Huxley – No Matter What

Long a TIWWD fave, it's good to see Huxley getting some major props these days. Let's just hope he doesn't let his star status go to his head and fuck off to play in Vegas with David Guetta, eh?

Still, there's no sign of that on this EP, which sees the man ploughing that distinct blend of dancefloor deep house with a dash of garage bump that he's made all his own. That both No Matter What and Can't Sleep are top-drawer little rumpshakers should come as no surprise by now, though… so the real news is that this also comes with some remix action from no less a personage than the mighty Marc Kinchen.

12-inch buyers get an MK Dub of No Matter What, while those purchasing digitally get an MK Mix as well as the Dub. And both are every bit as good as you'd hope. Given that the source material is pretty damn good to start with, there's no great belief-beggaring transformation as MK has worked on the likes of Celine Dion, Jodeci or M People in the past, but still… there's a reason MK's so revered by old skool house n' garage heads and if you're remotely unclear as to what that reason IS, one listen to either of his refixes here should put you straight!

Pretty much unmissable then, this one.

Out: This week

About: This comes from Kev Griffiths' ever on-point Tsuba Records. Here's the usual Facebook Soundcloud and website links.

PS I wanted to post MK's mix of Those 2 Girls' All I Want but it's not on YouTube so it'll have to stay as one of my personal secret weapons! But seriously, this is a man who actually made Denise Van Outen sound good… ultimate respect.

ALBUM Various - Fullbarr Remixed Vol 1

It's great to see Fullbarr Digital getting the notice they deserve these days… it's proof that even the most resolutely underground of labels can 'break through' if they stick to their guns. It's doubly gratifying, of course, because Fullbarr is a label I've championed on here for a couple of years now… which is proof that TIWWD is the place to come if you wanna know what's up!

Anyway, to the album, which sees 10 tracks from the FD back cat to date given all-new mixes from the likes of Huxley, Ed Davenport, Youandewan, Death On The Balcony, James Teej and Danton Eeprom. And if uber-deep house and deep, dubby techno sound like your idea of fun, then suffice to say there's plenty to enjoy here.

Youandewan's Dour Version of Glieser's Kuiper Belt is one highlight, a seriously blunted trek into the inner space informed by the deepest realms of both dubstep and techno; Eeprom's rub of Midnite Radio's Lower Than will please the techno purists, while Henry Gilles' mix of Jan Tenner's Piece Of Cake is one of several very deep house gems.

All this, and they're from Bradford as well – what's not to love?

Out: This week

About: You can find Fullbarr Digital on Soundcloud, on Facebook and at their own blog.

J Cub feat BiBi – Crying Over You

If I ever did a list of the Top 10 Most Under-Rated Albums In Dance Music, then featuring highly on that chart would be Donna Dee's Spellbound from 1998.

I mention this now because this could have been lifted straight from said album, featuring as it does the same combination of fragile, slow-moving, garage-derived beats, lush chords and wistful female vocals that – shock! – actually say something. And I don't say that in a "derivative rubbish, heard it all before" way but in a "this is ruddy marvellous, why don't more people make music like this?" way. Just so's we're clear.

Remixes come from RNDM and BJNJM*, with the former adding some extra bottom-end warmth, the latter additional percussive elements. I'd say RNDM's rub works slightly better for me but both are playable since neither, thankfully, fucks too much with the overall sparse, soulful feel.

But it's the Original that stands out, all the same. It's an absolute killer.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Huxley and Jimmy Poster's v. hip Saints & Sonnets label… find 'em on Soundcloud and Facebook, or check out their shows on Pulse Radio.

*wht s t wth ths ppl? r thy frm Bsn r smwhr ls wth n vwls?

Huxley & Sam Russo – Jamma's Basement

Okay, last one for tonight… last one for a few days, probably, cos TIWWD is going away for a long weekend's R&R and Mrs TIWWD thinks that should involve a bit less time hunched over a laptop and a bit more time actually talking to her and stuff! She's right, of course, but I couldn't go away without telling you about this one.

Leftroom seem to have a knack of always being just that little bit ahead of the curve, and this team-up between two currently v. hot producers is no exception. Jamma's Basement WOULD be a fairly standard deep/tech workout, were it not for the use of a big, boomin' bass that harks all the way back to the hardcore days; I'd suggest there's a dubstep/bass music influence there too. Top that off with vocal stabs both female (ethereral, garage-y) and male (tribal, chanty), and you've got an anthem in the making.

Over on the B, meanwhile, William's Trainers starts out, again sounding like your standard techy chugger (albeit your standard techy chugger done very well)… but then in come the organs – big, Jersey-ish organs – and it's game over.

It took these two tracks a day or two to sink in with me, but now they have, I'm thinking this is very possibly the best release of the week, and that's something I very rarely say.

Out: This week

About: This actually comes on sub-label Leftroom Ltd, not Leftroom itself, though quite what the difference is I'm not sure. Anyway they can be found on Facebook… their website seems to be doing something strange at the mo'.

Huxley – Let It Go

And from Deso, we move on to Huxley, who last week did such a fine job of remixing the former's She Loves Deep. This week, he steps up in his own right with an absolute MONSTER of a house tune that, if there's any semblance of decency left in the world, you'll be hearing from now till Xmas.

“An emotive cut which duly warrants the oft-overused term 'anthem',” reads the hype sheet, and for once the hype is justified. Like Luca C & Brigante's Different Morals last year (a personal tune of 2011 for sure), this sees contemporary deep, techy house getting its soulful, vocal groove back in style. It's one of those rare beasts that brings all the energy and drama required for the bigger floors, yet without shedding an iota of its underground credibility in the process… this record deserves to be HUGE.

And speaking of underground credibility, it also comes complete with a remix from the hotly-tipped Eats Everything, who take us into more esoteric pastures with a stripped-down rub, based on more militant beats, that chops and loops the vocal and synths to head-frying afterhours effect. Which is nice, obviously.

Out: 15 February (tomorrow)

About: This comes on Hypercolour, who surely need no introduction from me by now…

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.