Do It Proper – Proper Doing It EP

And there's more quality deepness here with the latest from Headtunes Recordings, which comes courtesy of Chicago-based Brit Lee Jarvis, AKA Do It Proper.

You get two rubs apiece of Love Haight and Brooklyn Groove. The former in its original form is a midtempo deep chugger with a wonky, warped kinda feel, while Homero Espinosa's remix ups the tempo and adds a pulsating bass-synth/organ riff. Brooklyn Groove is a mellower, parping organ groove in its original form, with garage-y vocal snips and again with that filtered/warped sound that always sounds a little bit French to me*. And then finally the Nutritious & Bains BomBoogie Mix of the same ups the jazz ante considerably, with brushed snares a-gogo and some luvverly jazz-funk geetar licks, before throwing in Afro percussion, trumpet parps and vocal fragments to create something of a head-mangled gem for messy afterhours sessions.

Classy stuff as ever from this Boston-based label.

Out: This week

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

*But not in a cheesy 'French touch' way…specifically, it reminds me of the much-missed Qalamoto Records, a French label from 10 years back who never got the props they deserved if you ask me.

ALBUM Sleazy McQueen - 5+1

Florida's Sleazy McQueen mans the decks for the first label compilation from Boston-based label Headtunes Recordings, featuring 16 tracks in both mixed and full-length, unmixed formats. Headtunes have featured on this blog a number of times, so you should have an idea of the kind quality straight-up house, long on classic sounds, to expect.

With cuts on offer from a host of today's hottest names – Grant Dell, Jesus Pablo, Peckos, Do It Proper – as well as some producers that are brand spanking new, there's plenty to delight, but special mention must be made of Sleazy's own Big Times, Big Tings (presented here in Cole Medina's Buffalo Times Mix form) and Cosmic Boogie's Feel It. The latter is the closest you'll ever get (now, anyway) to dancing to Chi-town house at Ku or Amnesia circa 1987, while the acid-dripping former is a plastic dream come true for lovers of old skool sounds brought right up to date…

Elsewhere, Grant Dell's House Tribute should raise a smile among older heads who remember House Of Gypsies' Samba from back in the day, while Need Ya (also from Dell) comes on like Booker T & The MGs got a gig as house band at Berghain. There are disco frolics from Mario Dujic, squelchy slo-mo vibes from Do It Proper, soul-infused grooves from Noise Destruction and more besides.

Excellent stuff all round, and it's being released to mark the label's 6th anniversary (hence the title), so happy birthday guys, here's to the next six years!

Out: This week

About: There's an interesting story behind this album, because Headtunes used 'crowdsourcing' site Kickstarter.com to raise the cash they needed to release it. So respect to all those who contributed! Click the link for the Headtunes website, or find 'em on Facebook or Soundcloud.

Rob Clarke - Gravity EP

Staying on a tech-house tip here, but going a little bit deeper with it, this is the latest from UK producer, coming courtesy of US label Headtunes Recordings.

The original of Gravity is a midtempo affair sitting right on that deep/tech border, with a dubby feel to the bassline and some soaring synths for that eyes-wide-shut dreamaway effect. Deepshizzol supplies a remix that beefs up the beats slightly to give the track a little more dancefloor oomph, and adds a spoken vocal – which sounds like it's been sampled from some old public information film or something – featuring a guy talking about the influence of African rhythms on music. Mike Jules' Mid-90s Basement Mix, meanwhile, is fairly accurate in its self-assessment… if you were dancing to deep house in basements in the 90s you'll know just what I mean. Unsurprisingly, I think this would be my pick of the three rubs on offer.

But that's not all, because you also get two mixes of bonus cut The Haunting. Clarke's original is a slightly more uptempo tech-houser to kick off, then settles down into something altogether groovier, jazzier and more house-ified, while the MJ Lo-Fi Beats Version (also from Mr Jones, as above) flips the script entirely and takes the track into dusty, beatdown kinda territory.

All told, more evidence that Mr Clarke is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Out: This week

About: This is what the hype sheet has to say about Headtunes (cos I'm feeling lazy):

Since 2005 Boston-based Headtunes Recordings have released music by respected underground producers including Audio Soul Project, Joshua Iz, Pete Dafeet, Dexter and Sleazy McQueen alongside up and coming talents such as Rob Clarke, Brenden Wesley, Markus Mehta, Matt Prehn and Bass Experiment. The labels diverse sound covers everything from nu disco through house and techno.

Unclesound - French Connection EP

After taking a detour into in-your-face D&B, let's come back to what TIWWD knows and loves best – deep, groovy house music.

Unclesound are a French duo who go by the names Rafael Nemrod and Phatvass, and have previously appeared on the excellent Etoka imprint. Here they serve up a four-track EP with the emphasis on phat, disco-fied dancefloor deep house vibes. We Got The Groove references Rapper's Delight in its cheeky little vocal snips, Funky Star (in two mixes, the rerub coming from Sounddiggers AKA Justin Critchlow) has just the lightest hint of French touch about it, but the real delight here is Dope, which… is. Dope, that is. And here IT is. Nuff said!

Unclesound - Dope by Headtunes Recordings

Out: This week

About: This comes on Boston, US label Headtunes Recordings – so here are some Headtunes links: Website MySpace Soundcloud Facebook. At time of writing you can HEAR THIS at the Soundcloud or MySpace links so you've no excuses for not checking out this prime house slab!