Feft – Won't Believe EP

An outstanding EP from Unrivaled Music here with three tracks, two of which operate in out-and-out garage territory.

That's garage in the proper/old-fashioned sense you understand. Won't Believe itself works some great NJ organ stabs, skippy beats and the tiniest snips of heavily treated male vocal, while Lost is another killer bump n' grind cut in the classic vein, somewhat reminiscent of early outings by labels like Confetti or Ice Cream. Rounding out the EP is Tickle, which is more yer typical Unrivaled-style dancefloor deep house, with tons of rump-shakin' bottom end and a rather rude vocal.

As I said, an outstanding EP, and one that'll go down particularly well with dancers of 'a certain age'…

Out: This week

About: Find Unrivaled Music via the Endemic Digital page on Facebook.

Dubesque – Rebote EP

Some peaktime/big room-friendly but non-cheesy house grooves here courtesy of UK label In My House.

Rebote itself is a tuff but non-dark affair with slammin' kicks, an insistent, brassy main synth hook and a hip-house-style vocal, while Cuidado is a more relaxed and limber groove with a slightly discofied feel and cut-up fem vox. Rounding out the EP is Bonus Tool #2, a 'bonus beats' take on the latter.

Rebote is the one, though – a track that'll let you reach out to more mainstream floors without losing credibility along the way.

Out: This week

About: They don't actually seem to have a website of their own but you can get in contact with In My House via the Soulful Edge Promotions website.

Aural Imbalance – Four In Deep EP

The clue's in the name with this one, really, with four tracks of very deep house courtesy of Aural Imbalance and connoisseur-friendly UK label Greta Cottage Workshop. Given GCW's track record for uncompromising deepness, and given that the tracks are called things like Ocean Floor and Tranquility Dub, I don't think I really need to explain any more, do I?

Suffice to say that if your taste in house veers towards the horizontally inclined, you're gonna love this one. I do!

Out: This week

About: Find Greta Cottage Workshop on Soundcloud or at their own website.

So many tunes, so little time 32

Spent today climbing a download mountain and haven't even started in on this week's reviews pile yet, so it's just gonna be the 'best of the rest' from last week tonight… and here we go…

Andres Gonzalez is up first with Thulut, a four-track EP of quite experimental and very deep house/techno coming on new Argentinean label Euphoria Music… Devid Morrison gives us the Tribaland EP on the mighty Transport Recordings, which as the name suggests is an EP packed with percussion-led house grooves… Evol Ai, AKA Slovenia's Alun Roposa, gives us La Fu, a two-tracker from the quirkier, leftfield end of nu-disco coming on Nang… Furniture Crew's White Clusters EP on Boogie Basics is also quite quirky and glitchy but this time in deep house kinda way and with a little bit of acid thrown in… Greg Fenton's Night Porter EP is well worth checking, a dreamy, instrumental techno/progressive house cut with mixes from Mark Holmes, Joyce Brooke, Nick Hussey and Fenton himself, and comes on Channelled Recordings… Helder Teixeira continues a string of releases with the Endemic camp with the six-track U Must Feel Something EP, which comes on Unrivaled Music and suffice to say the usual high quality standards apply… the Metatronik EP from Hi-Fi Mystery School marks a very welcome first showing for a while on this blog from Amsterdam's 90watts, and shows the label's knack of picking winning dancefloor tech-house vibes is in no sign of waning… Intrinity's Cityscape on Incepto Music is a bit shiny-happy prog for these ears but not unpleasant all the same… at the other end of the spectrum JP Chronic gives us Picture Of You, a very 'now' deep/tech cut in four mixes… Italian label 303 Lovers serve up the Remixes EP from Pleasurekraft, with new rubs of Nostromo and The Main Ingredient… good news for the lovers of classic-style house, as Roland Clark pres Urban Soul's 1996 King Street classic Until We Meet Again (not to be confused with the Inner City track of the same name) gets a trio of rather splendid 2012 refixes from my boy Sean McCabe – gotta love that fat b-line… Lowroom give us Habanero by Sacpec, which should suit your jackin' dancefloor tech-house needs nicely… another house legend, The Timewriter, comes to Sebastian Davidson's ever-checkable Nightbird Music with the three-track EP Screenland, with Dusty Stone standing out to these ears… while finally on the V/A tip, there's the Compounds 0.1 Remixes EP on Punch Music, featuring deep techno/tech-house nuggets from Yariv Bernstein, Muzarco and Nir Shoshani in various combinations… and there's an ADE 2012 Sampler from Italy's Deeperfect, with three tracks from label boss Stefano Noferini and friends showcasing the label's tech-house/funky techno style admirably.

With THANKS ALSO this week to: Alessandro D'Avenia, Digital Cassette, Essential Pudding, Johnny Cruz, Juanito, Lokokos, Monitor feat Nicole J, Nik Mechikov, Pach DJ , Paride Saraceni & Dema, Secrets and ZXX

Luis Mollinedo – Storyteller EP

Another from the ever-reliable Endemic Digital camp here. Yeah, I know, but when I keep getting great tracks sent through, what's a boy to do?!

It's a simple two-track job. Storyteller itself lilts along at an unhurried pace, its crisp deep house beats layered with atmospheric synths/FX galore, while Dlov Story is somewhat more 'epic' in its construction, starting out all warm and lazy then adding percussion and vocal snips to build towards a dancing-into-dawn finish.

Either will serve as a soundtrack for your journeys nicely, be those journeys deep into the afterhours groove or deep into inner/outer space…

Out: This week

About: Here's that ever-popular Endemic Digital link again, then…

ALBUM Nadja Lind – Brain Candy Remixed

Sometimes it's hard to know what to say.

Regular TIWWD readers will know I'm a big fan of that Klartraum/Lucidflow sound (Nadja being, for the uninitiated, one-half of the former and co-owner of the latter) so when I tell you that here, Ms Lind serves up a whopping 22 remixes of tracks from her outstanding solo album Brain Candy… and that those 22 remixes come from such highly respectable names as Hernan Cattaneo, Sasch BBC & Caspar, Helly Larson, Saytek and Deep Spelle… well then, you know I'm going to tell you that this album is a total must-buy, don't you?

So then I'm left wondering, "what else can I tell 'em?". I'm not going through all 22 tracks one-by-one saying "this one's a bit more dubby" or "this one has tougher kicks" because, y'know, there's 22 of them. So that only leaves me to point out that if you're already a fan of the Lind/Klartraum/Lucidflow style of deep, dubby, atmospheric techno then you'll have no cause to be upset by any of the rerubs here; yet at the same time, between them there's sufficient stylistic variation to keep the album interesting and to potentially attract a wider audience as well.

But then I would say that, wouldn't I, being a fan n' that? So to hell with it… just buy the damn thing. It's superb, frankly.

Out: This week

About: You can find Lucidflow here, here and here (website/Facebook/Soundcloud)

Byssus & White Perception – So What EP?

Some superb heads-down grooves from the deeper and techier ends of the house spectrum here, courtesy of NYC label Dance Through Life.

It's another of those pesky split affairs, with two tracks from Byssus and two from White Perception. The latter provides the title cut, a bubblin' terrace-friendly techno cut with tribalistic percussion, and Panic Room, another techno-fied drummy workout, this time topped with atmospheric FX galore for a darker, more sinister ride. From Byssus, meanwhile, we get Deep Lake, an almost archetypal deep house dancefloor stomper with some great orchestral strings rising and falling throughout and a squelchy, slightly acid-y lead synth, and Never Give In, a more funky/garage-y deep house jam to start out that acquires something of a prog accent as it goes on.

But never mind picking the tunes apart sound-by-sound, all you need to know is that all four will rock the proper underground floors for sure.

Out: This week

About: You can find Dance Through Life on Facebook and Soundcloud; you can currently HEAR THIS at the latter.

Andy Lee – What About Us

If I had to describe the house sound of now (I'm not sure how that might come about, because in my actual real everyday life people are generally telling me to shut up about house music, not asking questions about it. But IF) then phrases like 'cavernous production', 'big synth riffs', 'chunky midtempo beats' and, perhaps most of all, 'heavily treated/downpitched white male vocals' would feature heavily.

That east London/Berlin deep/tech sound so beloved of skinny-jeaned hipsters, in other words. Music bought by kids who think house music began with Huxley, Solomun and Maya Jane. There's a LOT of it about, but to be honest it's a sound I can take or leave a lot of the time… so often, there's too much smart-arse studio trickery and not enough in the way of actual soul.

Well, THIS record is very much in the vein mentioned above, but the latter doesn't apply… this one's dripping with soul and I'm loving it. Which suggests, to me, that it must be really a very good record indeed. Ha!

Out: This week

About: This comes on Seamless Deep.

And by the way, just to clear: I wasn't dissing Huxley, Solomun or Maya Jane there! Fine producers all of them. It's their 1001 imitators I get a bit bored of sometimes…

AKRA - AKRAsounds Vol 2

A three-track EP here from Nick Woolfson of Mock & Toof, AKA AKRA.

Sonnox is up first, a languid, dreamy affair with something of that 'laidback deep Balearic prog' vibe about it. Stir Fried operates in quite different territory, being much more (deep) techno-oriented with all kinds of sinister FX and warbles, while closer Hear To Create stands out for me, a jazzy deep house groove (think Boulevard-era St Germain) sporting one of those self-help tape vocals that are so bafflingly popular… there's nothing wrong with them, I'm just surprised so many house producers clearly have so many self-help tapes lying around… and some cool wah-wah guitar work.

With three very varied cuts but the quality standard high throughout, this is well worth checking.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Nick's own fledgling UK label Teng (not to be confused with the Rurals' Peng imprint), who can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Farley Silvester - Jam Down Beat Down

"Acid house survivors" (as they're dubbed on the hype sheet) Terry Farley and Stretch Silvester come to the mighty Paper Recordings.

What's surprising about Jam Down Beat Down is the reggae vocal, which is somewhat remiscent of Earl 16… what's not surprising, given that it's on Paper, is that it sits somewhere between deep house and nu boogie (though they're touting it as 'darkroom garage') and is really rather good.

There's just the two mixes to choose from – Original and Dub, and I think I'm slightly preferring the latter. That's about all I've got to say, really, but do check this one.

Out: This week

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

Audio Junkies/Lonya – Two Makes A Pear EP

A split release here coming on new label Florentine Records, this being just their fourth release.

It's a simple two-track affair so I needn't detain you long! On the A, Audio Junkies' Allright [sic] is a big, brooding deep/tech houser with sampled vocal wails that builds and builds and then builds some more. Over on the B, Fairy comes (of course) from Lonya and is a somewhat deeper affair, this time with a proggy, soundscape-y feel.

Two solid cuts, and of course it's always good to welcome a new label to the scene.

Out: This week

About: Florentine Records are based "somewhere near the Mediterranean". Or I could just spoil it and say Israel! Their website is currently under construction, in the meantime you can find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Jeff Service – The Bad Guys EP

This is a very strange record…

Actually in one way it's a perfectly normal record, for our world. It's got three tracks on it, with the overall vibe being tuff-ish tech-house. Baron Samedi has a little added disco sheen while Solitaire, with its filters and sampled, chopped n' chipmunk'd R&B vox, veers even closer to hi-octane disco house of the Bid/Nocturnal/Stardust Music variety.

The reason I say it's odd, though, is the (sort of) title track. Again, tuff tech-house is the general idea, with a little of that lollopoing Balkan/swing vibe and some abrasive stabs reminiscent of vintage R&S hardcore… but it's the use of the vocal, see? It's weird, see? Specifically, because it's a Dave Chapelle sketch with him doing Edward G Robinson/Jimmy Cagney impressions.

I'm not sure how it'd go down on the floor but it'd be interesting to see, and Bad Guys Talk certainly takes the prize for being the week's quirkiest release. It's how he talks, see?

Out: This week

About: Jeff Service hails from Arizona but this comes on new New Zealand label Cave Recordings. It's only their third release so show some love by visiting their website and Soundcloud and Facebook pages. Hit up the latter and you'll see they describe their sound as "jackin' tech", which on this evidence I'd say is about right!

PS Dave Chapelle = very funny black US comic who's big in the States and weirdly unknown in the UK. I've got a DVD, if you want to borrow it… oh and I found the sketch on YouTube as well!

Various – Autem 02

Only the second release here from Sarp Yilmaz & co's fledgling Autem Audio label, based in Chicago, and again it's a V/A affair showing off the production talents of the label bosses.

The EP kicks off with Gvk's Moonshine, a no-nonsense deep/tech throbber that unexpectedly breaks down into the vocal from Superstitious in the middle… drop this one at the right time and it could absolutely slay 'em! Dark Blue is up next, a deeper, housier groove coming from DJ Da, known for releases on King Street and Yoshitoshi, while finally Sarp gives us Krumbz, a head-mangling journey that fuses deep, twisted techno with the organs and breathy female vocal snips of deep NJ garage.

Two releases in and two winners to date, then…

Out: This week

About: You can find Autem Audio here.

Stefan Kaye – Stav's Mission To Kilimanjaro

Okay listen carefully peeps cos this gets a bit confusing but it's important!

Stefan Kaye, a very familiar name to TIWWD readers, has a cousin called Stav. Stav's climbing a big fuck-off mountain in Africa this coming February, and hopes to raise £10K for leukaemia charities by doing so. Endemic boss Wes Saunders' brother tragically died from leukaemi aged just 24 in 2008.

So, Stefan's made this very cool deep, proggy, tribal groover and Wes is putting out on Endemic Digital… as a thank-you to anyone making a donation to this very worthy cause. Having lost both parents and very nearly one extremely precious niece to cancer myself, I'd like to encourage you to do that, please! Here's what you do:

Note that as well as getting this track you'll also get a copy of Stefan's album, and that's got to be worth £5 or £10 of anyone's money (or whatever you can afford).

That is all.

Wusel – Dancing Illusions

Somewhat shoddily I find myself apologising once more for slow updates this week… I'm back at the day job and the first couple of days always take it out of me. But anyway here we are now and there's this to talk about, a very spend-money-on-able four-tracker from Bounce House, a label whose intermittent release schedule definitely comes from the 'quality not quantity' school of thought!

Bounce House releases are usually worth the wait, though, and this is no exception. Dancing Illusions itself is in its Original form a throbbing prog/tech kinda affair. Label boss DK Watts then serves up a remix that's a bit more obviously TIWWD-ish, a fairly uptempo and driving (deep) houser still with the proggy overtones in places but also now with a killer Gypsy Woman-ish organ riff, some jazzy sax licks and a "can't we do this all night?" spoken, looped female vocal.

Two other original tracks make up the rest of the EP. Desert City is a midtempo, meandering and slightly mournful affair with lots of Arabic-sounding flutes and horns and also a synth riff that sounds like the riff from a late 80s/early 90s Italo-house track only all grown up now and a bit calmer, while on a similar note, Irritated is remarkable mostly for a main synth riff that's oddly reminiscent of a more subdued Zombie Nation!

Like I said: Bounce House releases are usually worth the wait, and this is no exception.

Out: This week

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

Oh and no, Wusel isn't me putting on an Elmer Fudd accent!

Werner Niedermeier – Insight EP

We stay on a straight-up deep house tip with this latest from Something Different.

In its Original form, Insight is an afterhours kinda affair, all ambient synth washes and disembodied spoken vocals but underpinned by a steadily chugging backbeat. The Abracadabra Remix from Stanny Abram adds extra/different drums for more of a looping, percussive, terrace-y feel, while rounding out the EP is Miles To Go, another unhurried chugging groove topped with scratchy, hissy lo-fi synths.

Three quality cuts for the more discerning buyers (that'd be you) and the more specialist dancefloors.

Out: This week

About: Something Different, as you're no doubt only too aware by now, can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Universal Language – Hailstrom

Liverpool's Etoka Records used to feature on this blog a lot, then I didn't hear from them for a while… not sure if they took a break or what, but the good news is this is one of a couple of new Etoka releases to land lately so either way we seem to be back on course.

Which IS good news, because Etoka's stock-in-trade has always been very deep house of the highest calibre, and this two-tracker from Universal Language, who answers to Laszlo in real life, doesn't disappoint. Hailstrom itself is a slow, meandering affair with slightly proggy overtones while Journey Inside goes even deeper, being exactly the kind of smoothly textured, late-night ride into inner space that you'd want it to be.

If you like it seriously deep, you're gonna love this. Outstanding.

Out: This week

About: You can find Etoka Records at their website or on Soundcloud.

Monkey Boots – Hold Back The Night/Whitworth Strut

A two-tracker here from New Zealand's Grass Green Recordings – who I don't think have featured on here before – which they describe as "swirling, dramatic disco-inspired house business". Let's have a listen and see if they're right…

Hold Back The Night doesn't have much to do with The Trammps' soul classic of the same name, as far as I can make out, being instead a big, beefy, midpaced dancefloor cut with a heavily treated "in the night/you're gonna find yourself alone girl" vocal sample, that sits somewhere between contemporary-style deep house and nu-disco. Over on the B, meanwhile, you'll find Whitworth Strut, a paean to Manchester's Whitworth Street, home to many famous nightclubs including The Hacienda at one end and the Twisted Wheel/Pips/The State at the other. Aah, memories… anyway yes, the track, which is another mid-paced affair with a suitably loose-limbed, baggy feel.

Overall verdict, then? Well, I'd say 'house-y nu disco' rather than 'disco-inspired house' personally, but you can't fault 'em on "swirling and dramatic"…

Out: Tomorrow (Oct 23)

About: You can find Grass Green Recordings at their website, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Chemical Warfare – Temprano [Gavron Reblitz]

On to this week's reviews, then, and we'll start with this one which is nice and easy cos there's just the one mix!

Or rather, just the one remix. Temprano is a track that previously featured on the Forward Motion EP, and here it's remixed into a seriously heavy tech-house groove by Gavron, main man at the Musiquarium in Leeds. You'll recognise it from the "children of house, I'm praying for your soul, I'm praying for all the freaks" spoken vocal.

Big, dramatic house music for those 4am dark room moments.

Out: This week

About: This comes of course on Al 'One-half of Chemical Warfare' Bradley's own 3am Recordings, who you can find on Facebook and Soundcloud.

So many tunes, so little time 31

Okay, so in time-honoured fashion, before we get cracking with THIS week's reviews here's a few bits from LAST week we didn't quite get round to…

DJ E-Clyps serves up some typically high-octane disco-house frolics for Bid Muzik in the form of Through The Night… Larry Baaam! & Stephen Advance's Wht The Fck on Aaaah! Records is a tough, rolling tech-houser (even if they are billing it as 'minimal')…Techeran by Mario De La Funk is a deep houser with touches of jazz from Croatia's Beatality Records, that comes complete with a more funkified Ferry Van Hreen… Michael Levan and Stiven Rivic team up for Carisma, an outing on Stripped Digital that's probably best filed under 'deep prog'… Mohear's Go Away for Electunes sounds like what would happen if Crazy P and Lady Gaga decided to make a record after listening to a lot of Lipps, Inc, and comes with an Ilya Santana remix… Namy featuring Josh Milan give us From Now On on King Street, which is a bit of a no-brainer for the soulful house diehards… Oki Noki feat Bernice come to Unrivaled Music with Crazy, a serviceable slab of deep, vocal house with pop leanings (think Om, Naked etc)… Poupon's three-track Southside EP for Belgian label Aella Music sees us back in the tech-house jackin' zone, but with elements of deep dub techno as well… Rob Made's The Way I See on his own Sleazy Deep is nu disco/deep house fusion bizniss that, like the Oki Noki single, is a bit pop-oriented but worth checking… Aussie/Czech tech-housers Shades Of Gray team up with Uone for the four-track Katoomba EP on Tonkind… if you're in the market for some dark, gnarly dubstep heavily influenced by neurofunk-style D&B then the V/A Haunted EP on Section 8 Recordings will see you right… and finally, Kula Records were kind enough to send through their ADE Sampler EP, sadly this one's for the 'lucky few' only but suffice to say the quality of the deep, disco and tech house vibes contained therein mean yours truly will definitely be keeping an eye out for Kula releases in the coming months!

Rattled through those a bit – got a lot on today – but there are plenty of good trax in there so please DO do a bit of digging around.

With THANKS ALSO this week to: BaAus, Charles Ramirez Vs Baum, Da Fresh, Defenders Of The Ghetto, Domestic Technology, Hey Rube!, Hollen & Raul Mezcolanza, Ilya Deep, Jini Cowan, Jorge Cerna, Marcelo Demarco, Sensetive5 and Yves Eaux & Ruslan Cross. Usual rules apply, there's just not TIME to review everything!

dubspeeka – She Loves

Finally for today (well, apart from the round-up which I'll do this evening) we move closer to home… TIWWD's current home of Bristol, that is, which is also home to dubspeeka.

Who here serves up a three-tracker for local techno imprint Skeleton Recordings. She Loves itself is, in its Original form, a tough dark-room techno workout, long on scary reverb'd drums and cavernous production, while the remix from deep house hero Glimpse is in a surprisingly similar vein, albeit with the 'splatter movie soundtrack' vibe dialled back a notch or two. The standout of the EP for me though is the other original track, People – a slightly groovier, housier cut with disembodied vocal snips but still with enough of a dark, moody feel to work on techno as well as house floors.

Out: This week

About: You can find Skeleton Recordings – which might actually be dubspeeka's own label, though I'm not entirely sure – on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Smak – Summer Of Love EP Vol 4

Where the Anderson Noise single (below) sees the Brazilian techno dude in slightly housier mode than usual, Steve McCready AKA Smak, goes the other way and serves up what's possibly the most techified EP in the Summer Of Love series to date.

It's still good though, and with five original tracks on offer you get your money's worth as well! Halfway opens proceedings, getting things underway with its melodic and slightly proggy vibe. So Bad is next, a dusty, layered groove inna deep/tech house stylee, before Tenon takes us into more jacking, more overtly technoid pastures. Part Of Me, featuring John Morrison, is a deeper, dubbier kinda techno with lashings of rave-y sub-bass, while closing out the EP is (appropriately enough) In The End, which again has something of a floaty, proggy vibe about it.

Four releases in, you should know whether or not you're digging the Summer Of Love series by now. If you are, as I am, then this latest installment won't disappoint.

Out: This week

About: This comes of course on Hype Muzik.

Anderson Noise – Sci-Fi Punk Projects

Brazilian techno don Anderson Noise isn't someone you'd expect to crop up on this blog much. This new EP for Noise Music, though, is a deeper affair than anything I've heard from him before (that said, it's not like I've followed the man's career with a religious zeal or anything… he could have done TONS of records like this for all I know) and definitely worth checking out.

In its Original form, Sci-Fi Punk Projects is moody, cinematic techno that conjures up images of a space station preparing for war or something, but it's the Sex Shop Remix and Dub that are working best to these ears. I'm not entirely sure whether 'Sex Shop' is the name of a remixer or just the name of the mix, but either way both are smoother, more house-ified rides that should appeal to lovers of deep, dark dancefloor grooves of many persuasions.

If Anderson Noise HAS done tons of records like this, perhaps someone could let me know, cos I'd like to hear them – this is quality stuff.

Out: This wee

About: Noise Music is of course Anderson's own label – find 'em at their website or via his Facebook page.

Ardalan – The Sea

We're on a tougher, techier tip today, starting with this from Florida's Chillin Music and San Francisco-based Iranian producer Ardalan.

There's just the two mixes of The Sea, but to be fair they are quite different. In its Original form its a tuff n' glitchy tech-house workout, but for me the pick would be the Chris James Pacific State Resplash on the flip, which is a slightly deeper, more melodic pass with those glitches carefully ironed out.

Still, with two quite different rubs on offer this'll be a useful one to have in the box.

Out: This week

About: You can find Chillin Music online here.

Stefan Kaye – Adherence EP

Whoops, nearly overlooked this one… glad I didn't, though, cos it's generally pretty ruddy spiffing, spot-on, tickety-boo, tip-top and other early 20th century expresssions of approbation.

Five tracks make up the EP, and "dreamy deep house aimed at the afterhours joints and post-club sofa sessions" is the general gist. Gave It Meaning is a little more sexy n' sultry than the rest, Warm People a tad more organic and amniotic, but generally speaking yeah, late-night, floataway vibes are the basic order of the day and if such are what you're after then there's not a track here that will disappoint.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you ever locate that mythical bunch of creatures known as "da proper headz," each of them will probably be clutching a copy of the Adherence EP. Nuff said.

Out: This week

About: This comes on a label called Endemic Digital. I believe I may have mentioned them on this blog once or twice before.

Various – Collected Works

Speaking of labels you've got to hand it to… what I love about OFF Recordings is you never know quite what you're gonna get. One OFF release can be soulful/garage-y, the next tuff and techy… as long as it's good music they don't care too much for pigeonholes, which is how it should be.

It's no surprise, then, that this four-track sampler EP takes in a range of styles. The EP opens with HNQO feat Bip's As I See, a deep/tech chugger with a fat, chunky b-line and a breathy spoken female vocal. Oddly reminiscent of Superstars Of Rock's classic Orange Sunshine in places, you'll recognise it from the "D to the O to the O to the D… E.P.M.U.S.I.C… go!" refrain – though as to what 'Dood EP Music' means, your guess is as good as mine.

Javi Bora, Le Vinyl and Melohman are up next with Destruction, a low-temperature techy groove with an "annihilation… destruction" vocal hook, female wails and a tuff, no-nonsense bottom end, which is followed by Mantra from Hector Couto and S.K.A.M, a more peaktime kinda cut that sits on the deep house/nu disco borders and works a voal sample lifted from Mainline (the Jason Load version, not the Black Ivory one – as also sampled by Love Revolution's Give It To Me Baby back in the day).

Finally, Detroit Swindle's The Standard Of Dialogue is another cut that owes a great deal to classic early 90s NYC – the "hehs" in particular recalling House Of Gypsies' Samba, so much so that it MIGHT actually be a sample, though I'm not 100% sure – and that's topped with a black power/conscious rap-type (second) vocal exhorting "motherfuckers" to "realise" and "reject mediocrity" and so on.

Ageing disco dolly that I am it's Mantra that wins out for me, with Detroit Swindle coming a close second. But it's all good, as they say.

Out: This week

About: You can find OFF Recordings in all the usual places, such as… leading social network Facebook! Cloud-based audio sharing service Soundcloud! And at their very own homepage on the World Wide Web! Isn't the 21st century marvellous, eh?

Jamie L – (What We Saw) In The Burg

A vinyl-only release here from the mighty Paper Recordings, coming courtesy of one Jamie L, who they describe as "a mysterious figure of unknown origin and history who fits into the Moodymann/Theo Parrish school of heavy future disco".

And yeah, "heavy future disco" is as good a description of (What We Saw) In The Burg as any. It's an unhurried, lo-slung and somewhat druggy, out-there kinda groove, with densely layered production driven by warping bottom-end synths, muted handclaps and barely-there samples of party noise. The Havana Candy Mix goes deeper yet more spangly, like space disco on downers, while finally the Cottam Mix is an epic, evolving pass that fuses late-night deep house vibes and soulful wails with fierce, techy percussion.

I think it's the Havana Candy Mix that does it best for me but you've got to hand it to Paper, really. Half the deep house styles that feature on this blog they pretty much invented back in the mid-90s (well, along with Pagan, Nuphonic, Toko and a few others); now the world and his brother are doing it, they're doing something slightly different, pushing us forward once more.

Out: This week

About: Paper live here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud).

Danny eM – One Of Those Nights EP

And sticking with labels that are very familiar to TIWWD readers, here come Form-and Function with this three-tracker from Danny eM.

One Of Those Nights itself is a slow-building groover with layered, chorused vox, tinkling synths and a vaguely blissed-out, euphoric, surging kinda feel – a track that could fit into deep, tech or prog sets. Pieces is a more abstract tech/prog affair with otherworldly synths and heavily treated (female) vox, while the standout for me is She Was, a meandering and floaty late-night cut that's nonetheless underpinned by solid kicks, and as such will be equally at home at the afterhours or on the sofa.

If your tastes err towards the epic/abstract/soundscape-y end of the spectrum then any of the three tracks here should suit; if you're more a 'straight-up deep' kinda guy/gal then just head straight for She Was. Alles klaar?

Out: This week

About: Form-and Function can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Soul Camp – Wonder EP

Yesterday we ended with one of TIWWD's 'usual suspect' labels; today let's start with one, namely Jesus Pablo and Di Riviera's Something Different, now into their second year of operations.

The Wonder EP opens with Baby Don't Go, a chunky yet mellow deep houser with a breathy female voice intoning the title atop a rich, warm bottom-end and pleasingly understated piano chords. The Original Mix of I Wonder If You Know is up next, a more overtly 'dancefloor' affair with, again, a warm bassline, an ominous bass-synth riff, some Italo-style synths later on and spoken male vox about, y'know, losing your mind and stuff, while bringing the EP to a close is the Sean Danke Mix of the same, a slightly more heads-down n' driving pass.

Very solid deep house bizniss as ever from Something Different.

Out: This week

About: Find Something Different on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Hanri & Lee Daines – Smokin' Even More Deep EP

Not sure what the "smokin" bit refers to… ahem… but anyway here we have some very fine late-night sofa-surfing deep house bizniss from Scott Harrington's Savoir Faire Musique.

It's actually a split affair, not a collaboration, with two mixes of Hanri's Smokin' Deep (the original and a Fraser Owen remix) and one of Daines' Even More Than. And "very fine late-night sofa surfing deep house" is about as much as I've got to say about any of 'em, really… but with the emphasis on "very fine", as is generally the case with SFM!

Now then, anyone seen the Zig-Zags?

Out: This week

About: Find Savoir Faire Musique on Facebook. Or possibly in the kitchen, deciding that Marmite, salad and cold baked bean sandwiches are the best thing EVER.

Juliche Hernandez – Knockout/One Second

The latest from ever-checkable Swiss tech house label Southpark Records here.

It's a simple two-track job, as you'll have guessed from the billing. On Knockout, slammin' kicks, wobbly disco synth stabs and sampled spoken "thank you father" vocals add up to a sheer GEM of a dark room 3am dancefloor epic, while on One Second, the tempo drops slightly, the beats are so sharp you could cut yourself on 'em and a detuned/downpitched and slightly deranged-sounding spoken male vocal takes us on a journey into the heart of darkness.

Superb stuff that the more underground floors will lap up, and that continues a great run of form from Southpark.

Out: This week

About: You can find Southpark Records on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website. And, I don't normally do this but we haven't had a Soundcloud player to pretty up this page for a while and this is pretty awesome, so…

Mat Le Star – The Wedding EP

Apparently the reason this is called The Wedding EP is that all the tracks were written around the time of Mat Le Star's marriage to "long-term girlfriend and sometime vocalist Danielle". And there's me thinking it was gonna be a cheeky booty with Single Ladies and I Gotta Feeling on one side, and Let's Twist Again and The Locomotion the other…

Instead, it's a three-track affair with two mixes of Only You and one of Solidarity Hymn, and… well, what can I say? It's a deep/tech affair that's so 'now' and so 'skinny-jeaned east London hipster' it hurts, which isn't necessarily 100% a good thing. But it'll work on the floor I'm sure, and Solidarity Hymn features some cool hip house-style vocal inserts, so it's worth checking. Even if the vocal on Only You does sound worryingly like Tony Di Bart… or possibly that bloke out of Maroon 5.

Now then, Moves Like Jagger… there's a future wedding disco classic for ya. And I think you'll find that's where we came in.

Out: This week

About: This comes on UK label Super-beat!, who mainly seem to exist on MySpace, weirdly enough. Maybe that's some kind of uber-hip thing as well – someone (a genuine certified Young Person) did recently tell me that "not being on Facebook is the new being on Facebook", after all.

Scientific Funk – After The Rain

Only the fourth release here from fledgling Portsmouth-based house/techno label Murge Recordings.

There are three mixes of After The Rain to choose from. The Original is a midtempo deep house shuffler with some cool space disco-ish synth action going on, the LHK Remix is a more chugging, heads-down and bottom-heavy house rub while Affie Yusuf's mix takes us into more techno-leaning territory, with the influence of the 'bleep' era (think Tricky Disco, LFO and other early Warp artists) writ large. Rounding out the EP is bonus cut Love Has Gone, which features busy, Loft-ish hand percussion, breathy vocal samples, a fat b-line and more of those killer synths.

The latter's probably actually my favourite, but these are very cool grooves all round.

Out: This week

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

Flubba – Don't U Know EP

No, not a cover of Bobbi Humphrey's boogie classic, but rather some seriously deep grooves courtesy of Carlo Gambino's Midnight Social Recordings.

The EP is a four-track affair. Don't U Know itself is a contemporary-sounding deep/tech house slow-burner with one of those very 'now' heavily treated/downpitched male vocals, On Fire is a slighly tougher cut with a phat jungle/rave-sounding b-line contrasting with its crisp beats and female "on fire" vocal wails, Worth My While is another deep/tech cut with soulfully-inclined vocals and synth sounds reminiscent of Yellow Magic Orchestra while finally Want You Back is in a similar vein but with nods to classic US garage.

High-quality stuff that belies Flubba's tender 19 years of age, and suggests the lad has a bright future ahead of him.

Out: This week

About: You can find Midnight Social Recordings on Facebook.

Keydin – Remember

The latest from Sideways Recordings here, coming from a producer who ought to be familiar to TIWWD readers by now, though perhaps mostly as a remixer to date.

There are four mixes of Remember to choose from, covering a range of styles. The original is an uptempo deep/tech house cut, its shuffling beats topped with a technoid synth riff; Daladje's Remix uses near-tribal percussion and could fit into more adventurous sets alongside UK funky and post-dubstep cuts, while Soulsway's rub doesn't actually vary hugely from the Original to these ears (sorry). But the standout for me is the Chris James Rethink, a considerably deeper pass with some very old-skool (think Chicago 1987) drum sounds that also makes more use of the heavily treated vocal snips.

Apart from being Rather Good, this also had to go in because label co-owner Wesley Burden was polite enough to apologise for only getting the promo across one day before release. Which in a world where people send me stuff that came out two weeks before, then wonder why it doesn't get reviewed, certainly made for a refreshing change here in MeWorld.

Out: Tomorrow

About: You can find Kent-based label Sideways Recordings here. And here. And oh look, here as well!

Henri Josh – Sputnik

Seems like a while since we had anything from Conya Digital on here – compared to some labels at any rate! – but here they come again with this two-track, three-mix EP courtesy of Portuguese producer Henri Josh. Is it just me or are there are a LOT of good new producers coming out of Portugal at the moment?

Sleepy Side opens proceedings, a late night deep house journey with slight prog/Balearic leanings and a breakdown in the middle featuring some very nice electric piano doodling. That's accompanied by a Deep Sleep Remix from Pat Lezizmo which tuffens up the beats a notch without losing the original's languid, head-noddin' feel, while rounding out the EP is Lost Feelings, a more twitchy, energetic cut altogether, again with some great keyboard sounds being used.

First I've heard from Henri Josh, but it's promising stuff. Like I said, is it just me or…?

Out: This week

About: Germany's Conya Digital are on Facebook or you can find 'em at the website of parent label Clubstar.

Rory Phillips – Mixed Fortunes 3

The third release in a series apparently, though the first to wing its way TIWWD-wards.

It's a two-track affair. On the A, Don't Stop is a) a collaboration with London producer Martin Dubka, and a) a lo-slung slab of nu boogie/electro with a vocoder/voicebox vocal that Roger Troutman himself would be proud of. Over on the B, meanwhile, E-Bow could safely be filed under 'slo-mo house' methinks, its opiated beats and reluctant b-line topped with a lead line created using the epoymous guitar tool.

It's Don't Stop that stands out for me, though.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Mixed Fortunes, which isn't so much a record label as a project by Phillips in which he'll be releasing six two-track 12-inches over the course of the year, instead of an album. Which means the good news is, if you dig Don't Stop as much as I do there's plenty more to come and not too much backtracking to do! Anyway, you can find out all about it here.

Tony Barbato - Marula EP

TIWWD is a bit poorly, so not gonna be doing loads tonight, but we can find time I think to discuss this latest from UK label Favouritizm. It's the handiwork of Italian producer Tony Barbato, who's cropped up on Favouritizm before, and takes its name from Marula Beach, a club in Follonica where he's been resident since 2005.

First up is Shaka, a pleasingly non-frenzied deep/tech house cut with plenty of space in the production for the slightly old skool synths to shine. Feel It comes next, a more uptempo and more traditional vocal number, while bringing the EP to a close is Falling, which is more uptempo again but this time in a techier vein, with busy shuffling percussion, a fat walking b-line tucked away quite subtly in the mix and very distinctive, Arabic-sounding strings.

The latter stands out for me for its sheer not-sounding-like-anything-else-ness, but it's solid stuff all round, and Shaka's got some wicked drops, it has to be said.

Out: This week

About: You can find Favouritizm here. I'm off to bed with some Vit C now.

Jack Fell Down – Either Way EP

Next we have an EP from a label who don't crop up on here all that often, Southern Fried Records. But it should be pointed out that this is a surprisingly straight-up house offering from Norman Cook's label.

It's a four-track affair, and kicks off with King Of Clubs, a deep, slightly techy house cut with floaty, disembodied vox, atmospheric synths and a stuttered, pulsing underlying groove. Ease In To Me [sic… cos it should be 'into me' really, the sub-editor in me feels obliged to point out!] is up next, a garage-inflected organ track with a female vocal from Emma Rossi, followed by Roll Over, which is a more now-sounding slab of deep/tech house with a soulful male vocal. Finally, Emma Rossi returns on Need In You, another Si'Ke DJs Turn Back Swink Music that's got something of a classic feel, this time drawing on the darker sound of mid-90s NYC for inspiration.

Ease In To Me would be my pick, but it's all good, as they say. I wish Southern Fried released more records like this…

Out: This week

About: You can find Southern Fried Records here.

Si'Ke DJs – Turn Back

And from 'classic-style house done properly' to 'classic-style UKG done really very well indeed" from the Manc duo of Si Jones and Mike Morgan, AKA Si'Ke DJs.

All three mixes of Turn Back rock, but if pushed I'd plump for the Malin Genie Remix, a stuttery, steppy delight that Mr Edwards himself would be proud of! As I said, though, the other two mixes are also very playable: the Original is a low-slung and unhurried organ groove, while the Alex Agore's a more uptempo and shuffly pass, with plenty of the eponymous Korg on show. Rounding out the EP is Tenament Yard, which takes us into slightly (tech) housier territory while rocking a subtle Sade sample (from Hang On To Your Love, if anyone's interested).

I can think of no finer compliment to pay Turn Back, than to say that you could play it alongside classics like Anytime or Love Shy and it wouldn't feel even a little bit out of place. Outstanding stuff.

Out: This week

About: This comes to you courtesy of Ireland's Swink Music, who are one year old this month. Find 'em on Soundcloud and Facebook.

PS I notice from looking at the Soundcloud page, BTW, that Mosca played the Malin Genie rub on Radio 1 last week…

Alex Ander & Deep Grounder – Take Me There Tonight EP

Two tracks in seven mixes on what King Street are billing as a double A-side release here.

Looking at Take Me There first, in its Original form this is a soulful house cut with a female vocal from Virag and plenty of dancefloor energy. Kobe's remix pumps up the kicks and adds Detroitian strings as well as an extended breakdown in the middle, Eric Powa B's rub is guitar-flecked and Iberican-sounding while top honours for me go to the self-explanatory Carlos Vargas Deeper Remix.

On the flip, Tonight comes in three mixes, with no original in sight. The URH Remix is tough and drummy with a big, sparse breakdown while the Gerotone Dub Mix is more sumptuous and garage-inclined, but the standout for me is the Jon Silva Remix with its BIG organ vibes.

Whichever mix you plump for, though, this is classic-style house done properly.

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street, don't you?

Some albums, quickly…

Right then, I told you I was gonna catch you up on a few things. First and foremost, I seem to have gotten a bit behind on the albums front so here are some that have come out in the past month…

ASC – Out Of Synth
A bit outside the usual TIWWD ballpark maybe, but this album of deep, experimental D&B, downtempo electronica/chill-out and uber-deep house/techno is very pleasing on the ear all the same. The perfect accompaniment for some late-night 'herbal therapy' (ahem).


Label: Samurai Music
Out: 24 Setember

David Herrero - Organic Grooves
A second full-length from the Spanish producer whose forte is shuffling, heads-down deep/tech house with, indeed, a very organic kinda feel. The frantic, cinematic, piano-led and brilliantly-titled Ducks And Cats is a particular highlight.

Label: Stereo Productions
Out: 10 October

Various – Deep Love 2
A superb 15-track mix album showcasing the deep house label Dirt Crew, featuring artists from all over Europe. Pawas, Florian Kruse and Sasse are among the better-known names but there are plenty of new names to check, making this one pretty essential, actually.

Label: Dirt Crew
Out: 8 October

Hector Romero – Soulful House Journey
King Street return to their roots with this 20-track compilation curated by Hector Romero, which comes in mixed and unmixed versions. I've said many times on here I've personally fallen a little out of love with 'soulful house' in recent years but that's cos so much of it can be so polite and wishy-washy… that's not the case here though, with a pleasing shortage of nasal R&B vocals and with elements of deep house and nu-disco in the mix. Well worth checking!

Label: King Street Sounds
Out: 24 September

Various – Fuck Verano 2012
Nothing polite or wishy-washy about this one, either! Instead, what you get are 14 tracks of chuggy deep and tuff tech-house, coming from 13 artists you've probably never heard of… exactly the kind of thing that gets the juices flowing round these parts! Antonio Fariello & Xell's Startud and Danniel Selfmade & Charlie Demir's The Driver are among the highlights.

Label: Infamous Recordings
Out: 1 October

Various – Smooth Life Vol 2
And we finish back in the chill-out zone where we began, with this 10-track journey through ambient and downtempo pastures on the aptly-named Incepto Smooth, the Russian prog label's offshoot for more Balearic ventures.

Label: Incepto Smooth
Out: 8 October