Ross Paterson - Back 2 House EP

Following on from the Cambis & Wenzel release yesterday, here come some more retrofied house frolics courtesy of Influential House.

It's a three-track affair. Feel The Music is a female-vocalled, disco-tinged number, God Gave Us Rhythm is an uplifting piano track with a neat line in parping sax to boot, and Lift ’Em Up is a full-on peaktime screamer that exhorts you to raise your hands up in the air… as if you needed telling. And all three of 'em have got that retro 90s sound down to a T.

Not the week's 'coolest' release, admittedly, but it's lots of fun all the same. Put a smile on my face during a somewhat stressful day at the day job, anyway.

Out: This week

About: Scottish-born Ross Paterson lives in Malta and – in a virtual sense – here, while you can find London-based Influential House on Facebook.

Cambis & Wenzel – Do Your Thing

Kosmo Records might hail from Germany, and I'm guessing Cambis & Wenzel most likely do too… but vocalist Ma'Deeva is from NYC and this has 'Big Apple' written all over it.

In fact, if I cast my mind back to dancing to Junior at The Tunnel in 95, this would have fitted in perfectly, what with its struttin', attitude-y (but positively-messaged) diva vox, tribal beats and bags of dark room peaktime drama. The deep, dark n' dirty Original does it best for me, the Club Mix (in a similar vein but a tad busier) is also fine… the dirty Dutch-style touches to the Aint & Fish Remix aren't my thing so much but that mix will have its fans also, for sure.

So yeah: driving big room house the way we used to. Hard to find fault with that, really, at least for an oldie like me!

Out: This week

About: I don't think I've reviewed (been sent?) a Kosmo Records release before, despite this being number 30 from them apparently… anyway here's their website so we can all find out more!

Stanny Abram - It's Magic

Well, wonders will never cease, as they say! I think this is the first record I've been sent with a Deso remix, where said remix actually ISN'T my pick of the crop.

Don't get it twisted, the Deso Dope Remix of It's Magic IS very good, a slo-mo gem of a deep, druggy groove tailormade for warm-up or afterhours play. The Patrick Podage & Nikola Kotevski Remix is also very good, a midtempo deep houser in the traditional sumptuous, mellow and melodic vein.

But at the end of the day, dear readers, TIWWD is a bit of a tart, an Unashamed Disco Dolly™, and as such, neither of the aforesaid can compete, in terms of sheer joyous 'whack it up loud and dance around the room'-ness, with the Original, which is a BIG-with-a-capital-BIG organ tune that'd give Show Me Love or Morel's Grooves #4 a run for their money any day… or indeed any of the early bassline house organ tracks out of Birmingham on labels like Jump and Ecko, that got yours truly so excited circa 2004/5.

So yeah, the original wins out for me but with two other top-quality remixes on board, all three of which will suit different floors/moods/times, you NEED this.

Out: This week

About: This is another winner from Savoir Faire Musique, one of those labels who I've raved about so much on here it's getting a bit embarrassing now…

Billy W - U Just Don't Know

For those that DON'T remember, back in the early 90s there used to be a label outta Detroit – I think Terrence Parker was involved quite closely in some way – called Serious Grooves. They specialised in raw, sparse house trax with raw, sparse, mostly sampled vocals, put out on limited-edition coloured vinyl, often on 10-inch pressings. Highly collectable at the time, those singles are among the most prized items in my record collection to this day.

Why the history lesson? Because on hearing the original mix of U Just Don't Know, I'm transported back to those days instantly. Like the original Serious Grooves releases, this won't be for everyone – dedicated 'real deal' househeads only need apply! But if that's you, the combination here of vintage Mr Fingers-style deep synths and raw, echo-y fem vox is gonna suit you down to the Jacksons' proverbial ground.

Sean Thomas's Drumsong Dub recasts the track as a more contemporary-sounding deep/tech house throbber, and TBH might be the rub that gets more club plays in the current climate… but the original's the one for me. And the fun isn't over there for us oldies, either, as bonus cut Intuition revisits the "dabby doo-dah-dah" scat vocal from The Hypnotist's rave classic House Is Mine, teasing it in slowly over a midtempo deep house groove with prog/Balearic touches. Which is, indeed, a bonus.

With three strong cuts and evidencing a strong sense of house history, this EP is pretty much a must.

Out: Yesterday (14 Feb)

About: Both Billy W and Sean Thomas hail from Philadelphia, but this comes on leading Canadian label Nordic Trax – here's their website and Facebook page.

Betamac - Polytrippin'

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

David Navo & Julio Navas – Thank U

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.

ALBUM Sleazy McQueen - 5+1

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.

The Rhythm Odyssey - Devil's Tease

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.

Corduroy Mavericks – Guilty Please EP

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

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

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

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

Out: This week

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

2 for 1 special! Trad house delights

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

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

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

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

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

PJC - Gna Get High/That Road

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

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

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

Out: This week

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

Vozmediano – Kill The Disco EP

You may remember that Spanish tech-housers Vozmediano cropped up on King Street's New Breed Of Deep House V/A sampler EP not so long since, with the excellent Un Cafe S'Il Vous Plait. Well, now they're back on the legendary New York label with an EP all of their very own.

You get four tracks and five mixes, in total. All I Said is a decent enough if slightly generic slab of NY-style house, while Tango does what you think it's gonna do but in much less of a cheesy oompah-loompah style than you're probably expecting, and comes complete with a Nacho Marco Remix that for me is the standout cut of the whole EP, with the tango elements relegated to a secondary role in what becomes a big, driving houser suitable for main rooms and more underground floors alike.

Green Worm is a rawer-sounding house cut with more than a little of the early Strictlies about it, and then finally the EP comes to a close with Kill The Disco itself, a jerky, cut-up, experimental affair awash with reversed sounds, random bits of Afro chanting, sudden incongruous disco loops that burst in out of nowhere and disappear again just as quickly and, well, you get the idea. It's crazy but you know what, it just might work…

All told there's plenty to enjoy and a little bit to digest, too, making this one of King Street's best releases of late for me.

Out: This week

About: For more info, hit up www.kingstreetsounds.com

Dual T – Night Feels EP

The second release from new UK label Savoir Faire Musique, and a little cracker it is too, with three standalone tracks from Argentinian producer Dual T to choose from.

Where Did The Love Go is a big, driving house cut with a an insistent two-note synth/organ hook and snippets of cut-up female vocal, and kinda reminds me of early Angel Moraes material. Kirsty is a more party-hearty affair with brass stabs and a feel that's very reminiscent of the jazzier end of early (we're talking strictly 95-98) UK garage… and then finally Night Feels itself loops a snippet of Tweet's Boogie 2 Nite (or possibly a resung version thereof) over some lush-with-a-capital-L pads to produce a proper late night driftaway number, with some Theremin (?) wibbles thrown in for added spacey effect.

Top quality stuff all round, then. Nothing else to say really, except that this one will delight the older heads for sure!

Out: This week

About: Savoir Faire Musique is a new project from City Soul Project's Scott Harrington and can be found online here. Both SFM releases to date have been stormers so they're definitely a label to keep an eye on!

Z-Factor - Keep On Jumpin'

You know the song, of course – originally by Musique and covered to glorious mid-90s handbag effect by both Todd Terry and the Lisa Marie Experience. You might have forgotten, however, that Mr David of Leeshire had a crack at it back in the mid-90s too, wearing his Z-Factor hat.

Well, he did. Now his take gets a second run-out in the form of a brace of new mixes from hot Italian talent Luigi Rocca… and, well, what can I tell you? Yes, you know pretty much what this is gonna sound like before you even hear it, but with so much shoddy second-rate disco house doing the rounds right now, there's no harm in the young pretenders getting an object lesson in how it's done properly from the original master. Keep on jumpin' indeed.

Oh yeah, and while Mr Rocca's vocal mix is a fairly classic-style peaktime rendering, his Dub is a more stripped-down affair that would work on deeper/later floors as well, ensuing this release is no one-trick pony.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha of course on Mr Lee's own Z Records, who live here.

Danny Daze - Your Everything

Well, here we are, Monday morning again… and after a weekend where blogging took second fiddle to a) running around St Paul's Carnival in Bristol with an airhorn and b) downloading a ton of new choonage, got some QUALITY new releases to tell you about this week.

The hype sheet for this one calls it "an addictive brew of potent disco tech" and claims it was "the undeniable highlight of WMC". Strong words, but musically, Your Everything is certainly a birrova beast, with a HUGE walking bassline that recalls classic Underwater-style Brit house circa 2002. I'm less convinced by the indie-ish vocal though. Never good.

If there was a dub/instramental of Your Everything on offer, then yeah. As it is – despite the power of that bassline – gonna have to plump here instead for the straight-up retro house action of Fall Away From Love, which doesn't re-write any rule books or anything but does have some great Italo house-style stabs.

Out: This week

About: This comes on UK label Hot Creations (website here) but Danny Daze is actually from Miami, and you can check out more of his shizzle on Soundcloud.

Akabu - Life Is So Strange

Sticking with the deeper vibes, here a downtempo/ambient track from the The Phuture Ain’t What It Use To Be album gets a series of more floor-friendly remixes from the very respectable line-up of Deetron, Lovebirds and of course Dave Lee himself, this time wearing his Joey Negro hat.

They all contribute two mixes each but I’m in a something of a rush now so suffice to say Deetron’s mixes are deep and Detroit-y, Lovebirds’ go down a very ’90s-sounding route (in a good way) with some ace Jersey-style organs, and then Dave/Joey takes it to bigger floors on a mix that I suspect has been made with a certain Balearic island in mind, yet is remarkably non-cheesy. Well, it is if you head for the Dub rather than the Club Mix, but then I’d generally favour the dubs from all three parties over the vocal passes… and in any case the vocal’s not really ‘cheesy’, to be fair, it’s just a bit more ‘soulful male croony’ than I tend to find myself into these days.

Out of all that lot, house jocks of a variety of persuasions should find something to play here, proving that Mr Lee and his Z imprint remain as relevant to the underground in this day and age as ever.

Out: This week

About: None of the artists or the label should need much explanation from here, but here’s the Z Records website anyway

Various - Henry Street Grooves

Subtitled 'Classic Deep, Funky & Jazzy House From New York City', this rather excellent comp will be a trip down memory lane if you're one of the older heads like me, or is an essential history lesson if you're a young 'un/newcomer.

For those that don't know, Henry Street Music was a mid-late 90s house label outta Brooklyn. Big on disco cut-ups but taking in a variety of flavas in their time, in much the same way Strictly did but without the horrible 'licensing Vengaboys' bit at the end, they hit biggest with Bucketheads' The Bomb but as well as that chart-busting, Chicago-sampling classic, they put out a hella lot more, er, deep, funky and jazzy house to boot. Come check my vinyl shelves if ya don't believe! The list of artists who released on the label is like a Who's Who of 90s US house: Armand Van Helden, DJ Sneak, DJ Duke, 95 North, Mike Delgado, Davidson Ospina, Scotti Deep, Todd Terry, Mateo & Matos, That Kid Chris, E-Smoove… ah, happy days! Sigh.

BBE put out a Henry Street comp called The Story So Far: 1993-1999, back when the label was still going, so it seems only fitting they're behind this retrospective collection comprised mostly, as far as I can tell without spending ages A-B'ing tracklists, of cuts that haven't featured on any of the previous Henry Street albums. Some of them coming from some of those big-hitters I just mentioned, but many of them more obscure nuggets.

So, like I said: a trip down memory lane for some, an education for others… and pretty unmissable whichever one of those applies to you. This was how we did it, as Montell Jordan once sang, sort of.

Out: Now (but again, only since last week)

About: If you want to find out more about Henry Street, you can start with their Discogs entry. BBE, meanwhile, can be found online here.