen. Vinyl junkies will be pleased that 3x vinyl package is in the shops now.

Simon Harrison

I bought this album on the strength of hearing one track which we know can be a little risky nowadays but “Way In Jazz” is as good as I was hoping. Things kick off with the well known “Favourite Things” which is, yes, a little obvious but it has to be said it’s a great version. The rest of the tracks are a damn fine selection of Jazz that is not a million miles away from Nicola Conte and Five Corners Quintet, with an amazing array of guest vocalists and the exceptional Nathan Haines on sax and flute plus a top notch horn section featuring Ingrid Laubrock. Here is another ace soundtrack for the summer.

Simon Harrison

Yes, The Baker Brothers are back with another fine selection of all things funky. Vocals again are supplied by Vanessa Freeman, who always sounds great with whatever productions are thrown at her. Ensure you give “Winding Rhythm” a listen for proof. On the first few listens, I’m not quite convinced that “Bakers Dozen” is in the same league as their debut “Ten Paces” but there is more than enough quality here to ensure that you give it a listen and add it to your wants list.

Simon Harrison

Finally, we have the debut album from the man behind Red Astaire who is responsible for many releases on Gamm, Jugglin, Swedish Brandy, and here is yet another alias for Freddie Cruger: 3 Foot People. For a producer who has covered most styles over the last few years, this is basically downbeat with a mix of hip hop, dub reggae, soul and jazz. It’s great to hear more from Linn whose vocals always work a treat with Freddie’s productions. Make sure you hunt down Freddie & Linn “Keep on Playing” which was one of the best tracks from 2004. Great album to compliment Freddie’s label.

Simon Harrison