Alex Ander & Deep Grounder – Take Me There Tonight EP

Two tracks in seven mixes on what King Street are billing as a double A-side release here.

Looking at Take Me There first, in its Original form this is a soulful house cut with a female vocal from Virag and plenty of dancefloor energy. Kobe's remix pumps up the kicks and adds Detroitian strings as well as an extended breakdown in the middle, Eric Powa B's rub is guitar-flecked and Iberican-sounding while top honours for me go to the self-explanatory Carlos Vargas Deeper Remix.

On the flip, Tonight comes in three mixes, with no original in sight. The URH Remix is tough and drummy with a big, sparse breakdown while the Gerotone Dub Mix is more sumptuous and garage-inclined, but the standout for me is the Jon Silva Remix with its BIG organ vibes.

Whichever mix you plump for, though, this is classic-style house done properly.

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street, don't you?

Various - New Breed Of Deep House 2012 samplers

The mighty King Street serve up not one but two samplers for their forthcoming full-length compilation New Breed Of Deep House 2012. But to be fair, you probably figured that out from the post heading!

As is King Street's wont, there are two completely separate sampler bundles available: one for Traxsource, one for Beatport. I'm not going into all 18 tracks individually but of the two, the seven-track 'Traxsource Edition' is probably better suited for fans of traditional-style deep house, with lots of funky basslines, sampled disco vox and warm Rhodes hooks, while the 'Beatport Edition' errs towards the skinny-jeans--wedge-haircut-and-cardigan hipster tech-house side of things, with glacial synths and strobelight throbbers more in evidence.

But that's a very sweeping statement, a picture painted in the broadest of strokes, and there are plenty of top-drawer nuggets to be found on both releases. Domscott's Ain't Playing Games No More (Traxsource Edition) is a fine, funk-fuelled gem that's got more than a touch of the Matty Heilbronns about it, while if it's more experimental/cutting-edge sounds you're after then Whim-ee's You Can Amor (Beatport Edition), which sounds like the future garage sound of Berlin, will see you right for sure.

So best be on the safe side and get both, eh?

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street so I guess there's room to tell you that the full list of artists featured on the two EPs includes (deep breath): Soundealers, Washerman, Domscott, Chocolate Avenue, Alfonso Ares feat Celia, Hamza, Tout Le Monde (all Traxsource Edition), Rey & Kjavik feat Kevin Iszard, SO DEAFI, Balcazar & Sordo, Shades Of Gray, Whim-ee, Nicko Vee, Kyoko Kamichika & Masahiro Suzuki, Nico Purman, 9west and Oscar Higinion (all Beatport Edition).

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…

So many tunes, so little time 26

Sorry for the paucity of updates at the weekend, I was helping my girlfriend move house so when I wasn't lugging huge boxes of utterly needless kitchenware up and down stairs I was mostly collapsed on a sofa. So before we get on with this week's reviews here's the rest of the goodies from last week…

On a tech-house tip Dekontrol's Now/Addicted on Detroit's Incorrect Music, J&S Project vs Raffaele Rizzi's White Sands on Southpark and George Privatti's Lomato on Selected Records are all well worth checking, as is The Twister & West On 27th [Jerome Robins Mixes] on Primal Recordings, which sees a couple of Hooj Choons prog/trance faves from the late 90s given a 2012 tech-house makeover.

Moving into deeper territories, Ramon Tapia's Wonderland EP is the third fine release on his own Say What? label, Inkfish's Altar Server on Form-and Function brings some deep tech-soul, and there's more soulfully-inclined deepness from Unrivaled Music in the form of the Black Sunset/Sylvie EP from Georgeous. Haldo feat Henri Kohn & Miss Ann-P serve up some glitzier house grooves with Rhythm on Conya Digital, Joe Morris gets down, discoid and sleazy with Yello Haze on 3am Recordings, while the third and final installment in the Love Is The Devil Remixes series from Blu Mar Ten on his own label is a very solid bet for deep, chilled, liquid-y D&B.

King Street offshoot Street King come strong with two different After Hours Ibiza 2012 EPs, one available on Beatport and the other on Traxsource. Between them there are 23 tracks so you can't fault 'em on VFM! Expect various shades of deep/tech house and, yes, the usual high quality standards apply.

And finally a shout going out to my man Jesus Pablo… thanks for the kind words on Facebook, it's very nice to be someone's "favourite blogger". But as you point out, I do pretty much review everything Something Different releases so for the (admittedly very fine) Something Different Remixes EP you'll have to make do with this lil' mention right here!

Nacho Marco & Paul Hardcastle Jr – Callisto

Coming from Nacho Marco and Paul Hardcastle Jr – yes, the 22yo son of the Paul Hardcastle, of 19 fame – Callisto is as epic a slab of electronic music as you could wish to hear blasting from big speakers outdoors this summer.

Think a mellower, more laidback relative of Garnier's The Man With The Red Face and you're not far off: there's that same feel of constant progression, and parping live sax galore. Remix-wise, there's a Dub which is considerably more tech-y and percussive, plus a Forteba Remix which goes the other way, being a languid, beach-friendly affair with added Spanish guitars.

Those of you lucky enough to be packing a record bag/CD wallet/WAV folder and heading off to Ibiza should probably, y'know, put this in it.

Out: This week

About: This comes to you courtesy of the mighty King Street Sounds.

Yakka – You Turn Me On

Upping the tempo a little now with this two-track offering from Yakka on Street King.

You Turn Me On does something I'd usually advise against, taking a significant chunk from Diana's classic Upside Down. I say I'd advise against because biting such a well-loved classic can so often go so horribly wrong, but here it doesn't, making this bouncy, disco-fuelled houser something of a sure-fire party-starter, at least on those floors where they're not so far up their own backsides they can see their own teeth.

Gary Caos's remix on the B is a little bit too electrofied, brash and teenage for me personally but hey, I'm old, what do I know? It doesn't matter anyway, the A's enough.

Out: This week

About: Street King is of course part of the mighty King Street empire.

Carolyn Harding – Pick It Up [Remixes]

Many, many years ago – 1996 to be precise – yours truly was editing a long-forgotten Manchester-based music, listings and lifestyle magazine called Metropolis. A good friend of mine had just moved to Sheffield, and told me about a new US house night that was launching at The Arches (I think it was). So we went along to review it… only something went a bit wrong, and in a venue that can comfortably hold 300 or so bodies, there were about 15. Seriously.

The promoter, very embarrassed, told the big-name US DJ who was due to play not to bother, just take the cash and go back to the hotel – which he did. But when told Carolyn Harding the same thing re: her PA, she just told him nah, she'd come all this way, she might as well sing… which she did. To 15 people, getting down off the stage and wandering the dancefloor with mic in hand, serenading each and every one of the audience personally.

So, massive respect to one of the most un-diva-like divas in the game, is what I'm saying.

Anyway as for this record… what we have here are four new rubs of Ms Harding's 1995 classic from the UK's own Sean McCabe. Given that the track's been mixed over the years by Kerri Chandler, Roger Sanchez and Jon Cutler, Sean's got some pretty big shoes to fill, but he does so admirably. His Club Vocal does the trad vocal soulful thing, comes with an accompanying instrumental, and is just fine… but it's the Club Dub that stands out for me here, dripping as it is in lush New Jersey-style organs. There's a fully instrumental version of this one as well but it's gotta be the one with the scat vox for me. Somewhat unsurprisingly!

If you're in need of some traditional US garage-style grooves, then you're not going to find much this week that's as good as this.

Out: This week

About: This is on King Street so you know where to go, don't you?

Mateo & Matos – Deep Afro Rootz

Blimey! Seems like years since I had anything through from Mateo & Matos, who at one time used to be among the most prolific producers in house music. Not sure if they've actually been quiet or if I'm just out of the loop or what… but anyway here they are again.

The title of this one does give the game away somewhat… and as regular TIWWD readers will know, I'm not usually the biggest fan of Afro grooves. But while the Main Mix goes a bit overboard on the chanting for me, the Beatz mix could come in handy I'm sure. More to the point, you also get two rubs of Open Minded, a more straight-up house workout with a neat line in understated organ sounds and warm Rhodes chords.

It's definitely the latter track that's doing it more for me but plenty of people will lap up the A-side and anyway, it's just good to see Jon and Eddie are still going strong!

Out: This week

About: As befits two veteran NYC producers, this comes on veteran NYC label King Street Sounds, who I believe I may have mentioned once or twice before recently…

Chris B – Sunday Stomp EP

The recent flow of top-drawer goodness out of the King Street stable continues with this seven-track EP/mini-album from Chris B.

Again, I'm not gonna go into every single track cos time is of the essence right now, but overall the order of the day here is sumptuous, musical deep house with just the slightest hints of tech around the edges… generally speaking the tracks are aimed primarily, I'd suggest, at the afterhours joints, but you also get a more hi-octane stomper in the form of Funbags and, in Nineoneone, one officially certified Big Fuck-Off Organ Tune.

And you know me and organs… so obviously it's Nineoneone that stands out for me here but this is a very classy EP all round. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: This ones sailing under the Street King flag and, as ever, the King Street website is the place to head if you wanna find out more

Soundealers – I Know You Want Me

Just one more quickly tonight… and it's another gem from that rather excellent bundle of King Street promos I mentioned recently. This one comes from the currently much talked-about Soundealers, on the mothership King Street label itself.

There are just the two mixes. On the A is the Night Mix from Langenberg, a shufflin' midtempo groover with very busy production full of atmospheric washes, insistent shakers, solid but muted kicks and, most importantly, the underlying throbbing vox-as-bassline riff. It's cool, but the real beauty here for me is the B-side's Rey & Kjavik Remix, which is based around a simple looping three-note synth/organ riff. It's actually got a full vocal, but it's a) whispered and b) placed so far back in the mix that you could be forgiven for hardly noticing it's there… a vocal screamer this certainly isn't.

Instead, you can file it under "sparse, stripped-down grooves, aimed fair and square at the proper heads that are still on the floor at 5am". And we like that kind of thing round these 'ere parts, don't we?

Out: This week

About: I told you you'd be seeing this link to the King Street website a fair bit!

ALBUM Various - House Of Ibiza 2012

Okay, so I'm just a little bit confused, cos didn't we look at an EP of this name from Street King just recently? And none of the tracks seem to be the same so it's not like that was a sampler. But anyway, yes, here's the second of tonight's King Street long-players.

Again it's a V/A compilation and again it's very Ibiza-oriented; yet it's also a very different beast from the Chris Brann mix below. It's unmixed, for one thing. For another, where that album's packed with big names from the more traditional US house scene, on this one we're treated to upfront and unreleased nuggets from today's house heroes and rising stars, with Tom De Neef, Spettro, Filtertypen, Scott Wozniak and Satoshi Fumi being some of the names that you'll probably recognise.

With tracks ranging from terrace-friendly percussion workouts like Pacha DJ's Danza Loca, to throbbing strobe-lit 5am chuggers like T Ruggieri's Destroy, from the deep grooves of Benjamin Shock's Five Smooth Stones to the unashamed hi-octane party vibes of Yakka's See The Light (which samples Grease and actually carries it off*), if the Brann mix is Ibiza 2012 by day, this is Ibiza 2012 by night. And it's sounding pretty good… with Ben Royal's Let's Go, Spettro's I Felt Raised and, yes, the Yakka track among the highlights for me.

Out: Last week (sorry)

About: Same link, but this one is flying the Street King flag. As I believe I said at the start. Oh yeah, and this one's SK178 by the way; the five-track EP before was SK179. In case that assists in your no-doubt-imminent purchasing activities.

*Quentin Kane's M.U.S.I.C pulls off a similarly unlikely sampling coup, utilising the very familiar riff from a certain well-known disco-era cut by the misunderstood genius that is Rod The Mod.

VARIOUS Chris Brann – A Long Hot Summer

The first of two long-players for you tonight from the legendary King Street stable.

First up, this mix album from Chris Brann. You've got to give Mr Brann one thing: he's no one-trick pony, flipping effortlessly back and and forth between the chilled, soulful grooves of Ananda Project, and his more experimental, forward-thinking work when wearing his P'taah hat (see last year's excellent Perfumed Silence album: it somewhat unjustly didn't get reviewed on here cos I was on holiday the week it came out, but if you've not heard the album then trust me, it's a cracker). To name but two of his various guises.

Here, though, he's billed as 'Chris Brann from Ananda Project', which gives you an idea of what to expect: laidback, sultry house grooves tailormade for lazing on beaches. It's a little polite in its earlier stretches, perhaps, but the energy levels do start to pick up as the mix progresses… just like you'd want them to if you were sat on an Ibizan terrace watching the sun go down.

With tracks and mixes from the likes of Groove Assassin, Frankie Feliciano, Jay-J, Sunshine 'Dubtribe' Jones, Tiger Stripes and Kiko Navarro, this has summer written all over it – quite literally. Mojitos, anyone?

Out: This week

About: You must know where to find King Street Sounds by now, surely? This particular comp comes under the Nite Grooves banner.

So many tunes, so little time 17

214 – Plastic Spokes EP
Glitchy, IDM-ish beats from the more experimental side of the dubstep/future garage/bass music spectrum, courtesy of Seattle-based producer 214 and coming on Scottish label Fortified Audio.
More info

Chris Brann – A Long Hot Summer sampler
A five-track DJ-only sampler for Mr Wamdue/Ptaah/Ananda Project's soon-come mix album of the same name on King Street. Beg, borrow or steal a copy if you can cos I'm not sure if this one's even gonna be in the shops…
More info

Danny eM – Faking Love EP
Number four from new UK label Form And Function sees Peruvian producer Danny eM serving up three tracks of proggy deep/tech bizniss. Running Late In Lima would be my pick of the three.
More info

DJ MFR + Devid Morrison – Wonderland
This three-tracker from the legendary Transport Recordings sees label boss DJ MFR team up with Italy's Devid Morrison for what's one of the label's techiest releases yet.
More info

Dual T – Bridge To The Sky
Savoir Faire Musique maintain their usual high standard with this sumptuous late-night houser from Dual T, which then gets a tuffer SMAK Remix while the garage-leaning Keep The Silence rounds out the EP.
More info

Stefan Kaye – Moments EP
Our second this week from the Endemic Digital camp is this five-tracker from label stalwart Stefan Kaye. Overall the mood is deep tech-house with a hint of prog, with the garage inflections of Not Without You the cream of the crop to these ears.
More info

Alexander Kowalski – Green Eyed
A five-track EP from the Berlin resident and Damage Music boss on Vince Watson's Bio Music label, sitting somewhere between progressive house and techno. The deep, rumbling Garden Of SEM stands out for me.
More info

Manuel Mazza – Shift
Funkified techno grooves on the original mix, with Alex Celler serving up a more minimalist rework. Comes on Italian techno label Diva Records.
More info

Maverickz – Losing My Religion
The original mix here is a fairly bouncy, housey kinda techno cut with acid twinges. Vid Marjanovic and Balthazar + JackRock take the track into tougher techno pastures.
More info

Nikola Vujicic Vs Baunzz! – Tears No More
Bouncy Balkan electro-swing ahoy! Just the one mix so not much else to tell you except that it comes on brand-new Serbian label Club4Club… and that while this sound has certainly been done, in spades, this really is rather jolly.
More info

Rampue – KopfAber
The first in a trilogy of singles, apparently, from this Berlin-based producer. Think nu-disco on a handful of Valium 10 and you're somewhere in the ballpark.
More info

Rhenalt – Reach Out
“Bumping vocal house with an electro edge,” is how the hype sheet describes this sixth offering from House Of Stank's Get Up Recordings. The original and Kenny Summit mixes have a little TOO MUCH of an electro edge for me, but the deeper Rob Salmon rub does the job.
More info

Roberto – First Principles
Deep, moody and glitchy techno with a distinct Detroit edge is the order of the day on this four-tracker from Joachim Spieth's AFFIN imprint. For this reviewer, Silvertown is the one.
More info

Greg Eversoul – Loan Smoke EP
Last but by no means least, here we have a three-track EP from Denver's Greg Eversoul. He's a veteran of Hipp-E's legendary San Francisco parties back in the day and it shows, with trippy, rhythmic, hypnotic house/tech-house grooves the order of the day. Something of a dub influence in evidence too.
More info

THANKS ALSO this week to: Betoko, BioWire, Cevin Fisher's European Tour, Daniel Mehes, dreamAwaken, Frank Martin, Julian Weiss, Nathan Swiss, Ooko, Piri Piri, Situation, Siwell, Steve Mulder, Tim Sheridan, Tom Demac vs Silverclub, Tom Wax + Jennifer Pliester and Off-Axis Recordings… as ever, I'm sure there are some gems in there that I've overlooked but there just isn't time to review everything.

Mind Street ft Jalley – Inside

The hype sheet bills this as the debut release from this French outfit, though whether that's their very first release anywhere ever, or just their first on King Street, I'm not sure.

Either way, Inside is a rolling soulful house groover featuring a full male vocal, coming with remixes from  Groove Assassin, Dolls Combers, Souldynamic and Danny Dance, on top of the Mind Street Friendly Remix which I guess counts as the 'original' in this case*. The various mixes don't vary hugely: most are in a fairly traditional-sounding vein and as such, any of 'em should serve your soulful floor nicely, but if pushed I'd plump for the Groove Assassin Classic Remix, with its organs and space disco synths… or the Danny Dance Dub Vocal, which is the exception to the rule in that it's a more stripped-down and pumped-up pass that could see this reaching beyond the soulful house diehards.

Out: This week

About: You may have heard this before if you picked up the King Street Miami 2012 sampler. Anyway, you can find King Street online here.

*Actually, I've just realised that the full version of this release does included an Original original… they just haven't promo'ed it. Which seems odd but there go!

DJ Vivona & Joi Cardwell – Return To Love

Okay, so it's 2002*. I'm at a pool party at the WMC… I think it was Distant Music and Chez, and I think it was at the Clevelander, but it's been 10 years so I could be wrong… anyway this piano tune comes on and the place just goes instant-mental. The tune in question was Praise Cats' then brand-new Shined On Me and you know how big that turned out to be!

What's all this got to do with the price of fish? Nothing whatsoever – always thought that was a stupid expression. What it has got to do with, though, is that whatever the prevailing musical trends of the day, there is ALWAYS room for a rip-roarin' uplifting piano/vocal tune… and head for the Terry Hunter BANG Transform Mix of this (which comes with an instrumental as well, for the truly voxophobic) and that's exactly what you'll find. It might not appeal to the Hoxton hipsters so much, admittedly, but on dancefloors worldwide it'll slay 'em.

Meanwhile, if it's deeper, more soulful vibes you're after, then either the Original or the more sumptuous Director's Cut Treatment will suit you nicely. Not least because we have the inimitable Miss Cardwell on vocals… we don't hear enough from her these days so that in itself is reason to 'jump for Joi' (ho ho ho).

Class in a glass, basically. The way we used to…

Out: This week on Traxsource promo, everywhere else from May 20.

About: This comes on the mighty King Street, and I should also point out that the somewhat anonymously presented Director's Cut are in fact none other than Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper. Only a label of King Street's stature could present a team-up like that quite so nonchalantly!

*You can imagine the screen going a bit wobbly for the full 'flashback' effect, if you like

9 West – What's On Your Mind EP

Veteran US house label King Street has noticeably been embracing more contemporary house styles of late, and further evidence of that comes in the form of this four-track EP from Greece's 9 West, AKA Kostas Tikis.

Protest leads the charge, and is a fairly typical but very playable slab of techy deepness, chugging along at an unhurried pace with plenty of atmospherics in the background and some treated male vocal snips to add musical interest. What's On Your Mind works a slightly more tribal-influenced rhythm, a suitably big n' rumblin' bottom-end and occasional echo-y female vocal stabs, while In Love operates in more traditional deep house/garage territories with its drawn-out vocal wails, dramatic bass swells and overall dreamy feel.

The vocal on the latter actually reminds me a little bit of Eterna by Slam, but that's probably just me. The pick of the EP, though, is Sometimes, which is all about the big, throbbing organ line… and you know how fond TIWWD is of a big, throbbing organ*! Despite the nostalgic organ sound, though, the track's actually quite current-sounding otherwise, what with its techified beats and sparing use of the vocal.

It all adds up to a strong EP all round… and like I say, good to see King Street keeping it fresh!

Out: This week

About: As ever, more info at the King Street website

*I remember JoeB at King Street once sending me a CD with one of the tracks marked with arrows and a scrawled note that read, “Oi, speed garage throwback!” Hello Joe, if you happen to read this.

Various - Deep In Tech Part 2

After the various artists EP from 5 And Dime below, let's jump straight from one of the world's smallest and newest house labels to one of the world's biggest and longest-running, with another V/A offering courtesy this time of the mighty Nite Grooves/King Street.

You've got to hand it to King Street, really. Traditionally the label's been best known for US-style soulful house n' garage flavas, and they still do plenty of that… but they've also embraced the more contemporary, techy/European house sound as few labels of their ilk have. Old dogs can not only learn new tricks, it seems, they can actually do them pretty damn well! As such, if it's deep, driving tech-house grooves for strobe-y basement rooms you're after, this is well worth checking.

On offer, then, are four tracks from four artists. Chris B's Fiji and Converge+'s Quest are the tracks that lean most strongly to the techno side of the tech-house equation, the latter being notable also for a dark, rumbling, almost speed garage-ish b-line, while Kera's Convoi Exceptionnel and OMB's Stay With Me have a little more of that dreamy-druggy-proggy 'lost in music' kinda feel going on.

But these are fairly subtle (and highly subjective) distinctions. And again, I'm loathe to pick a favourite here because all four tracks will do their job admirably, and for an EP featuring four more-or-less newcomer artists, that's no mean feat.

Out: This week

About: You surely know where to find King Street online by now? As regards the artists involved, you might like to know that Converge+ is Japanese producer Hiroshi Endo while Kera hails from the Netherlands.

Francesco Tarantini - Mind Tracks EP

A six-track EP from Italy's Francesco Tarantini here, coming on the mighty Nite Grooves. Nite Grooves has always, of course, been King Street's home for the jackin', tracky shiznit and this EP is no exception!

In fact, I'd say Nite Grooves is pretty much the perfect home for this release, because across its six tracks it bridges the gap nicely between traditional NYC house (as you'd find on King Street) and more contemporary, techy European vibes (as you'd find on Street King). If it's tuff, no-nonsense heads-down deep/tech house for the dancefloor you're after then head for The Flow or Put Your Sunglasses on. If you want a little more of a Wave Music/Body & Soul-style ethno-infused vibe then check No Solution or Amazon, while finally the Eric Power B Remix of The Flow adds a few good-time disco tinges and The Great is an uncompromising slab of raw machine soul.

Admittedly I'm not so into the two Afro-y cuts myself but that's purely a matter of personal taste… this is nonetheless a very strong EP all round.

Out: This week

About: For more info on one of house music's longest-running and most-respected imprints, click here.

Vozmediano – Kill The Disco EP

You may remember that Spanish tech-housers Vozmediano cropped up on King Street's New Breed Of Deep House V/A sampler EP not so long since, with the excellent Un Cafe S'Il Vous Plait. Well, now they're back on the legendary New York label with an EP all of their very own.

You get four tracks and five mixes, in total. All I Said is a decent enough if slightly generic slab of NY-style house, while Tango does what you think it's gonna do but in much less of a cheesy oompah-loompah style than you're probably expecting, and comes complete with a Nacho Marco Remix that for me is the standout cut of the whole EP, with the tango elements relegated to a secondary role in what becomes a big, driving houser suitable for main rooms and more underground floors alike.

Green Worm is a rawer-sounding house cut with more than a little of the early Strictlies about it, and then finally the EP comes to a close with Kill The Disco itself, a jerky, cut-up, experimental affair awash with reversed sounds, random bits of Afro chanting, sudden incongruous disco loops that burst in out of nowhere and disappear again just as quickly and, well, you get the idea. It's crazy but you know what, it just might work…

All told there's plenty to enjoy and a little bit to digest, too, making this one of King Street's best releases of late for me.

Out: This week

About: For more info, hit up www.kingstreetsounds.com

Sean McCabe & Stephanie Cooke - Just A Little Bit

King Street's not-at-all-fierce ruling diva (I've met her, she's lovely, and a very classy lady) teams up with rising UK star Sean McCabe, which you have to think must be something of a dream come true for the young lad from south Wales.

Just A Little Bit is one for those who like their soulful house/USG in the traditional vein, for sure. Mix-wise you get three from McCabe himself, two from Black Sonix and one from Marlon D but to be honest they don't vary hugely… still, if pushed, I'd go for Marlon D's rub, which while still using the full vocal, strips things back a little musically for a slightly less sweet sound.

My personal tastes might have moved in a deeper/techier direction in recent years, but this is exactly the kind of thing I used to feen for and it's good to see that there are still those pushing that sumptous, Jersey-inspired vocal vibe… and this oozes quality from every pore. With not a lame-ass broken Afro-jazz rub in sight!

Out: This week

About: You know where to find King Street by now, surely? They're on Facebook as well. Oh, and you can find out more about Mr McCabe here.