Neil Browne - Watch Dis

Okay, so just in case you were thinking the Wagon Cookin' track was a bit poppy – which admittedly it is, but I still like it all the same – let's move on next to this (or should that be dis?) which is as resolutely underground an affair as you could ask for.

It's good value for money, too, cos there are no fewer than six mixes of Watch Dis to choose from, representing a range of styles. The Original, d00sh and Darren Flecta mixes could all basically be filed under the 'tech-house' banner, but they do vary: the Original uses eastern sounds and crisp beats, d00sh's has more techno-fied lo-end rumble while Darren Flecta's is a bit more tripped out in a plinky-plonk kinda way. All are playable but I think the Original wins out for sheer originality in its sound palette.

There's also a darker and more overtly techno mix from Glen McArdle, but perhaps of most interest to TIWWD readers will be the rubs from Echofusion and Moojah. Echofusion's Deeper Remix is, unsurprisingly, a deep house refix and perfectly tailored for very, very late play, with one of those spoken vocals you either love or hate: "the vibe, the groove, the music… house music… this is deep house", you know the deal! Some might find that off-putting I guess but I'm a sucker for those kind of vocals so this mix is working just fine and dandy for me. And then finally, we come to Moojah's rub… a deep as in 'deeeeeeep' dub/minimal techno affair that's surprisingly upbeat while at the same time pushing the 'less is more' ethos to the max.

It's the last two rubs that are my picks, as you might have guessed, but just generally, this is one for the proverbial 'proper heads' for sure.

Out: This week

About: Yep, it's another gem dug up by those ever-prolific Endemic Digital boys…

VIDEO Wagon Cookin' ft Odille Lima - No Bossy Girl

A week or so back I said I thought No Bossy Girl was the standout track from Wagon Cookin's Eleven album. Seems I mustn't have been the only person to think that, cos here's a video for it and everything…

 

I dunno, first a sad-looking puppy and now a pop video… we're racking up the multimedia delights today aren't we?

D&B track for animal shelter

Blu Mar Ten, purveyors of the finest D&B, show their softer side this month as they release this digital benefit single for London's Mayhew Animal Home.

The track in question, Pilgrim Soul, is a no-nonsense dancefloor cut that kinda sounds like liquid funk only with a slightly tougher edge. It was first out in 2006, but is now being made available as a digital download in high-quality WAV format… all they ask is that you put £1 into the coffers of this entirely donation-reliant shelter for abandoned cats, dogs and other pets.

To donate and download, click here. And if you needed a little extra impetus to do so, here's a picture of someone who needs your help…

Win a digital DJ bag!

Calling all hard-working digital DJ types! Fusion Bags, makers of musical equipment cases, have introduced a range of hard-wearing gig bags to keep your precious laptop and hardware controller safe on the road. And right now you've got the chance to win one for the princely sum of zero pence/cents/

zloties/dinar/whatever they have where you're reading this.

The winner gets to choose his/her own preferred bag from the range of three that Fusion make. Normally these things sell for the considerably MORE princely sum of $200 (that's about £130, and THAT'S if you don't end up paying the dollar prince in pounds) so it's a prize worth having for sure.

For more info on the bags, click here. To be in with a chance of winning one, just head over to the Fusion bags Facebook page and enter the draw by 19 December.

Flash Atkins – Camper Van EP

After Maya Jane's excursions into slower, dubbier pastures (below) let's stick with the slightly more leftfield house vibes, with this rather lovely four-tracker from Flash Atkins, AKA Paper Recordings main man Ben Davis.

Test One is a reworking of Sweet Exorcist's bleep classic with the tinky-tonk analogue acid sparseness of the original replaced by an altogether more sumptuous and uplifting nu-disco feel. And a trumpet, unless I'm very much mistaken… but it works. In Flash Dub form, which has something of a big-room techno feel to it, it works even better. And it comes accompanied with Cherry Bounce, an altogether funkier, more organic affair with plenty of uplift, which again is accompanied by Flash's own Dub for maximum impact.

Playing the original and this version of Test One side-by-side is quite instructional, actually, I think. It's the perfect demonstration of how far we've come, and proof of what for me is one of house music's greatest strengths – the ability to essentially all sound the same, and yet simultaneously, continue to ceaselessly reinvent itself.

Anyway enough of the cod theorising – this is good.

Out: This week

About: Here's the obligatory Paper Recordings link, then.

Maya Jane Coles - Don't Put Me In Your Box EP

Now to an EP that's sure to get a lot of attention, coming as it does ON one of the hippest labels around and FROM one of the scene's current hottest names. Lucky, then, that the EP's plenty strong enough to warrant the kind of attention it's likely to get.

Parallel Worlds kicks off the EP, a lovely deep house groover that sounds a bit like Lidell Townsell's All I Wanna Do reinvented for 21st century Berlin. Dub Child is up next, a more chilled-out slab of deep dub house/dub techno, and the gentle, introspective mood continues on Something In The Air, which has echoes of both progressive house and a whole bevvy of ambient/experimental artists, before the EP comes to a close with Parallel Worlds, which takes us back to the dancefloor.

It makes me chuckle indulgently to see the dance press getting their designer scanties all in a twist over Maya Jane right now, giving that she was getting big props on this very blog a whole two years ago! But she deserves it for sure – and on the evidence of this EP, her talents are still only maturing.

So the soon-come artist album should be worth looking out for, eh?

Out: This week

About: Find out all you need to know about the uber-hip Hypercolour here. One of them's called Russell so they must be cool, innit? Even if he has only got it as a surname. It's the thought that counts.

Corduroy Mavericks – Guilty Please EP

I'm not sure if the "woo-ooh, any time that you want me, any time that you want me" vocal here is sampled from something famous, but it's a bit too poppy for my liking. But it's okay, cos we can skip the Original and jump straight to the Flapjackers Wicked Old School Remix, which is indeed, er, wicked and old school!

Like the original, this mix works hefty chunks of Jomanda's original rave classic Make My Body Rock, but it all-but-ditches the cheesy main vocal sample (except for some disembodied 'woo-oohs') in favour of funny little speech snippets à la S-Express/Coldcut/etc ("let's play this backwards and see if it sounds better") and, most importantly, some Jersey-style organs to die for. Underpinned by a full-phat deep house b-line, it's like a little trip down Fuzzy Memory Lane…

Outa My Head rounds out the package, which is kind of deep house gone mellow Balearic pop… and which then totally sucker-punches you by going into a re-working of a certain similarly-titled Kylie number. Sounds awful on paper I know, but it works surprisingly well.

Predictable, this EP is not. One for the earnest chin-stroking types it possibly is not, either. But highly checkable, it most certainly is. Respect to all involved for their flagrant disregard for rulebooks.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Lepento Records, the housier sister to dubstep labels LU10 and Four40. The link will take you to their Soundcloud page so you can find out more…

Andre Detoxx – She Believed In Me

On to the first of this week's releases then… a cracking EP from a Polish producer who lives in London, via a label based in New Zealand. What a truly international deep house community we are, eh?

Not sure why the EP's called what it is, cos what you actually get are three mixes of a track called Redeem, plus two of another called Nightchords. The latter comes will satisfy your craving for soothing uber-deepness whether you plump for the Original or the HouseRiders Late Night Remix, while the former is more post-club driftaway bizniss in its Original form, but gets taken to the dancefloor by Jeff Fontaine & Deep Spelle, with a stripped, dubby workout that reminds me a little bit of early Angel Moraes, and by YokoO, who injects some dark, synthy, almost proggy drama.

I think it's the more horizontally-inclined rubs over the dancefloor mixes for me this time out, but a strong package all round.

Out: This week

About: This come's on New Zealand's UM Records, which is run by the same peeps behind the excellent Deep House page on Facebook so they really should know what they're doing!

So many tunes, so little time…

There were a few things I meant to blog about last week but didn't get around to. So in the interests of trying to cover as much music as possible, and with apologies to the artists/labels that these are such brief nods, here's some other bits and bobs you might want to check for right now…

Various – Danish Dynamite (What Happens)

Four-track sampler EP from Tim Andresen's quality label based in Copenhagen, with deep house vibes from Mark Kruse & Thomas Dieckman and Chris Sane, whose You Know Better is the standout for me, plus some tougher tech-house from Desos and Tim himself.

More info

Pretty Criminals – Moustache EP (Hype Muzik)

The Essex boys serve up Nice Tache which is basically out-and-out techno, and Cactus which is slightly glitchy tech-house. But for me the pick here is Savannah, which operates in slightly more familiar deep house territory.

More info

Kinky Movement & Astral T – Hedonistic EP (Bounce House)

Thanks to DK for the Facebook love recently! More quality deep house from the Short Bus Kids' label here, though the poppy vocal on Hedonistic itself might be a bit much for some – I'd stick to Metafunk personally, which comes with a wickedly deep n' languid rub from the aforesaid Mr Watts, or check Kinky's Replay Remix if you need a little more bump.

More info

Nick Robson – Quick Shuffle EP (Sounds Of Juan)

More techno and tech-house grooves here, from the most overtly techno label in the Endemic Digital stable. Round In Circles is a bit too glitchy for me but Tap Dat works a housier groove while Quick Shuffle itself is a fun, quirky number.

More info

Elliot Wright – Maybe Next (Savoir Faire Musique)

Another label who can always be relied on to deliver the goods, and Maybe Next doesn't disappoint… a quality track for all you deep/tech fiends! Ultra-deep vibes on the Original and the Martijn remix, plus a slightly more floor-friendly rub from Keydin… how's that for a remix line-up?

More info

Okay, so that's brought us up to speed (the ever-ongoing issue of album releases aside), so let's see what THIS week has to offer…

FREE NU-DISCO TRACK Luminodisco - Dinossa

Italian nu-disco/electrodisco label Danny Was A Drag King featured on here once before with a rather groovy Hard Ton single, you may recall… well, here's another rather fine offering from them on a lo-slung n' sleazy kinda tip.

Enjoy!

Luminodisco-Dinossa by Low Life Inc

About: Find out more about Danny Was A Drag King by visiting their Facebook and Soundcloud pages.

Luke Pompey - Mind Control EP PLUS FREE TRACK

Luke Pompey delivers the latest for Definite Ridge here, and it's a must-check if bleepy house/techno with that classic early 90s feel floats your boat.

Think somewhere between Space Face, early Warp, ACR's classic MCR album and the more techno-inclined remixes of early Orb or System 7 and you're somewhere along the right lines for lead cut Mind Control. Label boss Leigh Oliver AKA Olivaffair serves up a re-rub that takes us into deep house territory, with the addition of some wicked sax parpery, and then Dark Kustura also delivers a remix that'll delight the Detroit heads.

Basically, this is a record that'll make any old raver very happy… well it does me, anyway.

But wait, there's more. To celebrate the release of the EP, Definite Ridge have kindly offered up this freebie track from Luke as well… it's not on the EP so get DL'ing cos when it's gone it's gone!

Luke Pompey - 'Sometimes' (FREE DOWNLOAD Bonus Promo Track) by Definite Ridge Recordings

Out: Last week, sorry, but I was away…

About: Definite Ridge are, without a doubt, THE finest house and techno label ever to have emerged from a small market town in the Pennines (Barnoldswick, to be precise)… they're only a few releases old but pretty much everything they've done to date has been a cracker. Find out more at their website and Facebook page

Francesco Tarantini - Mind Tracks EP

A six-track EP from Italy's Francesco Tarantini here, coming on the mighty Nite Grooves. Nite Grooves has always, of course, been King Street's home for the jackin', tracky shiznit and this EP is no exception!

In fact, I'd say Nite Grooves is pretty much the perfect home for this release, because across its six tracks it bridges the gap nicely between traditional NYC house (as you'd find on King Street) and more contemporary, techy European vibes (as you'd find on Street King). If it's tuff, no-nonsense heads-down deep/tech house for the dancefloor you're after then head for The Flow or Put Your Sunglasses on. If you want a little more of a Wave Music/Body & Soul-style ethno-infused vibe then check No Solution or Amazon, while finally the Eric Power B Remix of The Flow adds a few good-time disco tinges and The Great is an uncompromising slab of raw machine soul.

Admittedly I'm not so into the two Afro-y cuts myself but that's purely a matter of personal taste… this is nonetheless a very strong EP all round.

Out: This week

About: For more info on one of house music's longest-running and most-respected imprints, click here.

Phonic Funk - Dreaming Of You

First release on here for a while from Nightbird – we lost touch for a little while when my old iDJ email stopped working but it's sorted now – and I'm pleased to be able to report the French label hasn't lost its… knack (I nearly said 'touch' but I won't, for obvious reasons!)

Dreaming Of You is, for the first 3.45 or so of its life, a simple chugging deep/tech-house groove… before a big analogue synth crescendo sweeps everything away before it and the track drops away into a few moments of hands-in-the-air beatless bliss. And then in comes this trumpet… before we're back, now fully refreshed and energised, into the chuggery again. If you thought deep house couldn't do dancefloor drama, or if you thought you couldn't do big proggy breakdowns in a jazzy kinda way, think again! Awesome stuff.

And that's not all. Daniel Kyo's mix is even more dramatic, with a big, slow-building bottom-end that's positively hair-raising and more than a hint of The Man With The Red Face about the whole affair, while bonus cut Trapped (no relation to the Col Abrams classic) lightens the mood a little with some classic deep-but-uplifting house flavas.

Blending elements of prog, deep and tech house, this is, quite simply, a superb EP.

Out: This week

About: In one of the last-ever issues of iDJ, I named Sebastian Davidson's Nightbird as one of THE best deep house labels around. On this evidence, I see no reason to revise or retract that judgement at all! Find out more about 'em here

Onoff - Brown EP

Our second of the week from Angel Alanis and Steve Parker's Home Audio Recordings label… but when a label's on a roll, who am I to hold them back?

The four-track EP kicks off with Sorte Amplificada, a fairly uptempo rollin' house groove with subtle female vocal elements that's credited to Onoff Vs Tambor. All well and good, but it's when we go a little bit deeper that things get really interesting. Wednesday Night is a deep purist's delight with a proto-garage flavour that's not, in fact, hugely dissimilar from the Sleazy McQueen release below, Disco Fever is in a similar vein just a little more uptempo and with a few more dancefloor peaks and troughs, while finally Umbrella is a proper heads-down dancefloor workout for the deep floors with woodblock percussion, female 'ohs' buried deep in the mix, some snatches of preacherman vocal and – most importantly – some Jersey-style organs to die for.

Proper heads' bizniss and no mistake, guv'nor

Out: This week

About: Visit Home Audio online on Facebook, on Soundcloud and at their own blog.

Sleazy McQueen - Reconnect EP

Don't seem to have had as much nu-disco on here lately, but here's good ol' Sleazy McQueen keeping the flame alive…

Rollin' Me By is meandering, languid groove based around a lo-slung bassline, while Under My Spell is an even slower affair with elements of both cosmic disco and late 70s/early 80s NYC punk-funk and would surely make the perfect mixtape coda.

But the standout for me here is We Need To Reconnect, that kicks off with a sleazy (if you'll pardon the pun) electrofunk bass n' handclaps intro before some joyously old-school house pianos join the party. This one could have come out on Easy Street circa 1983/4, no problem at all… if your vinyl collection includes any of those classic Garage Trax or Garage Sound of Deepest New York comps then you need this in your life, believe!

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha on the mighty Paper Recordings, and you can HEAR all the tracks on their Soundcloud page

Adam Coley – Detroit Scene

I mentioned at the start of the week there were a couple to come from the Endemic stable. Well, here's the next one, and it's a corker…

Detroit Scene features a sampled, spoken vocal (which appears to be AN Other producer talking about how he got into making music. though I couldn't tell you who it is) and comes in three mixes. The mix I'm feeling the most is the Original, which is kind of reminiscent of early UK garage what with its vocal snips, insistent snares, subtle jazz b-line, and overall skippy feel. But Lee Daines' slo-mo/Leftroom-ish mix and a darkly groove tech-house rub from Adam Clark are both pretty damn good also.

Making this something of a must-check. So check it!

Out: This week

About: This is on Unrivaled Music, which is generally the housiest label in the Endemic portfolio, as if you hadn't twigged that for yourself by now…

Lorenzo Marrucci - Different Tastes EP

The fifth release from Angel Alanis and Steve Parker's Home Audio Recordings is an EP from Italy's Lorenzo Marrucci, who you'd never believe was a mere 21 years old judging by the quality and maturity of the music. But tis true.

Deep Tool is a simple deep, drifty late-night groove, featuring speech samples from what sounds like an interview with a movie or rock star talking about cars, women and, er, tax avoidance. It's cool, but it's the Bigi & Laurentiu Remix I'm feeling more, an altogether more rolling and funky affair. On the B, House Sweet House is a similarly rolling and funky instrumental in a 'dancefloor deep' kinda vein, and then the EP comes to a close with Looking Out, a deep, tech-y and most decidedly groovy houser with more sampled speech (this time from an interview with a stuntman, or so it would seem).

Okay, so perhaps there's nothing hugely groundbreaking or mindblowing going on… but to get four tracks this good and this varied from such a young producer is truly a rarity. Keep an eye on this fella.

Out: This week

About: As stated this is on Home Audio Recordings, who are based (of course) in Chicago. You can find 'em on Facebook, Soundcloud and their own blog.

Dave Martins - Deep Control EP

With four mixes in total of two tracks, Deep Control and Deep Station, the clue's kind of in the name for this latest from Jesus Pablo and Di Rivera's Something Different label.

By sheer coincidence (cos I hadn't really noticed until just now, I was just taking things in alphabetical order) Dave Martins also hails from Switzerland (see Da Funk review below). Co-owner of Southpark Records – who've also featured on here before now – his particular take on deep house is from the techier end of the spectrum, and he's not afraid to get in a groove and stay there! I'm liking both tracks but Deep Station just edges it for me, the speech samples (of an old radio announcement) giving the track a little more texture.

Remix-wise, Desos takes Deep Control into slightly more ominous and brooding deep techno territory, while Sweden's Thomas Durrani sprinkles some disco dust over Deep Station and transforms it into the one mix here you might get away with playing to a less specialist floor (but without, I hasten to add, going cheesy or obvious in any way).

All told, a solid bet with four very playable tracks. It's an EP for the purists rather than the mass market for sure… but since when was that ever a bad thing?

Out: This week

About: Something Different sum up their ethos as "releasing music on a deep, tech and groovy tip for dancefloors worldwide". Amen to that! Find 'em online here

Da Funk - Words To Say EP

Da Funk, AKA Daniel Kneubühler, takes time out from running Acryl Music to deliver a three-tracker for the legendary i! Records.

Words To Say itself is a drifty cut for late dancefloors or afterhours listening, sitting right on the deep/prog border and featuring pads that go on forever. Humpin' The Boonies is a more rousing, floor-oriented affair, while What's Up takes a more cinematic approach, like a late-night ride through a dystopian future citycape.

All three are well worth checking. Keep 'em coming Daniel!

Out: This week

About: i! Records' main online home these days seems to be their Facebook page. For more info on Da Funk and Acryl, meanwhile, visit their website, Facebook or Soundcloud pages

Martijn - Party People EP

After our little jaunt into downtempo pop territory we're back on more familiar ground here, with this four-track EP from northeastern wunderkind on Martijn on his own Deep Edition Recordings. Oddly, the EP consists of three mixes of Easy Lady and just one of Party People itself.

Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of the Deep Edition sound, and so it is here, but it's worth pointing out that this is one of the techiest, most leftfield offerings from the label yet, compared to the more funky/soulful side of deep we know them best for. From the original and Qmusse mixes of Easy Lady, then, expect quirky, forward-leaning deepness, while the Marvin Zeyss Remix would be more readily filed under tech-house.

And then finally, Party People takes us on a more retro-inspired house tip, with a sparse, Chicago-esque sound palette, cowbells, a treated, druggy vocal à la Green Velvet's Flash and what sounds suspiciously like a snippet of Weekend.

It's Party People I'm feeling most but all told, another strong release from a fine label.

Out: This week on Beatport, then everywhere else from 5 December

About: You can find Deep Edition on Soundcloud and Facebook

Motif - Halo

Just to show TIWWD isn't and was never meant to be purely a deep/tech house blog, here's something a little different…

The Original of Halo featured, you may recall, on last year's excellent Nu Disco Apres Ski mix album by Sare Havlicek. It's a delicate, ethereal number that sits somewhere between Balearica, slo-mo house and the floatiest of prog, and features an angelic female vocal from one Lena Belgart. Now, floaty prog with those dreamy-style vocals isn't usually my first choice, but sometimes a track just grabs you, doesn't it?

And Halo grabs me for sure. It reminds me a little bit of a more chilled-out sister to Milky's Just The Way You Are, another track I was surprised to find myself quite liking a few years back… maybe with a little bit of Kate Bush or Florence & The Machine thrown in for good measure. You get the idea, anyway.

It comes accompanied with three remixes. One's a straight-up instrumental, while Foto's mix ups the proggy elements, but perhaps of more interest to TIWWD readers will be the deep house-inspired mix from Joe Morris, which comes on not unlike vintage A Man Called Adam material.

It's between Morris's rub and the Original for me but yeah, liking this.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Dutch label United Recordings, who I don't think have featured on here before.

ALBUM Wagon Cookin' - Eleven

It's been eleven years since Wagon Cookin', AKA brothers Javier and Luis Garayalde, first started releasing house records, making their debut on Chris Duckenfield's Odori imprint. Plus, of course, it's 2011. Hence the name of this long-player, which is actually their fourth.

Eleven sees them pursuing a slightly poppier direction than on some of their previous, more nu-jazz/bruk beat-inspired outings, but that's no bad thing. Things get off to a flying start with No Bossy Girl, a glorious slice of shiny grown-up house-y disco pop reminiscent of classic Om material from the early 00s (think early Kaskade or Andy Caldwell)… other comparisons might be Stonebridge circa the under-rated Can't Get Enough album, or the UK's own Cooly's Hot Box.

Elsewhere, Feel So Good is in a similar vein to No Bossy Girl, while Dance Dance is a Cameo-esque slab of retro 80s-style electrofunk with a naggingly familiar riff. Music Is Not Far is another boogie homage, Sao Paulo provides the more lounge-y, downtempo kicks and Come Into The Light is the album's most out-and-out house cut, while Nicest Aligned with its female rap will please the ageing b-boys and b-girls out there.

Eleven isn't, perhaps, an album that will change your life. But it's one that's worth checking for sure – and one that might make more return visits to the CD deck than you at first suspect.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Smoke N' Mirrors via San Francisco's mighty Om Records. I must admit, some of Om's output in recent years has been a little TOO polished and commercial for me, but this album sees them straddling the accessible/credible divide nicely, just like they used to. So a big shout out to Gunnar & Chris if they ever happen to read this, be in touch guys, it's been too long!

You can find out all you need to know about Wagon Cookin' themselves here.

Vikte - Sarcasm

Well, back from holiday now. I could regale you with tales of camel-riding in the Sahara and suchlike but you're probably not really interested... so let's get back to the reviews bizniss, kicking off with this, the first of several crackers this week from the Endemic camp.

The original mix of Sarcasm I'd describe as very deep tech-house with a psychedelic edge… interestingly, there's a slightly oriental feel to the wooden percussion sounds as well, making this a must for all the late night/early morning sofa surfers out there.

We then get three remixes, courtesy of Simon Mattson, Steve Mastro and Igor Brzovic. In Mattson's hands the track becomes a deep house dancefloor gem, albeit still one for those late, late hours rather than, say, 1am. Steve Mastro likewise ups the dancefloor ante, this time in a slightly techier way… but the pick of the remixes for me is that from Brzovic, which maintains the trippy feel of the original but adds a little classic Jersey warmth à la Eight Ball or Strobe.

All told, a very strong release indeed – go seek.

Out: This week

About: As I said, this is the first of a few this week from the ever-checkable Endemic Digital.

TIWWD is on holiday! But first...

Eek! Right, it appears TIWWD is now pretty much about to go on holiday, and there's a few bits and pieces out this week we haven't talked about yet. So just very quickly – and with apologies to the artists/labels that it IS so quickly – here's some more cool new music that you should know about...

Jan Tenner - Whatever

More of Fullbarr's excellent deep n' dubby 'Is it house? Is it techno?' vibes here. Henry Gilles' Cakes In The Basement Mix of b-side Piece Of Cake, in particular, is a thing of late night beauty. This label seems to be going from strength to strength and it's good so see them getting the attention they deserve.

More info

Johnny Cade - Gross Vater EP

Not in a hugely dissimilar vein from the Jan Tenner this, actually – electronic music for the mind as well as the body, as they used to say. The slightly prog-tinged Platipussy is my pick, but Vertigoed (in two mixes) is also cool.

More info

Locarini - Bonfire/Para Baillar

Loving this one – proper bouncy, driving tech-house for your dancing pleasure, but not in a stoopid way. Not much else to say really but it's good, trust me! Comes from King Street's Street King imprint.

More info

Various - Mind Pollution EP

And finally, so all the D&B heads don't feel left out, here's a four-track V/A EP from the ever-checkable Section 8 Dub with two fierce numbers from Sick Or Well Vs Quentin Hiatus and Critical Waves, and two more minimal cuts from Taos and Insatek. Darkness and paranoia abound… but, y'know, in a good way.

More info

Right, that's it… TIWWD is off on holiday! Very exciting – catch you soon.

THIS JUST IN! 3am remix competition

We'll have more compact and bijou reviews tomorrow but for tonight, Al Bradley has asked me to help spread the word about a nifty remix competition they're running for all you producer/remixer types out there. So, take it away, Al…

"To celebrate the forthcoming release of Rob Small pres Uncle Rico All That Jazz (TAM055) in December, 3am Recordings has teamed up with Rob to offer budding producers and remixers that chance to feature on a full release on 3am in 2012, and also to remix the debut release from Rob's Uncle Rico project, A Different Groove. Originally released in 2010, the track (TAM039) had amazing support from Giom, City Soul Project, Pete Dafeet, Murray Richardson, Da Funk and more. The two winning remixes will be chosen by Rob himself and 3am Recordings label manager Al Bradley, with the winners being announced just before Christmas.

Rob’s tracks and remixes have been released on labels such as Artform, Monique Muzique, Evasive, Soulman, Assembly, Soundz and many more, alongside his own TUG Underground imprint and 3am Recordings, so this is a chance to remix a track which iDJ Magazine called ‘a future classic’ and put your own spin on it.

To obtain the remix parts and be kept up to date on 3am releases, future projects, free tracks and mixes, simply send an email to info@3amrecordings.com and you will receive an email giving the link to the remix parts and all the details for entering the competition."

So there you have it… get emailing! If you want to know more, here's the 3am Recordings link you'll be needing.

2 for 1 special! Tech-house/deep techno

Carrying on our whistle-stop tour of the week's best releases, here are a couple to suit those who like things a little techier…

d00sh is no stranger to this blog and I'm sure isn't to your ears either, his techno and tech-house productions having been a mainstay of the Endemic stable for some time. With Stablilos, however – coming atcha on Endemic's housier Unrivaled Music offshoot – he's really excelled himself. I generally like d00sh's stuff anyway but this could well be his finest work to date.

There are five mixes to choose from, too (plus bonus track Moshii Sounds), meaning this should appeal to a range of jocks… the Original sits right on that deep house/deep techno border, Spatial Awareness add some muscular 303 squelch, Ross Richards and Giuseppe Morena take us into slightly proggier territory while Thom Morton's rub is in a more classic techno vein. And all five are more than playable.

Out: This week

Next up, we come to another release from the ever-prolific Essex boys, this time on the Sounds Of Juan imprint, home as you know to more straight-up techno vibes. But while Giuseppe Rizzuto's One Call For My Friend does indeed sit in the techno camp, it's also got enough funk in its veins to appeal to househeads, too – certainly those who like it a little darker and more stripped-down. Mix-wise, Anton & Dani Tarantino add an insistent, pulsating bassline while Frank Martin pushes the fader marked 'spaced out and trippy' into the red and transforms the track into a late-night headnodder's delight. Nice.

Out: This week

FREE DOWNLOAD Adulterer - Vicious Truths

Tomorrow we'll have some more 2-for-1 reviews fun, when we'll go more on a tech-house tip. And to get us in the mood ahead of times, here's a freebie cut from a mysterious UK producer who goes by the name of Adulterer.

That's literally all I know about the man. I can tell you, though, that this is a superbly sparse and minimal slice of dubby, techy house music, topped off (somewhat atypically for this kinda style) by cockney geezer speech samples. But hey, you can just download it and make up your own mind – I'd heartily recommend that you do, cos this is quality.

Vicious Truths (Free Download) by Adulterer

2 for 1 special! Trad house delights

Right, it's just kinda dawned on me that there's a shedload of stuff to get through this week and I'm actually going away… first proper holiday in about five years, so that's a good thing, but it means we're gonna have to double up on the next few reviews if we're gonna fit everything in. Kicking off with two releases that will appeal to lovers of traditional uplifiting vocal/soulful house music…

First up, we have I Wanna Know by Little Carlos & Realm Of House. The Original here could easily have come out on the likes of Yellorange, Distance or Henry Street in the late 90s/early 00s, driven as it is by a rolling disco groove and featuring as it does a happy, party-time vocal. R.O.H's Throwdown Mix is even blatantly disco-housified, while Little Carlos's own Beats N Bass Mix… well, that's fairly self-explanatory, surely, and will suit if you're looking for something a tad more subtle.

About: This one comes on Realm Of House AKA Victor Hernandez's own Korner Gruve Records outta New York.

Secondly, there's People Get Together from Marco Finotello & Maggie Smile. Working a big funk bassline, handclaps a-gogo, euphoric pianos and a rousing fem vocal whose slight rawness is actually a big part of its charm, this is peaktime, uplifting vocal house music as only the Italians can do it. If you're looking for something moody, techy and cool, this isn't the one… if it's nostalgic hands-in-the-air abandon you're after though, then step right on in.

About: The artists hail from Italy as stated but this comes on the UK's own Favouritzm Records. It's out now on Traxsource, or in other stores from 1 Dec.

Soulight - Just Here [Remixes]

Some deeper house vibes here, with a little bit of a techy edge. As this is billed as a Remixes EP, I'm guessing the Original has been out before but I can't honestly remember so we'll treat the whole package as new for our purposes today…

That Original, then, is deep, driving and techy… and almost a little bit proggy but not quite, if you see what I mean. It's the slowly building synths that really drive it, but also features some nice solid percussion and some treated vocal snips. Leonardo Tou's remix brings the vox a little further to the fore and adds a little swing to the percussion for a slightly more garage-y feel, but it's the Dave James Remix that's really killing it for me, as is so often the case lately. He strips things RIGHT down, lets a simple filtered kick and aquatic-sounding synth/organ motif take centre stage, and turns the track into a proper minimalist (but not 'minimal') delight for the proverbial 'heads'.

A third remix from James Silk seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way, but never mind… I'm sure that's very good too but you need this for the Dave James mix alone anyway. With the emphasis on 'need'!

Out: This week

About: This is – as you've no doubt already deduced from the cover – another killer from those ever-prolific Essex boys Endemic Digital.

PS: By tagging this with Soulight, then clicking on the tag, I have just discovered that the original of Just Here was first out on the City Talk EP back in April. Just so's we're clear... and apols to Soulight for not remembering but hey, a lot of tracks pass through these ears!

PJC - Gna Get High/That Road

Well it's Monday again… a nuisance, I find, Mondays. So let's lift all our drooping spirits by getting straight in the groove with some straight-up jackin' house music.

A simple two-track affair, this one. Gna Get High owes a heavy debt to classic NYC-style house, with a little bit of a Joey Negro-esque disco touch on top… 'simple but effective', I think is the phrase here. On the flip, meanwhile, That Road is a slightly darker n' drummier affair with lots of filter action – so we're in New York again, this time gettin' down to Junior circa 1995.

Like I said, just some straight-up jackin' house to get the blood pumping.

Out: This week

About: This is on Quadraphonic Recordings, who I don't know HUGE amounts about to be honest but who can be found on MySpace and Facebook if you want to do some digging... and oh, look! In the Facebook photos there's a review I wrote of a previous release, where I said they were Spanish. So I guess they must be. I don't just make this shit up, you know. Well, not stuff like that, anyway.

Melos & Kyber - Stroboscopic

Don't know if this was called Stroboscopic in homage or if it's just coincidence, but this latest gem from UK duo Melos & Kyber doesn't, indeed, sound a million miles from the kind of lush, uber-deep house/garage with which legendary Jersey label Strobe Records made their name back in the day. Rich, resonant basslines, crisp snares, lilting sax licks and gently tinkling xylophones and all!

And when you factor in remixes from some of the best of the current crop of deep/tech house producers – Martijn, Tom Ellis, Paul Hardy & Mckai and Pete Weasel – well, it'd be really rather silly to miss this one…

Out: This week

About: This is another winner from 22 Digit Records (Pete Weasel being one of the label head honchos). Here they are on Facebook, MySpace and Posterous

Oh yeah and if you're maybe a bit younger and not familiar with the mighty Strobe Records… try Hayden Andre's The Voyage or Kingdom Come's Groovy Baby for starters. The latter has to be one of my favourite records of all time...

Thomas Dieckmann – Don't You Steal From Me

Do you know what the very best thing about being me is? It's when you get sent some music, and it's on a brand new label, by a bunch of people you've never heard of, so you play it, not really expecting miracles or anything… and it totally rocks. I love it when that happens. It's why I do what I do. And I love Don't You Steal From Me, too.

Two tracks, four mixes of proper deep house goodness all the way from Copenhagen. The title track is the most upbeat and jackin' of the lot, Rasmus Juul's remix takes it deeper and a little funkier in a wonky kinda way, Can't Find Words has a bit more of a soulful feel while Mathias Mestono's rerub adds some slightly busier percussion and kinda hovers halfway between Ibiza and Berlin.

All told, four very solid bullets for the deeper dancefloors. More, please.

Out: This week

About: As stated, this comes on a brand new label out of Denmark, Gartenhaus. The hype sheet tells me they'll be bringing us "some of the finest and coolest tech and deep house releases" – on this evidence, I have no reason to doubt that at all. Here they are on Soundcloud (where you can HEAR THIS) and Facebook, and here's an interview with Rasmus Juul, who turns out to be the label boss (and a disgustingly young 22 years old) at ArtRebels.com

Paul Anthony & Mike Gillenwater - You Can't Hide From Your Blow

And while we're talking about Mr Gillenwater, also out this week is this collab with Paul Anthony.

I'm not even gonna tell you what Sneak/Pendergrass classic it's a take on, cos I'm sure you've sussed that already. And there's just the one mix as well, so all I'm gonna say is that it's actually not a bad remake at all… and that there's a little more of the Teddy P original in there than there was in the Sneak version, too.

A playable update for sure.

Out: This week. I just said that.

About: This is on Paul Anthony's own label, Chicken Fried Disco. It's only their third release so show some love peeps!

Mike Gillenwater - Full Tilt EP

Yesterday we had a techno label doing techno, and a techno label doing disco-house. So tonight, by way of restoring the natural order of things, let's start with a disco-house label doing disco-house: to wit, the latest from Chicago's Bid Muzik.

Now, as a rule I'd say you know what you're getting with Bid Muzik. Their particular blend of disco-house, while distinctly their own sound, is rarely all that groundbreaking or anything, but it's always got plenty of energy and stays just about the right side of the cheese line. And yeah… that tells you about all you need to know about Full Tilt itself, or about the two mixes of Fat City (Original and Sean Biddle), or the two mixes of Tell You Why (Original and Vince Fiero), though I should point out that the latter two tracks go a little heavier on the soul vibes than a lot of this kinda tackle, which is cool.

So the usual 'unpretentious but fun' disco-house fodder from Bid it is then… until we get to When You Love Me. Cos this track… this track… THIS TRACK is the nuts. I don't know if it's the way Gillenwater opts for less of the bright synths and just lets the filtered loop shine through on its own merits… whether it's because it's more heavily sample-based or because it's an altogether rawer-sounding cut than the rest. But yeah.

The rest of this EP is pretty good… When You Love Me is freakin' excellent.

Out: This week

About: You can find Bid Muzik, run of course by Sean Biddle, on Facebook and Soundcloud.

LO - Static Movement

And from a techno label putting out disco-house, to a (mostly) techno label putting out… techno. Static Movement by LO is, though, techno of the deep n' groovy variety, and as such should appeal equally to househeads. If I tell you that LO is actually France's Laurent Blondeau, who's associated with Mr C's Superfreq brand, you should get some idea of the kind of thing to expect.

Mix-wise, you get the original plus two refixes from We Love… resident Luv*Jam and one from label boss Mitch Davis. The former turns in a brace of much deeper bleeps n' beats-oriented mixes of which I'd humbly suggest the Sunrise mix has the most dancefloor energy, while Mr Davis takes us into deep prog territory.

In fact, I think it's Mitch's rub I'm feeling the most, but to be honest all four are pretty strong and if you're looking for something heavily electronic but melodic at the same time, you could do a LOT worse than pick this up.

Out: This week

About: This comes to you courtesy of Mitch Davis's own Black Sheep Trax, in case I hadn't made that clear! As well as their own website you can find 'em on Facebook

Ant Brooks - Starlight

An uncomplicated slab of disco house here, courtesy of a label you might not expect… Umek's 1605 Music Therapy.

I say 'uncomplicated' because there's nothing we haven't heard before here, really. But it's relatively cheese-free (insofar as disco house can ever be), and you do get two mixes to choose from, Ray RosenfelD's Remix being a bit tuffer and vaguely Sneak-ified number with some 90s Real 2 Reel-type synth sounds thrown in, while the Original is more your straight-up filtered loop + vocal affair.

Not an essential purchase, perhaps, but it's all good clean fun… and it's also interesting to see 1605 heading in this different direction.

Out: This week

About: 1605 Music Therapy are of course better known for their driving, East European techno and tough tech-house… but then you knew that

Hamza - Groove Guru EP

Another label I've been feeling a lot lately are Unrivaled Music, and here's yet another example of why, as Hamza – who I'm guessing, though it doesn't explicitly say so, is the same Hamza who runs India's leading house label Wind Horse Records – serves up three tracks of quality house/deep house for your dancing pleasure.

Groove Guru itself is a party-starting slab of funky-fuelled disco house done properly… with a fat-ass bassline and a vocodered vocal (I'm a sucker for vocoders), this would almost be worthy of the great Mr Lee himself circa Universe Of Love. And that's praise indeed coming from me!

Funky Chuski treads a similarly funk/disco-inspired path, but this time with the addition of some serious jazz-funk saxuality… and then, just to prove our boy Hamza's no one-trick pony, Giving It Up is an altogether deeper dancefloor nugget, with a heavy jazz influence. Oh yeah, and the female half-sung, half-spoken – and then chopped n' sampled – vocal reminds me, for some reason, of Thandie Newton in the film Gridlock'd.

Incidentally, if you've never seen Gridlock'd (with Tupac, Tim Roth and the aforesaid Ms Newton), you really should… EXCELLENT film. But I digress. What we're here to talk about is this record and, yeah, it's yet another bomb from Unrivaled.

Out: This week.

About: The currently on-fire Unrivaled Music is of course part of Essex's Endemic stable

Solo - Pumpnickel EP

There was a point where, much as I was loving the stuff coming out of Munich's Great Stuff stable, there did seem to be a risk of them getting stuck in something of a 'bouncy tech-house' rut. I needn't have worried, as this latest release eschews such vibes for a more straight-up house feel.

The original mix of Pumpernickel, in fact, with its diva vox and pumping kicks, sounds like it could have come straight out of a New York house club circa 1993-95… and I mean that as a compliment. It comes accompanied by a Marco Lys Remix, which has slightly more of a techy edge but retains the overall nostalgic vibe… you could have dropped this one at the likes of Vague or Luvdup back in the day, no problem.

And then finally, there's more retro fun in the form of the liberally piano-sprinkled Take A Look, though here the Berlin-ish chopped n' looped vocal gives the track a slightly more contemporary feel than the title track.

All told, a very strong offering indeed… I've been something of a Great Stuff fan generally this past couple of years, but this is one of their best in a while. So you know what to do…

Out: This week

About: Just in case we weren't clear, this comes on Munich's finest Great Stuff. Look out soon as well for a Marco Lys single on which Solo returns the remix favour – but more on that one when it's out…

DJ MIX - Scott Harrington Fall 2011 Mix

Okay forgive me peeps… got some good stuff coming up on TIWWD this week but due to going away at the weekend got a bit of a backlog of tracks to download.

So while I do that, you can be busy downloading and enjoying this quality house mix from Scott Harrington, of Savoire Faire Musique and City Soul Project fame… can't you?

Scott Harrington 'Fall 2011' DJ Mix by Savoir Faire Musique

And if you dig that, then hit up the Savoire Faire website to find out more…