Bluford Duck – Eye See

Is it just me, or is Bluford Duck a rather odd name for an artist?!

I only point that out because it's the only unusual thing about this latest Savoir Faire Musique. That, and the blue (not two-tone black/white) label. Otherwise it's business as usual… Crisp deep house beats? Check. Sophisticated, multi-layered production, with an emphasis on the musical and the soulful? Check. A remix roster featuring some of the hottest producers around? Check – stand up Jesus Pablo & Adam Brass, and Patrick Podage & Nikola Kotevski.

Glowing review on TIWWD? Check. Podage & Kotevski's mix just edges it for me but if sumptuous deep house vibes float your boat you can't really go wrong here.

Out: This week

About: You can find Savoir Faire Musique on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Jesus Pablo & Adam Brass feat Brittney Manson – True Story

Something Different might be one year old, but is label co-owner Jesus Pablo sitting back on his laurels and tucking into the jelly and ice cream? No, he's teaming up with Adam Brass and singer Brittney Manson – the latter of whom I'll confess to not having come across before – for this midtempo, soul-flecked deep house jam on the mighty I! Records.

A steady rolling groove topped with tinkling ivories and Ms Manson's poetic half-sung, half-spoken vocal, the Original of True Story nods to the label's heritage in more traditional deep/soulful house while still sounding 100% contemporary. Mix-wise, it comes accompanied with a slightly beefier Dub and, best of all to these ears, an even more dubbed-out and somewhat techier Junior Gee Remix.

Quality assured throughout.

Out: This week

About: You can find i! Records on Facebook or at their own website.

So many tunes, so little time 27

Well, here's an all too bloody familiar situation. It's Monday evening, I'm knackered from work and there's a ton of new music piled up, all of which is out this week and none of which I've had a chance to listen to properly yet. In fact make that two tons this week, it's gonna be a busy one!

But for now, here's the rest of last week's goodies that we didn't quite get around to…

Aartekt & Zia's Autumn Mist is typically high-quality deep house fare from the ever-reliable Untitled Music… with mixes from Dave Fortnum, Matt Prehn and Marvin Zeyss, this one would probably have got a bigger review but it came in quite late… there's more very solid deep house in the form of the More L EP from Istanbul-based producer Ave Astra, coming on German label Filigran…Cybernalia's Darker Dreams is a very aptly titled EP for Stripped Digital that's packed with moody, menacing progressive house and techno grooves…  Dubesque's Something is, er, 'something' of a treat if you're in search of that classic NYC 90s house sound, and comes on Austrian label In My House…  on a deep/tech tip, check for Federico's Welcome Home EP on Unrivaled Music…  Hector Romero's Soulful House Journey comp for King Street is trailed by a five-track sampler EP… Heiko Laux & Diego Hostettler serve up some no-nonsense jackery with Girl/Jack Up, a release that Tronic Music are billing as 'techno' though it sounds pretty tech-house-y to me… John Collins gives us the Club D'Ellaria EP which is one for lovers of laidback, Balearic grooves and which comes on Irish label Vision Collective… we're back in bumpin' dancefloor deep house territory with the Big City Nights EP by Los Cuzeiros, which comes on the snappily-monickered The Cruzaders Records… Seraph's Frigid EP is a solid bet if you're after some dark-but-not-stoopid dubstep/post-dubstep bizniss… and even if you're not, then check Take It Back for some proper old-skool rave/hardcore action – it's like climbing in a time machine with a whistle, a tub of Vaporub and a gram of pink champagne… oh yeah and it's on Four40 Records… whizzing (ho-ho) forward in that same time machine, very contemporary-sounding house/techno vibes are the order of the day on the Nachts EP, from which the Pele Remix of the title track stands out for me, this one coming from Shawnecy on Lowroom Recordings… UK label Form-and Function bring us some more very 'now' deep/tech vibes in the form of Losing U from Soulight, which comes complete with a weirded-out dub from the mighty Saytek… Untitled2Music serve up some thinking man's techno on the X Project EP, which comes on Unofficial Records… and finally, "it's that man again" as Jesus Pablo and Di Riviera's label Something Different bring us the second in their series of Remixes EPs, featuring cuts this time out from Left Minded, Dudley Strangeways, Sean Danke and more…

TOMORROW night, we'll get cracking with this week's releases! Must admit to being a bit overwhelmed right now by the constant flow of good music coming in but, y'know, it's a nice problem to have…

Jesus Pablo – See You In San Francisco

Some slow n' sumptuous deep house grooves here from everyone's favourite Scouse houser (ho ho), Jesus Pablo.

The Original of See You In Francisco comes on like old-skool deep Jersey garage – Chandler-esque is the word, I think. Demarkus Lewis's rub is quite faithful but ups the spacey, wonky factor a notch for your 5am dancefloor. Robot Need Oil's remix is Balearic-ish and wee bit proggy, while Damien Exton's rub is just that wee bit tuffer, starting out in vintage Salted/Transport kinda territory and getting progressively more dubbed out and head-fried as it goes on.

I think the Exton rub wins out for me, just, with the Original a nose behind… but this is quality stuff all round really, and something of a heads' delight.

Out: This week

About: This comes aptly enough on San Francisco label Headset Recordings. Find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud, or at their own website.

Jesus Pablo & Robot Needs Oil ft Novac – No Regrets

Liverpool's Jesus Pablo teams up with Manchester-based Polish producer Greg Kobe, AKA Robot Needs Oil, for this single on veteran US label i! Records.

In its Original form, No Regrets sports a male vocal that sits somewhere between 'indie-ish' and old-time crooners like Charles Aznavour or Maurice Chevalier. Musically, it's a floaty, laidback kind of piece not a million miles from the kind of ethereal soundscapes conjured by (eg) Trentemøller.

The Left Minded Remix is a tad housier while Cesar Coronado's rub fuses influences from progressive house and nu/cosmic disco, but it's the Bubba Remix that's doing it best for me – an unhurried chugger for the afterhours joints, with plenty of fat squelching bass and considerably less of the vocal.

Something of a departure from JP, this, but at least you can't accuse him of getting stuck in a rut…

Out: This week

About: You can find i! Records at their website or on Facebook.

Jesus Pablo – Playing In The Sun

And speaking of very familiar names, here comes house music's busiest Liverpudlian once more.

Everyone seems to be doing the laidback, summer-y thing at the moment and Playing In The Sun, as the name suggests, operates pretty much in just that kinda territory. Dale Howard's remix beefs things up a notch but the standouts here are a brace of rubs from the mighty Jay Tripwire. His Deep Mix is, well, pretty gosh-darn deep – in a 'small hours in a dark club' kinda way as opposed to a 'getting mellow on the beach' way – and brings the meandering sax line to the fore, while his Warehouse Mix is darker, more twisted and, generally speaking, pretty spiffing all round.

Quality stuff as ever from Senor Pablo.

Out: This week

About: This comes on San Francisco's Headset Recordings… so here are the website Facebook and Soundcloud links you'll no doubt be expecting.

Jesus Pablo – Simple Ideas Work Best

Regular readers will be familiar by now with Liverpudlian producer Jesus Pablo, and with Something Different Records, the label he runs with Di Riviera. This one doesn't come on Something Different though, but rather Scott Harrington's Savoir Faire – another label who TIWWD readers will know by now can always be relied on for some quality deep house grooves.

Which doesn't leave me with huge amounts to explain, really! Except to say that Simple Ideas… lives up to its title, being an almost slo-mo affair based around some simple mournful plucked strings, minimal beats and sparingly-applied synths. Think of the sparse-yet-dense production values of the deepest dubstep à la Youngsta or Distance, apply to deep house and you've got the idea.

Remixes come from Robot Needs Oil, who adds haunting M1 sounds and the merest of vocal fragments, joined later by gentle Balearic-style pianos, while Nick Devon – who so impressed with So Addicted on 3am as recently as last week – adds soulful vocals and a warm b-line.

Robot Needs Oil nudges it out of the remixes for me, but overall I think it's the original that wins out – it's a thing of delicate, fractured beauty.

Out: This week

About: Find Something Different, as ever, on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Jesus Pablo & Adam Brass – Jet Lag

Good to see Jesus Pablo getting some more widespread recognition, with this latest release (this time in cahoots with one Adam Brass) coming via the mighty i! Records.

In its Original form, Jet Lag is a fairly sedate deep houser, with a lounge-y kinda sound set but a glitchier feel, particularly to the top-end percussion, than my saying that might lead you to expect. House Riders tone down the glitchy elements, bring the male spoken vocal snips to the fore and add some lovely mournful, jazzy sax, the Kirby Remix is a slightly dubbier and hence slightly more floor-friendly pass, while finally the Patrick Podage mix takes us deeper in late-night territories again.

What's perhaps missing here is a mix that really flips the script, but these are very solid grooves as ever from the Liverpudlian boy-done-good all the same, with the Kirby and House Riders rubs vying for the top honours for me.

Out: This week

About: You can find i! Records at their website and on Facebook.

Jesus Pablo & Sean Danke – Mojo

Our man from Liverpool teams up with Sean Danke from Reykjavik here, for a track coming on Headset Recordings in three mixes.

The Original rides a jaunty, toppy rhythm, over which are layered piano chords, organ stabs, fairly subdued synths and, as the track goes on, some shakers as well – all told it doesn't 'do' huge amounts but it'll get those asses shakin' on the floor mos' def. On remix duties, Robot Needs Oil give us a pass that's scattered with hand percussion throughout and adds some great Hammond organ action – it's proper wiggy, daddio! – while Daniel Allen's rub is more straight-ahead and driving, with a euphoric, building vibe overall and just the tiniest hints of prog around the edges.

From a label and a producer (Pablo) that seldom disappoint, here's a track that most certainly doesn't.

Out: This week

About: Headset Recordings are based in San Francisco, and are not to be confused with Boston's Headtunes, who Mr Pablo has also been known to work with. You can find 'em at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud,

Various – What Happens Now Vol 3

A four-track sampler here – the third in the series, as if you hadn't realised – from Denmark's ever-excellent What Happens.

First up are Jesus Pablo and Robot Needs Oil, who team up for Chikka Dum Dup, a rolling, chugging tech-houser whose name describes it more or less perfectly! That's followed by more rolling, drummy vibes courtesy of Chris Rawles on Don't You Look Back, before Lloyd Trimmer brings us Red Sky At Night, a slightly more laidback affair with Balearic-sounding percussion, long synth washes and a proggy breakdown in the middle. And then finally, label favourite Stanny Abram serves up Wonderwall – not some dreadful housed-up cover of the Oasis song but rather a tuff-ish deep house groove featuring heavily-treated pianos and Afro/jazz vox.

Four very solid cuts from a label you can pretty much always rely on… what's not to love?

Out: This week

About: Find What Happens at their website or on Facebook.

Jesus Pablo - The F Word

Four mixes here of the latest from Jesus Pablo, coming on Boston's Headtunes.

In its Original form, The F Word harks back to the days of deep Jersey garage with its simple piano loop, crisp beats, vocal wails and understated disco b-line. Tony S serves up a remix that's a touch more energetic and floor-oriented, while Tom Lown goes the other way and takes us further into late-night, sofa-surfing territory with glockenspiel (??) hits and pads that are a thousand miles wide. And then bringing the EP to a close, a refix from Poland's Robot Needs Oil is more stripped-down and techy with tons of space in the production, looping up the "running to you" vocal hook and adding some wicked organ drops.

Every bit as we've become accustomed to from the prolific Liverpudlian producer, with mixes to suit a range of moods/times/settings.

Out: This week

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

**PS: UPDATE 4 MAY
After speaking to Tom today I can now tell you it's not a glockenspiel, it's a marimba. I am useless. However Wikipedia lists them both as members of the xylophone family so I wasn't THAT far off!

EXCLUSIVE! Jesus Pablo - The Story So Far EP

Right then, breaking the rules here cos this isn't out till next week… but as Mr Pablo was kind enough to let me be one of only two people getting sent it (i! Records don't really DO promo), it seemed somewhat daft to sit on it!

TIWWD has been a fan of this young Liverpudlian producer's style of house music for some time now. His is an approach that's respectful to the past, yet sounds as contemporary as anything else around, and that's no easy trick to pull off. Accordingly, it'll come as no surprise when I tell you… I'm loving this.

There are three tracks in a total of five mixes. The Story So Far itself is led by sparkling pianos counterpointed by Detroitian string stabs, and is gorgeously musical even if it never really kicks off, making it best suited for afterhours or sunny afternoon sessions. For club thrills, best head to the Robot Oil Remix, which adds solid, driving 4/4s and some subdued scat vox and Spanish guitars.

Behind The Line is more yer straight-up deep house dancefloor cut – not that there's anything wrong with that! It's warm, funky and a wee bit left coast-ish in its Original form, and also comes accompanied by a Howard Sessions remix that's a tad techier and dubbier. Endless Dream then brings the EP to a close on a suitably, er, dreamy note… one for those comedown sessions for sure.

A strong EP all round, as befits its appearance on such a well-loved classic US label. The boy from Merseyside done good.

Out: Next week

About: If you need me to tell you who i! Records are, then frankly I despair… anyway, here's their website and Facebook page

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.

Randal Soeung - What It's For

More top-drawer deep house courtesy of a producer from Arkansas and, on remix duties, the UK's very own Jesus Pablo.

The Original of What It's For sits right on the deep/prog borderline with its crunchy kicks, extended atmospheric breakdown and big, surging bassline. It's good stuff… but Pablo's remix is even better, as he eschews the blissed-out, terrace vibe and heads instead down a much jauntier path, armed only with some truly tinkling old-skool pianos. And when I say 'only', I mean very nearly only, with just some sparkling drums and an obscenely fat b-line for company…

In other words, it's a proper househead's delight…

Out: This week

About: This comes on San Francisco's Headset Recordings. Find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud, or their blog.

Dave Martins - Deep Control EP

With four mixes in total of two tracks, Deep Control and Deep Station, the clue's kind of in the name for this latest from Jesus Pablo and Di Rivera's Something Different label.

By sheer coincidence (cos I hadn't really noticed until just now, I was just taking things in alphabetical order) Dave Martins also hails from Switzerland (see Da Funk review below). Co-owner of Southpark Records – who've also featured on here before now – his particular take on deep house is from the techier end of the spectrum, and he's not afraid to get in a groove and stay there! I'm liking both tracks but Deep Station just edges it for me, the speech samples (of an old radio announcement) giving the track a little more texture.

Remix-wise, Desos takes Deep Control into slightly more ominous and brooding deep techno territory, while Sweden's Thomas Durrani sprinkles some disco dust over Deep Station and transforms it into the one mix here you might get away with playing to a less specialist floor (but without, I hasten to add, going cheesy or obvious in any way).

All told, a solid bet with four very playable tracks. It's an EP for the purists rather than the mass market for sure… but since when was that ever a bad thing?

Out: This week

About: Something Different sum up their ethos as "releasing music on a deep, tech and groovy tip for dancefloors worldwide". Amen to that! Find 'em online here

Jesus Pablo – Dancing Chords

There's the proverbial clue in the name here because the Original Mix of Dancing Chords, at least, is all about the pia-pia-pianos…not in a screaming, tinkling Italian rave way, though. Or even in a minor-key, jazzy way. More in a rollicking, almost rock n' roll (think Great Balls Of Fire) or tango-inspired way.

Hmmm. As you can see I'm kinda struggling to describe this properly, but once you hear its incessant jaunty ivories, topped off with brass stabs and underpinned by simple rolling beats, you'll know exactly what I'm on about. Definitely one of the month's quirkier and more interesting house releases, this one, and you can see it appealing to fans of Stimming, Solomun, Ripperton et al.

Remix-wise, we're back in slightly more familiar dancefloor territory, as Roland Nights goes for an upbeat, vibe on a mix that's carnival-esque and Ibiza-y in parts and really quite deep in others, while Audiotonic serves up a Phuturebound Dub that has a lot more space in the mix, which only makes those BIG piano chords sound even bigger!

Out: This week

About: Both Jesus Pablo and Roland Nights have made many appearances on Lost My Dog but this one comes courtesy of Al Bradley's ever-excellent 3am Recordings.

Jesus Pablo & Vikte - Sunday Morning

Some very solid deep/tech house from this Liverpudlian twosome here. Remixes come from Simon Mattson, Steve Mastro and Chris Minus, with the latter's Deep Fried Remix the pick of a strong crop, for me.

Not got huge amounts to say about it, but it's good. One for that head-down jackin' zone circa 4am when the tourists have gone home and the dancefloor's properly locked into the groove.

Out: Last week, but I forgot to include it and it was too good to ignore!

About: This comes atcha on Cubism, which is Tony Thomas's label. Their output is quite varied and hence not always for these ears, but when they hit the spot they hit the spot for sure! Visit them online here, whydon'tcha?