Upstairs Asylum US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Norm Talley's Upstairs Asylum label approaches its 20th outing with more of that low-key, high-quality house tackle it has long been associated with. Black Eyes is behind the beats and opens up with the nice and lazy, low slung grooves of 'Gerry The Fish Whisperer' then 'Valley Of Sharks' gets more raw and percussive with its energy. 'Soul Fish' lands on heavy, knackered sounding kicks with soft shakers along for the ride and 'The People Want Hydro' closes down with heady pads swirls and wispy motifs that occupy mind and body as one.

Review: Upstairs Asylum is kicking off the year in some style with a couple of killer new EPs. This one is the first in what is presumably a new series to showcase the talents of the Motor City. Mike Clark & Marcus Harris get things underway with 'Hey' which has a subtly uplifting feel thanks to the bright, sustained chords and cuddly drums. Santonio Echols's 'Piano In The Light' (DJ Emanuell Echols mix) is laidback, playful deep house with magical chord work and Brian Kage brings his classy depths to the smooth grooves of 'This Saturday Night.' Ryan Sadorus brings things to a close with the smoky 'Down Below.'

Review: Pretty much does what it says on the tin, this one. Classic Tyree Cooper productions in all their glory, plus some remixes of them from fellow US greats. Cooper was, of course, an early pioneer of what was known as hip-house - a raw mix of hip-hop and house that was short-lived, probably because the man himself perfected it and few could ever do much more with the blueprint. 'Hardcore Hip House (Tony Humphries mix re-edit)' is dusty, raw, piano-laced house excellence, 'Acid Over (Mike Dunn edit)' is a more frenzied 303 workout and 'I Fear The Night (feat Chic - vocal mix)' is a jack track for dark and strobe lit floors. 'Video Crash' shuts down with a coarse and textural collision of drums, synths and crashing hits.

Review: Motor City label Upstairs Asylum celebrates its roots in 313 with this new Dance Detroit EP featuring a wealth of American house innovators. First up, Reggie Dokes and Steve Crawford join forces on 'Fear Of Failure', a house track steeped in Detroit soul. Marvin Prather's 'Until' follows on with his stylish and soul-drenched grooves. Steve Crawford then goes it alone and turns up the drums on his potent 'Let You Go' (feat Tony B) and then get deeply emotional on 'Love Is Here' this time with help from featured artist Anthony Poteat. Prather and then label regular and Atlanta man Reggie Dokes closes down with his 'Not Ready.'

Review: House with an extra dose of crispy high-end from DJ Aakmael, who has haunted the saucier ends of the Chicago house scene since the mid 1990s. Aakmael is a mysterious entity, and can be ghost-spotted behind any solid pair of decks on a rainy night. 'Deep Cookie' harkens after a forgotten platonic form of house, in which East Asian synths and 808 claps collide compellingly. Meanwhile, '4ever' rounds off the B-side; it's a diggers' delight with a near-UK feel and mystical vocals and sax, recalling recent tunes this side of the pond by Ben Hauke.

Review: You always knew that when Norm Talley started his Upstairs Asylum label is was going to be pure quality. The Detroit man is one of the many contemporary flag bearers for the much loved original 313 house sound and as his DJ sets attest, heinous how to pick out the best work from others on a similar tip. He does that here with a various artists four tracker that kicks off with a brace of soul fuelled and jazz laced deep house cuts from Felipe Gordon. Stefan Ringer then brings that lo-fi house goodness and exquisite synth craft with 'You Know' while Deepset's 'U Got Dat' is a late night number with a low slung sense of sleaze.

Review: There is a heavyweight selection of names on this first release from Norm Talley's promising new label Upstairs Asylum. Firstly, the man himself is a Motor City heavyweight who links with fellow luminary Omar S on the opener 'Muggy Detroit Heat.' It's an intense and steamy house track that bristles with raw melody. On the flip, French house icon D'Julz reworks a tune by Norm in cahoots with the one and only Moodymann. This one is all cuddly chords, romanic vocal chops and warm, rough edged house beats for those cosy basements.

Review: The latest from The Robinson - that'll be Milan-based brothers Marco and Riccardo Augeri to you - opens with the jazz, live-sounding and improvised 'Life Decisions' with its cosmic synths reaching up to the stars over raw beats. 'Unconscious Habits' follows on, bringing deep, dubby drums, organic percussive lines and a deep jungle vibe while 'Running Algorith' is another humid deep house closer with warm, diffuse pads and a spiralling of deft percussion.

Review: Norm Talley's Detroit label Upstairs Asylum comes through with another various artists gem here: Gari Romalis kick off with the sort of smoky house depths you always expect from this imprint. 'Electronix (I'm Ya Dancer)' is dubbed out but dynamic, then G Major's 'Metro To Downtown' brings an injection of soul warmth and percussive looseness. Chuck Daniels & Hazmat Live's 'I Want You' is a darker, more heads down affair with freaky vocals and digital synth patterns over gritty, US garage styled low ends. Max Watts then cuts loose with the undulating dub techno depths of 'Velocity' to round out a varied EP.

Review: Norm Talley returns to his Upstairs Asylum label alongside fellow US house pioneer Delano Smith for Straight Up No Chaser, an eight-track opus featuring four solo cuts each. Talley's gritty, dubbed-out, low-rolling house style is present and correct throughout with the loopy chords of 'Blak Bottom' getting things going, 'The Flip' getting more cavernous and aqueous and 'ISO Vision' leaning into dub techno. 'Believe It' is a soulful deep house looper, while Smith gets bubbly with 'The Bassline', lays down thumping kicks on 'Travels 23' and his trademark synth smears on 'The Drive' while 'Remembrance' is a heady dub house cut that locks you into a state of perfect hypnosis.

Review: Don't be misled by the facetious title, there's no handbag house to be found on Hed Kandi Vol. 1. Instead, you'll be treated to some real proper beatdown vibes by some right legends of the Detroit underground, curated by scene stalwart Norm Talley. The ever impressive Delano Smith gets the Mixmode vibe in effect on the hypnotic back room dubs of 'The Lost Synth' parts 1 & 2 respectively which cover the A side. Over on the flip, Sistrum Recordings main man Patrice Scott gets some emotive Motor City soul going on in his inimitable style on 'Better Days' followed by the heads-down basement beats of Deepset's 'Soltek'.

Review: Detroit don Norm Talley is as consistent as they come in house music circles. Despite a fine catalogue of cool cuts, 'Cosmic Wave' is his standout and a clear fan favourite. It dropped back in 2010 but has been reissued many times on different labels, this time on his own Upstaris Aslum. It's the very essence of stripped-back and functional house/techno but with an impossibly impactful machine soul, the drums, synth waves and percussion all looping infinitely. But within that endless repetition there is beauty, hypnosis, and catharsis to be found. Sheer class, before you even get into the shimmering, sublimely gliding remix from Luke Hess & Brian Kage and the sparser 'Cosmic Reality', all stop/start funkiness rooted down by massive electronic handclaps.

Review: The ever on point Upstairs Asylum present Unity Vol 1, featuring Jon Dixon, Darrin Abrams, Rick Wade, Mike Clark, Kai Alce, Kyle Hall, Eddie Fowlkes, & Santonio.

Review: Norm Talley has put together a second volume of his Unity series on his own label Upstairs Asylum. It features his nearest and dearest from Chicago and Detroit, all of whom of course serve up perfectly smoky and stripped back deep house and techno grooves to make you move. Delano Smith's characteristic loops lock you in from the off on 'Big City Nights,' Norm himself pairs dub techno chords with suggestive techno stabs that keep you on edge and Brian Kage's 'Poly-Phonic Phonk' is heady, dreamy, richly melodic house bets listened to in a cosy back room at 4am.

Review: Every so often, a compilation comes along and delivers a snapshot of a city's underground music scene at a given moment in time. That's what compilers Rick Wilhite and Delano Smith have achieved with Parabellum Detroit, an expansive and predictably high-quality collection of cuts from some of the Motor City's finest producers. They naturally provide a couple of collaborative cuts of their own - the spacey, late-night techno hypnotism of '11 Minutes of Funk' and the intergalactic deep house drift of 'Neo Solaris', while there are also top-notch contributions from Javontte (the warm, soul-flecked deep house of 'Late Night Love'), Marcellus Pittman (beatdown chugger 'Everybody Party'), Gerald Mitchell AKA Soul Saver (the incredible 'Kaori'), the Moodymann Kenny Dixon Jr ( 'I'm Goin' Back') and Omar-S (a tidy Godson remix of 'VAT 69').