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2x12"
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SMALL 012LP
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2x12" version. Smallpeople's debut album, Salty Days (SMALL 005CD/LP), was released in 2012. In the time since, much has changed in the world of dance music. have remained dedicated to their unapologetically reassuring vision of house music as-a-whole. Smallpeople, as well as expanding their Smallville Records shop in Hamburg's St. Pauli, has continued to act on their direct-line to the beating heart of house music at some of the world's finest clubs, including their monthly residency at Hamburg's legendary Golden Pudel. Of course, all these maneuvers sit alongside their work running Smallville Records, and its sub-label, Fuck Reality. Given Julius Steinhoff and Dionne's stewardship in filtering the crème de la crème of house music from the underground and into clubs across Europe and further afield, it would be particularly cliched on this occasion to stress that their second record is "eagerly awaited". In their own way, they have already given us enough great records. But with Afterglow, there's another great record, and more importantly, one carved directly from the hearts and record collections of two individuals whose understanding of dance music appears to be some sort of blissful second-nature. This sort of earned assuredness is immediately established on opening track "Magic Interference", a rolling, deep, and somewhat jazzy house number with tumbling keys and sky-walkin' chords. This steady, blissful vibe sets the tone for the first half of the record, as the pair patiently unfold their touchstones; equal parts Chicago ("Hearts at Whole"), Detroit ("All States of Dawn"), and Hamburg, famed for it's transatlantic routes via groundbreaking clubs such as Front, it's a crystalline distillation of a sound that's earnest, but never nostalgic. Intuitive selectors as they are, Smallpeople pick the ideal moment to up the pace for the home-run, defined here by the spiky, disco bassline of "Beyond", an unexpected ingredient that Steinhoff and Dionne nevertheless manage to diffuse into space dust. It's a brilliant wrong footing before the wide-eyed, warm-hearted anthem-in-waiting, "Sonic Winds", a wonderfully cheeky glimpse of Smallpeople as peak time heroes, before the acid-flecked shuffle of "Benevolent Reciever" reveals their spiritual soundboy side. In conclusion, title track "Afterglow" surmises the generous spirit at the heart of Smallpeople's operation; a sensitive and irresistible ode to record stores, parties, community, and discovery. So, worth that seven year wait? Who cares about time, when your music is this timeless.
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CD
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SMALL 012CD
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Smallpeople's debut album, Salty Days (SMALL 005CD/LP), was released in 2012. In the time since, much has changed in the world of dance music. have remained dedicated to their unapologetically reassuring vision of house music as-a-whole. Smallpeople, as well as expanding their Smallville Records shop in Hamburg's St. Pauli, has continued to act on their direct-line to the beating heart of house music at some of the world's finest clubs, including their monthly residency at Hamburg's legendary Golden Pudel. Of course, all these maneuvers sit alongside their work running Smallville Records, and its sub-label, Fuck Reality. Given Julius Steinhoff and Dionne's stewardship in filtering the crème de la crème of house music from the underground and into clubs across Europe and further afield, it would be particularly cliched on this occasion to stress that their second record is "eagerly awaited". In their own way, they have already given us enough great records. But with Afterglow, there's another great record, and more importantly, one carved directly from the hearts and record collections of two individuals whose understanding of dance music appears to be some sort of blissful second-nature. This sort of earned assuredness is immediately established on opening track "Magic Interference", a rolling, deep, and somewhat jazzy house number with tumbling keys and sky-walkin' chords. This steady, blissful vibe sets the tone for the first half of the record, as the pair patiently unfold their touchstones; equal parts Chicago ("Hearts at Whole"), Detroit ("All States of Dawn"), and Hamburg, famed for it's transatlantic routes via groundbreaking clubs such as Front, it's a crystalline distillation of a sound that's earnest, but never nostalgic. Intuitive selectors as they are, Smallpeople pick the ideal moment to up the pace for the home-run, defined here by the spiky, disco bassline of "Beyond", an unexpected ingredient that Steinhoff and Dionne nevertheless manage to diffuse into space dust. It's a brilliant wrong footing before the wide-eyed, warm-hearted anthem-in-waiting, "Sonic Winds", a wonderfully cheeky glimpse of Smallpeople as peak time heroes, before the acid-flecked shuffle of "Benevolent Reciever" reveals their spiritual soundboy side. In conclusion, title track "Afterglow" surmises the generous spirit at the heart of Smallpeople's operation; a sensitive and irresistible ode to record stores, parties, community, and discovery. So, worth that seven year wait? Who cares about time, when your music is this timeless.
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12"
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SMALL 048EP
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2017 repress. Smallpeeps doing the Crystal Fandango. Back on wax with three fresh tracks that were well tested on the road for quite a while - and it was about time to put out this groover. As always it comes with full cover artwork by Stefan Marx.
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12"
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SMALL 040EP
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Smallpeople (Julius Steinhoff and Just von Ahlefeld) follow up the In the Jungle EP (RB 039EP), released on Gerd Janson's Running Back imprint in 2013, with another package of sound-seducing delights. With three essential tracks strictly for the beloved dancefloor, Lowrider Anarchy begins 2015 and commemorates it as the tenth year of Smallville Records, celebrating a decade of putting the magic into house music.
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12"
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RB 039EP
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Julius Steinhoff and Just von Ahlefeld aka Smallpeople make the In the Jungle EP a pleasant trip into the realms of a sound that isn't all about chord stereotypes. "Nofretete" opens this reign of spellbinding tracks with hints of acid house, paradisiac breakdowns and finally, heavenly salvation. "Ninja Restaurant" and "In the Jungle" are its tougher siblings between metaphysical rave signals and Windy City rhythm box kung-fu plus hidden locked grooves. Hypno house for the young and the young at heart.
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2LP
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SMALL 005LP
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2018 repress. Gatefold 2LP version. "It would be a waltz to call Salty Days just a treaty of deep house. But it is much more than just that. The co-owners of Hamburg's most gentle record store and label Smallville -- Just von Ahlefeld and Julius Steinhoff aka Smallpeople -- wouldn't be the romanticists they are, if it were that simple. The debut album from Smallpeople not only honors and delves into a sound that already peaked some 15 years ago, it also hones and elevates it, without ever falling into the Reynoldsmania trap or being old gold retold. And this is all oh-so-clear from the very start: the fine flutes of 'When It's There' go straight to your heart and they do so without any self-mockery or hipster smiles as much as the gasping 303-sounds, chirping birds and healing DX-like bass sounds a few tracks later do. 'Salty Days' -- an allusion not to grim times, but to a certain member's adoration for the crystalline mineral -- is blessed with a coherence and tradition that isn't leaden and a feeling that is pure. Like a distillate of U.S. innovations and the European backfire on it, Smallpeople tell their personal love story and jump to their own conclusions. 'Move With Your Vision' and 'Black Ice' both concentrate the form and content of this album: house music that knows its roots, past and classicism, but is made with the minds and means of today. In the '90s there was the saying that it's impossible to create an album consisting of house music and house music only (those dreary downbeat experiments still haunt us to this day). Salty Days is an ideal that belies that statement." --Gerd Janson
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CD
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SMALL 005CD
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"It would be a waltz to call Salty Days just a treaty of deep house. But it is much more than just that. The co-owners of Hamburg's most gentle record store and label Smallville -- Just von Ahlefeld and Julius Steinhoff aka Smallpeople -- wouldn't be the romanticists they are, if it were that simple. The debut album from Smallpeople not only honors and delves into a sound that already peaked some 15 years ago, it also hones and elevates it, without ever falling into the Reynoldsmania trap or being old gold retold. And this is all oh-so-clear from the very start: the fine flutes of 'When It's There' go straight to your heart and they do so without any self-mockery or hipster smiles as much as the gasping 303-sounds, chirping birds and healing DX-like bass sounds a few tracks later do. 'Salty Days' -- an allusion not to grim times, but to a certain member's adoration for the crystalline mineral -- is blessed with a coherence and tradition that isn't leaden and a feeling that is pure. Like a distillate of U.S. innovations and the European backfire on it, Smallpeople tell their personal love story and jump to their own conclusions. 'Move With Your Vision' and 'Black Ice' both concentrate the form and content of this album: house music that knows its roots, past and classicism, but is made with the minds and means of today. In the '90s there was the saying that it's impossible to create an album consisting of house music and house music only (those dreary downbeat experiments still haunt us to this day). Salty Days is an ideal that belies that statement." --Gerd Janson
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12"
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LAID 005EP
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From the great success of Smallville's first label compilation And Suddenly It's Morning (SMALL 002CD), a new deep house collective evolved: The Smallpeople aka Dionne, Steinhoff & Hammouda, Jacques Le Bon and Christopher Rau. Hanging at their record store, DJing together and exchanging beats and samples made the lovely Hamburg house gang around Smallville owners Julius Steinhoff and Just von Ahlefeld (aka Dionne) a new source of deepest club culture.
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