House Riders – All Together EP

From Essex, we now head over to Switzerland, with the latest from the always on-point Acryl Music.

There are three mixes on offer. In its original form, All Together is a deep n' moody house groove made for warm-ups and afterhours, sporting some beefy low-end rumble, "let's all come together" (I think he's saying) vocal snips and a dreamy, trippy vibe overall that nods towards both progressive house and dub techno… me like. Jeff Fontaine + Deep Spelle serve up Connected Remix that's even deeper, trippier and more late-night still, while finally DeepWit boss Alvaro Hylander delivers a slightly sunnier rub with a little more good-time funk in its veins.

These are fairly fine distinctions, though: this is just a classy, contemporary-sounding underground house groove whichever mix you plump for.

Out: Friday (June 8) on Beatport, everywhere else on June 15

About: Daniel 'Da Funk' Kneubühler's Acryl Music can be found here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud)

Ivan Garci – Sunday Clouds EP

And speaking of 'the deep', few labels currently do deep better than Denver's 5 And Dime Recordings, who this week bring us this EP from Ivan Garci. The EP's made up of three originals, plus a remix of the title cut from label stalwart Zach DeVincent.

Generally speaking, 'very deep house' is the order of the day but looking at the tracks in more detail, Sunday Clouds itself is a midtempo, relaxed kind of affair, flecked with Spanish guitars and "welcome to the summer" vocal samples. The Mindfulness Remix from the aforesaid Mr DeVincent drops the vocal and six-strings, instead using a different vocal sample from a self-help/meditation tape and some nu-disco-ish synth flourishes on what ends up more of a late-night than a sunny afternoon rub.


El Aire then sees us back in Balearic-leaning territory, but this time with slightly crisper, pacier beats and an atmospheric breakdown in the middle, while finally Mi Ventana is a slightly more pumping joint… albeit that's 'pumping' in so far as very deep house ever can be!

5 And Dime on-point as ever, nuff said.

Out: Tomorrow (30 May)

About: 5 And Dime can be found at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud. Ivan Garci can mostly be found in Amsterdam, these days, though he originally hails from Barcelona.

Spencer Parker – There Are A Few Things In My Life

With releases for Rekids, Buzzin' Fly, Saved, Tsuba and NRK under his belt, Spencer Parker should need no introduction to underground house lovers. This week, though, he's doing his thing for Tokyo's Apt. International.

Mr Parker, a UK lad by birth, is now resident in Berlin, and it's fair to say the sound of the New Capital Of The World permeates this single quite thoroughly. But it's certainly no less pleasing for that, and with its stripped-back percussion, freaky-deaky synth stabs/FX, disembodied vox and big, echo-y production, it should move any floor that truly appreciates house and/or techno music.

Patrick Leiris serves up a brace of pumped-up, busier and somewhat more techified rerubs, but whichever mix you plump for this'll serve you well.

Out: This week

About: You can find Apt. International at their website or on Soundcloud.

ALBUM Stefan Kaye – Regulate

Stefan Kaye might be better known to you as Stefan K, but it seems there's another producer working under that name in Belgium, so now he's using his real name. And under his real name, he's just released his second album on Unrivaled Music, which I think follows on from 2011's Knowing You as Stefan K. Unless of course I've got it twisted and that was the OTHER Stefan K… anyway it's all kind of confusing so let's just concentrate on this album!

In his time, Mr Kaye has turned out both deep and progressive house grooves; the nine tracks featured in this set can generally be filed under the former heading, though there are tinges of prog here and there as well (on Fragments Of Dreams, for instance). Generally speaking, we're in late-night, afterhours or post-club territory, with muted kicks, lingering pads and ambient synth washes galore. Long, atmospheric intros abound, while vocals are pretty much restricted to a few disembodied 'oohs' and 'yeahs' that are layered into the mix rather than taking centre-stage.

In short: like the Spring Tube comp below, this is a fine collection of mellow house grooves that'll be best appreciated as you sit back on the sofa, inhale deeply and shut your eyes…

Out: Now – like I said, I'm playing catch-up a bit with albums at the mo'. But it only came out on 23 April, so you're not too far behind the curve if you grab it now!

About: Unrivaled Music can be found in the usual place.

Submantra & DJ Umbi - 707 EP

You can't fault DCS Trax on the value-for-money front with this latest release, its two tracks coming in a whopping six mixes.

First up is 707 itself. The original's a late-night deep house groover with disembodied vocals floating atop a chunky synth bassline and crisp percussion, and with something of a blissed-out, Balearic feeling overall. The Sleeper Remix beefs up the beats and emphasises the track's trippy, dreamy qualities, making this a perfect heads-down cut for afterhours floors, while Holland's Mark Mywords takes us on a funkier, subaquatic kinda ride.

Lurking on the B, meanwhile, you'll find Give Me Your Love. In its Original form, this is a midtempo, soulfully-inclined deep houser with a full-phat b-line, that's equally well suited to dancefloor play or home listening. The Universal Solution Remix busies up the top-end in a more head-y, driftaway and at times slightly proggy take, while the Alex V Remix goes in the opposite direction, stripping back the beats to turn the track into a sparse-but-sumptuous bass-heavy eyes-wide-shut 4am groover.

A quality package all round, with Mark Mywords' mix of 707 just taking the gold for me and Alex V's take on Give Me Your Love a close second.

Out: Today

About: Run by Craig Stewart, DCS Trax is part of the Universe Media family and can be found online here and here (website/Soundcloud)