Rob Clarke – Organica

A four-track, six-mix EP on Bournemouth's Beats Me Music courtesy of label boss Rob Clarke.

There are no prizes for guessing which instrument features rather heavily on the title track… the organ lovers will be more than happy with this one, while Vandyman's Broken Remix of the same does what it says and takes us toward bruk territory. Elsewhere on the EP, Polar is a tuffer, darker, afterhours kinda groove, X Marks The Spot is big n' bouncy dancefloor deep house, David Moran's remix thereof is a tuffened-up version aimed at big, dark rooms with an added cheeky vocal sample, and finally Menace To Sobriety brings back the organ sounds but adds lots of FX and distortion and repurposes them within a tough tech-house context.

Some cuts here hit the spot more than others for me but that's to be expected – this is the sound of a label/producer experimenting with a variety of sounds and moods, and that's always a good thing. Well no, it's not, actually – see for instance the umpteen French house producers who've insisted on including godawful cod reggae or 'chilled breaks' tracks on their albums.

But it's a good thing here.

Out: This week

About: Find Beats Me Music at their own website or on Facebook.

Various – The Residence EP

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

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

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

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

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

Various – Spring Sampler

Four quality straight-up house cuts here, coming from new UK label 6th Sense Music.

First up is Hector Moralez, the Californian house producer who's now resident in Paris, and one-half of Fries & Bridges along with Phil Weeks. He gives us Set Trippin', a bleepy, freaky jackathon with a "round and round, upside down" vocal sample. Next up is Monoman, a Manchester-based producer who runs the Ambush label. His Panic is a tougher, techier and more driving cut, with something of an air of early prog about it (think Guerrilla or Cowboy circa 1992-94). IKT from Romania's Manuel M is a loping, looping track with a Sneak-y disco feel, and then finally David Moran, one of the in-house team at 6th Sense, gives us Titel's Groove, which tops off a Relief/Cajual-style snare-heavy backdrop with sampled jive-talking hipster speech.

Titel's Groove and Set Trippin' would be my personal faves here, but all four tracks are very solid. So, groovy house music on an underground UK label… check this one out or I'll sulk at you. And you wouldn't like me when I'm sulking.

Out: This week

About: This is number five from 6th Sense, who are based in TIWWD's former home town of Manchesterford-On-Sea. Here's their website, or you can find 'em on Soundcloud and Facebook.

PS Manuel M, Moralez, Monoman, Moran… they've got ALL the M's!