Milton Jackson – Lessons Learned EP

It's probably fair to call Barry Christie, AKA Milton Jackson, a 'scene veteran' these days… which is a bit scary when I can remember reviewing some of his earliest releases on Tronicsole and Million Dollar Disco back in the early days of X-Fade/iDJ in the late 90s/early 00s.

He's come a long way since those first soulful/disco house outings, though, as this latest EP for fledgling Brighton label Black Key Records shows. It's a two-track, three-mix affair, opening with See The Light,  a stripped-back, percussion-led deep house groover with a (sampled and?) treated "come on baby, dim the lights" vocal. Next up is 5 Cities, a deep n' dubby number with techy overtones and "gonna love you" vocal inserts, while rounding out the EP is a marginally tougher Andy Ash remix of the same.

Cool late-night grooves for discerning ears, in keeping with current styles but with just a little of that classic soulful feel.

Out: This week

About: This is only number five from Black Key Records, who can be found on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

Demarkus Lewis – Snazz-A-Tron EP

Next up, we have a new EP from Demarkus Lewis on Lost My Dog… words which should be enough to get any deep house lover salivating.

There are three original tracks, in a total of five mixes. Look N Deep is a midtempo cut with a soulful male vocal and lots of subtle, squelchy 303 bass. RP Foolin' is a more uptempo and bumpin' affair with a disco sheen, that's then given a deeper refix by Lost My Dog regular Yse (pronounced 'ee-suh', in case you were wondering). And then finally Wipe Your Mouth is a more heads-down jacking number, with militant snares counterpointed by some lovely warm pianos and garage-y vox; Milton Jackson then serves up a remix that's sparser and glitchier still, and that somewhat recalls the more musical, less obvious end of UKG circa 1999 or so.

All told, a very solid bet for the deeper floors, particularly those that like it a little soulfully-inclined.

Out: This week

About: You can find Lost My Dog here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud)