This Is Why We Dance

ALBUM Shades Of Grey - Soul Machine

2012-01-28T19:31:00.005Z

In contrast to the Dominic Martin LP reviewed below, Soul Machine from Shades Of Grey is an album that will perhaps have slightly broader appeal in the current climate, its techier approach to deep house being a little more in keeping with current musical trends.

That said, they've called it Soul Machine for a reason, and while a little techier than Family Affair it's certainly no ketamine-addled exercise in proggy post-minimalism. Highlights for this reviewer include the big room tech-soul of Midnight Lover (featuring a male vocal from Beckford), the pleasingly Chicago-ish First Kontakt, the throbbing, Balearically-inclined No Interruptions with its sampled Celeda vocal (yeah, you know… the one about the London Tube network, tee hee) and the appropriately old skool Lost In The Past.

S'cool… but wait, there's more! Because on CD2 you get the same 11 tracks remixed, with Peter Horrevorts, Soul Minority and The Timewriter probably the best known of the names taking care of business. And to these ears it's here that some of the deal-makers can be found. The more downtempo opener (and title track, obviously) Soul Machine really comes into its own when given a serious injection of low-end squelch by Eric Volta, while Horrevorts' rub of Back To The Future brings the funky party vibes as well as what may or may not be a Brass Construction sample. But the absolute killer is the Soul Minority Remix of Lost In The Past, which makes excellent, smile-inducing use of a vocal sample made famous by one J. Vasquez.

You do have to dig about a little bit, but there are enough gems here to make this worth checking for sure.

Out: Last week but the CD got mixed up with a pile of paperwork in the other room y'see and… well, I'm a bit rubbish, what can I say?

About: This comes on Beef Records, which is Shades Of Grey's own label… here's their website, MySpace and Facebook pages. You can also check out their podcast. Shades Of Grey themselves, I should probably also tell you, are an Australian-based duo consisting of Oz native Nick West and Czech national Michel Schwa.

ALBUM Dominic Martin - Family Affair

2012-01-28T19:16:00.005Z

The first of two full-lengths coming under the TIWWD spotlight on this cold January evening is the second in Lost My Dog's Family Affair series, which acts as a showcase for artists associated the label. Harold Heath brought us the first installment early last year, and now it's the turn of Scotland's Dominic Martin.

It's an album that'll suit those who like their deep house leaning towards the more traditional, house-y side, with long, lingering pads, rich Rhodes chords, crisp hi-hats and soulful vocal snips a-gogo. The left coast-ish Guesswork is one highlight, the garage-y Hard Yards (remixed by Jonny Fiasco and featuring a full female vocal from Astral T) another, the even-more-garage-y Homage New Jersey yet another, the latter supplied in both original and Giom Remix flavas.

But to be fair, there really isn't a duff track in sight. If you're a PROPER deep house head – as opposed to a trendy whippersnapper Hoxton type who was into minimal techno and wonky French electro until two years ago – you'll find plenty to love here.

Out: This week

About: I've sung Lost My Dog's praises countless times so let's just have the obligatory website, Facebook and Soundcloud links and leave it at that.

Patrick Podage & Nikola Kotevski - Life Must Be

2012-01-28T08:00:00.003Z

More top-drawer deep house vibes – and it's been a good week for them – from Savoir Faire Musique.

In its Original form, Life Must Be is a slow, shufflin' groove with a jazzy, almost beatnik kinda vibe… if you were a beret-sporting, chain-smoking French philosopher type, this'd be the house record for you! Remix-wise you're then spoilt for choice: Martijn's mix is a slightly more driving take that's nonetheless faithful to the feel of the Original, while Eliot Wright serves up a mix that ups the dancefloor quotient quite considerably, with more urgent percussion and a 'bigger' sound overall.

I repeat: top-drawer deep house vibes, not much more to be said.

Out: This week

About: Keep up with all of Savoir Faire Musique's goings-on at their brand-new blog.

Various - 43 Degrees And Cloudy

2012-01-28T07:45:00.005Z

Denver's currently on-fire 5 And Dime return with another V/A ep that'll delight those who like their house from the deepest end of the spectrum.

Proceedings kick off with Zach De Vincent's Phase II, a classic-style sumptuous, dreamy deep houser with lush pads, muted percussion, floaty synths and a whispered male vocal intoning the title. Tony Rodelli's gorgeous The Way We Go comes next, a slightly more upbeat but nonetheless very mellow number with piano chords to die for. And then finally we have F Stop's It's Complicated, which is somewhat techier in its sound palette but still a near-horizontal affair made for post-club sofa sessions and lazy Sunday mornings.

Top stuff all round, so another winner from 5 And Dime.

Out: This week

About: 5 And Dime are only a handful of releases old but every one's been a cracker so far. Find 'em online here, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Melomano - In Deep We Trust

2012-01-28T07:37:00.004Z

A five-track EP from Unrivaled Music that shouldn't need too much explaining from me… the clue's in the title.

For your dollar you get three mixes of Ahh, plus That Thing (In Deep We Trust) and Limai. It's Tony S's piano-sprinkled rub of the former that works best for me, while the standout track overall is probably the laidback, late-night ride of the 'title' cut, with its mournful sax and microscopic vocal cut-ups.

But it's a strong EP all round, and one that well lives up to its name.

Out: This week

About: This comes from the ever-prolific Unrivaled Music stable

Seraphine - Costa Lounge

2012-01-26T21:47:00.003Z

Some more quality house music here from Deepwit, in the form of a four-track EP featuring two mixes of the title track and two of Another Boring Love Story.

Costa Lounge in its original form is a very playable, if not exactly groundbreaking deep house number, featuring suitably warm production overall, some luvverly organ stabs/chords and gently rolling midtempo beats… it's not a dead-cert peaktime stormer or anything but will keep the right floors moving nicely, and it comes accompanied by a remix from Tom Bednarczyk which doesn't do much that's hugely different in terms of structure or sound palette, but does somewhat shift the sonic emphasis to the bottom-end elements of the track a little more, which is never a bad thing.

Moving on to Another Boring Love Story, and I'll be honest here: pleasing as the underlying dreamy, midpaced groove may be, the male/female counterpoint vocal is to these ears over-egged to the point of being somewhat irritating. You may disagree, of course – opinions, arseholes, etc – but to me it's all about the Alvaro Hylander Remix, on which the label owner uses said vocal more sparingly atop a somewhat deeper, dubbier backdrop, making for what ends up being a simply gorgeous cut perfect for afterhours, warm-up or post-club play.

Out: This week

About: Seraphine is a Polish producer who's had stuff out on various labels and who's making his third showing on Deepwit Recordings here. You can find Deepwit, who are based in Denmark BTW, on Facebook, on Soundcloud and of course at their own website.

Nitin - Latenightlife Remixed

2012-01-25T20:23:00.005Z

Not sure if I got sent the original EP of this when it was out early last year, and I'm not at home right now so can't check or (assuming I did) compare these new mixes to the old ones*. But that doesn't really matter… all you need to know is, this is great.

On this remixed version of the EP, you get two mixes apiece of Blink Twice and The Nine In One. Anthony Collins' remix of the former is a mellow deep house take with lots of gentle jazz piano, while Nitin himself supplies a Re-Edit on which he's collaborated with Colombian group Sexteto Tabala. Together, they deliver a version laced with hypnotic tribal percussion and slightly more use of the female vocal, which sounds to me very much like a sample from Coldcut & Lisa Stansfield's People Hold On, though I guess it could not be.

Moving on to The Nine In One, this features another sampled vocal and comes with rubs from Subb-An and Brett Johnson. Brett's 4 Steppers Only Remix features, er, steppy beats and the kind of fat n' squelchy bottom end you associate with broken beat; it's quality 'late night' stuff for sure, but if you need something a little more driving then the Subb-An Remix – a prog-tinged deep house throbber – should see you right.

Between them, then, the four mixes explore different musical territories, but they all do so very successfully, making this an EP lovers of more leftfield deep house need to be checking for sure.

Out: This week

About: This is number 45 from James Teej & co's Toronto-based My Favorite Robot. Nitin himself, it's also worth mentioning, is co-owner of the excellent No19 Music, who've also featured on this blog before now.

*Actually I guess I could probably find them on YouTube or Beatport of something but, y'know… I'm lazy.

Groove Motion - Hazy Days

2012-01-24T22:11:00.004Z

Our second slab tonight of driving, piano-led house… with some deeper, mellower rubs to boot.

The original here would play very nicely with the Betamac EP below, being another big, stompy houser with some very retro hands-in-the-air piano action as the main event. It's even got the obligatory dreamy-wibbly-Balearic bit in the middle – another treat for those feenin' for some back to the old skool vibes, then.

Pleasingly, though, it also comes with a brace of more subtle passes. The Dave Fortnum Remix leads the track away to the sunloungers, gives it a cocktail and tells it to enjoy the sunset, while label boss Fresh 27 supplies a bumpin' Deeper Dayz Remix for the proper all-night deep house floors.

I'm digging all three to be honest so, yeah, result.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Fresh 27's own Kula Records, who specialise in 'deep, souful and vocal house music' – this is their 13th release.

Vitamin D - Love May Come

2012-01-24T21:59:00.007Z

For someone who's not usually a fan of dusty hip-hop and lo-fi sample epics, I seem to be reviewing a few on here lately, mostly courtesy of Cold Busted. And here's another f'rinstance, a two-tracker from the label boss himself.

Love May Come is a scratch n' paste affair, fusing 70s soul and Hawaiian (well, steel guitar and birdsong) flavas into a lazy, sun-drenched loper perfect for Sunday sessions and summer chillage. Over on the B, Work Week Creep is a moodier, breaksier affair. If Norman Jay played the former, then Shadow or Tobin might play the latter – not that I'd presume to second-guess any of those respected turntablists but you get the idea!

Good stuff, basically, and a nice change of tempo for TIWWD. Gotta be done sometimes.

Out: This week

About: As I've mentioned several times lately, Cold Busted are based in Denver, Colorado and can be found on that there Big World-Conquering Book Of Face

Betamac - Polytrippin'

2012-01-24T21:32:00.004Z

Right, I still owe you a 'So many tunes…' roundup from last week (cos there were quite a few other decent bits and pieces sent in) but for now let's crack on with some of this week's releases, starting with this from the ever-checkable Beats Me Music.

Over four tracks and five mixes (label boss Rob Clarke supplying a refix of Sleepwalker), the general order of the day is unashamedly retro-tastic big room house, with big fat synth b-lines and tinkling pianos that just SCREAM 1992, and just a little hint of classic prog to boot. How this might sounds to an 18yo today I couldn't really say… for this old raver this EP just brought a big silly grin to the face.

Naming favourites is superfluous – you're either in the market for some classic pumping, driving house sounds right now or you're not. And if you are, you're probably going to want to play all of these.

Out: This week

About: Here's where to find Beats Me online

ALBUM Various - Elevation: 10 Years

2012-01-23T21:25:00.005Z

Lately there've been several brand new labels featured on this blog… today, though, we're here to talk not about a label launch, but about the fact that Ireland's Elevation Recordings has reached the landmark that is their 10th anniversary.

A week may be a long time in politics, but a whole decade is a bloody long time in dance music, so all respect is due to Darran Nugent and associates over in Cork for keeping the Elevation flag flying all these years. That said, it does help that they have a knack of sourcing some incredibly good music… and naturally that applies just as much here.

With tracks on offer from Snuff Crew and Julian Sanza as well as a host of newer names, this is an eight-track journey through quality house music 2012-style, packaged the old school way on sumptuous double vinyl. It really is all good, to coin a phrase… but if I was pushed to name highlights then Aldo Cadiz's Waripolazo stands out for me with its left coast-ish bump and chopped-up hip-house vocal, as do Sanza's Elevation with its sumptuous disco vibe and – perhaps most of all – Metrica's Tit, a jerky, tech-y strutter with one of the oddest vocals you've ever heard. But like I say, the quality meter is set to 'Full' throughout so picking a fave is hard!

Congrats again on the anniversary, Elevation peeps. The rest of you – grab yourself a copy of this and enjoy.

Out: Last week actually, sorry. My bad, sometimes I forget about albums…

About: You can find Elevation on Facebook, MySpace and Soundcloud.

Mr Pepper - Here, There & Nowhere

2012-01-22T18:51:00.005Z

Some more tuff n' jackin' tech-house here – mostly – courtesy of Mr Pepper and Dance Through Life Records.

The EP is made up of four original tracks, with no remixes. Here, There & Nowhere itself is a struttin', energetic affair that should keep floors moving nicely and possibly induce the throwing of some silly shapes. Take It has a bit more of a musical/melodic feel, while Bash is a no-nonsense bouncer that's thankfully not overly hard and techy, with – like the title track – another distinctive rhythmical synth hook. But the real treat here to these ears is Theory Of Pleasure, a more laidback/soulful affair with some lush pianos kicking proceedings off before the track settles into a classic rolling house groove.

A strong second release from this new NYC-based label.

Out: This week

About: Dance Through Life seem to mostly exist on Facebook at the moment, internet-wise, but here's a little write-up about 'em on Resident Advisor as well.

Lula Circus - Irreversible

2012-01-22T18:38:00.003Z

Another brand new label here so, everybody, please say hello to Agora Audio, which is the brainchild of Erich Bogatzky, a Berlin-based producer whose name you may know from releases on Plastic City and Dieb Audio. For the first release on his new label, though, he turns to Italian producers Lula Circus.

Irreversible itself is a contemporary-sounding midtempo house chugger with discernible Italo influences. It's accompanied by Irresistible, a more upbeat and percussive affair with a slightly Balearic feel and, in the organ section in the middle, a little nod to 90s handbag. The latter also comes complete with a remix from Doomwork, another Italian duo with a CV that includes releases on Audiomatique and the mighty SAW Recordings, who strip the track down and take us into more jackin', heads-down tech-house territory, with some proper big-room drama in the way the track builds and drops.

A solid start for a new imprint.

Out: This week

About: I've told you about all I know! But here's where to find Agora online: on Facebook, on Soundcloud and at their own website…

Proper Heat - Just A Little Bit

2012-01-21T18:51:00.006Z

Nang are describing this one as 'disco house', but you could just as readily file it under 'nu-disco' and I don't think too many people would argue with you.

Well, the Original Mix you could anyway. The Club Mix is a little more overtly house-ified, with a distinct nod to 80s groove/boogie in some of the sounds used as well. The Joe Morris Remix then takes us on a slightly more laidback, headnoddin' kinda ride, while the Polar Rundfunk Remix is a slightly deeper take sitting on the deep house/nu-disco borders.

Nang seldom disappoint on the disco tip; this is no exception. I do wish they'd include the sleeve art in their promo downloads though, it'd make us poor bloggers' lives that much easier…

Out: This week

About: You surely where to find Nang Records online by now, so having given you the link just in case I'll move on to telling you that Proper Heat are the Lithuanian threesome of Martin Virgin, Saxtone and Karolis Ramoska. We're told to expect an album sometime this year and on this evidence, it'll be one to look out for.

Pretty Criminals - Rhythm Love

2012-01-21T18:38:00.003Z

Given that I've raved about pretty much every Savoir Faire Musique release to date, and given that I put Pretty Criminals in iDJ's Rising Stars Of Deep/Tech House feature less than a year ago, then a new Pretty Criminals single on SFM should be pretty much a no-brainer, yes?

Well, pretty much. It's fair to say that Rhythm Love isn't the most groundbreaking or radical deep house record in the world, but then you don't need every record to be (and if they all were, none of them would be anyway). But as solid bets go, this is very solid indeed, with mixes ranging from the midtempo shuffle of the original to the more insistent and driving Dual T Remix (my pick for floor play) to the sparser and slightly more leftfield Soul Sway Dub.

Out: This week

About: Just to remind you, Savoir Faire Musique is brought to you by Scott Harrington of City Soul Project, and is based in Southend On Sea… find 'em on Facebook, Soundcloud and Mixcloud.

Various - Various Artists Part One

2012-01-20T21:03:00.004Z

London's Dogmatik lay out their stall with this five-track EP featuring a bunch of artists associated with the label – some familiar names, some not.

Stojche's Distance leans towards deep/minimal techno but will suit those floors that like it like that, while Dimi Wilson's Oloo is a perfectly reasonable but unexceptional slab of modern-sounding house, the best thing about it being a rather large b-line. Dusky's Tyto Alba impresses a little more with its west coast-ish low-end bump and soulful vox, while Mark-E's Horns Of The West is noteworthy for its interesting fusion of a proper old skool Chi-town backbeat with more contemporary lead/melodic sounds (though when I say 'contemporary' I really mean Italo-ish, which is older than vintage house so go figure!). But the real treat here IMHO is Keep L.O.V.E by Bubba, a wicked deep, dark rumbler of a house groove that wouldn't have sounded remotely out of place at the Sound Factory, and that features some distinctive 80s-style vocal cut-ups.

The EP's worth picking up for the latter alone. There's also a Part 2 coming which features label boss Alex Arnout along with Gavin Herlihy and a certain Maya Jane something or other, so keep 'em pealed!

Out: This week

About: Dogmatik can be found on MySpace and Soundcloud.

Alex Alterskye - What You Got EP

2012-01-20T20:45:00.003Z

Say hello boys and girls to a brand new label dedicated to "underground and deep house" – Hull-based Freche Fruchte. For their first release, they offer this EP from label boss Alex Alterskye.

In its Original form, What You Got itself is a distinctive-sounding houser that fuses tuff, techy beats with a LARGE funky bassline and snips of soulful male vocal, and should work well in big dark rooms. Tom Demac comes with a remix that to be honest I'm not quite so into, so we'll look instead at the other two originals. Static is a contemporary-sounding techy affair that'll do the do as long as you can handle the slightly annoying vocal sample that loops throughout, but the cream of the EP for me is Full Mood, an altogether groovier affair with a vintage NY/NJ feel about its sound palette, and some wicked sax parps to boot.

Out: This week

About: Freche Fruchte may be brand new but they've got their social media locked down all right – here's their website and here they are on Facebook, Soundcloud and Podomatic.

Enigma Dubz – Hard To Smile EP

2012-01-19T21:14:00.004Z

Okay, time to flip the script a bit now and get on a future garage tip.

Well, I say 'future garage' but TBH, there's nothing particularly future-y about opener Between Me And You… with a roomy, boomy bottom end, heavily swung beats that verge on two-step, lush, lingering chords and snippets of barely-there soulful male vocal, this could have come out back in the late 90s/early 00s UKG glory days no problem. That's a compliment, by the way!

Hard To Smile is a more obviously contemporary affair, sampling Tupac's Smile for the vocal and laying it over a typical UKG backing at first, but then bringing in a (whisper it) trance riff. And at first you're thinking, oh no! – but you know what? It actually kinda works. It comes across like the trance riff's being used as just AN Other sound source, the way for instance Massive Attack might use an orchestral synth stab… as opposed to just someone chucking in a trance riff for instant get out of jail free idiots-at-Glasto appeal. I can think of a few bigger names in the grime/dubstep/etc sphere who could learn a thing or two here… softly does it!

So yeah, Hard To Smile has you worried for a minute but it all turns out fine in the end. And then there's Issues, another old skool-sounding cut which rocks a huge bassline and ragga vox, and sounds like the kind of thing I used to pick up from Release The Groove back in iDJ's earliest days*, back when I was just the garage reviewer!

As a good friend posted on my Facebook the other day, "It's all gone 1997 blud!". Some of us would say that's no bad thing :-)

Out: This week

About: This comes on Four40 Records, sister label to LU10 and Lepento and always worth checking – they do a lot of gnarly tear-out stuff that's sometimes a bit too full-on for this blog but they do turn out deeper gems like this as well.

You can find Four40 on Facebook, Tumblr, MySpace and Soundcloud… by the miracle of which, here's the EP…

Enigma-Dubz Hard to smile ***Out Now*** by four40records

*Shouts out at this point to Neil, Jeremy, Marcia, Angel, Adamm, Chas and the one and only Gary D!

Santiago Santamaria - One Night

2012-01-19T21:03:00.004Z

One more straight-up deep house gem this week before we turn our attention to other genres. Santiago Santamaria hails from Argentina and recently made an appearance on Deso Records, but here he delivers a four-track EP for UM Records.

You get two mixes apiece of One Night and Digg It. The original of One Night is a dreamy, floataway late-night treat – listening to it is like laying back into a hot bath. The Alvaro Hylander Remix then manages to go a tiny little bit deeper, which is quite an achievement! Digg It, meanwhile, is a midtempo groover in its Warm Mix incarnation, while the Jon Delerious Keep It Deep Mix, er, keeps it deep… one for the warm-up sets and afterhours sessions.

Quality stuff all round, not much more to say really!

Out: This week

About: UM Records is part of the untitled music stable, who are also behind Facebook's excellent Deep House Page.

Various - Deep In Tech Part 2

2012-01-18T21:28:00.006Z

After the various artists EP from 5 And Dime below, let's jump straight from one of the world's smallest and newest house labels to one of the world's biggest and longest-running, with another V/A offering courtesy this time of the mighty Nite Grooves/King Street.

You've got to hand it to King Street, really. Traditionally the label's been best known for US-style soulful house n' garage flavas, and they still do plenty of that… but they've also embraced the more contemporary, techy/European house sound as few labels of their ilk have. Old dogs can not only learn new tricks, it seems, they can actually do them pretty damn well! As such, if it's deep, driving tech-house grooves for strobe-y basement rooms you're after, this is well worth checking.

On offer, then, are four tracks from four artists. Chris B's Fiji and Converge+'s Quest are the tracks that lean most strongly to the techno side of the tech-house equation, the latter being notable also for a dark, rumbling, almost speed garage-ish b-line, while Kera's Convoi Exceptionnel and OMB's Stay With Me have a little more of that dreamy-druggy-proggy 'lost in music' kinda feel going on.

But these are fairly subtle (and highly subjective) distinctions. And again, I'm loathe to pick a favourite here because all four tracks will do their job admirably, and for an EP featuring four more-or-less newcomer artists, that's no mean feat.

Out: This week

About: You surely know where to find King Street online by now? As regards the artists involved, you might like to know that Converge+ is Japanese producer Hiroshi Endo while Kera hails from the Netherlands.

Various - 43 Degrees & Cloudy

2012-01-18T21:10:00.005Z

Well, the deep gems just seem to keep on coming this week… here's another quality offering, this time from new (this is their third release) Denver-based label 5 And Dime Recordings. As the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed, it's a V/A affair, the A's in question being Zach De Vincent, Tony Rodelli (previously of MUM fame) and F Stop. Between them, they turn in three quite different but still complimentary tracks.

De Vincent's Phase II is probably the most obviously floor-friendly of the three, a fairly traditional-sounding deep houser with a dreamy feel and a nice warm bottom end. The Way We Go from Rodelli is still driving enough for floor play but is perhaps best suited to warm-up or post-club sessions; that's by no means a slight, though, because the lush Rhodes chords on this track are to die for. And then finally there's It's Complicated from F Stop, a sparse, brooding affair with the influence of deep techno writ large.

If pushed I'd pick The Way We Go as the standout but I'd sooner not have to, because in all honesty all three tracks here are the business. Making this a label you definitely want to be keeping an eye on.

Out: This week

About: Rather than moving to Denver and stalking them from behind the mailbox across the street, you can keep an eye on 5 And Dime by visiting their website, Facebook or Soundcloud pages. Seriously, that's the way to go. Not the false moustache and binoculars, so much.

Oh yeah, and you can HEAR THIS on Soundcloud as well. And indeed, here it is…

5 and Dime Recordings - 43 Degrees and Cloudy by 5 and Dime Recordings

Max Volkholz - Darley

2012-01-17T20:33:00.004Z

After something of a deep house splurge last night, we stay on a similar tip tonight with this latest from Gartenhaus.

In its Original form, Darley is a pleasing midtempo piece of instrumental house music with the very slightest hints of prog, mostly just in the sound selection. Andre Detoxx's mix doesn't do anything hugely different but does take the track even deeper, making this a rub better suited for home listening than for floorplay, while finally bonus cut Harris is a (very) slightly techier affair but still one for the most specialist of deep floors.

All told, this EP's something of a connoisseur's/purist's choice, perhaps, but definitely worth investigating.

Out: This week

About: This is number four from Gartenhaus, who are based in Copenhagen.

J Kar - Baby Dreaming

2012-01-16T21:53:00.004Z

The last in a trilogy of top-drawer deep house releases tonight comes from rising Greek star J Kar, AKA Dimitris Karipidishas, on Jesus Pablo and Di Rivera's new Something Different imprint, from whom this is just the third release.

No-one's making any use of the G-word but if the original of Baby Dreaming isn't pure straight-up garage in the deep Jersey mode then I don't know what is. Just lovely. Then throw in a brace of remixes from Harold Heath – a Dub which takes us off into outer space and a Re-Rub which beefs up the drums inna vintage Vasquez stylee. Add to that Los Rios, which comes in deep n' sparse Original or even deeper and much spacier Desos Remix flavas, and you've got another complete no-brainer of a purchase.

Out: This week

About: The Desos Remix, BTW, comes from the same Deso – AKA Brian Løgstrup – behind Deso Records, whose praises I was singing on here of late. But this comes as I said on Something Different who you can find on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Christian Sanchez & Frej Le Vin - UpBoogie

2012-01-16T21:35:00.006Z

Two on the bounce from Endemic I know, but trust, you NEED this tune… not least because it comes with a range of mixes that'll suit a range of deep/tech house jocks.

In its original form, UpBoogie is an upbeat, floor-friendly slab of deep house with a disco sheen that wouldn't sound out of place in an Inland Knights or Short Bus Kids set. It's not likely to win over many mainstream floors because it doesn't actually DO a huge amount… but for the likes of you and me that's not really a problem, is it?

Remix-wise, you get the brilliantly entitled Jazz Menson's Strasse Beats & Smoove Keys Re-Dub, and the more prosaically monikered D00sh Remix. The former is a down n' dirty kinda rub whose initial relentless strobelight bump n' thump is slowly tempered by warm Rhodes chords and tiny snips of fem vox – and is a proper treat for the heads – while D00sh's mix is, unsurprisingly, a gritttier tech-house take, but with some wicked keyboard action thrown in.

Three very varied mixes, then, but top marks all round. Like I said, you NEED this.

Out: This week

About: Oh, look! Here's that Endemic Digital link again!

Andrew McDonnell – Fatu Hiva EP

2012-01-16T21:26:00.005Z

Let's get Monday off right with some quality deep house vibes to ease the pain of the working week. First up, this three-tracker from Andrew McDonnell, coming to you courtesy of those Unrivaled Music peeps.

The title track Fatu Hiva stands out with its looped n' sampled jazz/blues vocal, which sits atop slow-rising synths and a solid, unhurried beat. But elsewhere on the EP, you'll also find Remember That Stupid Cop, a heads-down, mesmerising, somewhat proggier affair, and Tiny Dancer, which has no connection with the Elton John record as far as I can make out, but is instead another dark, proggy slow-burning houser.

Perfect warm-up/comedown tackle all round.

Out: This week

About: Unrivaled Music is, as you know, part of the Endemic Digital stable

So many tunes, so little time 5

2012-01-15T21:34:00.006Z

Just the usual Sunday night round-up of some other bits n' pieces that are out this week…

DJ Chus & Supernova – Italoberican Grooves

If you dig those uncompromising, no-nonsense drum cuts then you know Chus has been doing this kind of thing longer than most, and as such knows a thing or two about dark percussive tribal grooves. Nuff said.

More info

Gemini - Tribute Vol 2

Last year, Robsoul Recordings from France put out four vintage Gemini tracks, in deference to the Chicago house legend's influence on their sound. Here come four more, dating I believe from the early 90s and show just why Gemini is held in such high esteem. Highlights for me are the discofied Wanna Push You – like Sneak before the fact – and the deep, spacey groove of Spirals.

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Self Definition – Lost Land EP

Two tracks of deep D&B from the ever-reliable Plush Recordings. For me, the more liquid, uptempo Lost Land itself has the edge over the more moody, cinematic Incognitus, but that's a matter of personal preference really – both are quality.

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Various – Platform Vol 1

A techno five-tracker from 1605, starring Kiko, Marco Bailey, Pe & Ban and DJ Manraks, Fer BR and Hellomonkey. Some of what's on offer is a little hard/linear but Fer BR's Feeling So Close, a rolling disco-techno affair, and Hellomonkey's similarly Sneak-ish Yes are well worth checking on an energetic tech-house tip.

>More info

ALBUM Mister T - Gentle Music

2012-01-15T13:49:00.005Z

Because it was before Xmas it seems like ages now, but it was actually a mere 24 days ago that I reviewed the album Seven Wonders by Mojo Rising, saying that not a lot of such downtempo, dusty kinda vibes make it onto TIWWD. Well, here we are 24 days later and here's another album of mellow, funk-fuelled goodness from the same stable, Denver's Cold Busted.

Mister T hails from Athens, Greece and Gentle Music is his debut full-length. Within its grooves you'll find raw retro funk (Everything Is Wah, Rastas Funky Well), quirky electronic lounge vibes (Cocktails, Memories) and lo-fi near-instrumental hip/trip-hop (Hip Soul, Lazy Sound, Back To Bristol), ending with the scratchy, vibraphone-laden Living Room. I can think of no better way of describing it further, than to say that I'm writing this on a Sunday afternoon and that's probably the perfect time to hear this album, as well.

Perfect lazy, laidback vibes for sofa-surfers and lounge lizards everywhere, then. And the second winner on the bounce from Cold Busted.

Out: This week

About: If you dig your downtempo funk/trip-hop/lo-fi grooves then Cold Busted have plenty more where this one came from. Check out their radio show as well.

Satin Souls - Aziza

2012-01-13T20:21:00.003Z

DJ MFR re-visits a classic Transport cut that was first out in 2001, and again in 2003.

The DJ MFR Movido Re-Dub of Aziza is the mix that's most likely to elicit a smile of recognition, thanks largely to the Spanish female vocal (though that said, everything had a Spanish vocal round about then, didn't it? To quite an annoying extent, as I recall). Its shuffling groove and sax-like synth squiggles will certainly do the do when it comes to keeping bodies moving, though I can't help thinking it'd sound far better if you heard it at, say, a pool party in Miami, rather than on a cold winter's evening in Bristol.

That comes accompanied just by an Instrumental Tool, so we can keep this one pretty short! But yeah, if sun-drenched, Latin-leaning soulful house vibes are your thing you should dig this one for sure.

Out: This week

About: Good to see Transport still going strong – find 'em online here

David Navo & Julio Navas – Thank U

2012-01-11T20:21:00.006Z

In which Fresco Records bosses Navo and Navas celebrate 20 years of working together by putting out this upbeat, party-oriented tech-house dancefloor workout, just in the one mix, "as a big thank you to all their faithful fans and followers."

With a spoken vocal (saying "thank you," naturally enough), handclaps/whistles/cheers and a simple looping groove that runs throughout, it's a fairly uncomplicated kind of track but that's no bad thing – it'll keep asses moving on the floor and that's the most important thing, isn't it?

Congratulations on the anniversary, chaps.

Out: This week

About: Just in case there was any doubt, this comes on the pair's own Fresco Records, who are based in Barcelona.

B-Team – You Wild Returns

2012-01-11T19:45:00.004Z

"Funky" has to be one of the most over-used and oft ill-applied words in the English language… as any DJ who's ever been asked if they've "got anything funky?" while they were playing a Brass Construction, Meters or Fatback record will testify! But sometimes it's the only word that'll do, so in the words of the Prodigy (almost)... this is some funky shit right here.

I must confess the original release of You Wild must have passed me by, so I'm coming to this remix EP afresh. But that's okay because they've handily included the original, which is… well, yeah, some funky shit for sure, in a midtempo, chopped-up, breakbeat/nu funk kinda way. The first of the remixes, Part 2, is basically just a looser-limbed jam on the same theme, while the Trotter Remix beefs up the beats to nudge us more firmly in a house-ified direction.

But while all those three are cool, for me the standouts here are the Neighbour Remix of You Wild, which takes us into classic electro territory (by which I mean proper Patrick-cagoule-and-a-roll-of-lino electro, not the shit-80s-synth-pop dross that seems to pass for electro these days), and bonus cut Electric Nostalgia 99, which lives up to its name nicely by taking us on a trip back to the early days of house in the mid-80s. Check that bassline for some SERIOUS phatness, people!

Out: This week

About: This comes on a label I don't think have featured on here before, Super-Hi-Fi. They're based in Virginia in the US of A, specialise in 'breakbeat/house/funk' and can be found on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Diego Metzer - Influencias EP

2012-01-10T21:22:00.003Z

Yep, it's another one from the Endemic Digital stable… I know, but they do keep on coming up with the goods! In this case, the goods being a two-tracker of uber-deep, drummy house from Argentina's Diego Metzer.

Influencias itself is all insistent, rolling tribal percussion and Papua New Guinea-esque chants and wind instruments, plus some kind of horn – I'm guessing sax but it could feasibly be something else – making the odd back of stage walk-on appearance. One for slowly melding with the sofa to.

On the flip, Raices Devotas, credited to Diego Metzer pres Don Diego, starts out as an even more chilled-out affair, this time opening with mournful piano chords, before a solid 4/4 kick comes along to remind us that this is actually house music we're listening to and you're supposed to dance to it. Which you easily could, with this one… but it'd be just as at home on the aforesaid sofa as well.

Two solid bets for those that like it very, very deep.

Out: This week

About: Here's a link you may have seen before on this blog.

James Dexter – Show Me EP

2012-01-10T21:12:00.005Z

Three original tracks painted in various deep, techy and soulful shades add up here to another fine release from the excellent Tokyo Red Recordings.

Playing With Time is a soulful deep groove with some of that early (’95-’96) UK garage gloss to it… back in the days when it was all about Tuff Jam and those MK dubs. Show Me is another garage-tinged cut, this time looking back to vintage Jersey, and then finally Sunset is a slightly techier affair, but still with soulful vox to add warmth – it's this track that you suspect might be getting the plays from the east London trendsters, though if pushed Playing With Time is the the pick of a strong bunch for me.

Quality vibes for those that know.

Out: This week

About: Tokyo Red is of course my good friend DJ Sydney's label… find 'em on MySpace or at Sydney's own website.

Stranger Danger – Play Deep/Next Knock

2012-01-09T22:50:00.004Z

Some raw, uncompromising deep house shiznit here, courtesy of Tarantic Records and Stranger Danger, AKA Dominic F from Oakland.

Play Deep itself is a slightly techy deep house dancefloor cut with a familiar vocal sample, a disconcerting trippy breakdown in the middle and plenty of dat good west coast bump either side of it. Next Knock, meanwhile, is a funk-driven groove with occasional spoken vocal snips about "getting down" and suchlike; think Salted Music, think Tyree Cooper, think live jazzual sax, think early/late hours dancefloor bliss, especially in stripped-down Amit Shoham Remix form. The original is a slightly more accessible, party-hearty number while BradElectro beefs things up a little for bigger floors, but Shoham's mix is the one for me here.

Out: This week

About: Here's where to find Tarantic Records online, and here's Stranger Danger on Soundcloud where you can check out plenty more of his stuff

Dilby - Cuts N Bruises EP

2012-01-09T22:42:00.004Z

Let's kick off the week with some no-nonsense beats, on this deep/tech floorshaker from Unrivaled Music.

Accidents Will Happen starts with a long drum-led intro, before eventually an oddly muted organ sound joins the party… and, once you throw in a few tiny vocal snips and the odd synth stab, that's actually about it. One for those 4am, locked-on moments for sure. On the B, Running With Scissors takes a slightly less stripped-down approach, and adds a little twist of disco for good measure.

Two solid cuts that will move house dancefloors of many persuasions. Cover's a bit scary, though.

Out: This week

About: Unrivaled Music is, of course, part of the Endemic Digital stable

Kohib – Make Fire (Remixes)

2012-01-08T21:28:00.003Z

If you were wondering why it's been a bit quiet on the blog front, well, it's the first week of January and there's not a lot coming out. But that's cool cos it gives me a chance to catch up with one or two bits we missed… like this remix version of Kohib's 2010 debut album Make Fire.

Kohib is a DJ/producer from the north of Norway called Øivind Sjøvoli, who's been active on the scene in Tromso since the late 90s. The remixes in question come from Stoyvind, Syntax Erik, Boska, Frisvold & Lindbaek, Dennis Jr and Lepetitgarcon and they cover various musical bases, some a little poppy for this blog. But the tracks you need to be heading for here – IMHO – are Frisvold & Lindbaek's epic psychedelic disco take on Tales From A Nomad, the funky lounge vibes of the Dennis Jr Mix of Fang Song and, for peaktime frolics, Stoyvind's rub of Push Me Down.

A mixed bag, then, but one that will repay closer investigation.

Out: A couple of weeks ago… my bad…

About: This comes atcha courtesy of Norwegian imprint Beatservice

Murray Richardson - Memory Loss EP

2012-01-06T20:51:00.003Z

In case you're suffering a little memory loss yourself, let me remind you… Murray Richardson may not be the biggest name in house music but he's been doing this shit for a long time. Since making his debut on 2020Vision in 1999, he's gone on to release tracks on the likes of Nordic Trax, Low Pressings, Kickin', and in recent times Baker Street… the Leeds-based house imprint for whom he's now put together this latest EP.

The man's got some pedigree, is what I'm saying… and it shows. On the EP you'll find three mixes of Memory Loss itself, plus bonus cut Sometime Sweet Susan. In its original form, Memory Loss is a tech-house affair based around a chuggy, stuttery bass riff and crisp, hi-hat heavy percussion; synth and vocal stabs then join the party to build the track into a very solid floor-mover with classic Chi-town overtones. H&M's Remix gives the track a little more urgency and a dose of acid, while Gareth Whitehead emphasises the epic/euphoric elements on a rub that will please the more prog-leaning jocks.

Somewhat ironically, though, it's actually Sometime Sweet Susan I'm feeling the most; not only because I'm a contrary old git generally, but also because of its slightly more funktified b-line and the looping, cut-up "your love for me is" vocal sample, which lends the track a certain 'heads-down, locked-on groovin' at 3am' quality.

I think "quality" is a suitable word to end on, actually, so let's leave this one there.

Out: This week

About: The Baker Street website should tell you all you need to know about the label, or you can keep up with Murray's goings-on generally here.

Smak - Data Traveller EP

2012-01-05T21:06:00.007Z

The first release on a new label, I believe – or at least, I've not come across Dance Through Life Records before and it's catalogue number DTLR001, so I'm guessing they're new. It comes from Smak, AKA Steve McCready.

In fact, Data Traveler itself is taken from last year's debut album, Addicted To… , so its dark, moody tech-house vibe may already be familiar to some of you. It's accompanied here, though, by three brand-new tracks. Sensation, with its female vocal whoops, space disco/sci-fi synths and warm, organic-sounding bassline is the housiest of the three and probably my favourite cut on the EP, but Take No More, which blurs the deep/prog boundaries, is also very strong, while the unashamed out-and-out prog of Soul Nuts brings the EP to a suitably driving, euphoric close.

All told, a solid EP, different tracks from which are likely to find favour with different DJs, proving that this young Irish producer is no one-trick pony.

Out: This week

About: Having now found Dance Through Life online I can confirm that this is indeed their first release… the next one will be coming soon from a Mr Pepper and you can HEAR both at their Soundcloud page. They're based in NYC and can also be found on Facebook.

Various - Deep Edition 2012

2012-01-04T22:04:00.004Z

And speaking of labels I've been known to bang on about… here's the latest from Martijn's Deep Editions imprint.

It's a three-track sampler, featuring three different artists associated with the label. Submantra's I'm Not Ready is up first, a fairly upbeat deep house cut in a not-dissimilar vein to the Kruse & Dieckmann single reviewed below, all Jersey-ish organ and vox-as-instrument stabs. Michael McLardy's Time Of Night is up next, a slightly darker-sounding tech-house cut to start with but one that mellows out a little as more musical/soulful elements gradually join the party over the course of its eight minutes and three seconds. And then finally there's How Long Can't I Wait by Ruben F, with a distinctive male vocal sample that should find it friends on deep and soulful floors alike.

Whatever shade of deep you're most into, you should find something to love here. The truth is, I'm digging all three, though Submantra possibly JUST pips it.

Out: This week

About: You can find Deep Edition on Facebook and Soundcloud

Mark Kruse & Thomas Dieckmann - Walkin'

2012-01-04T21:53:00.004Z

More absolutely top class deep house action here courtesy of Denmark's Deso Records, who I was singing the praises of on this blog less than a week ago. So I won't bang on about how good the label is again today, I'll just tell you about this record.

It's a nice simple affair, with just the two mixes of Walkin' itself. The original is a fairly uptempo but still decidedly deep affair with hints of classic Jersey garage in those warm organ sounds and the soulful vocal (which, BTW, is kinda vaguely Alabama Blues-y… well, just a bit blues-y generally really I guess). It's a killer… but then on the flip you also get the Echofusion Deeper Then Jazz Remix, which is also a killer, this time largely eschewing the warm, organic Jersey sounds for a slightly more bleepy, synthy, echo-y, dubby kinda ride.

Decisions decisions, eh?

Out: This week

About: Find out more about the very hot Deso Records by hitting up their website or Soundcloud page

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - Following

2012-01-03T21:32:00.005Z

Those of you who've been following this blog for some time, may remember that I named the PHC's eponymous debut album the TIWWD Album of 2009… so it's fair to say that anything new from the band is eagerly awaited round about these 'ere parts. And Following doesn't disappoint.

Now, admittedly, this first single from the forthcoming LP Form & Control sees no huge variation on the heavily space disco-influenced sound of the first album. But if it ain't broke, as they say… so a more apposite criticism might be that there's not a lot on offer remix-wise. There's just Dub, Instrumental and 'Special' takes from the band themselves, and you can't help thinking it might have been nice to see how the track would have shaped up in someone else's hands.

But that's the band's decision to make, not mine, obviously! And I certainly wouldn't need any token remix by the nu-electro-house-step-aton wonderkid du jour to drop this (actually I'd most likely play the Dub, if you're asking… some nice Levan-esque wobbly moments in there).

Out: This week

About: This single, like the soon-come long player (and indeed the last one) comes on Tim 'Love' Lee's long-running Tummy Touch label.

PS In case you were wondering why there was no 'Album of 2010' or 'Album of 2011' from TIWWD, it's cos I decided end-of-year lists are bollocks. Inevitably incomprehensive and hence ultimately futile, time-consuming bollocks. So there.

Roger Meaden - Keep It Simple, Stupid EP

2012-01-03T21:19:00.004Z

Okay, so still getting to grips with this week's tunes inbox but before we crack on with those, here's one that somehow got missed out last week… the latest from the currently on-fire Savoir Faire Musique.

No surprises when I tell you this is some quality deep house shiznit right here. Afterhours gem Keep It Simple, Stupid itself sets the tone with its lush pads and stark deep garage beats. Nothing is a touch more floor-friendly but still deep as you like with a half-there female spoken vocal and crisp percussion, while finally Dangled From Sheets takes us into seriously tripped-out, late night territory.

Out: Last week

About: For more about Savoir Faire Musique visit their website (you can find all their other links right on the homepage), and check out the TIWWD Facebook page in a bit as well cos label boss Scott Harrington sent me a mix yesterday that I'm gonna put up.

So many tunes, so little time 4

2012-01-01T17:28:00.009Z

Okay just quickly then, before the first full week of 2012 gets underway, here's the 'best of the rest' from the past couple of weeks…

Montana & Stewart – Love Is The Key
One for those who like their house music ultra-soulful and laidback to the max, this features an impressive line-up of the scene's big players: Kafele, Mark De Clive-Lowe, Richard Earnshaw and Clemens Rumpf, with a sweet vocal from Eliki
More info

Ohm Hourani & Dany Fares – Imperial My Ass
Tough tech-house from Montreal's Casbour Records that leans heavily towards the techno end of the spectrum. Bonus cut Four O Two offers a slightly housier ride, albeit still with those rollin', poundin' techno 4/4s dominating.
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Vlada Asanin – De Tapas
More tough techno/tech-house here… but this time with a split vocal consisting of, on the one hand, one of those ominous, distorted techno voices and, on the other, a chef giving you some advice on cooking “traditional Spanish tapas”. Oddly.
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Pao C – Full Moon
The original here is a pleasant enough slice of deep, proggy tech-house with Balearic overtones. You then get NINE remixes to play with, covering various bases… Simon Firth's would be my first port of call.
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Steve Ward – Footprints To A Forgotten World EP
Three tracks, five mixes in total, flirting with deep, ambient, prog and tech flavours. The Marcus Fix Remix of Chartreuse Verte does it best for me. Oh yeah… and for every download sold, they'll plant a tree in Melbourne. Which is nice.
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Hapkido & Nais – West Of The Border EP
Tuff, driving house (not tech-house) music that doesn't take itself over seriously, but gets on with the business of moving booties on the dancefloor. Of the three tracks, the sax-dripping Boy would be my pick.
More info

Philly Soundsystem – Amenology EP
Three tracks of hi-octane but not stoopid-gnarly D&B, of which Stronger is the cut most likely to bring a nostalgic smile to the faces of the veteran ravers.
More info

Omid 16b presents – 3 Days, 4 Nights
Omid Nazourideh presents a V/A ep on his own Sex On Wax imprint, featuring Mark Holmes, Dabilla, Jay Storic and of course Omid himself. Tough house for bigger rooms is the general order of the day, with Holmes' Coming Home the standout for me.
More info

Various – Restyled Vol 4
Trendy Mullet have had lots of props on here in recent months… here they come good once again with an EP featuring new mixes of some of their back cat gems. It's all good, as they say, but T Ruggieri's mix of the Inland Knights' Control is particularly worthy of your attention.
More info

As ever, apologies to the artists/labels in question that these have had to be very short n' sweet reviews, but there's only so many hours in the day.

Deep Mood - New Dawn EP

2012-01-01T12:43:00.004Z

Well well well… happy new year everyone! Here's hoping 2012 brings you love and luck and good stuff generally. For the first TIWWD review of the year we'll look at this four-track EP of progressive house from Russia's Eternal Music.

See, the trouble with 'progressive house' for me is that so much of it… isn't, really. As such, a lot of it can leave me rather cold – until you come to a track like Mare Nostrum from this EP, which I just can't stop playing right now. I had a very quiet NYE at home with the GF this year, but playing this very loud and bouncing round the living room throwing shapes like a buffoon may or may not have been involved at one point. Just sayin'.

True, it doesn't break any new ground really – it's like the essence of leaping around a dancefloor in 1992 to Passion, Age Of Love, Big Mouth or Not Over Yet, distilled down and pressed up in vinyl (all right, 320kbps mp3) form. But Mare Nostrum serves as a timely reminder that sometimes, bouncing round the room throwing shapes like a buffoon is what it's all about.

We can even forgive the slighty questionable Pacific State-esque breakdown because this is, frankly, a MONSTER of a tune, and one that'll please the old ravers no end. Happy new year.

Out: This week

About: I can't seem to find a website for Eternal Music themselves right now, but here's where to find their shizzle on Audiojelly and here's where you can HEAR Mare Nostrum for yourself (the video is of all four tracks, the other three being perfectly functional prog numbers, but Mare Nostrum starts at 4.01)

Various - Fusic Vol 1

2011-12-31T19:37:00.006Z

Launched earlier this year, Fuse London is the record label arm of the successful Fuse club night, which is at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane and promises "deeper shades of house and techno". Which gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect from this six-artist, six-track sampler EP… innit? (as they say in Shoreditch)

So yeah, six deep/tech house bombs are what's on offer here, and they'll get the cooler floors moving for sure. Ben Rau's The City and Alex Arnout & Seb Zito's Moments Of You stand out for me, but you're sure to have your own faves, with cuts featured also from Enzo Siragusa & Luke Miskelly, Jun Akimoto, Rich Nxt and Ittetsu.

Bit of lickety-split review this one cos, y'know, it's New Year's Eve. But yeah… this is quality stuff, making Fuse London another label I'll definitely be keeping an eye on in 2012.

Out: Last week, but again, it was too good to leave.

About: I've told you most of what I know about Fuse London… except that the aforesaid Mr Siragusa is resident at the club so I'm guessing the main man at the label as well. They don't seem to have an actual label website yet – that I can find anyway – but here's the one for the club night. And seeing as that doesn't actually tell you much, here's a write-up about 'em on Resident Advisor as well.

Southeastern - P2000

2011-12-31T11:23:00.004Z

Based in Odense, Denmark, Deso Records are just a year old and 20 or so releases deep, but in that time they've already carved themselves an enviable reputation among the deep/tech house cognoscenti. This latest will nothing to tarnish that reputation whatsoever.

P2000 comes in just Original and Lerager's Lost Tongue Remix forms. The former is deep, unhurried and uncluttered, with a classic Chi-town bassline and just enough of a yearning female vocal to add some human warmth to what is a truly first-rate slice of melancholic machine soul. Meanwhile on the B, Denmark's Lerager beefs up the beats somewhat and transforms the track into a jackin' small-hours cut built with basements, red lights and feelings in mind.

Make no mistake, this is absolutely top-drawer tackle – check it out as soon as you get the chance.

Out: Last week, but I only got it yesterday and it was too good to ignore.

About: Find Deso at their own website, or on MySpace and Soundcloud. No, really, do – if I had to pick a label that's really pricked up my ears in 2011, this'd be the one.

Philip Arruda - Feels Like Space

2011-12-29T20:31:00.005Z

The last of the year from Canada's very hip Roots + Wings imprint is this very now-sounding slice of tech-house from Philip Arrruda.

Just the two mixes to tell you about. Arruda's original uses some traditional-sounding NY-style tuff percussion to drive the track forward, topped off with an endlessly wibbling synth and snatches of male (spoken) vocal, while The Junkies' mix tones down the snares and instead goes slightly deeper and groovier.

Either one should keep the floor moving nicely.

Out: This week

About: Roots + Wings are based, as you probably know by now anyway, in Toronto, Canada. You can find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud, and here's Philip Arruda's own Facebook page as well

Sean Biddle - Livin' In Ecstasy

2011-12-29T16:02:00.005Z

Okay, so this might not be the coolest, most underground, chin-strokey-est release ever mentioned on TIWWD but hey… NYE's a-coming and it's time to loosen up and dig out those big, silly party tunes.

In which case, this shiny disco-house tribute to the sisters Sledge should do the job nicely. It doesn't do much you don't expect, but then with a track like this you don't really need it to… all you want is for it to fill the floor, and that it most certainly will. Especially if there are any girls around.

Out: This week

About: This comes not on Sean's own Bid Muzik but on Mac and co's Nocturnal Recordings.

Gabriel Rhome - The Shell

2011-12-29T15:51:00.004Z

Some quality techno/tech-house sounds here from those Essex stalwarts Hype Muzik.

Actually that said, really both The Shell and The Thinning are just straight-up techno… it's all a bit abstract n' glitchy for me to be honest but there are plenty of people that love that kinda stuff and this should suit them to a T. But never mind that, the reason this is getting reviewed on here is the deep and slightly proggy tech-house of Focused Slice, which has a lazy, menacing groove all of its own. Sterling, sleazy stuff.

Out: This week

About: Keep up with Hype's goings-on at their blog

Freaky Funk – No-One EP

2011-12-29T09:26:00.004Z

Freaky Funk is the nom de guerre of a house DJ/producer from Montenegro, who in real life goes by the name of Nikola Jovicevi. That's about all I know about him but I can tell you that, here, he's delivered an EP for Macedonia's Artefact Records that should appeal to a range of house jocks.

Sitting somewhere between 'deep' and 'funky' on the house music sliding scale of subgenres, the four tracks here – No-One, Never, Like You and Funk Awake – tread that fine line that Om once made their own: credible enough to appeal to more discerning heads, but with enough of a disco shimmy to tempt more a more casual audience to their feet as well.

There's perhaps not that one killer cut that means you need to stop what you're doing and buy this record immediately, though No-One itself, with its disconcerting spoken vocal samples, does stand out (and so merit its title position). But overall, it's quality stuff for sure. Let's hope we hear more from Freaky Funk soon.

Out: This week

About: I'm pretty certain Artefact Records are making their debut appearance on this blog today, but they're based in Skopje, Macedonia (despite having a .co.uk web address – go figure) and can be found on Soundcloud, Facebook and MySpace, or at their own blog.

RJ Fletcher – Afterthought EP

2011-12-29T09:19:00.004Z

Well then, it's been a few days, what with Jesus having a birthday and all… but now we're back, back, BACK! so let's get the TIWWD ball rolling again with this four-track EP from Mr Fletcher, which marks his third outing on Deep Edition.

Afterthought itself is, in its original form, a perfectly decent slab of deep, techy house music with a vocal consisting of sampled movie dialogue (or what sounds like sampled movie dialogue). But I'm feeling the Atapy Remix more: this is a considerably deeper, more stripped-down and slightly more experimental/leftfield pass, tailormade for post-club sessions or sleazy afterhours joints.

On the B, meanwhile, you'll find Boom Talk and Doublethink. The former is a no-nonsense slice of dancefloor deepness with one of those 'house veteran discussing his feelings about music/favourite drum machine/first time at The Loft/etc'-type vocals, while the latter pursues a similarly uncompromising and artistic approach to Atapy's rub of the title track.

It's Boom Talk that's floating my boat the most, I think, but this is another very solid offering from Deep Edition all round.

Out: This week

About: This is number 25 for Deep Edition, which is a landmark of sorts so congratulations to the northeast UK-based label… find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Nik Fratarolli - Synesthesia

2011-12-23T20:04:00.004Z

Nik Fratarolli is a name that should be familiar to TIWWD readers by now, but this marks the debut of a brand new name - Nik's own label, Sangoma Music. And a fine debut it is, too.

It's a simple two-track affair. Synesthesia itself is a deep tech number with proggy overtones in its slow-building structure, while on the B, Livin' In The Box is dubby deep house of the finest calibre (and possibly my pick of the two, I think, though both are very good).

As I said, an excellent debut – more soon please Mr Fratarolli!

Out: This week

About: This is what the hype sheet has to say about Sangoma Music: "This is all about getting blown away by magnificent tracks... there'll definitely be no fillers on Nik's watch. No digital bonus mixes. No generic dub versions. No DJ tools. No compromise. But there is room for artistic license: the sound of Sangoma is a building process of experimental sounds on top of deep and tribal foundations, inspired by the likes of Moon Harbour, Freerange, Tsuba, Plastic City and Crosstown Rebels."

Sounds good to me… you can judge for yourself by hitting up Sangoma on Soundcloud and Facebook. In the meantime, I also notice that Nik is a Manchester lad and was a regular at clubs like The Hacienda and The Boardwalk back in the early 90s, so who knows, we may well have hugged each other or shared a bottle of water (or poppers) 20 years ago without realising! Funny how these things go, innit?

Various - Morally Casual EP

2011-12-23T19:50:00.006Z

Some really nice deep/tech house vibes on this v/a EP from 5 And Dime Records.

The three tracks are Under Water by Zach De Vincent, Quadratic Souls by Wyatt Earp & ben A, and Transitional Period by Mateous. And, to be honest, I haven't got huge amounts to say about any of them, but all three are quality instrumental grooves that'll suit warm-up sets or post-club sessions to a T.

This is only the second release from this label so take time to check 'em out, people! You won't be disappointed, this is very cool stuff indeed.

Out: This week

About: 5 And Dime are based, like a lot of people these days it seems, in Denver, Colorado. Find out more at their website and Facebook page.

ALBUM Mojo Rising – Seven Wonders

2011-12-22T21:39:00.003Z

Here's an album from a label I don't think have featured on here before, Denver's Cold Busted.

Cold Busted specialise (from what I've heard to date, anyway) in leftfield electronica, dusty Shadow-esque lo-fi hip-hop and other such esoteric thrills, but to me this album is a bit more accessible than some of their stuff, and all the better for it. They're calling it "a worldly and texture palette of funk, dub and electronic music", which kinda works; think a more party-oriented Ninja Tune and you're somewhere in the ballpark of the general vibe here.

Opener Stonehenge samples both The Specials (A Message To You Rudy, to be precise) and James Brown, The Lighthouse is a lounge-tastic shuffler with a xylophone (!) to the fore, The Tomb is a thoughtful, slightly melancholic downtempo trip, Catacombs is a slab of hip hop-inflected downtempo funk, Hanging Gardens is a bit like The Orb doing Italo and… well, there's more but you get the idea.

Quirky, experimental genre-mashing's all very well, but it often just isn't that much FUN. Seven Wonders, on the other hand, is. There's a reason not a lot of downtempo/experimental albums make it onto TIWWD… the fact this one has should tell you all you need to know.

Oh yeah… and loving that cover, too!

Out: This week

About: Find out more about Cold Busted by hitting up their Facebook page, radio station or blog.

William Heath – Minimal Subliminal

2011-12-22T21:24:00.006Z

Well now, here's a confusingly titled record… cos it isn't particularly minimal, and it certainly doesn't sound like anything on Subliminal either. It is rather good, though.

Actually, I guess Minimal Subliminal is a little bit 'minimal'-ish in its sound palette – lots of random blips and clicks. But there's not, y'know, one of the above every 20 seconds and that's it, or anything. Instead, I'd say the overall vibe is deep-ish techno, but with a definite spring in its step… so more of a dancefloor cut than the phrase 'deep techno' often implies, I guess.

But then what do I know? I never claimed to be any great expert on techno, I'm a house boy! "I don't know about techno but I know what I like," to coin a phrase. And I like this.

Just the one mix so that's all I've got to say, really.

Out: This week

About: This is on Manchester-based label Zipped Records, run by Zac Cawdron who's been a big supporter of the TIWWD Facebook page since it started, so thanks for that Zac! There are plenty more goodies from Zipped coming soon so keep an eye on their Facebook, Soundcloud and MySpace pages.

Olie Bass Weight - Triton/The Void

2011-12-21T21:11:00.005Z

Ha! Just when you were all nice and relaxed from the Proj3kt Dharma single, here comes some heavy, heavy dubstep to filth out your ears.

But not in a bad way. See, while the bottom end on the two tracks here is certainly dark and doomy enough to warrant Olie adopting the name he has, this is no horrible wurgh! wurgh! wurgh! kiddy chav-step gnarl-fest. The two tracks here are deep and dubby enough that even my girlfriend likes it (who is not, it's fair to say, much of a dubstep lass)… yet they've got enough low-end grunt to satisfy the most mangled of bass-face ravers at the same time.

Triton is the deeper of the two, The Void the more twisted and scary, and I think I'd plump for the former if pushed. But both are eminently checkable for sure. Excellent work.

Out: This week

About: This is the latest from Denver-based Section 8. If you'd like to know more, here's an interview with Michael Ramirez, who runs the label.

Proj3kt Dharma - Forgotten By The Universe

2011-12-21T20:51:00.004Z

And from the bouncy, ravey, big-silly-grinny vibes of Munich Disco Tech, let's jump right to the opposite end of the spectrum with this latest from Denmark's Deepwit Recordings… if you like it deeper than deep then this is for you.

The original of Forgotten… is slo-mo house taken to the Nth degree, with a three-note organ riff, an echo-drenched, breathy female vocal and the most fragile of high-end percussive sounds drawn out over four-and-a-half luxuriant, lazy, head-nodding minutes. This chilled beauty then gets reworked into a dubbed-out post-club deep house groove by Jeff Fontaine & Deep Spelle on their Lost In Space Remix; into a Balearic/Italo-flavoured smoocher by tONKPROJECT on his From Another Galaxy Remix, which reminds me of those glorious Irma and Antima dubs from the early-mid 90s; and into a quirky warm-up number with techy tinges by Addex.

Just gorgeous. Now sit back and relax…

Out: This week

About: Find out more about Deepwit at their website, from their blog, on Facebook or on Soundcloud. You can currently HEAR THIS at the latter.

ALBUM Munich Disco Tech - The Final Chapter

2011-12-21T20:37:00.004Z

"Nothing is forever," as Ultracynic sang back in those halcyon rave days of yore. And sadly, that's a truism that applies right now in the case of one of the best EP series of recent years.

Yep, Great Stuff Recordings' superb Munich Disco Tech series is coming to an end with this 14th installment. But what a way to go out, because on this album-length release are no less than 13 tracks, all of them made for moving bodies on dancefloors – no more, no less.

Given that there ARE 13 tracks, I'm not going into each one individually. Suffice to say that the kind of funky, jackin', party-oriented house/tech-house you've come to expect is the order of the day, from 22 artists in total (there are quite a lot of collabs y'see) some of whom you'll have heard of (Christian Cambas, Marco Lys, Mihalis Safras & Kiko), must of whom you won't… yet.

More bounce to the ounce indeed. MDT RIP, but thanks, it's been good!

Out: This week

About: You can keep up with the rest of Great Stuff's adventures in the worlds of house and techno here.

Monsieur M – Appletini

2011-12-20T21:51:00.007Z

I wish Savoir Faire Musique would hurry up and put out a rubbish record, just so's that we could break this seemingly endless loop of me telling you how good their releases are… you'll think I sleep on Savoir Faire pillowcases. Well, I don't*, but the fact is, that longed-for day has yet to arrive – this is yet another bomb from the Savoir Faire stable.

The original of Appletini is like an object lesson in how to create the deepest of deep house without losing the music's essential danceability… it's the kind of track that's equally at home on the floor or on the sofa, and that's a harder trick to pull off than it might seem. With a dubby, almost sub-aquatic feel coupled with hip-shaking beats that just don't stop and a floaty female vocal which sounds like it's intoning "hot looking babes" over and over but I guess might not be, it's pretty damn near perfect, IMHO.

Mix-wise, John Diloo takes us deeper still into proper post-club dub territory, also adding some 'did I really just hear that?' warped sax stabs, while Dimi Wilson's rub uses a different female vocal and reminds me a little bit of Mission Control's classic Outta Limits, which is no bad thing!

Truth be told, all three rubs are absolute killers… d'you know what? If Savoir Faire do ever decide to bring out a range of bedding, I just might have to buy some.

Out: This week

About: Here's where to find Savoir Faire online. Monsieur M himself is Turkish-born but raised in Athens; John Diloo is also from Greece, I'm not sure about Dimi Wilson though.

*I actually sleep on very boring plain white pillowcases, if you must know

Timmy P - Mode EP

2011-12-20T20:07:00.005Z

A three-track EP here from the mysterious Timmy P, on which he touches several house bases.

Mode itself is the most uptempo and driving of the three cuts, with a tuff techy beats n' bassline groove counterpointed by insistent female wails – not to mention a wee snippet of a VERY familiar male vocal from way back in the day (I won't spoil it but you'll know it the second you hear it) – and… er, well that's about it really but that's all you really need.

Moving on, 1880 is another fairly chunky number but with a slightly more late-floor kinda feel… which brings us nicely to the real star of the show for me, Afterparty, which appropriately enough is a deeper proposition altogether, starting out with fairly no-nonsense kicks but soon warming up with lots of atmospherics, gently tinkling keys and floaty, disembodied vocal hooks.

Afterparty's my pick but it's a strong EP all round.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Manchester Underground Music

12 FREE deep house trax!

2011-12-19T21:40:00.003Z

Another bargain bonanza of gratis goodies 4 ya here, as Kahua Music and Stompy team up to offer you a whopping dozen deep house cuts for the pricely sum of zero pence.

Martijn, Lost My Dog, Home Audio, Nik Frattaroli, 3am Recordings, Dubble D, Howard Sessions and Hudd Trax are just some of the artists and labels involved, all names which should be very familiar to TIWWD readers by now, so you know you're onto a good thing. But hurry, cos the offer expires on December 28.

To get the tracks, head over to Stompy by clicking here, pick the tracks you want and then, when you get to the checkout, enter the promo code 'thedeepend'. Simples.

ALBUM Various - Inner Circles Vol 1

2011-12-19T21:20:00.004Z

This actually came out last week, but it somehow went in this week's folder. Never mind, there's no way this one was getting overlooked.

Inner Circles is a sampler showcasing Lower East, a UK label I clearly haven't been paying enough attention to cos there are some proper house gems here. Alexis Raphael's Skalamoosh fuses a gloriously old school organ sound and bang up-to-the-minute midpaced house beats to devastating effect, Max Chapman's Afterparty takes us back to Chicago, Cozzy D & Dodha's White Lightening (sic) is a groovy afterhours shuffler, Lee Brinx's She's Pretty revisits vintage acid vibes in a Snuff Crew kinda way and, best of all, there's Dirty Cash by Dexter Kane & Gav Memnos, which revives the vocal from Stevie V's rave classic in the form of a superlative slab of sleazoid tech-house funk.

Lower East peeps, I will be paying more attention from now on for sure!

Out: This week

About: If you happen to be playing catch-up like me, there's a little write-up about Lower East on Resident Advisor or you can find 'em on Soundcloud, Facebook and MySpace. Or indeed at http://lower-east.com/

So many tunes, so little time 3

2011-12-18T22:00:00.009Z

Time once again for a round-up of all the other good stuff I didn't manage to get around to – and there's a lot of it this week!

Alex Flatner – Break House
Tuff, chunky tech-house on Munich's Circle Music, with a vocal inspired by a certain Commodores funk classic. Remixes come from Martinek, Warren Fellows and Deepgroove, the latter just pipping it for me though the Original's also very cool.
More info

Andrea Mattoli & Danilo Cris – Shoot EP
More tech-house vibes on this three-track EP from Italy's Diva Records (which is Mattoli's own label). The emphasis is mostly on the tech side of the equation but Reflex should suit house jocks nicely while Staker mixes a techno backdrop with a house vocal.
More info

Dmarco – Roots EP
Retro piano house is the order of the day on the title track, as Dmarco revisits uplifting rave-y sounds of yore. B-side 3.15 is proggier and a bit too Dutch-sounding for me but the A's a killer.
More info

Gianlucca Peruzzi ft Romero MC – La Ritmo
Our second of the week from 3am Recordings is, as the name suggests, a heads-down, drummy affair, garnished with a spoken Afro vocal and some of those currently en vogue old skool Chi-town sounds. Remixes come from Gareth Whitehead (my pick) and Matteo Floris.
More info

Graham Laverty – Speaking Of You EP
More quality from Martijn's Deep Edition stable! Speaking Of You itself is a meandering Balearic cut with another 303 bassline and comes with a slightly more floor-friendly remix from Nikola Gala, while Martijn himself supplies a remix of the more sparse and abstract Mainline.
More info

Greg Delon – Soul Down
Based in the south of France, Greg Delon delivers this slab of brooding, atmospheric deep/progressive house on his own Woh Lab label. Just the one mix promo'd but it's worth checking for sure.
More info

Maceo Plex – Under The Sheets

Crosstown Rebels star Eric 'Maceo Plex' Estornel offers up a slow-building (and slow-moving generally) slice of contemporary-sounding leftfield house on Canada's No 19 Music.
More info

Marko Nastic – Belgrade Connection EP
A total of three tracks and nine mixes on this value-packed EP from Brazil's Clash Music, courtesy of Serbian techno mainstay Nastic. Expect a mix of driving tech and dubby deepness.
More info

Nick Turner – InnerVisions EP
Some homegrown deep house goodness from Middlesborough's Nick Turner, plus remixers Basic Soul Unit, Arttu and Djebali The J. If you like your house so laidback it's horizontal, you'll enjoy the five sofa-surfing gems here greatly.
More info

Optim & Walken – Lost EP
Slightly experimental/leftfield house vibes on this split/collaborative EP on Electric Sheep Recordings, particularly on the standout Spell Therapy by Gary Optim, which comes on like Harold Budd trying his hand at deep house.
More info

Presslaboys – Enjoy The Sound

Some disco-flavoured house vibes on Factoria here, underpinned by glitchy, techy beats on the original and Rainbox & Omar J rubs, or a more crowd-friendly 4/4 thump on the Hamza Remix.
More info

Wez Saunders – My House EP
In the same week as the startlingly good Endemic Digital comp drops, label boss Wez somehow has also found time to put together four deep/tech house chuggers for fellow Essex label Hype Muzik. All four will do the do but the fat n' squelchy What About It and You lead the pack.
More info

Thanks also to Bison, CJ Styles, D-Unity, DJ Wild, Djamel, George Pear, Giorgio Luceri, Kenny Ground, Jon Fitz & Andy Mason, Lala By, Mak & Pasteman, Makka & Howard Sessions, Mike Duz, Ohm Hourani, Scope and Taso, for all the other bits n' bobs I got sent this week – sorry guys there's just not time to cover everything!

And finally, hello to new Manchester label State Records, who make their debut this week with Sonny Wharton & Sick Electrick's tough, driving tech-houser Blagger.

Al Bradley - Power To The Peaceful

2011-12-18T20:39:00.004Z

There are times when you hear a familiar vocal sample and you think, oh God, not again. If, for instance, I never hear another dubstep/garage/D&B track with that 'six million ways to die' sample, I won't be complaining. On the other hand, there are those times when you hear a familiar vocal sample and you think, 'I can't believe he's used this… but it works'.

And in the case of Jetstream here, it certainly does work. The sample in question exhorts you not only to continue pushing, but to do so more forcefully, and sits atop muted Sound Factory-esque drums and a simple looping piano riff on the Original mix, or (my pick) an epic slab of Mr Fingers-ish deep/Balearic house on the Joe Morris Coloured Smoke Remix. It's great.

And that's only the B-side! On the A, the Original Mix of Power To The Peaceful pitches sampled Civil Rights-era speech over a sparse, echo-y deep house backing starring some gorgeous Rhodes work, while Gambino's Unruffled Mix is a midtempo near-breakbeat shuffler featuring some fat, squelchy analogue synth sounds.

Excellent stuff all round, but Jetstream just pips it for me. So I'll keep on pushing it harder.

Out: This week

About: This comes not on Al's own 3am Recordings but is in fact the second release (I believe) on Carlo Gambino's Midnight Social Recordings.

ALBUM Various - Endemic Digital Three Years Old

2011-12-18T20:14:00.004Z

Release of the week for me without a doubt… and I don't think I've ever actually said that before. But regular readers will know I'm a bit of a fan of the Endemic approach to deep and tech house generally, truth be told… so this compilation celebrating the label's third birthday was always going to be a bit of a no-brainer.

On CD1, you get 11 brand-new tracks put together especially for this album by some of the label regulars, including Adam Coley, Lee Daines, Smak, Dave James, Soulight and of course label boss Wez Saunders. Wez's Always Remember You and Stefan K's deep delight Loyal stand out for me, along with Miami Ice's retro organ bouncer Kehta, but it really is all good, to coin a phrase.

Across CDs 2 and 3, you then get a further 20 gems culled from the label's back catalogue… and with tracks/mixes from Onionz, Pretty Criminals, Mitch Davis, Echofusion, Maher Daniel, Nik Fratarolli, Harnessnoise and other names that should be very familiar to readers of TIWWD, you know it ain't gonna be rubbish.

I'm not gonna go into individual tracks cos time is short right now and there's 31 of 'em… suffice to say that if deep and tech house (with a little bit of groovy techno) is your thing, then you seriously need this. Happy birthday Endemic, keep 'em coming!

Out: This week

About: Here's a link that's also probably quite familiar to you by now…

FREE TRACK from Owen Howells & Stanky

2011-12-17T14:09:00.005Z

More free goodness for you, this time from Owen Howells & Stanky. Caffeine Persuasion is a forward-thinking slab of experimental/abstract techno with a dub influence, tailormade for late nights, sofas and jazz cigarettes…

It's being put out there to help raise awareness of their recently-formed Shades Of Grey collective/label – not to be confused with Shades Of Gray the artist who we had a freebie from last week! And when I say 'out there', I mean here, obviously… enjoy!

Owen Howells & Stanky - Caffeine Persuasion [FREE DOWNLOAD] by OwenHowells

ALBUM Sleazy McQueen - 5+1

2011-12-17T11:05:00.005Z

Florida's Sleazy McQueen mans the decks for the first label compilation from Boston-based label Headtunes Recordings, featuring 16 tracks in both mixed and full-length, unmixed formats. Headtunes have featured on this blog a number of times, so you should have an idea of the kind quality straight-up house, long on classic sounds, to expect.

With cuts on offer from a host of today's hottest names – Grant Dell, Jesus Pablo, Peckos, Do It Proper – as well as some producers that are brand spanking new, there's plenty to delight, but special mention must be made of Sleazy's own Big Times, Big Tings (presented here in Cole Medina's Buffalo Times Mix form) and Cosmic Boogie's Feel It. The latter is the closest you'll ever get (now, anyway) to dancing to Chi-town house at Ku or Amnesia circa 1987, while the acid-dripping former is a plastic dream come true for lovers of old skool sounds brought right up to date…

Elsewhere, Grant Dell's House Tribute should raise a smile among older heads who remember House Of Gypsies' Samba from back in the day, while Need Ya (also from Dell) comes on like Booker T & The MGs got a gig as house band at Berghain. There are disco frolics from Mario Dujic, squelchy slo-mo vibes from Do It Proper, soul-infused grooves from Noise Destruction and more besides.

Excellent stuff all round, and it's being released to mark the label's 6th anniversary (hence the title), so happy birthday guys, here's to the next six years!

Out: This week

About: There's an interesting story behind this album, because Headtunes used 'crowdsourcing' site Kickstarter.com to raise the cash they needed to release it. So respect to all those who contributed! Click the link for the Headtunes website, or find 'em on Facebook or Soundcloud.

ALBUM Jan Ken Po - Unlimited Man

2011-12-17T10:52:00.004Z

This album's actually credited to Max Essa presents Jan Ken Po… JKP being a new alias for the nu-disco stalwart as he changes tack ever so slightly. "More Berlin, less Monaco – that's the ethos," says the hype sheet. "Essa's touched a new base."

And indeed, this album's a little more house-ified and consistently dancefloor-oriented than previous outings by this British producer based in Japan. But only a little. The beats may be a notch more driving, but the influence of Italo/cosmic disco still looms large and of course, Max's large collection of vintage analogue synths still has a crucial role to play. So while there are tracks here such as lo-slung dirty funker Palm Beach Boy Trees that you might be surprised have come out of Essa's studio, others, such as Metropolitan Scene or First Touch, are almost unmistakeable in their sheer Essa-ness.

As such, if Unlimited Man is meant to be a dramatic reinvention of Mr Essa's musical self, then I'm not sure it entirely works. But if you're a Max Essa fan – and I certainly am – then there's plenty to enjoy here.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Max's home, the mighty Nang Records

Evren Ulusoy – Nocturnal

2011-12-16T19:28:00.004Z

Now we go really deep, with this superb offering from Turkish house maestro Evren Ulusoy on Sebastian Davidson's ever-excellent Nightbird Music.

In its Original form, Nocturnal is all crisp beats, dreamy pads and bags and bags of reverb, topped off with a sultry female vocal that recalls classic NY/NJ house n' garage and underpinned by a jaunty but unhurried Chi-town b-line. Deep Class boss Fer Ferrari tuffens up the beats a little and adds some disco sprinkles, Dub Makers bring the bassline to the fore and turn the track into a sparse-but-intense 5am soundsystem delight, and Satoshi Fumi adds some analogue warmth and tinkling ivories for a more sultry, smoochy post-club ride.

Essentially the four mixes are just subtly different shades of very deep house, then… but nonetheless, this is class in a glass.

Out: This week

About: You can hook up with Nightbird Music via their Facebook and MySpace pages, while you can find out all you need to know about Evren Ulusoy at his own website.

Mauritzio ft Levern - Wanna Be Remixes Part 1

2011-12-16T19:12:00.006Z

The first set of remixes of this soul-infused house cut on the recently(-ish) revived Black Vinyl come courtesy of label boss Alan Russell.

His Wadadli Soul Vocal Remix will be the one for the soulful floors without a doubt, with plenty of live instrumentation and Levern's voice to the fore. But it's the Wadadli Breaks Remix that's doing it for me more. This keeps the full vocal, but underpins it with a muffled breakbeat that harks back to the early days of UK house, and a ponderous, jazz-style bassline that isn't going to let the frantic percussion hurry it along any (once you hear the track you'll see what I mean).

All of which adds up to a raw-sounding house cut made for big speakers…which is after all what it's all about, eh?

Another set of remixes are presumably to follow, given that this says Part 1, so I'll keep you posted…

Out: This week

About: Mauritizio and Levern are actually called Mauritzio Baiocchi and Levern Johnson and hail from Italy, in case you were wondering… and you can find out more about Black Vinyl here. And no, I have no idea what 'wadadli' means either.

Moodymanc - Father EP

2011-12-16T18:53:00.005Z

A predictably high-quality release here from Moodymanc, AKA Danny 'Dubble D' Ward of 2020Soundsystem fame.

Father itself is a shimmering, midtempo house cut with spoken vocals – whose source is unclear, but which are in the vein of the dub poetry of Mutabaruka or LKJ – and a few E2/E4-like sprinkles. Proper deepness! It's 'proper lush' as they say down here in the west country, but the more dancefloor remix from Detroit hero Rick Wade is possibly even better, his Daddy's Disco Mix doing what it says on the tin with considerable aplomb.

On the B, Sugar Hill is a slightly techier number, with another spoken vocal – "Cocaine, Sugarhill/New York City, Sugarhill/the music is black, Sugarhill", tuff, bouncy beats and some ker-razy freeform jazz saxophony. It comes accompanied by a DJ Tool mix that's a whole six minutes long.

Like I said… high-quality stuff indeed. The EP, I mean, not the cocaine.

Out: This week

About: This is the fourth release from new London-based label Landed Records (click the link for their website or find 'em on Facebook).

Total mega-armaggedon FREE DUBSTEP death overload!

2011-12-15T21:38:00.008Z

Well well well… for those of you that like dubstep, here's something of a treat. LU10 Records have clearly been at the Christmas sherry a bit early and, suddenly full of festive cheer, they've decided to give you some tuneage for free. A free track? No. A free album? No.

A free whole whopping bloody great 70 tracks? That'll be the one.

Yeah, you read that right… that's 70, as in one more than something a bit rude, tracks of speaker-bothering, gut-churning, in-your-face gnarly dubstep and grime… with a few poppier UK funky cuts and some deeper gems to be found in there as well. And a bit of electro. And some bassline. Oh, and a half-hour mix from Hybrid Theory & Saila as well, so make that 71.

The phrase 'rude not to' doesn't really cover it. So here you go, then…

More Freebies Link http://www.4shared.com/file/VaZsr6Bv/Freebies.html by LU10 Records

Holly – An Owl On My Piano

2011-12-15T21:10:00.007Z

I'm not sure Mexican label Elite Records have featured on here before… or if they have I don't recall. But let's rectify that right now.

An Owl On My Piano itself is a solid-enough driving tech-house workout, though I will say I'm preferring Argenis Brito's stripped n' dubby rerub to the slightly more hectic and more out-and-out techno original. She's Overdosed is, as befits the title, a somewhat darker cut that Simon Reynolds would probably call 'redolent of dystopian paranoia' or something… we'll settle for just 'darker', shall we? It's not the kind of thing I'd instinctively play myself but I'm quite prepared to believe that if I ever found myself dancing in a wooded glade at a 'teknival' in Serbia or somewhere, it would suddenly sound like the best record in the world. I can see that happening, yeah*.

But the real gem for me on this release is Break Yourself. Heading off at a complete tangent from the rest of the EP, this is an unashamed party track based around a hefty sample from The Message. This might not be the one to get the chin-strokers excited but it'll be the one to get the girls on the floor, believe.

Out: This week

About: You can find Elite Records on Facebook. Despite this being ER097, it's apparently the first Elite release from a Mexican producer, which they seem pretty happy about. I'm surprised it's taken that long but this IS, to be fair, a release to be happy about anyway.

*By which I mean, I can see myself loving this record in the right place at the right time. I don't mean I could actually see myself GOING to a 'teknival' in Serbia. Still, never say never eh?

Nick Harris - White Leather

2011-12-15T20:52:00.005Z

Label boss Nick Harris comes up with a (Christmas) cracker on this latest release from the mighty NRK Music… who, weirdly, I don't think have featured on here before, or at least not for a while.

In its original form, White Leather is a fusion of old and new, as today's tuffer, techier beats (but slightly slower tempo) combine with vintage Chi-town house sounds. Works a treat from where I'm standing. There's just the one remix on offer, from Crosstown Rebels/Bpitch Control fave Kiki: unsurprisingly this is more your straight-up techy mix, but it'll do the job on the right floors.

Meanwhile, you also get three mixes of Sunrise Over Volta. In its Original form, this is a mean and moody instrumental deep/tech-houser with a throbbing bottom end. Hector Murillo, who's had stuff out on labels like Desolat, Tsuba, 2020Vision and Mobilee, then delivers two remixes, cunningly entitled Hector Mix 1 and Hector Mix 2… both add a spoken vocal and emphasise the techier elements, taking us (almost) into deep/dub techno territory.

Out: This week

About: For all you need to know about Bristol's biggest and longest-running house label, click here. Oh, and here's their blog as well.

Deepfunk – Crystals [Remixed]

2011-12-14T22:23:00.006Z

The original of this was out last year… and there's just the one remix to talk about so this'll be a quick post!

Deep, throbbing progressive house is the order of the day here… but of the non-tedious variety, and with enough jack in its veins to ensure that it could find friends outside of the usual prog suspects.

Nothing hugely innovative going on then, but it's a solid pumping club track, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that – particularly when it's also got a little more depth than many tracks of its ilk.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Essex label Stripped Digital. Oh, and my girlfriend thinks it has a very pretty cover, if that helps sway your buying decision any.

The Rhythm Odyssey - Devil's Tease

2011-12-14T22:03:00.004Z

If you're going to do old skool house, then it helps I guess if you're an old skool guy… and if you happen to be British then it doesn't come much more old skool than being one of the founders of Bizarre Inc. Enter Dean Meredith, of Bizarre Inc and latterly Chicken Lips fame, wearing his Rhythm Device hat.*

Sorry, got a bit bogged-down in footnote then**. Where was I? Oh yeah, Devil's Tease… which in its original form is pure straight-up house music, as in a Chicago 1985-88 kinda way. Featuring a vocal by James from The Main Stem (that's somewhat after the style of Robert Owens), it's accompanied by instrumental and slightly deeper Basement versions, plus The Drums, The Bass and, most importantly, The Acid passes, the latter of which… oh come on, you don't really need me to explain that bit, do you?

If it ain't broke, they say… it's the The Acid mix that's doing it best for me but this is a treat for the old skool lovers all round.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha on Chicken Lips' own Lipservice imprint.

*In the wake of the Levenson enquiry and its probing of journalistic standards, I feel obliged to point out that I have no idea if Dean Meredith actually OWNS a Rhythm Device hat or not. I made that bit up. Hey, maybe I could get a job at the Daily Mail! Remind me: who's doing their deep house page at the moment?

** Specifically, the footnote directly above this one. But you knew that, I'm just doing this to annoy you now.

Formatique - Ping Pong

2011-12-13T22:19:00.005Z

After the laidback loveliness of Claes Rosen, let's jump to the other end of the spectrum with this upbeat and driving slab of dancefloor silliness from Formatique. Silliness isn't an insult, by the way… it's just that when a record's vocal goes "ping… pong… ping-pong" in a daft voice then it's hard to get too chin-strokey and earnest about it!

The original of Ping Pong, then, is (er) a driving and upbeat tech-house cut that wouldn't sound out of place on Great Stuff or Klang. It's accompanied by remixes from Justy and H2. The former's rub is perhaps a little too techno for me personally but reading the feedback it looks like plenty of DJs are loving it, while H2's pass operates in more of a cool, leftfield house arena. Well, as cool and leftfield as you can get while still having a daft voice go "ping… pong… ping-pong", anyway.

Solid stuff for the floor that's bound to raise a few smiles. The throwing of some remarkable shapes may also ensue, with any luck.

Out: This week

About: This one comes atcha courtesy of Manchester Underground Music.

Claes Rosen - Into The Bloom

2011-12-13T22:05:00.003Z

THIS JUST IN! as they used to say. Y'know, in 20-odd years of doing journalism stuff I don't think I've ever put that before… anyway, yeah, this is hot off the download right this very second. And it's just lovely.

Into The Bloom is, in its original form, a beautiful piece of electronic music that sits somewhere between deep house, lounge-y jazz and chill-out. With gently shuffling percussion, beautiful piano chords, space-y synths and mangled vocal sounds, if I was still doing the podcast right now (which I will again, one day…) this'd be the opening track on the next show for sure. Gorgeous.

But if you want it a little more dancefloor-oriented, then worry not cos there are no fewer than five remixes on offer, courtesy of Adam Byrd, Nicolas Agudelo, Luiz B, Ricky Inch and Elvin Ong. These mostly sit somewhere between progressive house and nu-disco/Scandolearica, though my pick of the rerubs would be Byrd's post-club/afterhours deep house take.

There should be something here for lots of you to play, though – this is classy stuff, and possibly the best yet from Spring Tube.

Out: This week

About: Spring Tube are Russian, don't you know?

Mr Leman - Deep N' Funky

2011-12-12T21:55:00.004Z

Well, it's called Deep N' Funky… what else do you need to know?

I guess you need to know it uses both what sounds like it might be a Temptations vocal sample (but I could be wrong) and a somewhat 'abstract' female vocal loop, the pair of which sit atop a simple, driving drum beat and some nice Rhodes (?) chords buried deep in the mix. And I guess you need to know that the Desos Slow House Remix does what it says on the tin, while the Danny Lilwall Deeper Mix is a stripped-down drum rework for druggier floors.

I guess you need to know that Mr Leman is really Danish producer Rasmus Leman.

Mainly, you just need to know that this is some uncompromisingly raw, underground shit right here. And that it lives up to both the much over-used descriptors of the title.

Out: This week

About: This is only the third release from Copenhagen-based Gartenhaus, and suffice to say they've made a good impression so far. You can find 'em on Facebook or Soundcloud.

Rob Small presents Uncle Rico - All That Jazz

2011-12-12T21:45:00.003Z

Rob Small takes time out from mastering for the world and his brother, to deliver this three-tracker for 3am under his Uncle Rico guise.

The original of All That Jazz explores the area where jazz and deep, dubby house/techno… to remarkably pleasing effect, it must be said! Universal Solution's Remix tones down the jazz elements (bar the spoken vocal) in favour of a smoother deep house ride, while the Jamie Adam Tune Remix takes us in a proggier direction. But while both are playable for sure, neither competes with the original for sheer out-there freakiness.

House music for the mind as well as the body. To coin a phrase.

Out: This week

About: The mighty 3am Recordings don't need any intro from me by now, surely? But click the link anyway – it'll take you to their Soundcloud page where you can HEAR THIS for yourself.

No Artificial Colours - If The Rumours Were True EP

2011-12-11T10:47:00.008Z

Some no-nonsense deep, down n' jackin' tech-house here made strictly for underground dancefloors… and on a brand-new label, to boot. What more recommendation could I give it, really?

As far as the three originals go, Dangerous is a sleazy, bottom end-heavy midtempo bump n' grind number (and one of my faves), ThugMode is a Berlin-ish tech-houser with a slight nod to UKG in its skippy, staccato feel, while Tooo Skool For Cool is a chuggy affair with sampled vocal snips that remind me a little bit – in the tiniest bit of a way possible, in fact – of Alabama Blues. Label boss Rob Made also contributes a remix of ThugMode (my other fave) that drops the tempo and takes the track into more discofied territory, without losing any of its late-night, wonky quality…

As well as the obvious tech-house references, one suspects those involved may have more than a few EBM and new beat records in their collection as well… personally I've never hung around in heavy gay S&M clubs on the Reeperbahn (call me a stick in the mud) but this is sort of what I imagine they might sound like. Sleezy Deep indeed.

Out: This week

About: Rob Made is in fact Robin Tabor, of F*** House Music fame, and Sleazy Deep is a new outlet for "underground deep house funk". Find 'em on Soundcloud (where you can HEAR THIS), Facebook and at their own website.

Sportloto – Will I EP

2011-12-11T10:26:00.003Z

It's Sunday morning, and time to get on the nu-disco train with Sportloto, a Russian chap by the name of Andrey Rublev who've had who's had previous releases on Nang, Bearfunk and Compost.

On this four-track EP you get 'Original Instrumental' and Crazy P-ish Vocal mixes of Will I itself, which features Italo-type synths above a floaty, Balearic backdrop, plus a Fabrizi Mammarella Remix which is a stripped-down take that's all about the lo-slung electrofunk/proto-garage bassline, and comes topped off with a little gentle acid squelch as the track goes on. Bonus track Metamorphis [sic], meanwhile, is an upbeat affair that leans more heavily in an Italo direction, with shiny-cold 80s synths a-gogo.

It's the Mammarella Remix I'm digging the most but suffice to say Nang fans won't be disappointed here.

Out: This week

About: You can HEAR THIS and much more from Sportloto at his Soundcloud page, while here's the link for Nang Records.

Picx - Kind Of Situation EP

2011-12-10T20:30:00.003Z

More lush deep house here courtesy of Spain's Cray1 Labworks label.

The EP opens with two mixes of Kind Of Situation itself. The original is deep/tech house with garage-y female vocals and the merest hint of prog, while the Mr Bizz Old School Rework goes for the dancefloor jugular with militant snares and a throbbing Chi-town b-line. Moving on, My Love is an even more upbeat n' stompy deep house dancefloor cut with jazz sensibilities (think brushed snares and parping sax), before Soul Connection rounds out the EP with a more sophisticated, late-night, lounge-bar-in-space kinda feel…

Sterling stuff all round, and highly recommended.

Out: This week

About: Find Cray1 Labworks on Facebook and MySpace. This is their 30th release so nice going, amigos :-)

Sek - Turning Back EP

2011-12-10T19:07:00.004Z

Not sure that Ama Recordings have featured on here so far, so let's remedy that right away with a look at this four-track EP from Greek producer Sek.

There are four original tracks featured, of which I think the moody Morgan Is Tough, with its sampled Last Poets vocal and insistent low-end throb, is my fave. But all four operate in fairly similar musical territory, so rather than go into a detailed breakdown of the instrumentation, mood and BPM of each one, what I think is more interesting to say about this EP is that it bridges the gap perfectly between the more funky/organic deep house sound of labels like Salted or Bounce House, and the cooler, techier vibes coming out of Europe.

As such, it should appeal to all manner of deep house disc-spinners. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: Although this is the first time they've really registered on the TIWWD radar, I'm reliably informed that Ama Recordings is run by Ray Okpara, is based in Mannheim, Germany and is six releases old. Every day's a school day, eh? Anyway, if you want to know more, these Soundcloud, Facebook, MySpace and Resident Advisor links should keep you going for a while…

Sebastian Davidson - Earthrise EP

2011-12-10T18:51:00.006Z

Great to be back in touch with Sebastian Davidson and his Nightbird Music label, cos this is another high-quality offering from this ever-reliable stable.

Earthrise itself is a languid, piano-led house number with hints of disco and some sampled female vocal wails. Johnny is a slightly chunkier affair but still pretty unhurried, with a mournful, soulful kind of air about it. And then finally Last Love Found is just a tiny bit techier in its sound palette, but retains the overall warm-up/post-club vibe.

Earthrise is the pick of the three tracks for me I think but overall, what we have here are three prime house slices from the deeper side. Keep 'em coming Monsieur D!

Out: This week

About: Anyone who read iDJ when it was still alive will remember that Nightbird Music featured in our 'rising stars of deep house' round-up shortly before the mag closed. You can find 'em on Facebook, MySpace and Soundcloud, and here's a little write-up on Resident Advisor.

Festina Lente – I Don't Want You EP

2011-12-09T19:27:00.003Z

The second of the week from the UK's Beats Me Music, who are definitely on something of a roll.

The title track of this EP will appeal to those who like their house music with a soulful edge, being a melodic number featuring some lush piano chords, busy Afro-influenced percussion and a mournful male vocal. It comes complete with a Richie J Remix and both are cool, but I'm more into Put It Where You Want, an uptempo deep house cut with a spoken vocal, some nice squelchy bass/synth sounds… for this one you can choose from an energetic original mix or a rerub from label boss Rob Clarke, who goes a bit more late-night with it and drops a little acid into the mix while he's about it.

Sunset Now, a drifty n' trippy but quite uptempo groover with floor-exhorting vocal stabs ("move your body!" etc) rounds out another very checkable offering from this up and coming imprint.

Out: This week

About: As I believe I told you just a day or two ago, the still fairly 'fledgling' UK label Beats Me Music are based in sunny Eastbourne and have impressed muchly to date.

Da Funk – Need For Faith

2011-12-09T19:18:00.005Z

Some deep and groovy house vibes for you here on Switzerland's Acryl Music, courtesy of label boss Da Funk and an impressive cast of remixers.

The Original of Need For Faith is a floaty, slightly proggy instrumental affair. Pete Moss's remix is just a little more stripped-down and echo-y, Elmar Schubert's rub adds a little organic funk and swing and is perhaps the pick for the deep house floors, Q-Burns Abstract Message brings out the track's late-night qualities on his mix, while finally a rub from UK deep house legend Si Brad sticks fairly closely to the original but adds even more of a blissed-out, 'dancing in Ibiza as the sun comes up' kinda feel.

Very solid stuff all round.

Out: This week

About: Acryl Music has long been a favourite of TIWWD so show some love! The link takes you to their main website and here's a Facebook link as well. Oh yeah… and this would appear to be their 50th release as well, so congratulations to Daniel and co, here's to 50 more!

FREE TRACK Shades Of Gray – Illusions

2011-12-09T18:42:00.005Z

Before we get on with the evening's reviews… here's a little treat for you. Shades Of Gray, AKA Mikel Schwa and Nick West, have an album forthcoming on Beef Records in January called Soul Machine, which is really rather good. But more about that nearer the time… for now, you'll have to content yourself with this taster track, Illusions, which is being released into the cyberwild ahead of times.

by Shades of Gray

Christian Sanchez & Frej Le Vin - The Joy

2011-12-08T23:19:00.004Z

Some more quality deep house grooves here from Unrivaled…

The Original mix of The Joy wins a friend in me by dropping down almost immediately into a BIG sparse organ groove right from the get to. It then slowly starts to build, until by the end it's turned into something quite proggy and Balearic. In Micha Klang's hands, the track becomes a slightly techier affair, with some nice space disco stabs and a hip-house approach to vocals, that's aimed more fairly and squarely at the dancefloor. And then finally, with an overall 'less is more' philosophy and no sense of urgency about actually going anywhere much, the Hook & Seimon remix brings the EP to a close and is one for when it's time to lean back and slowly sink into the sofa…

Or to put it another way: warm-up, peaktime and post-club mixes included. Tee-hee. But seriously folks, this is great – in all three flavas.

Out: This week

About: For more, hit up Unrivaled Music.

Dylan Debut - Tidy Bit Of Skirt EP

2011-12-08T22:59:00.004Z

Dylan Debut is apparently a Bristol lad, though I must say our paths have never crossed. Must keep up better, cos this EP rocks.

Gave You Love is another track that harks back to the classic Naked sound, with a simply gorgeous (and familiar) vocal atop dreamy synth meanderings and crisp, unhurried beats. The title track is a cheeky dancefloor romp that spruces up the deep house beats with some frankly ludicrous early 80s jazz-funk/electrofunk synth-bass frolics, while Hold Me Tight (featuring Thea C) is a slow-groovin' space-disco smoocher Dave Lee himself would be proud of, with that funky-ass fretless bass making a welcome reappearance. And finally When In Green reminds me of classic 'nu Brit deep' of the mid-90s, which is never a bad thing. I think the title might be a suggestion as to when it'll sound particularly good…

A varied EP then that shows off a lot of talent, and without relying on big-name remixes either. Let's hope there's more soon.

Out: This week

About: This comes on the currently v.hot Beats Me Music, who are based down on the south coast. This is only number 9 but they're already on my watchlist for sure, they ought to be on yours too.

Ghostnotez - Bilk 123

2011-12-07T22:58:00.005Z

Better known perhaps for slightly more soulful vibes, here UK underground house label DCS Trax serve up something tasty on more of a deep/tech tip.

That said, while the midtempo, slightly trippy tech-house of the Original Mix and the predictably high quality rerub from Jay Tripwire, which harks back to the classic Chicago deep house sound of the late 80s, are both very good, the mix I'm actually feeling the most is Jevne's. And that does instill a little more soul back into the groove, sounding not dissimilar in fact to Naked Music's early output… just a little bit techier.

Still, whichever mix/style you plump for yourself, this is a very solid bet. Note that it's billed as 'Part 1', as well, so more mixes are no doubt soon to follow.

Out: This week

About: As stated, this comes on the always-checkable UK imprint DCS Trax.

Davide Giugliano - MWAK

2011-12-07T22:44:00.003Z

UK "techno, tech-house and progressive" label (their description) come up trumps here with a cracking release from Italian technomeister Davide Giuliano.

All three mixes – the original, plus rerubs from Audio Junkies and Mario Miranda – sit more or less under the tech-house banner, though I guess "deep/tech house" might be a more fitting description for Miranda's mix. But while all three are perfectly playable for sure, what really makes MWAK is the highly distinctive Arabic/Middle Eastern-style vocal. For that reason, it's the Original that works best for me, just cos it lets the vocal shine through the most.

I'm not gonna go into long descriptions of what mix has what drum sound and all that… all you need to know is, this is a STORMER. So much of a stormer, in fact, I think you need to hear it…

Davide Giugliano - MWAK [HGM025] by Human Garden

Out: This week

About: You can find Human Garden on Facebook and Soundcloud, or here's where you can find out more about Mr Giuliano himself.

Mafu Nakyfu – Lagany Stress EP

2011-12-06T20:46:00.004Z

This one comes from a producer who's never featured on here before – a young Slovenian called Mafu Nakyfu, to be precise. And on a brand new label, GreenTech Records, to boot – exciting times! Actually, though, if you check out Mr Nakyfu's Facebook page, you'll see he already has a musical pedigree that belies his tender years (he's 24). It shows on this EP, because there's something here to tempt electronic music lovers of many persuasions.

The original is a chuggy and relatively upbeat tech-houser, with a single sax parp nagging away throughout. Alvron Medina's remix is still in a tech-house vein but more towards the house end of the equation; the Kay Kay Deep Remix is in a slo-mo kind of vein and also informed heavily, I'd suggest, by cosmic disco and other general analogue freakery; Ron Costa serves up a more overtly house mix that then goes all dark and techy towards the end, while Ivan Komlinovic's mix is straight-up big, driving, proggy techno.

Of all those, it's probably Medina's rub I'm feeling the most, but as I said there's something here to appeal to lots of jocks. A fine start for the label.

Out: This week

About: GreenTech are based, like Mafu Nakyfu himself, in Slovenia. But they also live on Soundcloud as well…

Le Vinyl - Time For Change

2011-12-06T20:35:00.004Z

A new release from Martijn's Deep Edition Recordings is something of an event in TIWWD's world… and this latest doesn't disappoint.

Le Vinyl has his own deep house label, Deepmentality, and has also released on the likes of Look Ahead, Seamless and Loco Records. Here for the northeast-based Deep Edition he serves up a mid-paced deep/tech-house cut, featuring sampled speech over the kind of drawn-out, rough-edged synth builds this writer will forever associate with Presence's Sense Of Danger. Some big, echo-y organ sounds add warmth towards the end.

But it's really the Chris Minus A Bit Deep Fried Remix that I'm feeling more, as it ups the tempo slightly, adds a little swing to the percussion and chops up the vox to create something considerably more floor-friendly. Excellent work.

Out: This week

About: I've pretty much told you all I know about Deep Edition but you can visit them for yourself on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Kreap – Housebreak

2011-12-05T22:46:00.005Z

From one end of the seesaw to another now… from the deep techno of Lee Guthrie to the unashamed dancefloor fun of Housebreak.

The original is the one here, a funk-infused disco-house affair with hip-house flourishes and a vocal seemingly sampled from a dog-training instructional LP… if you're old enough to remember when Gym Tonic first landed as a hot French import in deep house clubs, before the cheesy shit cover went to No 1 and ruined it… well then you know the kind of grin-inducing peaktime cut to expect here. It's not big and it's not clever, but it'll get booties shaking on the floor for sure.

The various remixes (from Jackie Alfresco, Amtrac and Musclewash) either play up or play down the more obvious Dutch/electro touches but for me, the Original hits the right balance. You also get a bonus track that's somewhat oddly entitled Chimpanzee Fucked On The Elevator On The Way To The Food Court… and that's another perfectly serviceable disco/funk-infused houser for peaktime play, with another hip-house vocal.

Unpretentious fun all round, then.

Out: This week

About: This comes on US disco-house label Stardust Records, who you'll find on Soundcloud and Facebook

Digital Dirt – Boom Boom EP

2011-12-05T22:36:00.004Z

A nicely varied EP here from Lee Guthrie, once more wearing his Digital Dirt hat.

On the A you'll find two cuts of the deepest of techno/tech-house, the driving, dancefloor Boom Boom and the more post-club, driftaway Cinderella Loves Balls. Both are very cool, but for housier thrills head to the B, where Deep In June is a throbbing, stripped-down houser for dark rooms that smell of amyl nitrate, complete a "don't make me wait" vocal sample, while The Pressure is a dubbed-out sofa ride with a soulful male vocal hook ("I can't take the pressure," funnily enough).

For me, I think is the best yet from the Click Therapy stable.

Out: This week

About: Click Therapy are based in Peterborough, and can be found on Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter

So many tunes, so little time 2

2011-12-04T14:09:00.007Z

Here are some other bits and pieces that are worthy of your attention this week… sorry there wasn't time for them all to get full reviews!

Bass Kleph - Riff Machine
Tough and muscular yet still groovy techno from Umek's 1605 Music Therapy label. The original is bleepy and bouncy, Hertz takes it a touch more full-on while Mladen Tomic has a little tech-housey swing to it.
More info

Darius Bassiray - What I Always Heard But Never Understood

Forward-thinking tech-house, techno and electronica from Perth, Australia's Kindred Sounds imprint, courtesy of Bassiray and remixers Habersham, label boss Kriece and Mike Callandar.

More info

Electricano – Temptation

Deep progressive house sounds from Russian label Spring Tube. Remixes come from Artie Flexs, James Warren, Matrick and Deep-Maker, with Matrick and Deep-Maker sharing the honours for me.

More info

Eric Powa B - Daktari's Revenge

Coming on New York's legendary King Street, this starts out as a simple drum track, augmented by some rainforest sounds, then gets more jazzy/lounge-y as it progresses. Interesting stuff, but the cocktail hour dancefloor rub from Filtertypen Remix is even better. The spirit of The Loft is alive and well!

More info

Owen Howells feat Real Carrera - Tried & Tested

Bit shout out to my man Owen, a long-time supporter of TIWWD! Here he serves up some quality deep, crunchy techno/tech-house vibes for the ever-checkable Sounds Of Juan. Glen McArdle and Ross Richardson remix, the latter to housiest effect.

More info

Sekond Skin – Without

A four-track EP from this Italian producer on UK label Black Sheep Trax. Best filed under 'techno with progressive house tinges' overall, it's the slightly menacing bottom-end rumble of Different Language's remix of the title track that's working best for me.

More info

Sergio Marini & Luciano Luke Macini – Back To The Beat

Back to the beat indeed with this latest release from checkable Italian techno imprint Beenoise, with simple driving tech-house percussion topped off with a 'now you're moving, now you're grooving' male vocal sample. Coming in not-wildly-different Original and Club mixes, this is one to keep 'em moving and grooving for sure.

More info

Vince Fierro – Probably

More of Nocturnal's trademark uptempo disco-house revival vibes here. Which would be perfectly acceptable in and of itself, but while Yes I Will and In You are perfectly serviceable peak-time stompers, it's the title cut that stands out with its highly Indian/Arabic-sounding vocal. It's like some kind of crazy E-and-acid trip where you find yourself raving on the set of a Bollywood movie…

More info

THANKS ALSO to Acida Corporation, Andrea Loche & Corrado Zonneda, Dufrain, Houz Mon, I Killed Kenny, iBenji, J&S Project vs Raffaele Rizzi, Kick Punch Gang, Matt Star & Candy Csonka, Namy, Oliver Moldan, Paul Anthony, ZXX & Ricard, Pocket feat Steve Kilbey, Roland M Dill, Tomcraft, Global Undergounr and Manchester Underground Music, all of whom also sent stuff in for consideration this week. Sorry guys, there's just not room, or time, to cover everything! But it is appreciated, and maybe next time.

Crump - Broken Thoughts EP

2011-12-04T13:51:00.004Z

Don't seem to have had any dubstep on here for a while… people keep sending me lots of silly kiddly gnarly chavstep bizniss. But here's an altogether deeper and more satisfying dubstep/future garage EP to wrap your ears around.

Opener 5am sounds to me like how dubstep might have sounded like if it had been invented by Warp Records circa 1991, as resonating bass chords and glitchy, D&B-influenced percussion do battle with bleeps, analogue synth sounds and tons and tons of reverb. Broken Thoughts is a more melodic affair with a highly distorted, resung vocal refrain from Simonelli's garage classic Do You Feel Me? (released as NY's finest, and which in turn sampled it from Zhana's Sanctuary Of Love) over frantic snares and technoid rave-y bass. And then finally I Don't Want You is a big, dramatic stomper with almost Ibiza-eque pop/electro touches.

The first two have the edge for me, I think, but overall this is an EP that proves there's still plenty of fruitful exploration yet to be undertaken in this particular part of the electronic music spectrum.

Out: This week

About: London-based LU10, sister label to Four40 and Lepento, can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Giorgio Moroder - E=MC2 (Remixes)

2011-12-04T13:35:00.003Z

Something of a coup for Martin Brodin's MB Disco label, as they get their hands on this Moroder/Faltermeyer proto-Italo classic from 1979 and get it remixed by a stellar array of Italo/cosmic disco producers. In fact, with Alexander Robotnick, Daniel Baldelli and Klein & MBO all on-board, it's hard to imagine an array of Italo/cosmic disco producers that was much MORE cosmic! Brodin himself, LIS and Rodion all have a pop as well, making this one the Italo crew won't want to miss.

But for all that… it's the I-Robots mix that I'm feeling the most. This is the one mix that does anything radically different, as they move outside the Italo blueprint to deliver a housier refix that puts deep organ sounds over an E2-E4-ish Balearic backwash of tribal percussion. Quality.

A landmark release for the label for sure, and well worth checking.

Out: This week

About: Martin Brodin, you may recall, used to be the mainman behind the fine Swedish house labels Deeplay and Deeplay Soultec, before shifting his focus to more overtly discofied vibes with MB Disco. Established in 2010, the label has already put out releases by disco dons both old (Moroder, Leroy Burgess) and new (Ray Mang, Iliija Rudman).

Funky Loco - So Sweet EP

2011-12-03T17:52:00.003Z

A nice little four-tracker here from Florida's So Sound Recordings, who are certainly no strangers to this blog, courtesy of label partner Funky Loco.

The 'title' cut, So Sweet Baby, is a rolling midtempo jazzy deep houser, showing off Pablo Valera's time-served production skills nicely. It's accompanied by a mix from a guy we don't hear enough from these days, DJ RaSoul, who toughens up the beats for the dancefloor without losing any of the track's essentially dreamy, floaty feel.

Samba Jazz is fairly self-explanatory, a Latin/lounge-y cut that's sure to go down well in sunnier climes while finally, Wonderful Place is disco-fied deep house cut from the finest cloth, and features a spoken female vocal with a green message, as well as a noodly little geetar lick towards the end that, to these ears, is reminiscent of Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac (I love Ver Mac, by the way, so that's by no means a complaint!)

Quality stuff.

Out: This week

About: Like I said, So Sound are no strangers to this blog so you shouldn't need me to tell you too much more by now!

Fiver & ben A - Wisdom Comes Suddenly EP

2011-12-03T16:53:00.005Z

The first release from a brand new label here, always an exciting thing, and naturally enough it comes from the label bosses. Fiver and ben A are Matt Fiveson and Ben Archuleta, respectively, and described on the hype sheet as "veteran producers and audiophiles." Well… I can't say I've come across 'em before, but on this evidence I'm certainly happy to hear more.

There are just two tracks featured here. Remember Sammy Jankis is a deep/tech dancefloor workout with a funky kinda feel, while Transparency (credited to F-Stop) is a somewhat deeper, more sedate affair that's contemplative in mood, with some lovely jazzy keys and garage-y female "oo-oohs" atop crisp but not overly forceful beats… niceness!

A flying start… more soon, please.

Out: This week

About: Fiver and ben A's new label is called 5 and Dime Recordings, and they're based in the US. About all I know so far… but here are the tracks themselves for your listening pleasure!