Dudley Strangeways & Michael McLardy – Timed Out EP

More classic-style deep house vibes to kick us off today, as two familiar names team up for a three-track EP on Deep Edition.

Timed Out itself is in its Original form sees all manner of liquid-y, bubbling synth sounds and atmospheric samples layered over fairly uptempo beats and topped with snatches of people talking about Detroit, while the Sossa Remix tones down the multiple layers and has a slightly more cinematic feel. But the absolute killer here for me is bonus cut Can't Sleep, as sumptuous a late-night groove with garage-y overtones as you're likely to hear all week.

Top-drawer bizniss, as is Martijn's label's wont.

Out: This week on Beatport, everywhere else from 31 December.

About: You can find Deep Edition on Facebook and Soundcloud, or at their own website.

Acasual – Blue EP

Was the Anturage & Silvertone a bit too proggy for you? In that case, let's take a trip into properly deep pastures with this latest from the ever-reliable Deep Edition.

There are two tracks, in a total of four mixes. Blue itself is lazy, laidback and soul-infused, with snippets of (presumably sampled) jazz/blues-style vocal… it's summery but in a thoughtful, melancholic kinda way, while the remix from Matches ups the dancefloor ante somewhat with a throbbing, Chicago-y b-line. Still Got It, meanwhile, is textbook dreamy, late-night deep house in its original form, again coming with the sampled and heavily treated vox; label boss Martijn does the remix honours on this one but to be honest the two rubs are very similar, except that Martijn uses a little less of the vocal.

Still, if it's very deep and melodic vibes you're after, you won't go wrong here.

Out: This week on vinyl, digitally at the end of August.

About: Acasual hails from Luxembourg but is now based in Germany, while Deep Edition Recordings, as you no doubt know by now but I'll tell you anyway, are based in the northeast of England and can be found at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

Martijn – Make Me Feel EP

The Deep Edition boss steps up with a release of his own here, with two original tracks plus a remix from Adam Shelton.

Taking them one-by-one, then… Make Me Feel in its original form is a drummy and spacious production that, to these ears anyway, recalls the mid-90s days of dark garage and New York tribal. Chuck in some very now-sounding treated vox and an arse-swayin' squelchy bass/synth riff and this should work on all kinds of house floors. Adam Shelton's refix of the same is a livelier take that ditches the drums of doom for a more energetic 4/4 thump, and adds lots of atmospherics while still allowing the vocal and that synth riff to shine through. And then finally the EP's completed by Give It To Me, a slower, steadier deep house funk-a-thon with an almost-breakbeat and more of those heavily treated vox.

Quality stuff as ever from Deep Edition.

Out: This week

About: Deep Edition are based in the northeast of England, as you surely know by now, and can be found here, here and here (website, Soundcloud, Facebook)

Dave Nash – Reflexo

Some sad news today about Donna Summer… but the show, as they say, must go on. So first up tonight is this latest offering from Martijn's Deep Edition Recordings, the handiwork of a Portuguese producer who's previously had stuff out on Witty Tunes and Neurotraxx Deluxe, among others.

In its Original form, Reflexo itself is a fairly sedate deep houser with lush, lingering minor piano chords, rolling beats that are energising without being all up in your face, and floaty female vocal snips… it's got warm-up (or, with the 'Beefa season looming, sundown) written all over it. The UK's Graham Laverty swaps out the percussion for retro Chicago 909 kicks n' claps and adds some bowel-troubling bass rumble, resulting in a pass better suited to when they HAVE warmed up, while bonus cut Foolish brings the EP to a close, a slightly more uptempo cut again with Little Fluffy Clouds-ish sampled speech (kids talking about God, I think) that sounds like red lights and sweaty basements at 4am. Or perhaps, with the ’Beefa season looming, sun-up.

Solid stuff as ever from Deep Edition.

Out: This week

About: You can find Deep Edition at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

Fideles - You Can Do EP

New from Martijn's Deep Edition comes a three-tracker from Italian duo Fideles that sees the label moving into slightly more straight-up clubby house territory than the very, very deep vibes they're normally best known for… but without going silly about it.

You Can Do itself is up first, a chunky, heads-down kinda house number with an old-skool feel to the synth sounds and garage-y "you can do it" vocal snips. Baki follows, a driving, drummy and sparse cut for the 4am floors with a vocal that puts me a little bit in mind of Notenshun's Soul Music.

But the standout for me is the last track, Fit With Us, which like the other two comes with the thumping kicks, this time accompanied by a seriously phat b-line and topped off with a looping female vocal sample that appears to be saying "I don't want to ever get married to nobody else"*.

You Can Do is good… Baki's good, too. But, credible enough for the heads, pumping enough for the masses, Fit With Us is the BOMB.

Out: This week

About: Deep Edition Recordings are based in Newcastle and you can keep up with all their goings-on via their website, Facebook and Soundcloud.

*(then again, this is coming from a man who used to think Bonnie Tyler had a song about a hard egg, though in my defence I was only 6 at the time).

T.Lavonte – Fever Pitch EP

We just had the great deep house labels of the good ol' days being bigged up by one of the more established names on today's scene… now here's the latest from one of the great current up-and-coming labels, namely Martiijn's Deep Edition Recordings. Although saying that, this is number 29 from them so they're hardly the new kids on the block any more either!

T.Lavonte is one Lewis Palmer in real life, and hails from Amsterdam (though he's currently based in London). Here he gives us a three-tracker that kicks off with Fever Pitch, an uber-deep, home listening affair that blends spaced-out analogue synth rises with distorted, half-there snatches of soulful vocal and, oh, a full minute of vinyl crackle at the end so be ready all you DJ types!

Dirtbag then picks up the pace somewhat, a techier builder with what sound like they might be snatches from the same vocal source and insistent but not domineering beats. And then finally there's Traumatic, which is another late-night, tripped-out little 'ditty'.

This is one of Deep Edition's more experimental/leftfield offerings to date (and there's been a few of 'em now), but methinks it'll reward exploration. Space cadets, step this way.

Out: This week on Juno and DJ Download, 26 March everywhere else.

About: Deep Edition Recordings can be found, like your Auntie Gladys these days, on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Soul Sway - Don't Step Down EP/Motions EP

Finally for tonight, we have not one but two EPs from Soul Sway, coming from not one but two of this blog's favourite labels.

First up, there's the Don't Step Down EP on Savoir Faire Musique. Or rather, the Jesus Pablo mixes thereof – the original, you may recall, was Savoir Faire's first release, a little over a year ago. In the Liverpudlian producer's hands, Don't Step Down itself sounds like a long-lost early 90s deep garage cut (making it my pick), Round 2 gets stripped down beyond belief and ends up as a bass-and-hand percussion workout underpinned by some warm piano chords – one for da heads for sure! – while there are more garage-y vibes on Think, this time with more tinkling ivories and some pleasing analogue synth stabs.

Then, there's the Motions EP on Deep Edition Recordings. Motions itself is a deep, langorous groove that doesn't go anywhere much but does sound very nice while it's (not) getting there. Have Faith is another fairly minimal groove, albeit at a just-slightly pacier tempo, and with the merest of vocal stabs to lend it a little soulful flava. And then finally Back To The Future is a Latin-influenced piano-and-percussion workout, complete with a slightly beefier Lee Pennington Remix.

Interesting to note that Deep Edition have gone for the more experimental, current-sounding trax while Savoir Faire's EP features Soul Sway's more classic-sounding, garage-y grooves… but then if you've been paying attention that's exactly what you'd expect really! Me being me I think Don't Step Down just edges it personally but both EPs are very strong.

Out: The Don't Step Down EP is out this week; the Motions EP is out this week on Traxsource, with a full release elsewhere on 12 March.

About: The label links are in the review this time. But I suppose this would be a good time to tell you that Soul Sway is a US producer from Washington DC, seeing as I hadn't. Here's his Soundcloud and Facebook pages.

Desos - Unknown Groove EP

Desos is, for me, one of the hottest properties in deep house music right now, so a team-up with Martijn's equally hot Deep Edition Recordings should surely be cause for celebration, right? Throw in remixes from Huxley and Dudley Strangeways and it should be a no-brainer.

And, well… it is! You get two originals, Unknown Groove and She Loves Deep, plus a refix of each, from Dudley and Huxley respectively. The originals both do that 'fractured beat' thing while the rerubs are more straight-up 4/4 floor-friendly; for me it's the Huxley Mix of the latter that stands out above the rest, but whichever way you slice it these are four deep house nuggets of the highest calibre.

Which is all you need to know, really.

Out: This week

About: You can find Durham-based Deep Edition on Facebook and Soundcloud.

RJ Fletcher – Afterthought EP

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.

Le Vinyl - Time For Change

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.

Martijn - Party People EP

After our little jaunt into downtempo pop territory we're back on more familiar ground here, with this four-track EP from northeastern wunderkind on Martijn on his own Deep Edition Recordings. Oddly, the EP consists of three mixes of Easy Lady and just one of Party People itself.

Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of the Deep Edition sound, and so it is here, but it's worth pointing out that this is one of the techiest, most leftfield offerings from the label yet, compared to the more funky/soulful side of deep we know them best for. From the original and Qmusse mixes of Easy Lady, then, expect quirky, forward-leaning deepness, while the Marvin Zeyss Remix would be more readily filed under tech-house.

And then finally, Party People takes us on a more retro-inspired house tip, with a sparse, Chicago-esque sound palette, cowbells, a treated, druggy vocal à la Green Velvet's Flash and what sounds suspiciously like a snippet of Weekend.

It's Party People I'm feeling most but all told, another strong release from a fine label.

Out: This week on Beatport, then everywhere else from 5 December

About: You can find Deep Edition on Soundcloud and Facebook

Hohle - Conviction

Another winning deep house cut here from Martijn's Deep Editions label, who for me haven't put a foot wrong so far.

Mixes - five of 'em in total - come from a pretty impressive line-up of current talent, including Sasse, Submantra and Martin himself. Between them the mixes cover a range of deep styles but it's Sasse's lush, laidback deep disco that's working best for me… but even better than that is bonus cut Innocent Eyes, a slightly more uptempo cut which gives the female vocal plenty of room to breathe atop a 303 bassline and some lush keyboard stabs, in a way that recalls vintage Stonebridge garage productions from the early 90s. Nice!

Out: This week

About: As I said… Deep Edition aren't that old as a label but pretty much everything they've done to date has been bang on the money. Check 'em out for yourselves on Soundcloud (where you can currently HEAR THIS) or Facebook.

Hohle themselves, meanwhile, are Kieran Clare and Lloyd Lindo, residents at Leicester's City Fly, plus engineer Francis Sevier.

Various - Twenty Eleven Sampler

This five-track EP showcases some of the artists affiliated with the excellent Deep Edition imprint, run by rising house star Martijn and described on the hype sheet as “never a label to be swayed by big names over music quality”. In other words, what you get are five deep house cuts from artists you’ve probably never heard of.

The artists in question are Marc Vexar, Jesus Pablo & Di Riviera, Mile Grozdanovski, Nachtbraker and RJ Fletcher, of whom the latter is the only one that I can recall popping up on my radar before. Vexar is a Geordie now living in Australia, Pablo & Riviera are from Liverpool, Grozdanovki comes from Macedonia (and has previously had stuff out on Tokyo Red, just as ‘Mile’), Nachtbraker is Dutch and Fletcher hails from Manchester; all of them, regardless of geographic origin, here demonstrate an innate, instinctive and impeccable understanding of how to make the deepest of house music that will move you on the floor, yet is equally suited for late-night listening sessions at home.

This is as good as it gets, basically: proper deep underground house to satisfy the most purist of heads. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: Forthcoming goodies from Deep Edition, we’re rather helpfully informed, include EPs from Lee Pennington & Guthrie, Remote People, Steve SoulBasics, Michael McLardy, that RJ Fletcher chappy again, and of coure label boss Martijn himself. For more info, visit the Deep Edition MySpace page.