Timmy P – Haze

And from Tony S, we move on to Tony P, who serves up a four-tracker for Four Fingers Hand. Try saying that when you've had a few.

Haze itself kicks off the EP, a lovely mellow deep groove with (US) garage-y overtones that'll please older househeads no end (or at least it does this one). Downbeat, despite the title, is actually a little more upbeat, though it's still pretty mellow and as such best suited for warm-up or afterhours play. Chill Spot, oddly, tuffens up the beats another notch, but counterpoints the more energetic rhythms with a luxuriant and dreamy overall feel, while finally Are The One starts out with tough, no-nonsense kicks but gradually introduces more musical elements, including floaty, disembodied female vocals and some classic Jersey-style organs.

Again, then, there's nothing hugely innovative, pioneering or paradigm-shifting going on here, but these are four classy house/deep house cuts for lovers of the classic groove. And you can tell 'em Russy D said so!

Out: This week

About: Seems ages since I heard from Four Fingers Hand, who used to feature on here quite regularly. Don't know if they've had a bit of a break or what but anyway, welcome back guys! Here's their Facebook page.

Timmy P - Mode EP

A three-track EP here from the mysterious Timmy P, on which he touches several house bases.

Mode itself is the most uptempo and driving of the three cuts, with a tuff techy beats n' bassline groove counterpointed by insistent female wails – not to mention a wee snippet of a VERY familiar male vocal from way back in the day (I won't spoil it but you'll know it the second you hear it) – and… er, well that's about it really but that's all you really need.

Moving on, 1880 is another fairly chunky number but with a slightly more late-floor kinda feel… which brings us nicely to the real star of the show for me, Afterparty, which appropriately enough is a deeper proposition altogether, starting out with fairly no-nonsense kicks but soon warming up with lots of atmospherics, gently tinkling keys and floaty, disembodied vocal hooks.

Afterparty's my pick but it's a strong EP all round.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Manchester Underground Music