Ruben Mandolini – Little Go

Still quite a few things to tell you about from last week but let's crack on with this week's reviews for now, starting with a few bits n' bobs on a tech-house tip.

Ruben Mandolini hails from Italy, and on Little Go he conjures up a heady concoction of familiar vocal samples and rolling tech-house beats. The Original version is accompanied by two remixes: Mennie's is phatter, funkier and the most likely to do the do on deep house floors, while Mario Piu's sits somewhere between that and the much sparser, more minimal Original.

All three will work but it's Mennie's rub that stands out for me.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Fahrenheit Music, which is Piu's own label. Contact them via Mario's Facebook page.

Mennie & Mario Piu – Affair

Mario Piu's transformation from trance and techno don to fully-fledged houser seems pretty much complete these days… this joint offering with fellow Italian Mennie is just the latest example. Because Affair is pretty much a reworking of the Nightcrawlers/MK classic Push The Feeling On in a 2012 tech-house stylee.

That's not to say it's not a very fine track in its own right, of course… and to be fair, there's a whole different vocal and everything. But it's that familiar (though replayed) nagging riff that'll drag 'em onto the floor. There are just the two mixes to choose from: the Original's more contemporary-sounding, the Getstrumental Mix is a little more classically 'house' and features a brief, cheeky snippet of the Nightcrawlers vocal to boot.

But either mix will do the necessary in the discos, without a doubt.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Mario's own Fahrenheit Music. Find 'em via Mario's Facebook page.

A7L - The Best Of Time

Right then, not sure how many reviews you're gonna get tonight…  it's been a stressful few days what with deadline week at the day job and the girlf being in hospital. But there's at least time to tell you about this one, a) because it's great and b) because there's just the one mix.

What a mix it is, though. The Best Of Time consists of little more than straight-up house beats, a rumblin, bubblin' bass-synth riff and female power-vox… and not even all that all at once, a lot of the time. There's space in the production here you could comfortably navigate a smallish galactic nebula through.

This is big, echo-y, tuff and credible vocal house in the classic NYC stylee, made for big speakers, big rooms and very little lighting, and the only thing wrong with it is it ends too soon! It's like 1995 all over again. Me like.

Out: This week

About: A7L are the Italian duo of Luca Meeucci and Andrea Sutera, and on this particular outing they've had a little help from the label owner, who just so happens to be none other than… Mario Piu. Proof that house really does conquer all eventually! Anyway, it's on Mr Piu's Fahrenheit Music… their website seems to be STILL 'under construction' but hey.