Deeply prolific Devon-based house connoisseur Andy Compton has released over a dozen albums and close to 100 EPs (either under his own name or as part of The Rurals) on his essential Peng label and imprints like Ralf GUM’s GOGO Music.

Since he started playing and producing music at the age of 16, Compton has looked towards jazz, soul and African music to define his unique sound, which he’s described as “Afro Devon Deep”.

Output from Peng and The Rurals has been the focus of four South Africa-specific collections on House Afrika: 2002’s ‘Sunday Sessions 1’, 2005’s ‘Sunday Sessions 2’, 2010’s 4-CD set ‘House Afrika Grooves’ and, most recently, 2011’s ‘Kholofelo Remixed’, which features a lustrous line-up of top-notch remixes of his material, no less than eight of which come from South African producers.

On his previous – and surprisingly, given the popularity of his work in SA – first trip to South Africa at the end of 2010, Compton described the original ‘Kholofelo’ album as having “influences from the African music, added to the deep, soulful house I generally produce,” and said he thought it was only natural to get his favorite SA producers involved: “To give it that South African vibe.” He added that deep African house is his “favourite kind of music at the moment, because it has a raw energy. I personally love the rhythms, the beats.”

Since discovering house music in the early ‘90s (and hooking up with vocalist Marie Tweek to form The Rurals), Compton has released a dazzling array of music and worked with an army of artists (from Motown legends to budding underground names like Pirahnahead). He’s been featured on the cover of the seminal DJ Magazine and had his music used in TV show Six Feet Under, while tunes like “Sweeter Sounds” have become bona fide anthems at spots like NY’s Shelter.

Compton has generally turned heads and twisted bodies with his thumping brew of electronic beats swathed in coolly-crafted melodies, with Peng becoming one of the premiere labels on the planet, garnering support from house big-hitters like Louie Vega, Larry Heard, Mark Farina and Osunlade.

All this has solidified Compton’s reputation as one of the most respected house music players on the planet.