Detroit’s Pontchartrain takes the Razor-N-Tape reigns for his debut on the label - an all-cylinders-firing jazz laden, deep house EP with an exquisite Demuja remix.
The A side kicks off with ‘The Friends & Lovers Dub’ version of the title track ‘Love Is Madness’, filled with deep pulsing pads, resonating dashes of sax, crisp percussion and a bumping bassline that provides the perfect backdrop to the echoing mantra of ‘Friends... Lovers’.
Next ‘I-80’ is a wonder of shimmering arps, brooding bass tones and reverberating trumpet touches. Perfect for the early hours, entrancing dancers as it washes over the airwaves.
On the flip, Austria’s golden boy Demuja hits hard with a Kerri Chandler channeling deep house remix of ‘Love Is Madness’, centred around a pumping bass synth, sustained organs and a classic marriage of horn stabs and emotive spoken word.
Closing the EP the original mix is a sun kissed, eyes closed gem that blends delicate bongos, rousing sax lines and the sweet vocals of Simon Black & Leafar.
A must for any record collection out there, house head or not.
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Pontchartrain’s second release on home label Lovedancing dives deep into his Detroit roots with two big house tunes that nod to his motor city influences.
1515 Broadway Revisited is a sparkling, chord-heavy track featuring local vocalist Larry Love, made for peak-time play. Javonntte is up on remix duties with a dark groaning version for the true afterhours feel.
On the flipside, “Head Up” pays tribute to the late queen of soul with a classic house vibe that feels right at any time, but an ending that’ll keep you saving it for just the right moment.
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Swat's third release & DETROIT is in the house ! There are times in which you can clearly mark a producer's evolution. When they stop inching towards growth and make a bold statement of change in capability and vision. Such is the case with this EP from Detroit-based disco guru, Pontchartrain. After a few years of steadily pushing out some significant pieces of work that have increasingly straddled the line between originals and edits, and nearly a decade of studio experience, his long overdue official house music debutante has arrived. Featuring Detroit local soul artist, Coko Buttafli laying down some blistering vocals with a clearly positive house music message, on top of live percussion and keys, and bold analog drum rhythms, pontch has created a solid diva-house gem. The sneaky festival-ready banger, 'Loose', performed, mixed, and overdubbed live, provides some fantastic contrast and versatility to the release. A Mr. G-esque remix by DJ phenom Just Alexander and the musical journey of Topher Horn's evolving and deep version on the flipside make this a well rounded record that will undoubtedly stay in your bag for a good long while, and will find its way back in for years to come. More

It was too hard to resist another Record Store Day outing once Pontchartrain dropped these edits on us. A very special, limited run of 500 'spatter' design vinyl copies will give way to 'The Pontchartrain Edits' marking our return to RSD for 2016. More

Heidy P is a long time associate of the Rocksteady Disco crew and now she treats them to her first ever solo release in the form of Elevate. It is, as you'd expect of her, a house record through and through, but one packed with plenty of her own charm and personality. Opener 'Elevate' is a classy and jazz-tinged, Latin-styled groove that will electrify any floor. Next is the hugely emotive, soulful and gospel drenched 'Help Me Find My Way' with uplifting vocals from Seta. Pontchartrain then steps up to remix 'Help Me Find My Way' into something deeper and Carry Nation close out with a more freaked out sound.
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Eddie Logix makes his return to Rocksteady Disco fold with this fresh new 12", 'Flight Risk'. It's a varied affair that pulls from a wide range of genres including leftfield, deep house, disco, Afrobeat, and even Balearic. Some of these tunes have already been picking up high-profile support from the likes of Leo Mas, Chris Coco and Danny Krivit - no wonder given that his last on the label sold out immediately. 'Sky Dive' is a nice loose limbed funky deep disco jam, 'Home Suite' has a superb new age flute lead and 'Missing Pixels' is a tribal Afro dancer. 'Mount Juniper' is the lively and tropical house number that has you dreaming of cocktails by the sea. More

Blair French returns to Rocksteady Disco with an EP of Afro Cosmic dance floor heat. Picking up from where he left off with his The Art Of Us LP and his recent Razor-N-Tape EP, this 3-tracker sounds like being happily lost in a hot jungle after crash landing your spaceship near a secret party. Tons of drums, chants, flutes, and basslines for those extra special slinky sleazy parties. Limited vinyl pressing, don't sleep. More

The Art Of Us (TAOU) begins with the story of Blair French, a cosmic messenger raised in a house of 7 on the outskirts of a historic city. From dancing at mom's disco parties at a young age, to releasing rap tapes in middle school, winning best soundtrack for the multi-award-winning film DETROPIA and hitting the Billboard charts with his Pure Sounds of Michigan compilation; ultimately French found a home in the world of all things Detroit, Pan-African, Balearic, and ambient. TAOU is his first instrumental LP under his own name, (despite a 25 year career), bringing together his closest musical compatriots. Blair's diverse production shines on this immersive 14 track release, transcending organic/electronic, uptempo/downtempo, and light/dark, tapping in heavyweight characters including Pathe Jassi, John Arnold, Craig Huckaby, Todd Modes, Kaylan Waterman, Peter Croce, Eddie Logix, Paul Randolph, 2040, Michael Jurczak and more. Sonically, TAOU holds peak-hour Deep Cosmic Afro House freak outs ("Faded By The Sun", "Celebration Ritual", "F O A", "Chest Drum"), blunted beatdown cuts ("Stay Detroit", "Jeans", "Drop Ceiling Shuffle", "River Crossing"), and soulful R&B and Afrobeat compositions ("Honey Rooftops", "Genes", "Space Time Curvature"). Mastered by Atjazz, the vinyl is cut loud to lacquer by Carl at Trutone, and pressed with love at Archer on the east side of Detroit. It includes a double sided full color art insert with lyrics on the flip side. TRACK LISTING: A1. Faded By The Sun, A2. Celebration Ritual, A3. Stay Detroit, B1. F O A, B2. Deep Tissue feat. Craig Huckaby, B3. Space Time Curvature feat. Fahrenheit 2040, B4. Honey Rooftops feat. Kaylan Waterman, C1. Jeans, C2. Genes, C3. Honey Rooftops (Reprise) feat. Kaylan Waterman & Eddie Logix, D1. The Art Of Us, D2. Chest Drum (A Natural Unification) feat. Pathe Jassi, D3. Drop Ceiling Shuffle, D4. River Crossing
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After 3 months holed up in the studio Blair French has emerged to bring you Genes / Space Conductor 7” in support of his forthcoming album The Art Of Us on Rocksteady Disco. The A-side holds the “Loose Fit” mix of “Genes”, where Blair channels his inner Tony Allen for an expertly executed modern psychedelic Afrobeat cut featuring a heavyweight cast of Detroit characters including Todd Modes, John Arnold, and Paul Randolph. On the flip is “Space Conductor”, a cosmic afro broken beat joint with heavy drums, a huge bassline, kora, and Blair’s vocals, exclusively available on this 7” only. Housed in a full color jacket, cut loud to lacquer, and pressed heavy with pride at Archer on Detroit’s east side. More

Rocksteady Disco's newest recruit is Eddie Logix. He's been at the heart of the Detroit underground for over 15 years, most recently with his Technically Yeah live hardware nights, a grip of ambient and hip-hop releases, engineering for Assemble Sound. He’s one half of left-field funk-hop duo Mega Powers with Pig Pen, and of BLKSHRK alongside Blair French, who first appeared on Rocksteady Disco back in 2016 on ...For Todd.
Placebo Palace is Eddie's first solo dance EP, combining all of this experience into a diverse offering for discerning dance floors. The EP leads with “Que Locos”, a tropical house banger driven by brass and Latin-Jazz piano. “Baby Girl” rounds out the A side, with a dusty R&B vocal sample coupled with a massive and unexpected bassline. The B side is darker and deeper, starting with the frantic Afro-Jazz-Deep House “Sunday Palaver”. Closing the EP is “Bottle Rocket”, a psychedelic surf rock-tinged disco-not-disco chugger, with live guitar by Daniel Monk and electric bass by stphn-b. More forward thinking music from Detroit via Rocksteady Disco!

TRACK LISTING
A1. Que Locos
A2. Baby Girl
B1. Sunday Palaver
B2. Bottle Rocket More

It was Memorial Day Weekend 2016, and the sun shined bright over the Detroit River. Pontchartrain stepped up to the decks at the Red Bull stage at Movement Electronic Music Festival donning his infamous "Detroit vs. Itself" t-shirt. His first song through the Rane rotary mixer was a dubplate made specifically for his set: “Afterlife”. It’s a brilliantly executed balearic daytime disco rework that warrants the praise of summer anthem that it’s earning. On the flip is “Pool”, an equally sunny slomo beatdown rework from Blair French. It's a delightful blend of cerebral and soulful, and is finally getting a release after being originally championed by Peter Croce on his Le Mellotron Paris set back in early 2018. This 7" is pressed heavy and cut loud at 33.3 RPM with a normal non-dinked hole. More

Blair French returns to Rocksteady Disco after last year’s brilliant Standing Still Is An Illusion for another 12” of mind, body, and soul music. “Public Park” starts off the release, with flutes, guitars, and African marimbas abound, presenting itself as the song of the summer. “Spirit Guides” follows, taking listeners and dancers on a spiritual afro jazz odyssey. The flip features two versions of “Public Beach”, a communal ecstatic dance meets Detroit Jit footwork cut with a massive bassline, pulsing percussion, and harmonized chanting, constructed for open-minded dance floors and deejays. Limited to 300 vinyl, TIP! More

Rocksteady Disco drops Águas de Setembro by Igor B as the soundtrack for the northern hemisphere’s transition from summer to autumn. Marking Igor’s debut release, he carefully reimagines and reworks two latin jazz / música popular brasileira classics into modern dance anthems. On the A side holds “Ponteio”, a bittersweet house cut, that eventually opens up into an bubbly ecstatic dance piece. AA brings “Cisco Dois”, a sub bass and percussion heavy track with a brilliantly heavy breakdown to turn the dancefloor out. Toronto’s Igor B is the next producer to be a part of Rocksteady Disco’s pattern of artist breaking, and his debut release welcomes him into the Rocksteady Disco family in timeless fine style. More

Brand new Detroit duo MAN VS INDIAN MAN comprises Ian Finkelstein (of Scott Grooves’s OVERDUBS fame) and Even Haywood. Complementing each other's strengths, the pair make the perfect match as they pour out thick viscously barbed future soul in thick gooey doses; both "Ice Accountant" and "Cloud Nine" are wrapped in foggy layers of sleepy textures as the falsetto vocals and lean instrumentation cut through with dreamy delight. Remixes from the legendary Egyptian Lover (cosmic electro), fellow Detroitian Pontchartrain (filtered disco house) and Brazilian Table Daddy (lolloping dream tech).

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Peter Croce takes the baton back from Blair French for Rocksteady Disco's 9th release entitled Agape. It's vision is similar to Standing Still Is An Illusion, with Peter's unique take on this Afro­Brazilian deep house three­tracker. The a­side holds "Agape (Love Wins)", a deep and emotive house cut, with driving drums and lush strings that tease until they climax. Kicking off the b­side is "Maracatu Detroit", an upbeat love letter to Peter's home city produced through a bouncy Brazilian­funk lens; a track that is sure to bring a smile to the dancers. "Bufe Bufe" closes the release, featuring Peter on live electric bass/guitar and afro­ stomp drum execution, brought to a peak with Yoruban talking drum + vox. Mr. PC roots the growing effervescent world beat sound with an explicitly Detroit and

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Physician by day, musician by night, Moonlighter makes his production debut after steadily holding down Rocksteady Disco labelmate duties. “Give Us Rain (Ah Mila)” begins the 12” beautifully, blending ethereal African samples with Moonlighter’s own melodic and percussive performance. “Kinematic” kicks off the flip on a more cosmic and tech­y tip, with bubbly synth stabs and drums. “A Certain Average Kind Of Normal Experience” closes out this opus with a massive peak hour bassline, emotive synthesis, and a vocal sample from everybody’s favorite UK philosopher. The Moonlighter EP is a culmination of his diverse production and digging ethos by blending the percussive with the melodic, the peak hour with the subdued, and the head with the heart. More