Artists.

Lisbon's Hélder Russo debuts on Universo Positivo with deep and refined house and hip-hop fusions while Orlando Voorn and Threshold Of Madness step up with two moving remixes.

Hélder Russo is at the centre of an ever more vital and vibrant scene in Lisbon, Portugal. His unique sound draws on a wide range of Black music influences from jazz and soul to Detroit and Disco, as well as Cape Verdean pioneers like Cesária Évora and Orlando Pantera and 90s hip-hop. All of that feeds into his work on local labels like Groovement, Percebes, Dutch outlets TINK! Music and Tomorrow Is Now Kid! and now on Universo Positivo.
His rich, authentic style has also seen him DJ at cult places like Lux ,Sonar and Suncebeat.

MDA Grooves is a prolific, Dutch-Portuguese producer and the driving creative force behind Universo Positivo, the Lisbon-and-Amsterdam label. Emerging from Joseph Salvador's original Amsterdam-based TINK! Records, MDA Grooves became one of Universo Positivo's cornerstone artists from the label's earliest days, releasing a steady stream of EPs that fuse Latin house with Afro, salsa, cumbia and disco influences.

Sound and approach

MDA Grooves is built on Afro, Latin American and Brazilian musical genres with lots of percussion as his primary language — hand drums, whistles, bird calls and carnival rhythms recur throughout his catalogue — layered with samplers, synths and drum machines to create a warm, analogue-textured sound. He collaborates with musicians and vocalists from Brazil and Ghana, including Rio de Janeiro-born singer Lilian Vieira and Ghanaian highlife artist "Sloopy" Mike Gyamfi, lending his records an authenticity rooted in the traditions he draws from.

Key releases on Universo Positivo

• 'One Good Day' (debut single, released in the label's first year) — a joyous, inclusivity-themed cut released in four versions, including an Afro Mix and a darker retouch by Dutch techno pioneer Orlando Voorn.

• 'Batucada Lounge' (sophomore EP) — closing with an "Underground Carnaval Mix" evoking Rio's carnival after dark, alongside another Orlando Voorn remix.

• Sabrosa' — a dedicated Latin house release channeling Salsa and Cumbia energy across three cuts ('Loca Beach Party,' 'Esta Loca Social Club' and 'Loca Hotel Lounge Party'), built on fiery horns, rolling congas and deep basslines.

• 'Songs of Alkebulan' — a deeper turn toward Afro-electronic sound, named for Alkebulan, an ancestral name for Africa. The four-track EP presents two works in dual mixes — 'I Am Because We Are' (Night Mix/Day Mix) and 'Roots In The Sky' (Moon Mix/Sun Mix) — pairing tribal percussion and hand drums with cosmic, atmospheric synth textures for both introspective listening and dancefloor use.

• Sonido Latino' EP — summer-ready Latin house heaters blending Cumbia, accordion, flute and Spanish vocals. Later remixed by Kai Alcé and charted nr. 1 on Traxsource Soulful House charts.

• 'Liambada Party' EP — featuring 'Muamba,' 'Gazelle' and 'I Want You,' drawing on Angolan-rooted terminology and Afrobeat rhythms.

• 'Carioca Bounce' EP featuring 'Ipanema Jazz' / 'Que Beleza' / 'Carioca Bounce' — a jazz-and-samba-inflected set showcasing trumpet lines and carnival energy. Later remixed by Sean McCabe reaching dozens of DJ;s charts and #1 on Traxsource Top 100.

• America Libre featuring 'Mi Corazon,' 'Radio BC Sur,' 'Somos Como Una Flor' and 'Esta Noche Es Loca' — moving from swooning deep house into cumbia and late-night Spanish-vocal flex.

• 'Riomantic' EP, including 'Cristo Rei' and 'Caparica Sunset,' the latter later remixed by JKriv for Universo Positivo's fourth vinyl release.

• 'Brazuca Chic' EP — featuring 'Rio de Janeiro O Ano Inteiro' and 'Caipira Da Caparica,' blending MPB, salsa and Afro-Brazilian percussion.

Legacy

Across dozens of tracks, MDA Grooves has become synonymous with Universo Positivo's identity — a label built on refined, globally-minded house music. His catalogue forms what has been described as a musical travelogue, moving fluidly between continents and genres while maintaining a consistent commitment to live percussion, cultural authenticity and dancefloor sophistication.

Orlando Voorn is one of the first Dutch musicians to make a bridge between Detroit and Amsterdam. Winner of the dutch DMC DJ Championship in 1986, he made his mark over the decades hopping seamlessly between genres such as House, Electro, Downtempo or Drum ‘n Bass and has collaborated with artists such as Derrick May, Blake Baxter, Format, Stalker and now the late Amp Fiddler. Countless releases on labels like Housewax, Third Year, Multiplex, Rush Hour, R&S Records, Subject Detroit and countless others make Orlando Voorn one of the most prolific European producers.

Dutch techno icon Orlando Voorn has long been a pillar of the scene and helped form a sonic bond with pioneers in Detroit, releasing on the likes of R&S, Rush Hour and Housewax. He again forges bonds with Detroit on this new single, which features the late, great Amp Fiddler. Amp Fiddler was a Motor City icon who taught hip-hop great J Dilla how to use a drum machine, often worked with Moodymann, toured with Parliament, and pioneered his funk sound. Their 'Back to Basic' is a piano-driven house classic with larger-than-life vocals from Amp Fiddler, warm, life-affirming pads, and an irresistible swagger.

Orlando Voorn & Amsterdam flutist, Han Litz.
Techno icon, Orlando Voorn, has long been a pillar of the Dutch scene forming an essential link with pioneers of the sound in its birthplace of Detroit. He made his mark across the decades hopping between diverse genres and has collaborated with legends like Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Blake Baxter and Amp Fiddler with his releases gracing labels like Rush Hour, R&S and Housewax.
On this release for Universo Positivo , Voorn collaborates with flute maestro, composer and arranger, Han Litz. Fluent in a wide range of styles and genres, performing with Jazzanova, Osunlade, Louie Vega, Patrick Forge and DJ Deep, Litz was one of the founders of spiritual jazz ensemble Kindred Spirits.
This is toe tapping, head nodding business from Orlando Voorn, with the mesmerising jazzy funk flute from Han Litz who provides the cherry on top. Lovingly crafted to captivate and elevate the soul, whether you're a DJ, or a dancer, you will appreciate its deadly grooves, percussive layers, jazz energies, and Orlando’s luscious meditative loops. Add in the smooth vocals and gorgeous flute, and we have yet another unique release on Universo Positivo.

Salphunk is the disco-focused alias of Joseph Salvador, a Lisbon-based producer and the founder of the record label Universo Positivo, which he launched in 2024 with a Lisbon-Amsterdam footprint. Salvador's own history goes back to the early '90s Dutch club scene, where he ran the label TINK! Records and later with his twin sons "Tomorrow is Now Kid!" that helped shape Amsterdam's nightlife at the time.

Salphunk works nowadays out of his own studio in Lisbon, writing and producing most of his material there while bringing in local musicians to fill out the sound with live guitar, percussion, and vocals. That approach has produced a fairly quick run of releases: the "Live On" EP in October, the "How Do You Like It" single in March, and the "Give It To Me" package and more recently the ”Nights In The Haze” EP most arriving with several mixes and dub versions built for different points in a DJ set.

The music itself sits in nu-disco and cosmic-boogie territory — elastic basslines, warm analogue synths and Moog solos, clavinet and horn parts pulled from '70s funk, and vocals that lean sultry rather than showy. Tracks move between slow-burning, late-night grooves and faster club-oriented cuts, often built around a specific mood or setting, whether that's a smoky downtown club, a taxi ride home at dawn, or a basement party that runs until sunrise.

Salphunk is one of the clearer expressions of what Universo Positivo is going for: disco's original warmth and musicianship, updated just enough for a current dancefloor.

South Bay Jams is the house alias of Joseph Salvador, a producer whose roots in the scene stretch back to 1990s Amsterdam, where he cut his teeth promoting parties, running studios, and heading up cult imprints like TINK! Records, all while throwing the beloved Tomorrow Is Now Kid! nights. Decades later, that same restless curiosity now flows through South Bay Jams — a project built on warm, soulful deep house that draws as much from old-school hip-house and Latin rhythm as it does from classic Chicago and New Jersey grooves.

South Bay Jams is also the artistic engine behind Universo Positivo Records, the Lisbon-based label Salvador launched to bridge his Amsterdam house heritage with his adopted home on Portugal's sun-soaked coast. Since its founding, the label has become a trusted name among deep house tastemakers — with releases finding support from the likes of DJ Deep, Glenn Underground, and Jimpster — and South Bay Jams has been at the center of its catalog from day one.

Sound

The South Bay Jams signature is instantly recognizable: deep, rubbery basslines under lush, atmospheric pads; emotion-drenched piano chords; and vocal samples that feel plucked from a smoky late-night booth rather than a database. Congas, 909 beats, organ stabs, and analogue drum shuffle recur throughout the catalog, but each release finds its own mood — sometimes a sweaty peak-time stomper, sometimes an intimate, sax-laced come-down. It's dance music built for feeling as much as moving.

Discography

South Bay Jams introduced himself in the summer of 2024 with "I Just House," a nostalgic yet fresh single that arrived with a remix from Dutch house and techno legend Orlando Voorn — a collaborator who would return again across the catalog. The two-track "Come On Back Girl" / "What I Need" followed, pairing heart-string piano work with a sultry, acid-laced Latin house cut.

Later that year, the three-track "Special Something" EP (October 2024) deepened the palette with driving congas and cinematic strings, before "Ordinary Things" (February 2025) — another Voorn collaboration — explored a darker, moodier register with bubbling low-end drums and tugging female vocals.

The "House Jams" EP kept the momentum going through 2025 with four true-school cuts, from the festival-ready "Sisters (Summer High Mix)" to the low-slung, Tokyo-inspired "Leroy Was Here (Harajuku Mix)."

2026 brought a particularly hot run: the sax-laced "Deep South" EP in January, the sun-drenched "Wisps of Time" EP in April — recorded with Lisbon's coastal glow in mind and anchored by the Kerri Chandler-indebted "Musique" — and the "Keep Goin' On" EP in May, closing with the minor-key hymn "Get Down Piano Jam." That June, South Bay Jams' "U R The Revolution" was handed to Medlar for a rework on the Universo Positivo: Remixed compilation, sitting alongside reworks of labelmate MDA Grooves by Kai Alce, Sean McCabe, and JKriv.

Selected Releases

Year + Release

2024
I Just House (incl. Orlando Voorn Remix)
Come On Back Girl / What I Need
Special Something EP

2025
Ordinary Things (incl. Orlando Voorn Remix)
House Jams EP

2026
Deep South EP
Shout & Praise EP
Wisps of Time EP
Keep Goin' On EP
Universo Positivo: Remixed (Medlar Remix of "U R The Revolution")

All releases are out now on Universo Positivo Records.

Tokyo Joe Orchestra

Despite the name, Tokyo Joe Orchestra isn't a room full of musicians — it's one mind wearing a new mask. The project is the latest alter ego of Joseph Salvador, the producer behind cult imprints TINK! Music and Tomorrow Is Now, Kid!. Under this moniker, Salvador reaches back to two golden eras at once: the original 1970s New York disco sound and 1980s Japanese City Pop, fusing them into something boogie-down, balearic, and unmistakably positive — music built equally for singing along and dancing all night.

Crucially, nothing here is a re-edit or a sample flip. Every huge organic bassline, orchestral stab, shimmering arpeggio and analog pad is played and produced from scratch, pulled from a studio stacked with vintage synthesizers of the era. Guest vocalists and musicians round out the sound, giving each record a warm, nostalgic feel without ever leaning on the mold of the original records that inspired it. As the story goes: Tokyo Joe doesn't need to sample the '70s and '80s — he has the original synths.

"I Release You"

The latest single from Tokyo Joe Orchestra, released via Universo Positivo, is a modern soul ballad built around organic bass, orchestral stabs and lush arpeggios — all lifted from the emotional memory of soulful disco and get-down boogie rather than any sampler. The track arrives in four versions: the Original Mix, which lets Angel‑A's vocal take center stage; Orlando Voorn's "Goosebump Remix," the deepest and most atmospheric cut of the set; Reece Johnson's "Soulful Remix," a pure house-vibes rework; and an Instrumental Mix for those who want the groove without the vocal.

Featured Artists

Angel-A — Vocalist

A native Detroiter, Angel-A brings powerhouse songwriting and a deep, sultry vocal to "I Release You." Her voice and writing have earned collaborations with Detroit house royalty including Moodymann, Karizma, Timmy Regisford and Roy Davis Jr., and she has shared stages on tour with The Clark Sisters, Oleta Adams and Patti LaBelle. Her recorded output spans respected soulful and deep house labels, with releases on Mahogani Music (Moodymann's own imprint), Quantize Recordings and Nervous Records.

Orlando Voorn — Remixer, "Goosebump Remix"

Born in Amsterdam in 1968, Orlando Voorn is one of Dutch dance music's most important figures and one of the first European producers to build a real bridge between Amsterdam and Detroit. A DJ from the age of twelve, he won the Dutch DMC DJ Championship in 1986 before turning to production, where he became a key European collaborator with Detroit techno's founding generation — recording with Juan Atkins (as the duo behind "Game One"), working alongside Derrick May, and teaming up with Blake Baxter as The Ghetto Brothers. Over more than three decades and a dizzying array of aliases, he has released on landmark labels like Metroplex, KMS and Fragile, and continues to put out music across house, techno and beyond. On "I Release You," his "Goosebump Remix" is the release's deepest, most chilling reinterpretation.

Reece Johnson — Remixer, "Soulful Remix"

A Yorkshire-born, Cornwall-based DJ and producer, Reece Johnson has been releasing music since the mid-2000s. He started out making '90s-influenced deep house before moving toward French-touch-inspired disco house, edits and reworks, drawing inspiration from classic imprints like Crydamoure and Roulé alongside contemporary labels such as Razor N Tape and Toy Tonics. His discography includes releases on Nervous Records, Robsoul Recordings, Lumberjacks in Hell and Tropical Disco Records, with support from tastemaking DJs across the house and disco scene. His "Soulful Remix" of "I Release You" brings his signature pure house vibes to the track.

House favourites Kai Alce, Sean McCabe, JKriv and Medlar debut on Universo Positivo.
This EP is the fourth to arrive on 12" vinyl from Joseph Salvador's label

After two years of agenda-setting house sounds, Universo Positivo makes its fourth foray into vinyl with this classy remix EP. In that time, founder Joseph Salvador has established the label with a mix of his own music and fresh grooves from careful A&Red pioneers and new school names. He has been doing much the same since the 90s with various projects from his cult TINK Records and the Tomorrow Is Now Kid! nights in Amsterdam, in collaborative production outfits like Black Tulip & Wendell Morrison, and releasing records by DJ Steaw, Malin Genie, Fabio Monesi and many more.
This latest release brings together some of the most respected names in the scene for four standout reworks. First up is Atlanta-based NDTAL label head Kai Alce, who has long been one of deep house's most influential architects. He flips 'Sonido Latino' into a smooth groove with jazzy, Roy Ayers-style melodies that bring a soft-focus glow and late-night intimacy.
Then comes Bristol-based producer Sean McCabe, a master of vintage synths with a 20-year back catalogue on seminal labels like Local Talk, Strictly Rhythm and Z Records. His take on 'Ipanema Jazz' maintains the original's samba shuffle but reframes it in a deep house groove with extra expressive jazz keys, dainty chords and playful trumpet motifs.
Brooklyn-based Razor-N-Tape co-founder JKriv brings his many years of experience as a guitarist, producer and songwriter to his take on 'Caparica Sunset'. It's a deep, driving sound that's playful and romantic with flirtatious horns and soft acid, dusty breakbeats and luscious grooves for loved-up sessions.
Last but not least is Medlar, the South London underground mainstay with a wide-ranging sound and album credits on the likes of Delusions Of Grandeur. He remixes 'U R The Revolution' into a warm, euphoric rush of throwback house that's warm, melodic and sure to get the 'floor going off.

Universo Positivo returns with a new EP from the boss himself alongside Europe mainstay Orlando Voorn. The dynamic duo serve up four cuts that perfectly embody their timeless sound.
Salvador has been at the heart of the underground since the 1990s. He is deeply involved on the scene on many different levels from running the cult Tomorrow Is Now Kid! nights in Amsterdam to labels like TINK Records and also working as part of house acts like Black Tulip & Wendell Morrison, Electronic Voodoo, Thyone Girls and Digital Cartel. His music always operates at the sharp end of the spectrum and has come on labels like Tribal America, EMI and Sony Columbia.

Orlando Voorn is equally as vital to the evolution of techno. His sound famously builds a bridge between Detroit pioneers and the contemporary European sound and he has worked with greats such as Carl Craig, Blake Baxter and Amp Fiddler. He recently remixed South Bay Jams on this label and has also dropped music on the likes of Rush Hour, R&S and Housewax.