This is a beautiful deep house/US garage EP from 1996. It was produced by DJ Dozia, a Philadelphia based musician and DJ affiliated with King Britt. In my opinion the stand out track is “Back To Basiks (Nou-Lion Stripped Mix),” which showed up again as the first track on a Prosumer Boiler Room mix from 2012. Check the mix and how this deep, tough, but gorgeous garage number sets the tone for the German DJ’s fine set. I dusted it off myself and fired it on part two of my 2014 Valentine’s Day mixes. “Steal Away (Nou Lion-Retro Mix)” samples Steely Dan song, “Glamor Profession” from their Gaucho album.

On discogs this release is listed as “Steal Away” by Music From The Trees. In my review, if I remember correctly I called the EP “Music From The Trees.” However, and it’s a big however, my review appeared in XLR8R magazine before the Discogs listing, ♪♫♩so it’s too late baby, it’s much too late, to change my mistake ♪♫. I’m shorry, trainspotters. If you don’t have this record, and you play deep house and/or garage, you really need it. In the review the use of the word ‘cracker’ was not, and is not, meant to be construed as being in any way derogatory or racist, btw. It is a derivation of ‘crackin”, a word used on the Isles to convey something of a superlative or exemplary quality. And this record is both of these, btw.

Music From The Trees
Steal Away EP 
Nou Lion/US/12
Very little info on this one, but as King Britt provides mix pressure on one of the tracks one could guess that it’s from Philly. Regardless of where it’s from this is one truly cracker release, four tracks in all, ranging from the swinging, loungey “Steal Away” to the excellent, lush, sexy, but minimal “Back To Basiks.” Plus you get two mixes of “Summer In The City” with the tooty flutey fun of “The Nou Lion Mix” doing it for me with its meandering flute, Raw Silk samples and sterling groove. Quality deep, deep house and well worth forking out six odd dollars for, so you can play it at any hour of the night. Chris Orr