The Rimshooters Vs Snax – Pledge Allegiance

Some upfront, contemporary-sounding house vibes here courtesy of boutique Parisian label Her Majesty's Ship. It's available on limited edition hand-painted vinyl and everything!

There's three mixes on offer, and they vary quite considerably. The original is a midtempo slab of disco house/nu boogie, and very satisfying in the 'fat squelchy bass' department. But the vocal's a little European/synthpop-sounding so better to these ears is the Box Office Poison House Dub, which… well, y'know is housier and dubbier, what can tell you? Finally, and just pipping the latter for me, is Rimshooters' own Acid Dub which… oh, come on.

With house, ahem, "back in" right now*, I do get a bit anxious sometimes if these young 'uns with their funny jeans and haircuts are gonna get it right. Records like this reassure me no end.

Out: This week

About: You can find Her Majesty's Ship on Facebook, Soundcloud or their own website. This is only their fifth release, by the way. Oh, and if you want the vinyl, have a peep at Resident Advisor for a list of previous HMS stockists.

*a phrase that makes me laugh cos for some of us, it's never been out… for the past 20 years or more. Tsk, kids! :-)

Phlash – House Phillerz Vol 2

Phil Asher once more steps out in his Phlash disguise and reminds us that for all the soul-jazz-broken beat noodles he still remembers a thing or two about proper stompin' house music.

There's three tracks on offer, all quite different. Deep Beat is what it says, a stripped, looping groove for those 3am locked-on moments… Vaporize is a bleepy, smoke-strobe-poppers acid belter… and then finally All I Want is a jazzy affair with more than a hint of vintage Jersey garage about it, not to mention a very familiar vocal sample.

With three tracks this varied yet this good, I'd say Mr Asher is frankly just showing off…

Out: This week

About: This comes Italian label Archive. Can't seem to find a website for them so here's Phil's, sorry Phlash's, MySpace instead. They do show up on Discogs, though.

Pach DJ – Global Apocalypse

It's Friday night so tonight I think we'll look at a couple of more pumping releases (well, as pumping as it gets round these parts), starting with this latest from Street King.

Global Apocalypse comes in three mixes, without an Original in sight. Mihalis Safras's rub is tuff, techy and driving, while Mikee's Solito Mix is techier and darker still. It's the Lee Burton Remix that's doing it for me best, though: it's a little less hi-octane but all the more involving for it. I think I used the phrase "dark, sinuous grooves" yesterday so I won't again, but you get the idea… there's a fairly hefty dose of acid in there too.

Out: This week on Beatport… everywhere else you'll have to wait till November 26 (I know it seems like a long time but that's what it says here)

About: Street King is part of the King Street stable, as you know no doubt have realised by now

Attemporal – Att_3

And now let's lurch like a shockingly badly programmed DJ set from the uber-deepness of Artone & Anton Pau straight into the no-nonsense jackery of this.

Sitting right on that cusp where acid house meets techno, Att_3 is a throbbing, 303-tinged workout for turbo-charged bodies in darkened rooms, pure and simple. Over on the B, meanwhile, my old friend Rebekah turns in a refix that seriously ups the bottom-end grunt. This one's more for the out-and-out techno floors but in the right spot it'll do the damage without a doubt.

I really wouldn't try playing it straight after Need Deep, though.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Attemporal's own label, ATT Series. You can find 'em on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website,  and you can also find out more about the Spanish duo at Resident Advisor. Oh yeah and you can find Rebekah on Facebook too… she's just moved to Berlin, dont'cha know?

Tom Taylor & Gareth Whitehad feat Robert Owens - I Came To Dance

And from a brace of brand new labels to one of the UK's best-loved, with the latest from Lost My Dog.

They've pulled off something of a coup this time out, securing the vocal services of the mighty Robert Owens. The Chicago veteran's distinctive tonsils are in full effect here, informing us of his intentions vis à vis the rhythmic movement of his body in time with the music and the emotional and spiritual benefits thereof, over a backing that a time machine-equipped raver wandering in from 1989 would have no problem whatsoever in identifying with. The Deepened Remix shouldn't take much explaining, while a brace of rerubs from label co-owner Pete Dafeet go down a more small-hours, acid-y path.

Straight-up house music the way we used to do it, nuff said.

Out: This week

About: Find Lost My Dog here, here and here (web, Facebook, Soundcloud).

Jace Syntax – Sinister Microns

Another new label here… this time one based in Portsmouth, UK, called Murge Recordings.

This is only their third release but beyond the low-digit catalogue number there's not a lot else 'newbie-ish' about it at all. Sinister Microns in its Original form is a bubbling, driving cut sitting right on the house/techno borderline, while a Mark Ambrose Remix takes us into deeper, darker acid territories and will be the one for more headstrong floors. But the standout for me is the Colin Dale Remix – a highly polished, classic-sounding production that shows just why this veteran London producer has so many friends in house and techno camps alike.

Quality house and techno grooves… a brand new UK label… you know what to do folks. And if you don't, try asking Robin S for some suggestions :-)

Out: This week

About: After I gave positive feedback on this, Kelly at Murge was kind enough to send through the label's two previous releases as well. Which means I can safely tell you that a) this isn't just a one-off on the quality front and b) if classic-style dark, driving acid house and techno is your thang then you need to be keeping an eye on these guys. Which you can do by visiting their website, Facebook or Soundcloud.

Darius Syrossian – My Side Project EP

Darius Syrossian returns to Canada's Mile End Records, who apparently had to compete with the likes of Jamie Jones, DJ Sneak and Andre Crom to sign this.

And no wonder… the title track here is as fine a slab of 100% non-cheesy, jackin' disco house as you'll hear all week. It's also probably the only record you'll hear all week that's got a vocal that goes "You know what that is? That's a fucking TUBA!" Well, it made me smile…

Over on the B, 1994 Session is, on the whole, a more contemporary-sounding slice of deep/tech action than the name might suggest, though it does have a big wobbling acid bassline… and it comes complete with a deeper refix from Butler & Murt that ditches the 303, adds a spoken, French-accented female vocal and ends up sounding, to these ears, not entirely unlike Deee-Lite's What Is Love? remade in a 2012 Berlin/London stylee.

Which is meant as a compliment, BTW! All told, three very strong tracks, and quite varied as well, so you can't really go wrong.

Out: This week

About: Find Mile End on Facebook or Soundcloud

Hidde M – Rock It Now

Been trying to blog about this one all week, and failing… because there are no fewer than 11 mixes, and by the time you get to number 9 or 10 you've forgotten what the first one was like, and so it goes on. The positive aspect of all that round-in-circles-ness, though, is that at the start of the week I wasn't into the Underworld-ish vocal at all – but after a week of hearing it every day, I rather like it…

So, the Original here is an upbeat, driving and chunky groover with something of an indie-dance feel, and with said vocal ("I left you all alone, to build a rocket now") in full effect. And then, of course, you get 10 mixes to choose from, so it's hard to imagine many jocks operating in the house/tech-house arena not finding something to play. For me it's a toss-up between the ultra-deep rub from Bryan Cosgrove or  the bubblin' acid of the Love Barve Remix for first place, with Pao Calderon's brace of disco-tinged reworks and Jonathan Stomr's bass-heavy, rave-y take also very playable. But elsewhere there's deep prog from Kertek, tribal drum biznis from Victor Saguanza and more besides… with every mix bar Pao C's Dub featuring the vocal to a greater or lesser degree (often in heavily treated form).

Usually when a label chucks this many mixes at something it means one of two things: they either have lots of faith in the track, or not very much at all. In this case it should be the former cos it is something of a biggie, truth be told. Rock it now indeed.

Out: This week

About: This is the latest from New York's Dance Through Life, who can be found on Soundcloud and Facebook.

House of Stank – Make U Jack 2012

In which House of Stank's 2008 Dust Traxx offering gets another run-out with new mixes from Inland Knights, Manny Ward and HoS themselves.

Also included are the original mix plus the original set of re-rubs from Ron Carroll, The Connection and Santiago & Bushido, making a whopping seven mixes in total. And with a remix line-up like that, and a title like Make U Jack – which does pretty well sum up what this track's all about – it's hard to imagine any decent house DJ not finding something to play here. I'm not gonna go into all seven mixes individually – I've got a cold and a headache and couldn't really claim to be in the mood – but the IKs rub and HoS's own refix stand out for me. Like I said though, you can't really go wrong with this package.

Remember: "There's only one track that'll make you jack, one groove that'll make you move, and that's house"!

Out: This week

About: This comes on Get Up Recordings, HoS's own, US-based label. They're just eight releases old but have already put out material by the heavy-hitting likes of Tedd Patterson and Honey Dijon… and here's where to find them if you want to know more.

Desos – Ghetto Love

As you may or may not be aware, 11 blokes from England will be playing a game of football against 11 blokes from Ukraine tonight, with a view to seeing which of them gets to play a game against 11 blokes from Spain next week and which of them gets to go home and be hated by their entire nation.

Now, I'm not the world's biggest football fan by any means but it seems rude not to go to a pub and shout at a large screen to mark the event, particularly when the sun's shining. So this will probably be your only blog review tonight… the record in question is a bit of a cracker though, it has to be said.

Regular readers will know that Desos (AKA Brian Løgstrup) has been one of TIWWD's favourite producers of the past year or two, and he doesn't disappoint here. It's the original version of Ghetto Love that's doing it best for me, a proper slab of uncompromising deepness with drifting, mournful sax sat atop sparse, crisp beats, lingering piano chords and an unassuming throbbing b-line. But the acid-tinged and slightly more driving Detroit Swindle KFC Rework ain't too shoddy either.

As I said, more quality stuff from a producer you really need to be keeping an eye on.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Desos's own Deso Records. Click the link for their website or find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Elliot Wright – Rise On High

A neat little two-tracker here from the UK's Sideways Recordings, coming from Chelmsford-based Elliot Wright.

In its original form, Rise On High is a soulfully-inclined groover, sporting garage-y organ stabs, snippets of spoken vocal and some nice acid-y stabs that give the track that little bit of extra bite. It's good, but the B-side is even better, as in Jamie Anderson's hands the acid touches are brought to the fore in a techier rub, with a big squelchy 303 bassline added just to ram the point home.

It's the latter mix with its perfect blend of darker and lighter elements that's doing it best for me, but the A-side will also have its fans for sure… making for a strong release all-round from this rising UK house imprint.

Out: This week

About: You can find Sideways Recordings, who are based in Folkestone, at their website or on Soundcloud. Here's Elliott's own Soundcloud page as well.

AM/TM feat Navid Izadi – Back To Acid

A nice easy one to start the day with here, cos Back To Acid doesn't really take much explaining!

So I'll just tell you that AM/TM are of course Anthony Mansfield and Tal M Klein, and here they deliver 4.5 minutes of sheer retro squelch, complete with an Adonis-esque whispered vocal from Izadi ("Melting in my brain, you can keep your cocaine, I'm on acid"). On the B, Mansfield and his other regular production partner Nick Chacona bring us a slightly pumped-up remix that, if anything, is even better.

This is as good a slab of vintage-sounding 303 thrills as you'll hear all month. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Hector Works, which is Mansfield's own label… find 'em here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud)

Oh, and here's something else from Mr Mansfield as well… free to download so enjoy!

Jeremy Breen - Holic Down

There's no stopping Scott Harrington's Savoir Faire Musique at the moment… the man himself recently told me "had FAR too much good music pinged my way so had to sign it!". Which is encouraging, isn't it?

This particular piece of good music comes from an Argentinian professional pianist by the not particularly Argentinian-sounding name of Jeremy Breen. In its original form, Holic Down is an uplifting, floaty, dreamy kind of sunrise deep houser with chorused, high-pitched female "Closer… closer… closer" vox. Niceness does, indeed, abound. A deeper refix from Howard Sessions & Al Bradley then drops most of the vox and beefs up the bottom end for the 4am floors, while finally we get a fairly self-explanatory (ie, it sounds all sub-aquatic and is dripping in 303 throb n' squelch) Whales On Acid Remix from Essex boy Lee 'Pretty Criminals' Daines.

All three are of the high quality you'd expect both from SFM and from the heavy-hitting remixers involved, making it hard to pick a favourite, though if pushed really hard and threatened with being beaten around the head with a rolled-up copy of Take A Break magazine, I'd probably have to plump for Lee's uber-deep late-night groover.

Out: This week

About: Some Savoir Faire Musique links you (hopefully!) might have clicked on before… Facebook Soundcloud Blog

2 Billion Beats - Babylon

The latest from 3am was intended, says the hype sheet, as a tribute to the sound of vintage UK deep house labels such as Paper, Toko and Pagan. Accordingly, they've drafted in the duo of Tom Lonsborough and Col Hamilton, AKA 2 Billion Beats, to do the honours.

In its Original form, Babylon tops off midtempo beats, a throbbing bassline and warm synth washes with trippy, Eastern-sounding synths, making for a track that probably sounds at its best when you're feeling a little 'altered'. The Höhle Remix is doing it for me, though, dispensing with the head-frying wibbles and wandering down an altogether more post-club, hazed-out route, while completing the EP is a stripped-down, dubby take from Matt McHenry that's aimed at very, very late floors, and that brings back the trippy high-end without it being quite as in-your-face as on the Original.

Definitely the Höhle rub for me but if you like it a little more wonky and leftfield, the other two should suit you nicely.

Out: This week on Beatport, 19 April everywhere else.

About: You can find on Facebook and Soundcloud. Oh yeah and before anyone feels neglected, I should mention the hype sheet did namecheck Glasgow Underground and 2020Vision as well… and quite rightly so.

ALBUM Phil Weeks - Raw Instrumental

Right now I seem to be just the teensie-tiniest little wee bit behind with Every Bastard Thing In The Whole Godforsaken World. So, sorry, but just the one review 4 ya tonight! It's a goodie, though. The record, I mean. Not my writing. That'll be just the usual drivel I'm afraid.

Phil Weeks' third album sees him once more getting a little bit crazy with the samples, and taking in styles ranging from sleazy nouveau funk to filter disco to pumping dancefloor-oriented house. A big, squelchy bassline is never too far away, and nor is a sizeable chunk of film dialogue, as the French producer puts his Akai MPC3000 to work lifting chunks from movies including Godfather 2, How High and Foxy Brown.

The highlights for me come towards the album's end, with the off-kilter looping, stoned groove of downtempo number Oh Yeah, the thumping bass workout of On Da Raw and the old-skool jackin' acid house vibes of Do That Dance. The latter two feature on a four-track sampler EP that should also be out round about now, I believe.

I know everyone raved about the more soul-oriented Love Affair last year, and yes it was very good, but I'm gonna come right out and say it – I think this album's better.

Out: Last week, but see above re: being a bit behind…

About: This is on Weeks' own Robsoul Recordings label

ALBUM Various - Elevation: 10 Years

Lately there've been several brand new labels featured on this blog… today, though, we're here to talk not about a label launch, but about the fact that Ireland's Elevation Recordings has reached the landmark that is their 10th anniversary.

A week may be a long time in politics, but a whole decade is a bloody long time in dance music, so all respect is due to Darran Nugent and associates over in Cork for keeping the Elevation flag flying all these years. That said, it does help that they have a knack of sourcing some incredibly good music… and naturally that applies just as much here.

With tracks on offer from Snuff Crew and Julian Sanza as well as a host of newer names, this is an eight-track journey through quality house music 2012-style, packaged the old school way on sumptuous double vinyl. It really is all good, to coin a phrase… but if I was pushed to name highlights then Aldo Cadiz's Waripolazo stands out for me with its left coast-ish bump and chopped-up hip-house vocal, as do Sanza's Elevation with its sumptuous disco vibe and – perhaps most of all – Metrica's Tit, a jerky, tech-y strutter with one of the oddest vocals you've ever heard. But like I say, the quality meter is set to 'Full' throughout so picking a fave is hard!

Congrats again on the anniversary, Elevation peeps. The rest of you – grab yourself a copy of this and enjoy.

Out: Last week actually, sorry. My bad, sometimes I forget about albums…

About: You can find Elevation on Facebook, MySpace and Soundcloud.

The Rhythm Odyssey - Devil's Tease

If you're going to do old skool house, then it helps I guess if you're an old skool guy… and if you happen to be British then it doesn't come much more old skool than being one of the founders of Bizarre Inc. Enter Dean Meredith, of Bizarre Inc and latterly Chicken Lips fame, wearing his Rhythm Device hat.*

Sorry, got a bit bogged-down in footnote then**. Where was I? Oh yeah, Devil's Tease… which in its original form is pure straight-up house music, as in a Chicago 1985-88 kinda way. Featuring a vocal by James from The Main Stem (that's somewhat after the style of Robert Owens), it's accompanied by instrumental and slightly deeper Basement versions, plus The Drums, The Bass and, most importantly, The Acid passes, the latter of which… oh come on, you don't really need me to explain that bit, do you?

If it ain't broke, they say… it's the The Acid mix that's doing it best for me but this is a treat for the old skool lovers all round.

Out: This week

About: This comes atcha on Chicken Lips' own Lipservice imprint.

*In the wake of the Levenson enquiry and its probing of journalistic standards, I feel obliged to point out that I have no idea if Dean Meredith actually OWNS a Rhythm Device hat or not. I made that bit up. Hey, maybe I could get a job at the Daily Mail! Remind me: who's doing their deep house page at the moment?

** Specifically, the footnote directly above this one. But you knew that, I'm just doing this to annoy you now.

Carlo Gambino - Bad Habits

More quality from the ever-dependable 3am Recordings stable here, with a range of mixes to suit various different times/moods/
DJs/floors.

The original of Bad Habits – which features, on all mixes, a very distinctive spoken vocal of some guy talking about how he's got no plans to give up his bad habits just yet – is a dark, throbby deep/tech-house thing. Claire Ripley's remix is still in a tech-house vein but considerably more driving and floor-friendly, with some nice whompy bottom end. Joe Morris then gives us a languid 3am Dub refix taking us into cosmic disco/Balearic territory, and then the Kirsten Sees Mix is on a cleaner, less techy, more straight-up house tip to start out, then gets intriguingly wonky and jazzified as it goes on. I'd pick a fave but it's a bit pointless... they're all good and will all work dropped at the right time.

And that's not all, because you also get two mixes of Hissyfit, a deep and acid-y workout in its original form coming complete with a slightly darker, techier rerub from 3am main man Al Bradley, wearing his Chemical Warfare hat.

Excellent work all round, really.

Out: This week

About: You can find 3am on Facebook and Soundcloud. And you probably should.

Lee Picton - Acid Deviant

Nothing like jumping about from one genre to another and confusing the hell out of people, so after the chilled-out vibes of Fresh 27 (below), let's look now at this heavy-hitting offering from Lee Picton, which helpfully has a voice saying 'acid house' at intervals just in case you were confused as to what it was you were listening to. It's also got some amusing samples from what sounds like an 1950s public information film or some such, talking about nudists and masochists and other such twisted sexual deviants and their general incorrigibility.

I'd say it's actually more tuff, contemporary house with an acid/retro twist, rather than straight-up acid revivalism, but that's a good thing, surely? Anyway, there's three mixes, the Original plus re-rubs from Parazo and Tempered DJs, and any or all of 'em are playable but I think the Original just pips it for me, with the Tempered Boys for once a close second.

Out: This week

About: This is brought to you by the ever-checkable Manchester Underground Music, who mostly live on Facebook and MySpace

Snuff Crew - Basement Jams Vol 1

One last entry for June, then, before the clock strikes midnight. Sorry it's been a bit of a slack month for reviews, it's been one thing after another. But anyway…

Berlin's Snuff Crew back in action here, doing what they do best – retrofied acid house so you can party like it's 1988. Fat 303 basslines and militant 909 percussion abound across the EP's four tracks, and while you could accuse them of not really changing it up ever, you could also applaud them for sticking to their guns and doing what they do.

So that's what we're gonna do. Snuff Crew, This Is Why We Dance applauds you. This is ace. This is acieeed!

Out: It just says 'June'. So now, then.

About: This comes atcha on Paris's excellent Skylax Records, part of the Hardrock Striker stable. Find 'em on MySpace and Soundcloud.