Sunner Soul – Scream EP

More S-based deep house goodness, again from a label that have featured on TIWWD many times but again, standing out even when compared to their already impressive back catalogue.

There are three tracks and four mixes in total. April and Scream are by Sunner Soul on his own, the former a warm and bass-y late-night sofa surfer with the very lightest of prog tinges, the latter a more uptempo jaunt into old-skool house territory (check those pianos!). Desperado meanwhile is a joint effort with another S-man, Sergey Silvertone, coming in dreamy, melodic and again slightly proggy Original, or slightly more uptempo, Balearic and floaty Submantra mixes.

With just enough variety to be interesting while remaining coherent as an EP, these are four great tracks don't just satisfy on the musical front, but pack in lots of S's as well. We're all about the S's today.

Out: This week

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

Mastercris – My Pleasure

Switzerland's Acryl Music doing what they do best here, with five mixes of this deep house gem from Mastercris.

The Andy Bach Remix is the most 'accessible' – it's got a little more drive than the rest and a sprinkling of disco dust to boot. Elsewhere on the EP though we're strictly in 'proper heads only' territory. George Horn & Andres Agurre's rub is warm, lazy and musical, Seraphine's rolls along nicely and has a slightly proggy feel, Jeff Fontaine & Deep Spelle's is sparse, dubby and garage-y and then Nadja Linda does her cavernous deep house/deep techno thing, with sterling results as ever.

It's between the latter two rubs for me as far as favourites go but with mixes to suit a range of deeper tastes, this is something of a must-check.

Out: This week

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

Da Funk – The Last Dance

As I said yesterday, there are still some bits from last week to catch up with but for now gonna crack on with this week's releases, otherwise we could be playing catch-up forever…

First up today then is this latest from Switzerland's Acryl Music, which sees label boss Da Funk serving up two slices of laidback, summery, feel-good house music. There's no great reinventing of the wheel going on, admittedly: it's pretty much typical summer fare but with the Ibiza/festival season upon us there's always a need for tracks like these. Not much else to say really!

Out: This week

About: You can find Acryl Music at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud… you can HEAR THIS at the latter

House Riders – All Together EP

From Essex, we now head over to Switzerland, with the latest from the always on-point Acryl Music.

There are three mixes on offer. In its original form, All Together is a deep n' moody house groove made for warm-ups and afterhours, sporting some beefy low-end rumble, "let's all come together" (I think he's saying) vocal snips and a dreamy, trippy vibe overall that nods towards both progressive house and dub techno… me like. Jeff Fontaine + Deep Spelle serve up Connected Remix that's even deeper, trippier and more late-night still, while finally DeepWit boss Alvaro Hylander delivers a slightly sunnier rub with a little more good-time funk in its veins.

These are fairly fine distinctions, though: this is just a classy, contemporary-sounding underground house groove whichever mix you plump for.

Out: Friday (June 8) on Beatport, everywhere else on June 15

About: Daniel 'Da Funk' Kneubühler's Acryl Music can be found here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud)

Suel - Warm Up/Frozen Cube

The latest offering from Acryl Music comes courtesy of Suel, a Russian producer based in Moscow who's not to be confused with German duo Suol.

Warm Up, on the A, is a luxuriant, slow-building deep houser with shuffly percussion and mournful guitar licks. It's mellow enough for home listening, yet has enough punch to it for the floor as well, albeit it's probably best suited to warm-up or afterhours rather than peaktime play. On the B, Frozen Cube is a dreamy, prog-tinged cut that's also a bit more driving and more obviously floor-oriented.

So that'll be another strong release from this excellent Swiss label, then.

Out: This week

About: For more info on all things Acryl, visit their website, Soundcloud, Facebook or MySpace.

Onur Ozman - Tyrannic EP

Sticking with the deep vibes, we've not had anything on here from our friends at Acryl Music for a bit I don't think, so let's rectify that right now and discuss this latest from Turkish/German wunderkind Onur Ozman.

The Tyrannic EP sees young Mr Ozman exploring some of his most out-there pastures yet on the title track Tyrannic itself, a meandering affair with lots of glitchy sounds like alarm clocks and… er… other things. One for when you're in a leftfield kinda mood. On Change, by way of contrast, he serves up what sounds like a homage to house music à la Strictly Rhythm circa 1991, with raw old skool drums, bags of space in the production and some cute jazzy touches… niceness! And then only on Capricorn Day are we back on more familiar, contemporary-sounding deep/tech house ground – this sparse, chugging affair has Berlin written all over it, yet also has enough funk/soul in its veins to suit the more diehard traditionalists.

Change would be my pick but all told you've got three very different-sounding tracks that all do their jobs very well indeed.

Out: This week

About: Switzerland's Acryl Music has long been a favourite of this reviewer… hit up their website or Facebook to find out more

Da Funk – Need For Faith

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!

Da Funk - Words To Say EP

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

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

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

Out: This week

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

Helly Larson - Make Up Your Mind EP

Promised you we'd be keeping it nice and deep today, and one label that can always be relied on to do just that is Switzerland's criminally-underrated Acryl Music.

Here we're in proggy, instrumental rather than soulful territory, but this is just as lovely and deep – and just as good – as the Spelle brothers release below. Riccicomoto's Dub Shuffle Edit tuffens the title track up a little for the floor, Freeway plays with a more disco-inspired soundset while Loving That Lost Feeling is a tad more driving.

Overall, another set of gems for those afterhours sets or for late-night home listening. Just the way we like it.

Out: This week (Friday to be precise) on Beatport, then everywhere else from 11 Nov.

About: You can hit up Acryl on their website or find 'em on Soundcloud. Oh, and Helly Larson comes from Berlin BTW, seeing as I'd not mentioned it so far.

Dima Promo - Pace Of Mind

It seems like a while since we had anything on here from Acryl Music, but I think that was down to all the confusion of iDJ closing and my old email not working anymore. But now here's the latest from the Swiss house label, and I'm pleased to report that the usual high quality standards are still being maintained!

In its original form, Pace Of Mind is a midtempo deep houser notably for a seriously large, speaker-satisfying walking bassline that does double as the track's lead. Niceness! You also get not one but two remixes from the ever-prolific Harold Heath. His Re-Rub brings the track's dreamy, trippy elements to the fore (while still being big n' groovy enough for floor play), while his Dub really ain't nothing but a heads-down groove thang, in the best possible way.

It's probably one for the deep house faithful rather than a track that'll reach out to mainstream audiences… but then we ARE the deep house faithful on here, aren't we? So that's just dandy.

Out: Today!

About: Like I said, it's been a while but Daniel Kneubühler AKA Da Funk's Acryl Music has long been both a favourite and a supporter of This Is Why We Dance, so show some love and hit up their website and Facebook page.

Lonya - Bauhouse

More quality deep, techy house from the Acryl stable here, courtesy of Israel’s Lonya Koval, who’s previously had stuff out on Elevation, Bpitch Control and Asymmetric.

Milking The Sadness Away (a collaboration with Rei Okev) is stripped, lazy and beautiful, and will do just what it says; on t’other side, Bauhouse itself is a more dancefloor-inclined number, not doing huge amounts but keeping enough of a bass-and-drums groove going throughout (with vocal snips thrown in here and there) to make it perfect mix fodder for those wee small hours.

Out: This week (worldwide, though it’s been out on Beatport ONLY for a couple of weeks)

About: You’re probably sick of me banging on about Switzerland’s Acryl Music by now, but no-one seems to be doing, so until they are and this excellent label gets the credit it deserves, I’m not gonna quit!

Adham & Hisham Zahran - Purple Sunday EP

Seeing as it's Sunday morning, and seeing as I label things purple once they been blogged, now seems like the perfect time to tell you about this one… especially as it's an EP of the kind of deep, soul-soothing house that's tailor-made for Sunday listening as well.

The brothers Zahran hail from Egypt and have had stuff out before on Rezonant and Union Jack, but this is their first outing on Acryl. And what a debut it is too. Purple Sunday itself is a mellow, laidback groove in archetypal Acryl Music style, but then gets dancefloor'd up by Dana Berquist on a remix that's got just a hint of nu-disco around the edges, but also a hint of prog. Triplets is a jauntier affair but still pretty mellow n' groovy, with some beautiful jazz-ish keys, and then finally a Disclosure 4x4 Remix of the latter brings the package to a close with slightly tuffer beats that turn it into as dreamy and drifty an eyes-wide-shut dancefloor groove as you're likely to hear all year.

All told, there's nothing on this EP that breaks any new ground, particularly - but it's done so well that it's got the potential to become a warm-up/comedown classic. There's nothing 'soulful house' about it, but it just oozes soul from every pore. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: This is yet more proof that Acryl Music is one of THE most under-rated, under-sung labels in deep house music. So if you've not caught onto this astoundingly good Swiss imprint yet, find out what you're missing by hitting up their website.

Oh, and there are some further remixes of Triplets on their way as well – watch this space.

Onur Ozman - Shadow Of The Statue EP

Onur Ozman has been making quite a stir in deep/tech house circles in the past five years or so, so he shouldn't need much introduction from me! Suffice to say this two-track EP, his second for Acryl Music, demonstrates perfectly why he's become such hot property so quickly.

Shadow Of The Statue itself is a rolling, midtempo groove with a pleasantly dreamy feel and just the teeniest tiniest hint of Ozman's Turkish roots in some of the sounds. But the killer for me here is B-side Music Is Rectangular, an uncompromisingly deep number with occasional disembodied vocal snips, reversed pads and beats that have been groove-d or swung (or whatever you wanna call it) to give them a slightly 'pushing' feel that helps ensure the track will work on the dancefloor as well as it does on the hi-fi.

It's very good, basically. Good enough to make the fact that Ozman is a mere 22 years old really quite remarkable.

Out: This week, fully, though it's been available on promo at Beatport for a couple of weeks already.

About: Why Acryl Music isn't one of the world's biggest house labels by now is beyond me... pretty much every release is a killer, and there's plenty of them. Oh yeah, I know… it's because people are idiots, and quality deep house like this doesn't speak to idiots.

You, dear reader, are however clearly not an idiot, but a discerning dance music buyer of impeccable taste… I know that cos you've found this blog. :-) So you're EXACTLY the kind of person who ought to check out the Acryl website forthwith.

And while you're at it you might want to have a peek at the Onur Ozman website and Soundcloud page, too.

Da Funk - Zurich, Switzerland

Apparently this is the fifth DJ mix comp in a series called Dutchie Worldwide, but I must confess it's the first I've seen, or heard. No matter though, cos I can think of few better places to start than with a set by Acryl Music boss Daniel 'Da Funk' Kneubühler, who here presents a 13-track journey through various shades of deep house.

With cuts from Harold Heath, Jay Tripwire and Joeski, plus Acryl faves like Stan Kolev, Timo Camillo and of course Da Funk himself, it's the proverbial 'thing that requires no brain', really. Here's a Beatport player (if it works, never posted one of these before):

and here's a link to the Da Funk website just in case the player doesn't show up in your browser for some reason.

Out: Now

About: This is on a Florida-based label called Dutchie Music - here's their MySpace and here they are on Discogs (no mention of Dutchie Worldwide 1-4, you'll notice, but I'm pretty sure it's the same label given the artists involved)

Da Funk - Gloomy Scene

In which Daniel Kneubühler, aka Da Funk, boss of Switzerland's ever-excellent Acryl Music, takes a bit of a left turn from the deep stuff and turns out one seriously heavyweight main room dark, proggy funker. Think early Underworld at their grooviest and you'll get the idea about the original and the GarcyNoise Ibiza's Way remix.

Then, flip it over and we're back to the quality deepness we've come to expect from Acryl, with Addex delivering a lean and mean 4am hip-shaker that wouldn't have sounded out of place in a Terrence Parker set circa 1994, and Pablo Fierro dropping some pad-tastic dub science for those more horizontal moments.

All told: it's groovy, baby.

Out: This week

About: Acryl are ace, as I've told you lots of times. And definitely NOT German, which it seems I might accidentally have told you a few times. Sorry Dan.

So yes, they're actually SWISS, not German. Are we all clear now? That's SWISS, not German. And as well as in SWITZERLAND, not Germany, they also live here.