FREE ALBUM! Echoes (The Remixes) - Renegade Media

Well then, here's a treat for a Friday night… a 12-track remix album from Renegade Media, the Toronto label run by rising world dub/reggae star Dubmatix. And it's free.

I won't bang on about it, cos you can hear it for yourself, obviously. Suffice to say if you like your dub vibes – from classic dub to digidub to dubstep – you seriously need this. And given the bargain-tastic price of precisely nothing, it'd be seriously rude not to grab yourself a copy!

Echoes (The Remixes Volume One) by RenegadeMedia

Out: Well, now, obviously. Duh.

About: As Renegade Media has just given me/you a whole album for free, it'd be rather remiss of me not to at least include a link to their website, n'est-ce pas? If you dig the above then there's whole lot more to love from this excellent label so go explore...

Elay Lazutkin – Funky EP

Some truly funky-assed shit here on a tech-house tip, with four tracks guaranteed to send into a frenzy those floors that like it a little more electronic and twisted.

Actually, that's pretty much all you need to know, so I could stop right there really. But I suppose I should tell you that while all four tracks will do the do for sure, People Of The World (distinguished by a vocal sample saying, er, "people of the world" and some cute little acid wibbles) is probably the standout for me.

Interestingly as well, the hype sheet bills this as techno. But I'd call it tech-house for sure. So shoot me.

Out: This week

About: This is on the relatively new (this is their 9th release) IBZ Recordings, who are based – unsurprisingly – in Ibiza, and who can be found on Soundcloud and MySpace. And here's a little write-up about 'em on Resident Advisor as well.

Justin Harris - Music's My Religion

It's that time of the week again, where you're running out of days and nowhere near running out cool tunes, so might have to do one of those round-up thingies this weekend. But this had to get a proper mention. Yes, it's Justin Harris of Freaks fame. So you'd expect this to be quality for sure. What's a little bit surprising, though, is that it's one of the most straight-up 'house' things we've heard from the man in years.

Not that I'm not a fan of the Freaks' more experimental/leftfield vibes, cos I am – and nor is this house-by-numbers Hed Kandi fodder by a long chalk – but yeah, it's a little bit more geared towards Saturday nights in big rooms than a lot of the Freaks' output. In a good way.

The original features a preacherman vocal over an insistent, pulsating synth bassline, equally insistent percussion and a bunch of other sounds that have a distinctly 1993 feeling about them. The script gets flipped totally by Demarkus Lewis on Deez Preach 2 Teach Mix, which puts the same vocal over some classic Chicago-style squelchy acid deepness à la Mr Fingers. But then People 2011 is more of the retro party vibes, reworking a certain VERY familiar piano sample alongside a little of that gypsy vibe to devastating effect.

Like I said… just quality straight-up house music.

Out: This week

About: I think I've told you before about the mildly interesting fact Justin Harris DJ'd at my birthday party once (in 1993, funnily enough, years before he was famous or owt), so we'll skip that bit and I'll just tell you that this is another killer from the mighty Baker Street. And if having Justin Harris and Demarkus Lewis on the one 12" isn't a sign how far the Leeds boys have come up in the house music world, I don't know what is…

David Boomah & Serum – Why They Wanna

Continuing with tonight's more eclectic theme, here we have a FIRING slab of D&B and dubstep courtesy of Mr Boomah, whose dulcet reggaefied vocals have graced several by Shy FX and others over the years.

Here though he teams up with rising D&B star Serum, for a pleasingly old skool sounding jungle roller of an A-side that brings some seriously heavy sub-bass pressure. It's not the most groundbreaking tune perhaps but it's quality for sure.

But that's by no means the end of the story, because on the B we also have Mission Impossible, remixed by French producer Von D into a very different-sounding but equally heavy dubstep headnodder. It's about as rough and sawtoothed in the bassline department as TIWWD cares to go, TBH, but Boomah's sweet vocals counterpoint the gnarly bottom end nicely, moving the track beyond the limitations of mere 'brostep', as I believe the kiddies call it, with the two parts adding up to a far more satisfactory whole. Just be sure to have your bass-face at the ready.

Out: This week

About: This comes on the legendary V Recordings, and I'm sure you don't really need me to tell you anything about them so we'll leave it there!

Daniel Mehes - Highend

So far this week we've talked pretty much exclusively about deep, techy house so let's mix it up a little bit tonight. Starting with this release from new (this is DMI003) Hungarian label Dubmetrical, which somewhat unusually for TIWWD is an out-and-out techno stomper.

Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right, stomping east European techno isn't usually TIWWD's cup of tea. And in fact, on the basis of the Original or the Andy Notalez Remix here, I'd be going "I'm sure it's good for what it is but it's not for me". The Andy Notalez & Niaz Arca Remix, though… well that's another kettle of fish altogether, as the Swedish pair turn Highend into a kind of dark, muscular industrial funk. It's sparse, it's heavily electronic, and it's harder than you'd normally read about on this blog… but it's also seriously groovy.

In other words, yeah it's straight-up techno, but it's GOOD straight-up techno, and worthy of your attention.

Out: This week

About: As I said, Dubmetrical are just three releases old… you can find 'em at Dubmetrical.com but really that'll just lead you to their Facebook and Soundcloud pages, for now. You can HEAR THIS at the latter.

Marvin Zeyss - In My Arms EP

A brand new label, and a newish young German producer to boot. Mr Zeyss has had stuff out on iRecords and 1 Trax in the past year or so, I'm told, but I have to admit TIWWD is gonna have to treat him as a newbie today… which makes the quality of this four-track EP all the more impressive.

In My Arms in its original form is a lively, driving deep houser from the outset, then goes into an extended breakdown in the midsection before coming back strong with those whooshy kicks again. A 1am kinda tune, to these ears. Remix duties are taken care of by Giom, a producer in whose hands good things have a habit of happening… and his remix of In My Arms is no exception, as he loses the possibly slightly over-dramatic breakdown and gives the track a healthy injection of added funk instead – quality.

And speaking of funk… the other cut here is Between Your Legs, which is an altogether jauntier affair than the above. As with In My Arms, though, I can't help feeling the Original tries to cram too many ideas into one track, the rolling organic funk at the beginning sitting somewhat uneasily, to these ears, with the more glitchy, cut-up midsection. So again it's the remix that's floating my boat more, the Luzz Vs Obrien Remix to give it a name, which goes down more of a 'classic stripped-down house' route.

Still, for a producer who made his debut only last year, this is very impressive stuff indeed – let's hope there's plenty more to come.

Out: This week

About: As I said, as well as marking Mr Zeyss's first appearance on TIWWD this is also the debut release from a brand new label, UM Records. The guys behind it are no novices, though – as the hype sheet kindly points out: "New Zealand's UM Records is the latest project from untitledmusic, the deep house ‘brand’ that encompasses a blog, a worldwide weekly radio show on eNation, Deepvibes, Live1.fm and Westradio, and [a] deep house fan group on Facebook." To find out more, visit them on Soundcloud or check out the aforesaid Facebook group or their own brand new Facebook page.

Ethyl & Huxley - 3 Feet High

A decent deep/tech-house offering from E&H here, complete with not one but two remixes from Roman Flügel, once of Alter Ego fame (on which, more in a mo').

The original of 3 Feet High is a midpaced swayer of a tune, with a pleasingly capacious bottom end but other than that, a 'less is more' approach overall. It'd be better suited to afterhours/warmup play than peaktime action I'd suggest but there's nothing wrong with that.

And the remixes? Not having been following the career of Mr Flügel in recent years I must admit I was pleasantly suprised, because the man once responsible for horrible shrill glitch garbage like Geht's Noch (sorry, but I think it's one of the worst records ever made) now seems to have returned to making proper house. And so his two rubs of 3 Feet High are actually rather good, Mix 1 bringing out the track's driftaway, dreamy side while Mix 2 gets down and dirty on the dancefloor with an even phatter bottom-end than the Original.

Overall, it's possibly a bit 'deep in a trendy Hoxton way' as opposed to 'deep in a sweaty northern basement' kinda way but it's really very good all the same…

Out: This week… Saturday to be precise.

About: This is the debut release from Ethyl & Huxley's own Saints & Sonnets label. You can find 'em on Facebook and there's an interesting little write-up on Resident Advisor.

EZLV - Extended Weekend

Kent's Trendy Mullet Recordings come good here with some more top-quality deep house bizniss, this time courtesy of a pair of French Canadians called Ezekiel and Louis Vee. So you can see where they got the name from.

In total you get two mixes of Extended Weekend itself, plus bonus cut Soul Dwelling. In its Original form, Extended Weekend is a midpaced, warm-up/comedown, headnodding/sofa surfing kinda choon, with snatches of sampled speech plus an omnipresent 'dum dum dum' vocal, pads galore and of course, those all-important insistent kicks. Fellow French Canadian Maher Daniel then provides a remix which ups the dancefloor ante somewhat with rather more driving percussion, though it's still one strictly for the deeper floors.

Soul Dwelling, meanwhile, is a slightly more upbeat affair with about as much of a 'euphoric' vibe about it as deep house ever gets, a female voice intoning 'soca, soca' (I think) and a blissful piano lead. Balearic niceness abounds, in other words.

Out: This week

About: Can't believe this is Trendy Mullet's 24th release yet it's only recently they've really started to register on the TIWWD radar… which I guess goes to show just how hard it is to make an impression amidst the general bewildering profusion of indie start-up labels. Either that, or I'm just getting old and losing my touch, but that couldn't be it, surely? Ahem. Anyway, you can find them online here (website), here (Soundcloud) and indeed here (FB)

Yovovich - Answear EP

And while we're on the subject of deep, techy numbers that don't really do much or go anywhere much at all, but sound Pretty Damn Fine while they're not doing it/not going there, here's a brace more courtesy of Yovovich, on this latest from Unrivaled Music.

Given that both Answear and the accompanying 0143pm are, as I believe I've just made clear, pretty sparse and minimal, and given that Unrivaled haven't supplied any information as to Yovovich's pedigree/country of origin/shoe size/etc, this'll be quite a short entry. But yeah, if you like it seriously deep you won't go wrong here. And for what it's worth, of the two quite similar-sounding tracks, 0143pm has just a little more floor-friendly bounce to it.

Out: This week. Today, in fact. As is usually the case on a Monday.

About: Find Unrivaled Music online here.

Claire Ripley – Sweat EP

I'm not really a fan of swearing in the names of tracks/labels/nights… it just all seems a bit adolescent. "Ooh, look at me, I used a bad word, aren't I naughty?" etc. But in this instance we'll forgive Ms Ripley – just this once, mind – cos this EP headed up by the charmingly-titled DJ Fuckhead is a proper deep techy bomb.

"Which came first… shitty rave music, or the drugs?" asks a male voice in the aforesaid lead cut, while in the background the steady kicks and the wobbly treated organ (?) that doubles as both bassline and lead chug away nicely from start to finish. At just 122.82 BPM (according to Traktor) and with no big obvious hooks it's not going to be getting hammered at peaktime in big clubs in Ibeefa or anything, but drop this on the right floor at the right time and it'll slay 'em. Mark E then provides a remix which starts out just as uncompromisingly slow, dark and druggy, but then adds slightly more energetic techno percussion and some squelchy acid filth as the track progresses. Which is just fine, as it goes.

The accompanying Lois Eats Mud, meanwhile, is a brighter-sounding but still relatively sedate affair… if I was gonna anthropomorphise this tune, I'd cast it as a shy-but-pretty girl swaying gently on the fringes of the dancefloor. In Bearweasel's hands, though, it becomes more of stripped-down, dubby thing that makes me think of listening to early Strictly instrumentals on Mogadon. Not that I've ever actually done that, you understand, but you get the idea.

So, childish cussing aside, this is thoughtful, techno-informed, forward-thinking house music from a rising star of the scene. Hurrah!

Out: This week

About: Claire Ripley has had stuff out before on Steve Bug's Dessous and Aki Bergen's Neurotraxx, which is another clue as to the kind of cerebral-but-groovy electronica contained herein. This particular, single, however, comes to you courtesy of Alex Arnout's Sheffield-based Dogmatik Digital.

DJ MIX Sav Manganaro - Deep Into Wired 001

Well, it's Sunday night… but you can banish those back-to-work blues with this free, downloadable mix from Mr Manganaro, who for the duration of one of your Earth hours takes it deep, dubby and discofied… enjoy!

Sav Manganaro - Deep into Wired 001 by Wired [Label]

Thanks to Enzo Siffredi cos I nicked this off his Facebook wall!

Les Loups - Side To Side

On the hype sheet, Philipp Landmann from Les Loups describes this as "a homage to old skool house". That's quite important to note, because the Original here is the kind of French disco house that ruled the late 90s, faithfully recreated – no more no less.

There's a big resurgence of interest in that sound right now, of course, as has been noted on this blog not a few times. But for old gits like me who heard enough first time around, of more interest right now are the remixes. The She Said Disco Mix takes the tempo right now and adds some birdsong, party noise and suchlike, turning Side To Side into a slo-mo Balearic gem, while the Ohyeah Remix sticks with the retro disco-house vibe but then ups the ante by throwing in an even older-skool Ital-style piano riff.

Maybe not the most ground-breaking release of the month, but good clean nostalgic fun nonetheless.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Umalu Recordings, an offshoot off Jazzy Eyewear's So Sound Recordings label. You can find Umalu on MySpace, visit the So Sound mothership's website or find Hamburg-based Les Loups (and HEAR THIS) on Soundcloud.

Sean McCabe & Stephanie Cooke - Just A Little Bit

King Street's not-at-all-fierce ruling diva (I've met her, she's lovely, and a very classy lady) teams up with rising UK star Sean McCabe, which you have to think must be something of a dream come true for the young lad from south Wales.

Just A Little Bit is one for those who like their soulful house/USG in the traditional vein, for sure. Mix-wise you get three from McCabe himself, two from Black Sonix and one from Marlon D but to be honest they don't vary hugely… still, if pushed, I'd go for Marlon D's rub, which while still using the full vocal, strips things back a little musically for a slightly less sweet sound.

My personal tastes might have moved in a deeper/techier direction in recent years, but this is exactly the kind of thing I used to feen for and it's good to see that there are still those pushing that sumptous, Jersey-inspired vocal vibe… and this oozes quality from every pore. With not a lame-ass broken Afro-jazz rub in sight!

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street by now, surely? They're on Facebook as well. Oh, and you can find out more about Mr McCabe here.

Mr Cenzo – City Streets EP

A neat little three-tracker here from Electric Sheep, covering a range of styles. Lead track Out Of The City starts out all deep n' moody, but soon develops into a jaunty, jazzy and off-kilter slice of future garage goodness – and just wait for that organ drop three minutes in! Limited Dreams is more yer post-club driftaway affair, sparsely beautiful and with enough of a techy edge to stop it being mere ambient ear-candy, while closer Moving Clouds marries tech-house and nu-disco influences for a cut that'll warm up a range of floors nicely.

Not much else to say really but, y'know, it's good. Or rather, Moving Clouds and Limited Dreams are good; Out Of The City is a stone-cold killer.

Out: This week

About: Electric Sheep Recordings have to be admired for bringing us quality house and techno from across the spectrum; for me they're one of those labels where, you might not like everything they release, but you'll always want to check them out. You can do so at their website, on Facebook, on MySpace or on Soundcloud.

Bledbox – The Frogmen EP

Now here's a record that certainly couldn't be accused of being overly 'polite'. But don't be put off by the horror-tastic cover – The Frogmen EP isn't the horrible gore-step noise you might be expecting. Instead, it's dubstep of the kind that's big and bold enough to draw youngsters onto the floor to throw themselves about, yet has enough sonic depth to suit more discerning ears too.

The title track features a literal frog chorus (rhythmic ribbits, if you like), a suitably sub-aquatically bubblin' bassline and moody, glacial synth stabs. Storage Wars is dark and sci-fi-esque, while Ice Age VIP is more the kind of bass-fest that'll appeal to D&B lovers, but with a strong influence from the more esoteric end of techno as well (there's an 808 break in middle that could have come straight off a Drexciya record).

All told, a strong EP, and best of all, it's free to download! Rude not to…

Out: Now

About: To grab a copy of The Frogmen EP for yourself, hit up Dub Force One – the label responsible – on Bandcamp. Oh, and I should also thank the folks at Futuregarageforum.com cos that's where I found this one.

ALBUM Miguel Migs - Outside The Skyline

For Migs' third studio album, he's joined by a truly stellar list of collaborators. Reggae heroes Half Pint, Freddie MacGregor and Capleton; Meshell Ndegeocello, Georg Levin and Bebel Gilberto from the worlds of jazz and leftfield hip-hop, and original disco diva Evelyn 'Champagne' King are ably aided and abetted by Migs' regular partners-in-crime Aya and the inimitable Lisa Shaw.

That he's able to attract such a cast into his studio speaks volumes for how far Migs has come: with a string of awards behind him, not to mention countless high-profile remixes for Billboard Top 100 A-listers (everyone from Macy Gray to Britney Spears), this is one producer who's well and truly moved beyond the underground deep house ghetto. And that, you see, is both Outside The Skyline's greatest strength… and its weakness.

For while its pigeonhole-defying approach is undoubtedly indicative of a producer starting to really stretch his musical wings – while Migs' songwriting craft is unquestionable – and while it pains me to make any sort of criticism, simply because Migs is one of the nicest and humblest guys working in dance music today – the overall effect is just a little, well… polite. Reggae, broken beat and leftfield/chill-out vibes are all on offer but if you had to file this in a record shop, 'soul-jazz' is where you'd most likely want to put it overall, and you can't help casting one eye wistfully back towards the dancefloor.

Don't get me wrong, there are some gems here for sure. Everybody (with Evelyn 'Champagne' King), The System (with Capleton) and Don't Stop (with Aya) stand out, and Lisa Shaw's vocals on Breakdown and Lose Control do their usual thing of turning your knees (well all right, my knees) to jelly. But it's telling that the three tracks namechecked – flirting respectively with disco, dancehall and the kind of sultry, grown-up house-pop that made Stonebridge's Can't Get Enough album such a surprising delight some years ago – are those moments where Outside The Skyline is at its most dancefloor-oriented.

It's an album that could easily have mass appeal, and if you're a long-term fan of Migs and that whole Naked Music vibe, you'll want Outside The Skyline in your collection for sure. But you're most likely to play it when non-clubbing friends come round for canapes and cocktails. When you want some o'dat raw, bumpin' underground shizzle of the kind that Migs made his name with, it's Salted's string of excellent 12-inch releases that you'll want to reach for instead.

But maybe I'm just not grown-up enough yet, or something – personally, I still like the beats that go boom! So do check this for yourself – it is, in its own way, a fine album.

Out: This week

About: After previous adventures on Virgin/Astralwerks, this comes on Migs' own Salted Music… who it's only fair to point out do still turn out a fine line in deep, jacking house on a regular basis, so it's not like the boy's forgotten us.

Various - What Happens 50

As I've said several times on here lately, Danish house/tech-house imprint has been on a serious run of form. This various artists EP marking the label's 50th release is no exception.

The EP kicks off with label boss Tim Andresen's own Clammy Old Place, which is essentially a vintage-sounding female vocal snippet over an insistent midtempo tech-house rhythm and understated walking bassline, with some atmospheric synth washes flying across the top. It doesn't do a lot, but it's an infectious groove for sure.

Then we have Denis Horvat's More Of This, a darker and tuffer tech-house cut leaning towards the 'tech' side of the equation, before Chris Minus picks up the pace even more with Pink Bubble… what's really cool here though is the way the driving technoid beats are balanced by some lovely house-y pads and keys. Little snippets of hip-hop/jazz vox thrown in Salted/Drop Music-style further help ensure this one should see plays from a wide variety of jocks.

And finally, Jesus Pablo & Di Rivera give us Runaway, an atmospheric cut that somehow manages to be prog in its epic construction, but pure Chicago in its sound palette. You'd need to be fully confident of your floor to drop this one, but if you are and you do, it'll slay 'em.

Like I said, then – another quality release from What Happens. Happy anniversary guys.

Out: This week (on Beatport), 5 October (everywhere else)

About: Hit up What Happens on their website, on MySpace or on Facebook. Or visit Tim's Soundcloud page for preview tracks and some downloadable mixes.

Introducing… Vision Collective

Had a couple of bits through yesterday from a brand new label over in Cork, Ireland, called Vision Collective Recordings. Both the singles they sent have been out for a little while now, but they were too good to ignore, so this is just to let everyone know about these new kids on the deep house block.

VCRD001 was Mick Verma's Synthsomagic/Vermaquin. The former is a driftaway post-club deep house excursion, with synth washes galore and a 303 bassline, while Vermaquin is a lazy, summer-sounding cut that you'd ideally hear by a poolside somwhere.

VCRD002, released just a few weeks ago, follows that with QuestionmarQ's September On Fire and R&S. September On Fire is a midtempo deep house cut with a fat, organic-sounding (emphasis on -sounding!) bassline, some lovely jazzy keys and a disembodied female voice saying "works almost instantly" – like something out of a sci-fi movie. R&S, meanwhile, is a more uptempo, techified affair and aimed straight at the dancefloor.

On this evidence, Vision Collective could be a label to keep an eye on. Keep 'em coming boys!

Out: Now

About: Find out more about this new label and the artists involved at their website.

Einmusik - Ocean's Bottom Pt 2

Presumably I would have been sent Ocean's Bottom Pt 1, but I honestly can't say I remember it. But that's not important right now, as Leslie Nielson so memorably said in Airplane.

What's important right now, is that Nyx is a little gem that sits right on the border of deep house and prog, building slowly and inexorably from a simple kick n' clap intro into a proper jaunty little hip-shaker and no mistake guv, while Oneiros is a rather more driving and more overtly proggy number, whose lineage comes directly from the likes of Plastic Dreams and Positive Education. Before we get carried away, I wouldn't quite put it up there with either but you get the idea sound-wise.

Two very solid cuts for your deep/tech dancefloor, then.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Samuel Kinderman AKA Einmusik's own label Einmusika, of course. Click the link for the website, or you can find them on Facebook as well.

Ciappy DJ & Davide Murri ft Russoul - Don't Give Up

One for the soulful crew, courtesy of Italian duo Ciappy & Murri, with vocals from one Russoul, which you've gotta say is an excellent name (tee-hee).

With soaring (but not OTT) strings, Russoul's, er, soulful vox and a neat wicky-wicky geetar line, this'll go down a treat at the likes of Soul Heaven and Southport Weekender, without a doubt, aided and abetted by mixes from Booker T, who ditches the strings and guitar but adds Afro-y percussion, from Mannix, who ups the disco quotient, from Dave Doyle, pushing a funkier feel, and from C&M themselves (presumably) on the Classful Mix, which goes for a deeper, more sultry vibe with some gently tinkling ivories.

For lovers of trad-style house/garage vibes, it's a no-brainer, really. But the story doesn't end there! Because for those who aren't into the whole vocal thing, there's also a rather fine bumpin' deep house dub courtesy of Harold Heath, which I must admit would be my pick these days (with the Classful Mix a close second).

Something for house lovers of many persuasions, then.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha on Universe Media, the London-based house imprint set up in 2007 by Timmy Vegas (Soul Central) and Martina Lancaster, whose extensive dance music CV – I've just noticed – includes the excellent Defender. Now there was a label!

Mosca - Done Me Wrong

I didn't actually get sent this, I just found it online just now. But it's out this week, and it's ace... proper bumpin' UKG bizniss like we used to do it back in the day!

If you click on a download arrow on the right, it'll bring up a 'buy' link. Just so's ya know.
Mosca - Done Me Wrong / Bax (Out 19th September on Numbers) by Numbers

Andrea Mattioli & Stefano Kosa - Flashback EP

A neat little tech-house two-tracker from Diva Records here. Not got a lot of tell you about it, or indeed to say about it really… but Deja Vu is a chuggy number leaning towards the 'tech' side of the equation with a looping spoken vocal that sounds like it's probably a film sample, while Flashback is a more house-ified affair with chopped-up bits of classic house diva-style vox and a neat line in crisp snares and understated but insistent kicks by way of a backdrop.

Like I said, not gonna wax too lyrical, these are just two solid cuts that'll keep the floor moving and sometimes that's all you need, innit?

Out: This week

About: Diva Records are based in San Benedetto, Italy. To find out more you can contact them here or visit their MySpace, Facebook or Soundcloud.

The Sneekers - Sexy Disco

Disco is definitely the name of the game on this funky little cut from Stripped Digital. But you do get three quite different mixes to play with.

The Original works a kind of midtempo disco-house vibe, and here it's pretty much all about a monster of a bassline, one that reminds me (rather a lot, actually) of Loverush's Same Ol' Thing, which came out on Credence, ooh, years ago.

Then you get Ed Lee's Disco Mix, which plays down the b-line and ditches the rather 80s "I can't get enough" vocal, but adds tuffer beats, a spoken vocal breakdown ("in the beginning, before house, before acid, techno, before all of that… we had disco") and shedloads of brass, wukka-wukking guitars and cowbells. And then finally, the Days Off Remix, which uses both vocals, and is the one that'll appeal most to lovers of synthy nu-disco of the Nang/Tirk/etc variety.

I'm digging all three rubs, making this a very solid bet for sure.

Out: This week

About: This comes, as stated, on Norman H's Essex-based label Stripped Digital

Tanner Ross - B-Side/4 U

If you like your house music very, very deep and bordering on the downtempo/experimental, then check for this new EP from Tanner Ross, whose CV includes releases on labels like Freerange, Dirty Bird and Culprit.

B-Side (which is the A-side, naturally) is a lo-slung groove that sashays along at a mere 117bpm, and as such would fit nicely into slo-mo, nu-disco or warm-up sets… though it'll stand pitching up to a house tempo as well.

4 U, meanwhile, features a vocal from Flo Night (such as it is, cos all it is is her saying "I make song for you" or something similar) and is in a similar slo-mo (120bpm this time) kinda vein, albeit with an 80s electrofunk/boogie b-line rather than the more Chi-town style bassline on B-Side. Rounding out the EP is a very minimalist Deniz Kurtel remix of 4 U, which takes AGES to get going and has lots of atmospheric beatless bits, but does rock along at a slightly more energetic 123bpm.

Out: This week

About: This is on Toronto house/techno stable No.19 Records, who were picked as a 'label to watch' on Beatportal and who can also be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Sunner Soul & Sergey Silvertone - Shadow Dancer EP

More top-quality deep house bizniss here from the ever-dependable Tokyo Red Recordings.

Shadow Dancer itself is a chunk of deep n' dreamy house with sumptuous pads, a nicely understated sax riff and a steady, walking b-line… perfect for warm-up or afterhours play. Filling Of Time, up next, features vocal snips (presumably from Lenya Goo, who's added to the credits for this and the next track?), and is in a similarly laidback kinda vein but perhaps just a little more floor-friendly. If you're playing to a floor that likes it nice and deep, anyway! And then finally Latin Under is by far the most upbeat and funktified of the three cuts, being most reminiscent of classic 'Brit deep' of the late 90s (think Paper, Toko, Nuphonic etc).

Just lovely deep grooves all round, really.

Out: This week (today, in fact)

About: You should be aware of Tokyo Red by now, I bang on about 'em enough! But here's their MySpace, plus the website for the main man, my boy DJ Sydney.

Little Fritter & Zare - Living Free EP

Seems like ages since I had anything through from Hudd Trax, but maybe they've just somehow gotten overlooked… anyway, this latest release shows there's no danger of the Yorkshire-based deep house label's quality standards slipping any.

Living Free itself is powered along by tuff, no-nonsense kicks, atop which vocal snips and lingering pads are slowly added before the full spoken male vocal comes in. A stripped-down treat for mangled 4am dancefloors… when the spirit is willing but the legs are weary!

Somewhat oddly, given the EP title, Living Free is presented in just the one mix, but you get three of the other cut, I Want It Back. Another sterling deep houser, Mr G's Taking It Back Mix is, as the name suggests, a trip back to the old skool style, while Luna City add a little proggy wobble, but I think my favourite - just – is Little Fritter's own Ruff Mix, a sparse yet sultry delight.

It's a close thing, though – basically what we have here are four very solid helpings of proper deep house for the underground faithful. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: Hudd Trax are based in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield. The label's run by the Slum Science boys, and since its birth in 2005 they've put out material from the likes of Rolando, JT Donaldson and Iz & Diz, which gives you an idea of the kind of quality to expect!

Little Fritter & Zare, meanwhile, hail from down under. If you want to know more, you can find out all you need to know about Little Fritter at Resident Advisor or hit up Zare's Soundcloud page.

Vibration Lab – Forward Operation EP

Okay, so now we're up to speed let's crack on with this week's releases, and we'll start with this one… cos I've had this for a couple of weeks now and I've been dying to tell you about it! Vibration Lab return with more of their reggae-meets-dubstep vibes: there are six tracks on the EP and not a duff cut in sight.

Heavy, heavy basslines and sampled vox from the likes of Gregory Isaacs (I think, on So Fine) and Yellowman (for sure, on Forward Operation itself) are the basic order of the day, with the balance between the reggae and dubstep elements varying – Smiling Dub is just out and out dubstep really, while Try To Hurt Me is more or less straight-up (dub) reggae. But the quality shines through, throughout. Ital stuff y'know?!

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha on Mindstep Music, the deep dubstep label run by Rinse FM's DJ Crises, and you can hear it at their website. And here's their Facebook and Soundcloud pages as well.

Some more recent goodies (round-up, part 2)

Tom Lown – Cozy Corner EP
The ever-reliable 3am deliver a quality four-tracker of deep, techy house that should probably get a bigger review but time prevents! Two mixes apiece of Oh Oh and A Cozy Corner Of Your Heart, and I'm plumping for the Orig of the former or the Mark Jones Remix of the latter (nothing to do with the Wall of Sound geezer, incidentally… this Mark Jones is a young lad from Dublin). Good stuff all round.
Label: 3am Recordings

Aldo Cadiz – Tengo

The latest from Ireland's Elevation Recordings goes down a raw, Afro-y route, with two mixes of Tengo plus Loko Block and Negrito Ven. The Moroccan souk vibes of the latter work best for me.
Label: Elevation

Lusty Zanzibar – The Feeling EP
Although branded 'nu-disco', this ventures a little too far into dodgy 80s synth-pop territory for my liking, particularly in the vocal. But you could see the Fear Of Theydon Remix working well in sundown-type sets.
Label: Nang

Various – Factomania All-Stars Vol 2 Ibiza
Don't let the Ibiza reference in the title put you off – there's some fine-quality house music, covering a range of styles, to be found on this latest five-track sampler from Mr Lopez's Factomania imprint. Alex Gomes & Bias's I Feel, in particular, is a sheer deep vocal delight.
Label: Factomania


Various – Southpark Sampler Vol 1
Another multi-artist sampler EP, this time from Swedish house imprint Southpark. Valero's World Famous is the standout for me on a six-tracker that also features the talents of Danny Logan, Kenny Brian, Kenny Ground, Mirco Caruso and Radu F & Mikael
Label: Southpark Records

Warren Paul – Nice & Tight EP
Finally for this round-up, we up the tempo a little with some skippy, stuttery UK garage beats courtesy of Warren Paul. Love The Way is the one for the lovers of old skool, Tuff Jam-type vibes while It's Love, with its chipmunk vocal and big fat b-line, takes me back to the early days of 'bassline house', before the house part fell off and it all went a bit urban and shit. Excellent work, Mr Paul!
Label: LU10

Some other recent goodies (round-up, part 1)

So much good music, so little time! In the interests of fairness, then, let's have one of our semi-regular round-ups of the past week's other checkable releases… not in any particular order.

Chuck Cogan – The Secret Garden/Intensity
Following his series of deep-meets-prog releases, Mr Cogan changes tack slightly here and goes down a

somewhat techier path. The Secret Garden is a decent slab of cinematic Detroit but it's the acid-bubblin' Intensity that's doing it more for me.

Label: Ooze Recordings

Mauritzio feat Levern – Wanna Be
The latest from the reborn Black Vinyl sees the label back in familiar soulful, Afro-tinged territory. But my pick here would be the 4am Mix, which eschews the earnest ethno-stylings in favour of an ultra-deep, trad NJ gar-ahge kinda vibe.
Label: Black Vinyl

Autodeep – For Too Long EP
Coming on the new-ish So Sound offshoot, Umalu, this 'indie-dance/nu-disco' cut (in their words) sounds a little too like Freakpower for comfort… but luckily Toomy Disco is on hand with a remix just dripping in his trademark disco dust.
Label: Umalu Recordings

Duca – Ninja Warrior
Sitting somewhere between tech- and disco-house, this is a no-nonsense, hi-octane chugger made for keeping booties moving on

dancefloors, no more no less. If you can remember Full Intention's I Love America or Kacoc's Night Train, you're somewhere in the ballpark.
Label: Desert Trax

Stickbubbly – Patience EP
A serviceable dubstep four-tracker that's got plenty of gnarly bottom-end for the bass-face generation, yet that lifts itself above the morass of chav-step with some interesting textures and melodies. Patience itself is by far the strongest cut.

Label: LU10

Lyle Quach – The Indian Groove
If you're getting a bit bored of that whole 'tech-house plus gypsy violins/accordia' schtick, then how about some tech-house plus Indian sitars? A world-changer The Indian Groove may not be, but Mr Quach is at least trying to flip the script, for which he deserves kudos.
Label: Yellowjax Recordings

Q-Burns Abstract Message ft Lisa Shaw – Innocent
New mixes from Presslaboys take this soulful number featuring one of the finest voices in dance music in a slightly more big room direction… but not so much so as to spoil it, don't worry!
Label: Eighth Dimension

Valentina – Milky Thoughts
A single-tracker from Italy's Beenoise, doing the minimal techno thing with more aplomb – and considerably more funk – than most. Nice.
Label: Beenoise

Beltek – Kaiten
Another single-tracker, this time from Umek's 1605 stable. It's about as full-on techno as TIWWD would ever care to go but, as with the Valentina release, it's got that all-important funk flowing through its veins for sure. By the bucketload, in fact – 'techno disco' would probably the best description I could give you.
Label: 1605 Music Therapy

Onionz – Begunnin'/Stankin'
Two BIG peaktime house tracks from a past master of the genre, on his own Electrik Soul imprint. Begunnin' is the more immediate standout thanks to its cheeky use of a very familiar funk sample (I won't spoil it), but the deeper/techier Stankin' is definitely worth a dip too.
Label: Eclectic Soul

Kyodai – Mi Rumba EP
I don't think Freerange love me any more since iDJ closed… leastways they never replied to my emails and I've not had owt from them since. So I'd feel perfectly justified in sulking but this is a typically forward-leaning slab of house/techno and deserves a shout at least.
Label: Freerange

That's your lot for tonight. There's a few more to tell you about tomorrow, and then we'll crack on with THIS week's bits and pieces…

Robert Owens - One Tear plus INTERVIEW

From a new label featuring two new-ish names (see Mendo & Hector Couto, below) to a true past master of the house music game - Robert Owens, the voice of classics like Tears, I'll Be Your Friend, Was I Here Before, Tear Down The Walls, Walk A Mile In My Shoes and many more.

One Tear doesn't see Mr Owens (to you) going down any particularly startling new routes, or anything – especially when you consider his many forays into D&B and other musical pastures, this is pretty much classic Owens-style vocal Chicago house music. But if it ain't broke, as they say… suffice to say, for Owens fans this is a must-have.

What's more, as so often with Owens' work, there's also a slightly melancholic, mournful feel to the whole thing… both lyrically ("sometimes I didn't see it coming/sometimes I didn't see the clouds before the rain"), and – thanks to the minor-key synth motif – musically. Which is something I asked Robert about when he kindly agreed to answer some questions exclusively for TIWWD readers.

TIWWD: How did you come to hook up with Tevo Howard for the release of One Tear?
Robert: We both played at the same gig and thought it would be great to do a track together as we both respect each other's work.

TIWWD: Is there a particular story to One Tear? In many of your songs there seems to be a theme of loss, would you care to talk about that at all?
Robert: Yes, loss is a big part of my life, past to present – but not just my life but for many people around the world. I’ve always felt if I could let others know I’ve experienced the same emotions they’re feeling and going through, I might help ease some of their problems if I could shine a light on a view to lift them out of that state of mind. Many of my ‘loss’ thoughts have a ‘way out’ theme.

TIWWD: After so many years in the game, does it get harder to come up with new ideas? Or do you feel your craft as a singer/songwriter is still developing, in the way (for instance) a painter may feel the work they do at 50 is more proficient than the work they did at 25?
Robert: Everything about me and my view to life and giving is natural. I don’t try, I apply, and every day a page keeps turning, from old to new. I’m grateful for the people in my life, they are my lifeline.

TIWWD: Another question regarding longevity... how do you find you get along, as an ‘elder statesman’ of house music, with the up-and-coming producers, labels, promoters etc today?
Robert: I’m lucky, so far most people I meet know who I am and I’m not short on people asking to work with me. That’s the beauty of this business that keeps me strong.

TIWWD: Are there any plans to come to the UK for gigs to promote this release?
Robert: Every week I’m flying to some part of the world to play so it could be the UK next week. Or even tomorrow!

TIWWD: Finally, when I spoke to you for iDJ a few years back, you were putting a lot of energy into DJing as well as singing. Is this still the case?
Robert: Yes, I still like loving people… and one hand washes the other.

Out: The single One Tear is out this week on Tevo Howard Recordings

About: Chicago label Tevo Howard, owned and run by the artist/producer of the same name, can be found online here. There's a pretty good profile piece over at Resident Advisor as well.

Mendo & Hector Couto - The First Underdog EP

The first release from a brand new label here… and on this evidence, Underdog Music will be a welcome arrival on the scene.

It's a split affair. Hector Couto's Whisper, on one side, is a chugging tech-houser with jaunty, swinging, almost garage-y beats and fem vocal snips, while Telefunk, also from Couto, is a slightly more heads-down, chuggier number but still with plenty of funk its veins. On the other side, meanwhile, Mendo gives us Apache, which is in a similar driving tech-house vein, this time utilising crowd noise and some plainitive… sirens? whistles? Or perhaps some kind of First Nations instrument I'm not aware of?

Whatever it is making the noise I'm failing to describe very well on Apache, though, all told what we have here are three very useful tech-house bullets for your dancefloor arsenal.

Out: This week

About: Underdog Music is a new offshoot of the Underdog Bookings DJ agency, who can be online at their own website or on Facebook.

DJ MIX AMDJs Radio Show Vol 135

Busy tiling a kitchen wall today and DJing tonight so in case I don't get another chance to blog today, here's the latest radio show/podcast from my friends Feodor & Elena in Russia… deep house heads of such exquisite taste that they once had me on as a guest DJ!

In F&E's own words:

"In this week show we play the promos from Nightbird Music, Real Tone Records, Save Room Recordings, People That Make Music Records, Night Drive Music, Kina Limited, Escapism Musique, Take Away, Exotic Refreshment, Soul Industries. We also play some old stuff from DiKSO and Redux, and some great re-edits from Brendon P, Deep&Disco, 78Edits, Drop Out Orchestra, Munga and Psychemagik."

Enjoy!

AMDJS Radio Show VOL135 (2 hours with Feodor AllRight & Elena Mechta) by AMDJS Radio Show

Anthony Mansfield & DJ Garth - Pancho's Revenge

I'm loving the way this is billed on the hype sheet as 'nu-disco/late-night sleaze'. I'm not sure I entirely agree - not with the nu-disco part, anyway – but you've got to love the coining of 'late-night sleaze' as a genre.

And sleazy, down and dirty it certainly is… though how you'd classify Pancho's Revenge in genre terms I'm not entirely sure. Beat Broker's Remix is a kind of proggy, drifty affair while the Ilya Santana mix I guess does kinda take us into nu-disco territory with its Moroder-ish synths. But you see that doesn't help much, because the real reason this is here is the much harder-to-define Original Mix, whose primary distinguishing characteristic is some ace wah-wah guitar, which sits atop beats I guess you could vaguely call sort of tech-house-ish. Maybe.

I'm not helping much, am I? Mostly what I want to say though is this reminds me A LOT of the classic False Leader by Gary Clail, which is the reason I've already played it about four times when I only got sent it this morning. So it really doesn't matter what category you want to file it under… this is just great.

Out: This week

About: This is on Mansfield's own label, Hector Works (follow the label link for the usual social media pages). And yes, it is the DJ Garth of Grayhound fame, just in case you were wondering.

Kamo - Set The Routine

Manchester-based Aussie brothers Kamo featured on here precisely a month ago with the excellent Hulme EP on Losing Suki; now here they come again with another outstanding single, this time for Trendy Mullet.

As with the previous EP, there are hints of classic NY/NJ garage, of the deeper variety. The original of Set The Routine, for instance, is a twisted, jazzy affair that sounds like it could easily have come out on Kerri Chandler's Madhouse back in the day… great organ sounds, and is that a tiny vocal snip of Get Your Hands Off My Man I hear in there? Luke Solomon then supplies an even more twisted remix that sounds not 100 miles from his own work with the mighty Freaks, though TBH I'm still preferring the Original I think.

You also get two mixes of Shoot Your Shot. The original's a fat, laidback but nonetheless funky groover with a D-Train-esque kinda feel. This time though it's the remix, a slightly beefed-up and more Chicago-ish Manuel Sahagan rub that I'm feeling more.

Whichever mix you plump for though, if you like your house music on the more thoughtful and forward-leaning side, you won't go wrong here.

Out: This week

About: As stated this is brought to you by Kent-based label Trendy Mullet. Click the link for their website or check out Kamo's own blog.

DJ MIX Stuart Wilkinson - Lemon Sponge Mix

Stuart Wilkinson is an institution on the Bristol club scene, not to mention being a thoroughly nice chap. He's best known for his long-running Empathy club night, which in its early days did more than most to fly the flag for progressive house in Bristol – Jim Rivers is a former resident – and in latter days has brought tough, techy sounds. But here Stuart shows his deeper side, with a mix taking in downtempo electronica, deep crunchy beats and, towards the end, a little Balearic uplift.

Yes, it's a shameless plug for a mate… but the mix is pretty cool or I wouldn't do it! Enjoy.

Stuart Wilkinson 'Lemon Sponge Mix' by Stuart-Wilkinson

Oh yeah, and here's the tracklist:

1. Thomas Fehlmann 'Von Oben' (Kompakt)
2. Kasper Bjorke 'Heaven' Nicholas Jaar remix (HFN Music)
3. Mic Newman 'The Trembling Trio' (Dirt Crew)
4. Thompson feat Jakob Schneidewind & Myele Manzanza 'Stellar' (Hair Records)
5. Flowers & Sea Creatures 'International' Lee jones Watergate Remix (BuzzinFly)
6. Ray Okpara 'A Believer' (Cécille Records )
7. Carsten Jost 'Love' (Dial)
8. Nhar 'Close Up' (Wir Records)
9. Silicone Soul 'Right On Right On' Nick Curley mix (Soma)
10. Matilda 'Protea' (Exone)

If you want to know more, mail empathy_bristol@msn.com

Green Street - In Effect

As we all know, there's something of a disco-house revival going on right now, and Steve Mac and co's Nocturnal Recordings continue to keep up their end of the bargain with this latest from Green Street.

Thankfully leaning towards the more credible, Sneak-ish side of disco-house, as opposed tothe cheesy French touch/Hed Kandi end of the spectrum, In Effect in its Original form consists of the usual filtered disco loops plus a male voice listing those urban centres that are “in effect”. Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago and New York all are, apparently, though strangely Chelmsford seems to have been missed off the list. Ah well.

The M80 Dub takes things a little deeper and drops the vox, while the Hijack Re-Rub adds some silly Dutch-style synth wibbles for the kiddies. The track doesn't really need it to these ears but then I'm not 17, am I?

Overall TIWWD verdict: not essential, but playable for sure.

Out: This week

About: The best place to find Nocturnal would seem to be on Facebook but they're also on MySpace, naturally

TIWWD now on Facebook

Just to let you all know, there's now a Facebook page for This Is Why We Dance as well... I'll try and repost reviews to the Facebook page regularly and it also gives people a chance to interact a bit as well, so if you like the blog, please LIKE the Facebook page and feel free to post on the Wall.

And don't forget you can always comment on posts here too!

ALBUM Pig & Dan - Then & Now

A 22-track epic of 'dark house and high-energy techno', in the words of the hype sheet, with 'Then' featuring 11 tracks culled from Pig & Dan's ten-year history of making music together, while 'Now' features 11 all-new P&D tracks, including collaborations, including Underworld collab 'Geeza'. It's not a difficult concept, is it?

But while it might not be a difficult concept, it IS absolutely rocking! I've long been a fan of Pig & Dan's muscular, house-ified take on techno (which is how I'd describe their sound overall) and 'Then & Now' doesn't disappoint… had it on in the headphones while I was at the day job today* and I was bouncing around in my seat like a loon.

The highlights come thick and fast on both discs, but special mention has to made of P&D's Moog Remix of House Music by Eddie Amador (one of only two non-P&D originals featured, the other being their rub of Quivver's Funktribe), which has never been released before and is pretty much worth buying the album for on its own. I'd like to go into more detail but all I've got is the mixed (and non-trackmarked) promo, so working out what track is which is a bit tricky!

But yeah, if it's a 2.5 hours of dancefloor-oriented, funk-fuelled energy you're after, step right this way.

Out: This week, with both mixed and unmixed versions available.

About: This comes on the legendary Yoshitoshi, who've been one of Pig & Dan's regular haunts over the years (alongside Cocoon and their own Submission label). Their website's currently getting an overhaul but you can also find them on the usual suspects - Facebook, MySpace and Soundcloud.

*(writing annotations for an article on the new Martian lander Curiosity, if you must know, so if you need to know anything about ChemCam, just ask)