LGG – Behind The Scenes EP

More very deep, late-night vibes here courtesy of young French producer Bastian Carrara, AKA LGG. BTW. TLAs FTW! LOL.

Ahem, where were we? Oh yeah, this rather fine deep house EP right here. FFS…

Proceedings kick-off with EXT12, a very deep house groove in the classic Chi-town vein (think Ron Trent, Moodymann, Larry Heard etc… and yes I know Moodymann's from Detroit but, y'know). Purple Haze is up next and, given the track title and the fact it opens with the sound of someone taking a big toke and then coughing, you get the idea: this is one for letting the sofa eat you to. And then finally there's Inside, which is more deep house in the classic vein.

Purple Haze is the standout for me but all three tracks are very fine, rest assured.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Brummie label Out Of Bounds… this is only number three from the label, and I think the first I've had through from them. But on this evidence, here's hoping there's lots more to come. You can find out more on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

Tete Hernandez & Javi Place – Tao

After our little disco/boogie excursion with Flash Atkins, let's take it seriously deep now with this tasty little number from Menomale Records.

Tao comes in six mixes, which could variously be filed under deep house, tech-house or deep techno, depending on your point of view on such matters. But I'm not gonna quibble about that tonight… I'm just gonna tell you that all six are very playable, and that the most obvious choices for floor play would be the Original, organ-flecked Fabio Spzz & Mario Conte or techier, bleepier Carlo Galliani rubs, but that the standout for me here is the uber-deep pass from Stefan Cioffi, an awesome piece of late-night, dubby, tech-tinged deep house stonery.

Don't sleep, as they say. Though with grooves as soporifically enveloping as the Cioffi rub it might be hard not to!

Out: This week

About: You can find Menomale on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Flash Atkins – Did You Forget To Shine?

Deep house and nu-boogie collide on this latest from the mighty Paper Recordings.

In its original form, Did You Forget… is a funk-fuelled, slinky nu-boogie gem in the Crazy P mold. For me, the vocal's a little too pop-tastic but never fear, cos there's a Dubstramental on hand which is all about that pulsing synth bassline… if you've got Night Dubbin', Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing or Love & Dancing in your collection this is the mix that's gonna push your buttons. Then again the lo-slung Jamie L Remix is pretty spiffing in a sleazy, lights-down-low kinda way too. The Havana Candy Mix is, again, a bit too bright and shiny for these ears but again fear not, cos rounding out the EP is the Hot Toddy Mix, which mixes up vintage house flavas (deep, Balearic and acid) for an all-round dancefloor gem.

The beards' treat of the week!

Out: This week

About: You can find Paper Recordings on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

ALBUM Various - Future Sleaze Vol 2

Hot on the heels of volume 1, which back in June and which I shamefully never got around to telling you about, here's a second label comp from the mighty Sleazy Deep.

"Bridging the gap between deep house and nu disco," is how Sleazy Deep describe their musical ethos and yeah, that's about the size of it. Kicking off with Adam Banks' So Confused, which with its pitched-down Colonel Abrams vocal and deep, techy East London chug is about as 'now' as it's possible to be, Future Sleaze Vol 2 crams in a whopping 20 tracks from names both familiar (William Medagli, Patrick Podage, label boss Rob Made) and less so (er, everyone else).

I'm not going into all the tracks one-by-one – it'd take all day. But do be assured there's plenty of grist for your dancefloor mill here, with the Prince-ish vocal on Medagli's This Is Amour and Made's Kariya cover/homage Let Me Love You just two of the highlights.

Out: This has been available since September 10 on Beatport, but is only getting a full worldwide release this week

About: You can find Sleazy Deep on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Reash – Dead Center

Another fledgling label here, with this being just the third release from Trick Track Records, straight outta Den Haag in the Netherlands.

There are three mixes of Dead Center. In its original form, it's a deep techno groove with a distinctive "all night… feel it… get down" spoken/whispered male vocal sample. The Addo Remix is proggier, with much use made of Italo-style analogue synths, while the James Dax Remix also takes us into prog territory but in a deeper, more end-of-night and to these ears more satisfying fashion. Finally, rounding out the EP is bonus cut Total Control, which starts out as a fairly abstract deep/minimal techno affair before exploding into a soundscape of luxurious ambience and overdriven guitar that's reminiscent of early System 7.

It's the original of the title track I'm liking the most but fans of slightly more leftfield electronic vibes will find plenty to enjoy here.

Out: This week

About: You can find Trick Track at their own website, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Mystik Mike – Higher Baby

Now for some straight-up house music courtesy of Canada's Kozmik Hype Recordings.

There's just the two mixes of Higher Baby. In its original form, it's a vaguely disco-leaning peaktime dancefloor cut, with a rolling funky bassline, space-y synths, luxurious pads, parping sax and echo-ing, garage-y fem vocal snips – Joey Negro would be proud! On the B, the Darren Marshall Remix is a slightly tuffer, dubbier pass, with yet more nods to classic garage in its swung rhythms.

I think Marshall's rub nudges it for me but both mixes are very playable.

Out: This week

About: This is only the third release from Kozmik Hype, who can be found online at their own website, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Steven J AKA Wobblejay – Groove Your World EP

Only the fourth release here from fledgling Leicester-based imprint City Fly Records.

Steven J is better known as a member of Creative Swing Alliance, who had the CSA EP out on City Fly last year. Here, he serves up three original tracks plus a remix of the title cut from Medlar. Groove Your World in its original form is synth-y, contemporary-style deep/tech bizniss, while Let Me Know has a little garage-y swing in its veins and You Got My Time takes us back to the old school with its raw-sounding kicks and vocal samples.

It's all good, as they say, but the standout for me is Medlar's refix, a deep, organ-fuelled jam sitting somewhere between deep house and (future) garage. Niceness!

Out: This week

About: You can find City Fly on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Danny Quattro – No More

As with Patrick Podage & Buraq's A Piece Of Paper EP a couple of weeks back, this is a bit techier than we've come to expect from Savoir Faire Musique. But perhaps not as much so as that one was.

In its Original form, No More is a tuff-ish, chuggy affair with one of those very 'now', very treated and breathy vocals. But if that doesn't take your fancy, fear not cos a brace of TIWWD faves do the remix honours in style. Steve McCready AKA Smak takes us into throbbing, loopy and acid-tinged territory with a mix that cries out for dry ice, strobe lights and a basement, while if that's too techno-leaning for ya then Stanny Abrams' Late Night Dub is housier, with tribal-ish percussion and new female vocal elements.

Three quite different mixes then, but three solid floor-shakers all the same.

Out: This week

About: You can find Savoir Faire Musique on Facebook and Soundcloud. The producers among you might be particularly interested to read this recent post on the former:

currently looking for demos on a more tougher, techier kinda vibe for our sub label which launches soon...demos to savoirfaireuk@gmail.com

PS Cos I was playing this, Quattro's previous offering Contact just came on after, the Lee Pennington Mix to be precise. I'd forgotten quite how good it was. So there's another one to check out if you didn't before.

Takasi Nakajima & Maarten Mittendorff – Circulate EP

We continue the Japanese connection here, with this two-tracker from probably the hardest-to-spell duo in the history of the world.

Again there's just the two mixes. In its Original form, Circulate is a dark, driving and chunky affair, sitting right on the house/techno border and scattered liberally with live piano and sampled string downsweeps, the overall effect making me want to get the word 'Garnier-esque' down from the top shelf where I've put it out of reach to stop myself using it too much. But no, I really mustn't. Anyway over on the B, the Ian O'Donovan refix is in a deeper, darker vein still.

But only slightly so, I should add. There's not a lot in it really, and either mix will do you proud if/when you need a peaktime, energetic, crescendo kinda track without sullying your set with the over-obvious.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Toronto-based techno imprint Restructured.

Tony Lionni - Loving You EP

Some house now from the contemporary end of the spectrum courtesy of Tony Lionni and Japanese label Apt. International*.

There are three tracks making up the EP. Loving You itself is an interesting fusion: with rave-y piano/synths, garage-y male vox and bang-up-to-date kicks, it manages to sound like 1992 and 2012 same time. Afterhours starts out throbbing, proggy and heads-down then builds with Detroitian string stabs, and then finally Anubis is seriously deep, dark and pulsating and equally well served on the most mangled of very late floors, or in the comfort of your own headphones.

If you're after some now-sounding house that's still got a sense of history, this will serve you well.

Out: This week

About: You can find Apt. International on Soundcloud or at the New World Records website.

*Don't ask me how the whole Apt. International/Tokyo House Underrground thing works, by the way, in case you're looking at the cover. I'm as confused as you are. More so, probably.

Kevin Yost – Perception

After yesterday's offering from Fred Everything, here we have another well-established producer known previously for more deep/jazzy/mellow shizzle getting his techy groove on.

There's just the two mixes of Perception to choose from. On the A, the Original mix is a squelchy, lo-slung deep/tech groover with acid squiggles galore and 'da funk' in spades… oh, and a torch-y female vocal of the kind you used to get on 'big in Ibiza' prog records ten years ago (think Black AM etc). It works, though. On the B, the Guy J Remix is a more driving, heads-down pass but still with the vocal in full effect.

It's the A that does it for me though: as with the Fred Everything track yesterday, it's got a musicality and warmth that's so often missing from similar tackle.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha courtesy of Lost And Found, which is actually Guy J's own new label, with this only their second release. You can HEAR IT on Soundcloud, or find 'em on Facebook.

Frederico Y Alvaro – Geometry EP

For no reason in particular, not feeling hugely inspired to do a lot of reviewing/writing tonight but the show must go on and all that so I think I can find time to tell you about this one…

A four-track EP, it comes from no less a personage than Fred Everything, working under his real name (Frederico Todos) for once alongside his buddy, Modern Electrics label boss Alvaro Velilla. And the results of their joining forces are pretty impressive, to be fair. Geometry itself is a deep, techy chugger but in a lush, musical way that hints at Fred's background in more soulful pastures. Oh yeah, and an intro that's not a little reminiscent of the opening drums on Sympathy For The Devil.

And if deep, techy chug with a lavishly produced feel sounds like fun to you then you're in luck, cos the three versions/mixes of Perception are just as good… in fact Perception Two with its sparse, crisp percussion and Blackwater-esque synth runs is probably the standout of the EP for me.

But 'deep, techy chug in a more musical style than you might normally expect' is about as close as I can describing the whole thing… tonight, anyway.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Nacho Marco's Loudeast label. They seem to mostly live on Facebook.

DJ Steef – The Preliminary EP

And from past masters of deep house, to some forward-thinking bizniss from Berlin's cutting edge.

This is only number four from Toy Tonics but they've already managed to attract the likes of Hard Ton and Dimitri From Paris to their door. Here though it's the turn of French producer DJ Steef, AKA Frédéric Berthet, who serves up six tracks of contemporary deep house with a heavy dose of disco coursing through their veins. All six tracks will work well on the hipster floors, but of especial interest to TIWWD's ears are Venusian Missing and Nocturne. The latter has an off-kilter jazzy/lounge-y feel, while the former tops off its mellow, late-night grooves with a very familiar vocal rendered in a falsetto stylee.

As such, these two would go down as well on older, more 'purist' deep house floors as they would with the kids with the silly haircuts. And that's got to be a result, surely?

Out: This week

About: You can find Berlin's Toy Tonics label at their own website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

DJ MFR – Eternal

And now we lurch from some masters of nu-skool garage to some old masters of deep house, as DJ MFR serves up the latest for Transport Recordings.

"Contemporary disco with a pronounced classic house music feel," is how the hype sheet describes this one but I'd say it was actually the other way: deep house with a disco/boogie slant. But either description will give you the general idea! Four mixes on offer, all from MFR himself: the standout for me is the sparse Tribute Stripped mix with its 80s proto-garage synth b-line, but any one of 'em will do the do on more discerning floors for sure.

Classy stuff from one of the most respected labels on the west coast.

Out: This week

About: Transport Recordings can be found mostly at their own website

Enigma Dubz - How It Is EP

This is one of the bits I didn't get round to last week, but a) I'd been feeling bad about that, cos it's really rather good, and b) the Geddes rub of Raffa L has put me in a garage frame of mind. So here we are.

In its Original form, How It Is is probably best filed under 'future garage', with its long, dreamy intro, looping, cut-up male vocal sample and busy, 2-step-ish rhythms, though unlike a lot of such tackle it's also pretty energetic and upbeat.  Elsewhere on the EP, Feelings Gone operates in more typical late-night future garage territory while We At War is perhaps better described as UK bass/post-dubstep. Rounding out the EP, Dancing In The Dark is an excursion into the dubbiest of late-night pastures, and one to melt into the sofa to.

A very strong EP all round.

Out: Last week, but what's seven days between friends?

About: This comes from the slightly mysterious but always checkable Four40 Records, who can be found on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Raffa L – I Want You

Blimey… I know Unrivaled Music get a lot of love on this blog but they've excelled themselves here!

There are six mixes of I Want You on offer. In its Original form, it's a chugging deep/tech house groover with a slightly Robert Owens-esque, treated male vocal, 90s organ sounds used quite subtly and some seriously buzzy rave bass. And then as for remixes… you're spoiled for choice, really. There's the (UK) garage-y refix from Liam Geddes. There's Danny eM's head-fried, wibbly pass. There's a tuffer, techier rub from Dan Styles.

And then there's not one but two outstanding mixes from Dexter Ford. His Up Mix really lets that rave bass shine through and teams it somewhat surprisingly with nu-disco synths, with great results. But his Down Mix… that's as satisfying a journey into inner (head) space as you're gonna take all week, a dubby affair with the production aesthetics of deep techno, the sexy slink of deep house and STILL with that buzz bassline in full effect.

The latter pass, as you can probably tell, takes top honours for me, with Geddes' rub a close second. But this is outstanding stuff all round, truth be told – go seek.

Out: This week

About: You can find Unrivaled via the Endemic Digital Facebook page.

Rafael Fernandez - Memories & Imagination

Known for their deep house grooves, here Tokyo Red take a slight detour into nu-boogie pastures.

I'm not sure if the vocal used on Memories & Imagination is actually a Leee John sample or not – it sounds like one and it'd make sense of the title, but I couldn't tell you what track it's from off the top of my head. But you get the idea – this is pretty much an homage track to the early 80s Brit funkateers. On the B, the Josh Dupont Remix is a touch more strident and housified but otherwise in a pretty similar vein.

So: let Senor Fernandez take you through a night of ecstasy, and show you all the glamour and the gold. Or something*.

Out: This week

About: You can find Tokyo Red at label boss DJ Sydney's Facebook page.

*That's not the sample in question, by the way – that'd be easy.

Simon Mattson – Drive

More deep house grooves here from Form-and Function.

In its Original mix, Drive is a slow-building groove long on evolving, Arp-like synth sounds, bass throb and a very distinctive "we're gonna driiiiiive, drive all night" chorused M/F vocal. Feft's remix is chunkier and a wee bit prog around the edges, the Stefan K mix brings busier percussion and a slightly techier feel, while the Miami Ice rub is slower edges towards skinny-jeaned indie-dance territory.

The original's the one for me here though – a unique-sounding little gem that's got 'warm-up' written all over it.

Out: This week

About: You can find Form-and Function on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Deep Shizzol - Carpet Bomb EP

The ever-reliable Beats Me Music reach their 20th release with an EP that's very aptly named, taking in as it does influences from all over the house spectrum.

The overall feel is definitely deep house, but the five tracks vary quite considerably. The Deep Dub of Boogie With Deep is either very proggy deep house or very deep prog, depending how you look at it…   Golden Age is a proper back-to-the-90s organ tune… Hopscotch has something of a proggy feel again, but this time with soulful male vocals that could see this going down well on the hipster floors… This Is Our Night is a smooth, soulful fem-vocalled groover that recalls the early 00s heyday of the San Francisco scene… and finally Time To Get Busy is a straight-up dancefloor deep houser that reworks the classic vocal from Korda's Moving Power To The Music.

Golden Age and This Is Our Night stand out for me – hey, I'm old – but it's a strong EP all round.

Out: This week

About: Deep Shizzol also goes by Spencer T and has been involved in the scene since rave era, though   it's only recently that he's stepped back into the studio after a 10-year hiatus. As for Beats Me Music, you can find 'em at their own website or on Facebook.

Helder Teixeira - Eco EP

Last one for tonight… this comes from Sounds Of Juan and sits somewhere between tech-house, deep techno and minimal.

There are three tracks. Dream Box is all stuttery rhythms, underwater noises and random synth stabs n' squiggles, with floaty vocal samples thrown in over the top every now and again. Eco Box itself is a militantly stripped-down, percussive techno cut with a very odd sampled vocal (some young girl addressing a green conference or something, by the sounds of it… which I guess would explain the title). But the standout here for me is Mysterious House, which moves closer to deep house territory with its muted jazz horns, tiny snatches of spoken vocal and nagging high-end percussion.

Mysterious House is definitely the one for me personally but the EP as a whole is a solid bet if you like your tech-house on the slightly more twitchy, experimental side.

Out: This week

About: You can find Sounds Of Juan via the Endemic Digital Facebook page.

Kenny Ground - Mia

Staying on a tech-house tip, here we have the latest from a familiar name on the scene, Kenny Ground.

There are five mixes of Mia to choose from, but to save time I'd just like to draw your attention to two of them. The Lorenzo Navarro Remix is heads-down, chuggy and the kind of thing that could work on deep, tech and prog floors alike. It's good, but just pipping it for me is the J&S Project & Kubeck Remix, a far housier pass with a rolling b-line, fem vocal "baby!" snips and occasional fluttering Spanish geetars.

Elsewhere, the original has a little too much of said Spanish guitar for me, while the 2000 Analog Dub and Dave Martins Remix are a bit too bleepy/glitchy (again, for me). But this is worth picking up for the two rubs mentioned above all the same.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Swiss label Southpark Records, who I've gotta say have been doing some great stuff lately… and which Kenny co-owns. Find them on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Pig & Dan – On Edge/Reka

I know what you're thinking… right about now is the time I should be doing a round-up of other stuff from last week. But I'm tired, so I'm gonna save that and crack on with this week's releases for now…

Starting with this simple two-tracker from Pig & Dan, which sees the duo firmly esconced in the tech-house territory they've been making their own of late. On Edge itself really ain't NOTHING but a chuggin' midtempo groove, but sometimes that's all you need, n'est-ce pas? On the flip, Reka works busier percussion, techno synths and proggy flourishes for a White Isle-friendly feel.

I suspect the latter might be the one that gets more plays, being a tad more immediate/accessible, but it's On Edge that stands out for me… that said, both are pretty strong. P&D don't make tracks that aren't.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Christian Smith's Tronic Records

Various - New Breed Of Deep House 2012 samplers

The mighty King Street serve up not one but two samplers for their forthcoming full-length compilation New Breed Of Deep House 2012. But to be fair, you probably figured that out from the post heading!

As is King Street's wont, there are two completely separate sampler bundles available: one for Traxsource, one for Beatport. I'm not going into all 18 tracks individually but of the two, the seven-track 'Traxsource Edition' is probably better suited for fans of traditional-style deep house, with lots of funky basslines, sampled disco vox and warm Rhodes hooks, while the 'Beatport Edition' errs towards the skinny-jeans--wedge-haircut-and-cardigan hipster tech-house side of things, with glacial synths and strobelight throbbers more in evidence.

But that's a very sweeping statement, a picture painted in the broadest of strokes, and there are plenty of top-drawer nuggets to be found on both releases. Domscott's Ain't Playing Games No More (Traxsource Edition) is a fine, funk-fuelled gem that's got more than a touch of the Matty Heilbronns about it, while if it's more experimental/cutting-edge sounds you're after then Whim-ee's You Can Amor (Beatport Edition), which sounds like the future garage sound of Berlin, will see you right for sure.

So best be on the safe side and get both, eh?

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street so I guess there's room to tell you that the full list of artists featured on the two EPs includes (deep breath): Soundealers, Washerman, Domscott, Chocolate Avenue, Alfonso Ares feat Celia, Hamza, Tout Le Monde (all Traxsource Edition), Rey & Kjavik feat Kevin Iszard, SO DEAFI, Balcazar & Sordo, Shades Of Gray, Whim-ee, Nicko Vee, Kyoko Kamichika & Masahiro Suzuki, Nico Purman, 9west and Oscar Higinion (all Beatport Edition).

Martin Virgin – Take My Love EP

Some classy house/deep house fare from Unrivaled Music here.

Take My Love is an upbeat affair with proggy synths, disco flourishes and an uplifting vibe overall… it's possibly a bit late to be a 'summer anthem' but it's in that kinda vein, while Move It Good is a deeper dancefloor groove with an almost garage-y swing to it and some gloriously cheesy 80s sax licks. But the killer here is Swag, credited to Martin Virgin with Saxtone feat Highleef. This pulls off the remarkable feat of both a) being a credible, jazz-flecked deep house dancefloor roller and b) sporting a male vocal that sits somewhere between Tony Di Bart and Chris Rea.

It shouldn't really work but as unlikely as it sounds, it works so well… check this one asap.

Out: This week

About: You can find Unrivaled Music on Facebook

Sarp Yilmaz – Spread Love/Various - Autem 001

Two releases here from Sarp Yilmaz… one under his own steam, one on the debut EP from new Chicago label Autem Audio.

Looking at the solo effort first, Spread Love is taken from his recent album As If I Care. I must admit I didn't hear the album but the version presented here is a very now-sounding, shuffling deep/tech houser with soulful male vocal elements, crisp percussion and an underlying chordal throb thoughout.

But Sarp is also one of the co-owners of new label Autem Audio, and his Down On Me is offered up as the A1 track on the label's debut V/A ep. It's a more thoughtful, melancholic kinda groove than Spread Love, its sparse rhythms and warm atmos' topped with anguished diva wails in a manner that makes me think of old Terrence Parker records, only without the pianos. Elsewhere on the the EP you'll find Be Someone Else and Funkass, from co-owners Hearthug and Gvk respectively. Be Someone Else is another atmospheric deep/tech groove but this time laced with acid, while Funkass is a more uptempo and slightly sunnier affair, but with pleasingly filthy synth-bass squelching away underneath.

The two releases together are further evidence that this Turkish producer is one to keep an eye on, while the Autem EP marks a very promising start for the label.

Out: This week for Spread Love; Autem 001 was out last week but it came in a wee bit late, hence it's getting squeezed in now.

About: Spread Love comes on Apparel Music while you can find out all about Chicago-based Autem Audio at their website.

Testa Rossa – Music EP

Testa Rossa takes us on a trip to the deeper, darker side of tech-house with this three-track EP.

Music itself is fairly upbeat and percussion-led, with a one-word vocal sample and all kinds of atmospheric pads n' stabs adding the slightly darker edge. It's Groovin' is bassier and sleazier, its centre-stage rollin', rumbin' b-line topped off with analogue synth squiggles and bursts of Latin hand percussion. But the standout here for me is Fuck With It, an impressively dark and ominous-sounding affair sitting right where deep house, deep techno and tech-house collide.

Solid stuff from a label that's always worth checking.

Out: This week

About: This comes, I should probably mention, on Swiss label Southpark Recordings… here's the usual website Facebook and Soundcloud links

Deep house soldiers

And next, three releases from three well-known, well-respected names in deep house.

First up, Pete Dafeet gives us the Family Affair EP, a four-track/five-mix offering. Expect the usual high-quality deep house in various shades, with the dubby, slightly techy Lungs the standout for me. It's actually the Fred Everything remix of Lungs, to precise; elsewhere, Demarkus Lewis remixes Love Undercover while Giom has a go at Beneath The Fold, making this something of a 'family affair' indeed.

Out: This week

About: This comes of course on Lost My Dog, what with Pete co-owning the label and that… 

Next up we have another from the same stable, as Dale Howard takes us off on a deep, garage-y tip with the Inner City EP. All four tracks are very playable, but the jazzy overtones of C'mon and the Tuff Jam-ish bump of C'mon stand out for me. Niceness!

Out: This week

About: Here's another Lost My Dog link, for their Soundcloud page.

Our third and final deep house hero for this little mini-roundup is Matthieu Duchesne, who this week is doing the honours for Savoir Faire. Actually I say 'final' but there's a couple of other very familiar names involved as well. The original of Kind Of Funk is a heads-down, rolling deep house groover, but you also get remixes from Martijn and Dave James, the former taking us just a wee bit deeper, the latter doing his usual uber-deep and dubbed out thang… and as usual stealing the show for me! But again, a strong offering all round.

Out: This week

About: Here's where to find Savoir Faire Musique online, as if you didn't know already.

Tech-house-tastic!

Next we have a couple of V/A eps on a tech-house tip.

We'll head to Italy first, where Deeperfect give us the Street's Stuff Vol 1 EP. With tracks from Antonio Piacquadio, Fernando Mesa, Kenny Ground, Lopezhouse & Carlos Pulido, Pedro Mercado & Karada and Takftast, the EP as a whole can be summed up in three words – tuff, techy and rolling. Mesa's Bazinga is the standout for me, being that lil' bit funkier, but generally speaking if you want some no-nonsense, energetic dancefloor fodder this EP will do the job nicely.

Out: This week

About: You can find Deeperfect (and hear this EP) on Soundcloud

No-nonsense, energetic dancefloor fodder also pretty much sums up the Factomania All-Stars Vol 3 EP, though here the overall vibe leans a little more towards the deeper side, with less of the militant snares and toms and more in the way of funk-fuelled b-lines. The artists involved are Alex Gomez & Bias, Ismael Rivas, Redondo, Audio Junkies & Romrez, Rodrigo Laffertt and Sabb, with the latter's tuff, anthemic vocal cut Who Do You Love the standout for me.

Out: This week

About: As all but the dimmest of bulbs will have twigged, this comes on Spanish label Factomania.

Proggy bizniss

Okay, after a couple of days this week where I didn't get round to doing any blogging we're a bit behind… so gonna take a different approach and group some stuff together today.

First up, a couple of bits n' bobs on slightly proggier tip, kicking off with the Summer Of Love Part 3 EP from Smak AKA Steve McCready. The third in what's been a strong series, this has four tracks, with the deeper, housier side of prog – or the proggier side of deep house, depending how you see it – being the general order of the day.

The Garnier-esque drama of Everytime We Touch and the energising throb of Feeling stand out but all four tracks are very playable.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha courtesy of Hype Muzik

Next up is Fallin', which comes from Namatjira featuring Royal Sapien. I'll be honest and say I'm not really into the main vocal mix so much, it's a bit Ibiza-prog-by-numbers with a slighty too-white vocal… it's not terrible, it just doesn't excite me much. Personally.

But that's okay, cos flip it over and you'll find a far more satisfactory Dub, which drops the vocals and takes a generally more heads-down, 4am floataway kind of approach. To rather good effect.

Out: This week

About: This one's on Low Bit Records, which was formed in Sweden in 2008 but is now based in London

Jeff Keenan – Sweet EP

We jump back over to the other side of the pond now with this latest from Boston's Headtunes Recordings, which comes from local boy Jeff Keenan.

There are just two tracks, but six mixes in total. Sweet itself is, again, a very now-sounding affair, peaktime deep/tech house with garage-y overtones in its original form. NYC's Daniel Marin pushes the 'deep' slider up and the 'tech' slider down on his mix, while LA's Android Cartel do the reverse on theirs and Brummie lad Dan Warby represents for the UK, taking us into organic, soul/funk-fuelled pastures with a Rhythm & Sax mix that's got 'Southport' written all over it. 

Need Love, meanwhile, is all Murk-y drums, some of the deepest pads/drops known to mankind and layered ethereal female vox… a 5am dancefloor dream… while Tamer Maliki & Sergio Santos give the track a more straight-up 4/4 backdrop and downtune the vocal half an octave or so. 

The original of Need Love and the Marin Rub of Sweet would be my picks here but it really is all… the opposite of bad, to coin a phrase.

Out: This week

About: You can find Headtunes on such popular social networking services as Soundcloud and Facebook, or alternatively, you might like to visit them at their own website. 

Dimi Wilson – 3 Moustache EP

Greek producer Dimi Wilson comes to Alex Arnout's Dogmatik Digital, and does so with some considerable panache.

What you get are four tracks, five mixes, all in a general vein of 'deep/tech house that's so now-sounding it almost hurts'. I mean that in a good way though, not in a sneery "ooh look at him being all hip" way! Musically the tracks are all tuff-ish and variously pulsing, throbbing, bouncy and shuffly, but where they REALLY vary – cos we're talking some fairly subtle distinctions there – is in the choice of accompanying vox.

Moustache features a chopped-up male R&B vocal, while Ice P uses a heavily-treated vocal from some rapper or other… yeah, I know who it sounds like it should be from the title but the voice is so distorted it's hard to tell who it is or what he's on about, except he says 'bitch' and 'nigga' a lot and generally sounds a bit irate. Never Looking Back has a hip-house style vocal, while Spanish Girl… well, that one's obvious.

But for all that, it's actually the Dub of Never Looking Back that's pushed this one to the top of the pile tonight. It's a sparse, pulsating monster of tech-fuelled deepness, tailormade for locked-on late-hours floors… and, most importantly, it's graced quite generously with pyow-pyow-pyow, Negro-esque space disco stabs.

And that's pretty much my favourite sound in the world, which makes this utterly essential in my book.

Out: This week

About: You can find Dogmatik on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Andrew MK – Stop/Listen/Repeat EP

Sorry there were no reviews last night, I was… doing summat else. But here we are now… and there's some damn fine house music to tell you about as well.

Starting with this EP from a new name to me, Andrew Mk (not to be confused with the MTV rock dude Andrew WK), which comes on US label Dance Through Life. With eight original tracks I'm not going into each one individually, but the general theme is contemporary-sounding deep house with a jazzy twist, lots of wonky piano loops and, notably, a penchant for sampling classic vocals.

We'll assume this has been done as deliberate concept/theme, of course, not that he just couldn't think of any other ideas! But yeah, Bad Habit gets the treatment on Never Say Never, Jovan's garage classic Make My Body Rock is used on Trip The Guitar alongside a cheeky, plinky-plonky nod to the Satisfaction riff, The Insatiable Piano samples Junior's Get Your Hands Off My Man while the standout of the EP for me is Touch The Piano, a slow, techy, dubby throbber topped off with the Candi Staton I Know vocal (as sampled by Altern-8 and Bowa back in the ravey davey gravy days).

The latter's frankly an astoundingly good piece of house music but the cascading jazz ivories of A Lot Of Love also deserve a special mention, and generally speaking the EP's a bit of a winner all round. No idea who Andrew Mk is but let's hope we hear more soon.

Out: This week

About: You can find Dance Through Life on Soundcloud or Facebook

Mr Pedros – Press Up EP

Lancashire-based label Discotech and Sankeys resident Mr Pedros come good once more on this simple two-tracker.

On the A, Press Up is a tuff-ish house groover with a hip-house style vocal that'll appeal to fans of Sneak, Carter, Farina, etc. On the B, The Snitch is, well, in a similar vein, but with more in the way of cut-up vox, disco stabs n' such.

Despite my lack of any great penetrating, insightful comments to make about them, these are two very solid cuts that'll move pretty much any house floor worth it's salt. And that's enough, surely?

Out: This week

About: You can find Discotech on Soundcloud, on Facebook and at their own website. Check the Soundcloud page right now and, don't say I told you, but you just might find some cheeky cut-up/booty bizniss for download…

Cesar Caballero – Funketeao

Three very different mixes on offer of this cut from Colombian-born, Toronto-resident Cesar Caballero on his own Groove Garden imprint.

In its original form, Funketeao is a pleasant-enough slab of house music, with rolling beats, a "Music!" vocal sample and a hint of Balearic-style prog. But it's the remixes that are doing it more for me. The Omid 16B Remix is a deeper pass with a distinctly dubby edge, particularly as the track progresses (if you'll pardon the pun). Butter the Butcher, on the other hand, goes the other way entirely, packing his mix with rave/nu-nrg-style pulsing synth bass to produce a certified rump-shaking call to the dancefloor.

And in this case, two out of three is plenty to be going on with, ta!

Out: This week

About: I've told you most of what I know about Groove Garden Recordings – if you want to know more, check out their website, Facebook and Soundcloud pages.

Jonny Bee – NYC Sunset

Some typically high-quality deep house here from the UM Records stable.

There are two tracks and four mixes in total. In its Original form, NYC Sunset itself is a lazy, meandering affair made for warm-ups and post-club sessions, unless you're lucky enough to be playing to the most specialist of deep floors; the CRAM Remix then takes us even further into driftaway, late-night territory. You Make My Dreams Come True, meanwhile, is another deep n' mellow affair, with soulful tinges but also a little of that ominous, brooding production quality you associate with the deepest of techno. Hall North then supplies a slightly more floor-friendly take, with tuffer drums but still a dubbed-out feel overall.

Classy stuff all round – but then we expect no less from Richie Hartness's label.

Out: This week

About: You can find UM Records (or Untitled Music, if you prefer… I've never quite worked that one out) on Facebook, at their own blog or on Soundcloud.

DJ Dove – Come On [Ralph Lawson's 20/20 Remix]

Not sure how much reviewing I'm gonna get done today, gotta go out later, so we'll start out with a nice easy one cos there's just the one mix!

But there's a story to go with it as well. DJ Dove's Come On originally came out on Milk N' 2 Sugars (as it was then) way back in 2000, complete with this Ralph Lawson remix. But somewhere along the way the masters went missing, with the result that the track's never been available digitally.

Until, as they used to say on Tomorrow's World, now. Because said masters recently surfaced on an unmarked DAT when one of the MN2S crew was moving house, and as a result, this sumptuous slice of languid, soulfully-tinged deep house – which has something of a paddy, west coast-y feel to it, unsurprisingly given that back in 2000 Naked, Salted and Om were as red-hot as [insert hipster label of your choosing] are today – is now available for your digital purchasing pleasure.

Which is nice.

Out: This week

About: You can find MN2S at their website or on Facebook.

So many tunes, so little time 29

As ever, more things I'd have liked to blog about this week than I found time to, so here's this week's 'other stuff' round-up…

Starting off on a tech-house tip, the Captain Bongo Remixes EP from Alex Beautifun on Russian label Beautifun Records features no fewer than 12 (12!) remixes of the one track, all inna tech-house style pretty much so if you can't find something to play here… The Purple Flowers from Andy Ascenscio on BWG Records features five tracks sitting somewhere between deep house, deep techno and minimal, and is well worth checking out… Daneel's Melancholy EP on Stripped Digital is aptly titled, packed as it is with deep, thoughtful progressive house grooves… related label Unrivaled Music serves up Mr No Name from Dexter Ford, a fine slab of deep house with remixes from Patrick Podage and Two House… KB's Groove comes from DJ Linus on Dave Elkbas and friends' fledgling Initials label and is very now-sounding deep/tech bizniss with a spoken vocal and a more-minimal-than-thou techno remix from Kris Wadworth…  King Street serve up the goods for the soulful floors with remixes of Roland Clark pres Urban Soul's Love Is So Nice and Before You Reach For Love from Reelsoul and Music Note respectively… there's some quality deep house on offer as DJ Romain feat Hype and Mobius Strum team up for a split EP called Luv In The Club on Germany's Ama Recordings, Romain's title track standing out for me… and more deep house but with a Gallic twist from London's Act Natural, who give us the After You Lay Down EP from DJ W!ld…  Duckhunter brings the deep techno menace and bubble with Lasso for Wolf Trap, with flipside Poison Ivy the one to check here… Funk Forward didn't waste time thinking up clever names for their Funk Forward EP on Endemic Digital, they spent that time crafting some very fine, VERY deep house grooves instead… though I'm not sure how you'd explain that to Chilean duo Gitech, who ask What Is House? What Is Techno? on an equally fine two-tracker of tuff, glitchy tech-house for Silicon Records… and there's some more house-techno confusion, in a good way, courtesy of MUM who bring us the four-track European Sun EP from local hero Greg Fenton… no such confusion with Higher Ground from Haldo & Stereo Junkie feat Silvio Gigante, which comes on Rebus Records and is definitely one for the soulful floors whichever of the eight mixes you plump for, given the ubiquity of Silvio's Stingily/Sylvester falsetto… whereas on the other hand, the Bora Bora EP from Lyle Quach & Oz Romita is straight-up techno, but y'know, in a good, funky kinda way, particularly on the housier Artificial Track… Nicky Shah's Freak is I think the first ever Bounce House release NOT to get an unreserved thumbs-up from me, purely because US R&B-style singers telling me how "freaky" they are sets off the same alarm bells as when a middle-aged accountant in a Donald Duck tie says "I'm mad, me". The music's the usual high-quality Bounce House fare though… if you want REALLY freaky, then head for the latest from Four40, cos the deep, involving and frankly beautiful Silverchair from Pale is as forward-thinking a slab of future garage as you'll hear in many a moon… Reed & Radley are a pair of former northern UK ravers now based in New Zealand, who've set up a label called Green Grass Recordings, with the debut release being the extremely checkable Mum's The Word EP from R&R themselves… Research do the nu-boogie thang (rather well, it should be said – check the uber-squelchsome Dub in particular) on the mighty Paper Recordings with Day By Day… we're back on a techno/tech-house tip with the Werewolf EP, which comes from Rework on French label Meant Records, with the technoid punk-funk strut of Touch Yourself the standout for me… Rob Duke's Bush Pumpers EP is home to more tech-house that leans towards the techno side of the equation, and comes on French label SFX Records… still on a techno/tech-house tip Umek gives us It Is Simple But It Works Like Fcuk on (of course) 1605 Music Therapy, which isn't intelligent, isn't from Detroit but, y'know… AND FINALLY for tonight, the MVO EP from Volster comes on Microfreak and is techno of a much deeper hue, complete with a remix from Sei A though the original is the one for me…

Phew! It's been a pretty hectic week so I've gotta say some of the above didn't really get the justice they deserved. Sorry to the artists/labels concerned, suffice to say dear reader that if you're as pushed for time as I've been then the Andy Ascencio, Pale, Funk Forward, Reed & Radley and Gitech releases are particularly worth checking out. Oh and that Day By Day Dub Mix – that kicks ass too.

Maya Jane Coles – No Sympathy

Anything new from Maya Jane is always cause for TIWWD's ears to prick up and this latest – for Mexico's Elite Records – doesn't disappoint.

In its original form, No Sympathy is a deep, driving tech-house groove, topped with European-sounding spoken vox from a woman – presumably MJC herself, seeing as no-one else is credited – who's been done wrong and isn't best pleased about it ("you used to get me high/now everything we had has died/no sympathy from me inside/now I just want to make cry"). And it's every bit as good as you're probably expecting from Ms Coles.

Remix-wise, Djuma Soundsystem are up first with a rub that takes us into even deeper, late-night territory. Matthew Burdon & Kate Rathod's Dub Mix takes up the original's slight garage swing and runs with it, transforming No Sympathy into a down and dirty rumpshaker for those lights-down-low sessions, while finally rising Mexican star Holly serves up a mix that's a touch more "deep n' funky" than "deep n' techy" but certainly no less an order-to-dance than MJC's original.

A very fine release that goes to further establish Mexico's place on the deep house map.

Out: This week

About: You can find Elite Records on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Various – The Residence EP

Our second V/A ep today comes from Leeds-based Midnight Social, and showcases the production talents of some of the world's hard-working resident DJs.

Leading the charge is Dudley Strangeways (also featured on the Something Different EP, of course), who gives us Side C, a slab of deep n' moody house bizniss with a hint of classic UK garage circa 1995. Next, Lee Pennington's Billy's Coming Out is a sparse, stripped chugger with raw technoid kicks, while Matteo Baudoni – an Italian DJ now resident in Seattle – serves up We Love Dance, a more driving cut counterpointing a terrace-friendly, percussion-led groove with deep organ sounds and barely-there vocal snips. Bringing the EP to a close is Drag That Ish from David Moran, a druggy slice of 3am wonk with what sound like garage organs drawn through a mangle, and with a heavily treated spoken vocal that probably ISN'T saying "techno pussy" but sounds like it is to me!

It's Dudley's cut that stands out for me, with Mr Moran taking the silver, but there's plenty to explore here so dive in.

Out: This week on Beatport, everywhere else from 15 Oct.

About: You can find Carlo Gambino's Midnight Social Recordings on Facebook.