Mr Pedros – Press Up EP

Lancashire-based label Discotech and Sankeys resident Mr Pedros come good once more on this simple two-tracker.

On the A, Press Up is a tuff-ish house groover with a hip-house style vocal that'll appeal to fans of Sneak, Carter, Farina, etc. On the B, The Snitch is, well, in a similar vein, but with more in the way of cut-up vox, disco stabs n' such.

Despite my lack of any great penetrating, insightful comments to make about them, these are two very solid cuts that'll move pretty much any house floor worth it's salt. And that's enough, surely?

Out: This week

About: You can find Discotech on Soundcloud, on Facebook and at their own website. Check the Soundcloud page right now and, don't say I told you, but you just might find some cheeky cut-up/booty bizniss for download…

Tough Love – Taking Over

Another nice simple two-tracker here, courtesy of northwest UK-based Discotech.

In its Original form, Taking Over is a mid-paced, acid-squelching romp through retro, Chi-town pastures… which is never a bad thing in TIWWD's book. It even comes complete with the kind of heavily treated vocal so beloved of the likes of Armando and Adonis. Over on the B, meanwhile, Jini Cowan's remix is more upbeat and more contemporary-sounding, somewhat more funkified but with a hint of that electro/indie-dance/nu-disco sound as well.

It's the original for me, though: like the Reynolds Girls, I'd rather jack…

Out: This week

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

D McAleese – Far Out

Far out by name, far out by nature here, as D McAleese – a new name to me – manages to hit that elusive golden spot where a track is familiar-sounding and hence dancefloor-friendly, yet innovative and distinctive at the same time.

This he achieves by taking a very familiar sound – a big 1990s-style M1 organ riff – then running one note of said riff through a pitch-bend effect. I know… ridiculously simple, isn't it? Yet I can't think of another track I've ever heard that does this. So what you end up with is cut that would be just AN Other organ tune (not that that's ever stopped me from loving a record, you understand) with a sampled "thinking about you" vocal… but is instead something that truly makes ears prick up.

Mix-wise, you can take your pick from the warm, organic-sounding Original, Loonic's heads-down, tech-house pass with its crisp 909s, or Reece Johnson's more stripped-down and techier Too Far Rework. Makes no odds really: it's that one nifty little production trick that makes this a winner.

Just… producers! Don't all start doing it now, eh?

Out: This week

About: This comes on Ormskirk, Lancashire-based Discotech… a label who'd have had more props on here before had they told me when stuff's out! They seem to have grasped the importance of that particular piece of information now though, so expect to hear more about 'em in future cos they do put out some cool tuneage. Meantime to find out what you've been missing, hit up their Facebook and Soundcloud pages.

Various - This Is What We Call Discotech

For their 51st release, Lancashire-based Discotech Records release a seven-track mini-album sampler… and the clue's in the name, because the very definite theme here is house, tech-house and techno grooves aimed at dancefloor hi-jinks, pure and simple.

The seven tracks come from Matt Fear, Carl Howson (twice), Resumo, Darkworks, Loonic and Wicked Actions. I'm not gonna go into all of 'em individually – I'm in a bit of a rush right now – but the funky, looping tech-house of Howson's Don't Like It and Matt Fear's deeper house cut Back Chat stand out, while Resumo's Idum is also good fun in a bigger room kinda way.

It's solid-enough stuff all round though, and with seven tracks on offer you can't fault the VFM.

Out: This week

About: Find Discotech Records online here. Click through and you'll also find links to Soundcloud pages for the artists involved, where you can HEAR most of these tracks.