Enigma Dubz - How It Is EP

This is one of the bits I didn't get round to last week, but a) I'd been feeling bad about that, cos it's really rather good, and b) the Geddes rub of Raffa L has put me in a garage frame of mind. So here we are.

In its Original form, How It Is is probably best filed under 'future garage', with its long, dreamy intro, looping, cut-up male vocal sample and busy, 2-step-ish rhythms, though unlike a lot of such tackle it's also pretty energetic and upbeat.  Elsewhere on the EP, Feelings Gone operates in more typical late-night future garage territory while We At War is perhaps better described as UK bass/post-dubstep. Rounding out the EP, Dancing In The Dark is an excursion into the dubbiest of late-night pastures, and one to melt into the sofa to.

A very strong EP all round.

Out: Last week, but what's seven days between friends?

About: This comes from the slightly mysterious but always checkable Four40 Records, who can be found on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Cesar Caballero – Funketeao

Three very different mixes on offer of this cut from Colombian-born, Toronto-resident Cesar Caballero on his own Groove Garden imprint.

In its original form, Funketeao is a pleasant-enough slab of house music, with rolling beats, a "Music!" vocal sample and a hint of Balearic-style prog. But it's the remixes that are doing it more for me. The Omid 16B Remix is a deeper pass with a distinctly dubby edge, particularly as the track progresses (if you'll pardon the pun). Butter the Butcher, on the other hand, goes the other way entirely, packing his mix with rave/nu-nrg-style pulsing synth bass to produce a certified rump-shaking call to the dancefloor.

And in this case, two out of three is plenty to be going on with, ta!

Out: This week

About: I've told you most of what I know about Groove Garden Recordings – if you want to know more, check out their website, Facebook and Soundcloud pages.

Alec Sonite feat Henrik Skanfors – Dub Elegy

Let's start out nice n' easy with this one tonight… nice n' easy cos it's a pretty darn mellow affair and nice n' easy cos there's just two, quite similar mixes.

The clue's in the name, obviously. Think Leftfield with Earl 16, think Dreadzone in their mellower moments, and you'll get the idea with this one. The b-side remix action comes from Zoo Brazil, and has slightly housier beats and a little more of the vocal… other than that though they're two peas in a pod.

No great reinventing of wheels going on, then, but there doesn't always need to be… these are warm-up/post-club/home listening vibes in classic, familiar form and your ears will welcome them as such, trust.

Out: This week

About: This comes to you courtesy of John Henry Records, who I'll confess I've not come across before… and I can't seem to find out much online, either. I think they're German but that's about as much as I can tell you, so here's Alec Sonite's Facebook page instead.

Mr Pedros – The Lesson EP

After getting all garage-y and post-this and future-that yesterday, tonight let's take it deep, deep down… starting with this quality four-tracker from Sankey's resident Mr Pedros.

The title track is an energetic but not frenetic deep house dancefloor groover, coming accompanied by a techier and slightly acid-tinged rerub from Lee Guthrie. S'good, but B-side Poetry Deux is even better.  The crisp percussion, brooding chords and chopped vox-en-Francais of the Original Mix are pretty damn spiffing to start with, but just wait till you get to the Dave James refix.

Mr James has long been a TIWWD fave when it comes to proper heads-only deepness, so when I tell you his mix is actually called the Dave James Droning Dub, well, it won't really need much more explaining. But it's wicked stuff, rest assured.

Proving yet again that less is, indeed, more!

Out: This week on Beatport, everywhere else from 10 September

About: This comes atcha courtesy of Carlos Gambino's Midnight Social Recordings.

Leo Perez – 1975/California

Two fine slices of proper underground deep/tech house here courtesy of Unrivaled Music and Leo Perez, who I think is from Panama if it's the right one…

On the A, 1975 features speech samples saying "with a song" and "1975" that sit atop a darkly groovy backing fusing tech-house with disco-style synth stabs. But cool as 1975 undoubtedly is, the real treat here is California on the B, which takes us into the deepest of dub-house territory. A proper dubwise skanker with sampled dialogue from NASA's Mission Control (specifically from a Columbia mission so let's hope it's not the one where it blew up, eh?), this will be a treat for your afterhours floor.

I know I haven't waxed particularly lyrical but this is a killer, trust.

Out: This week

About: You can find Unrivaled Music at the Endemic Digital Soundcloud and Facebook pages.

Joe Europe – Idiot Box EP

And there's MORE deep, atmospheric bizniss here courtesy of Falk Recordings, who can always be relied on for some very deep house vibes on a more leftfield tip.

And so it is here. Idiot Box itself tops off a mellow, dreamy, almost Balearic groove with what sound like extended chunks of movie dialogue (some guy telling some girl how perfect she is… just thought I should mention that for indentification purposes). Into The Woods goes down the dubby route with some gentle acid thrown in for good measure, and then finally there's Space Head, which is a little more overtly dancefloor and uptempo, though even then you'd still be looking at warm-up/afterhours play on specialist floors only.

Into The Woods stands out for me but generally speaking, if "very deep house vibes on a more leftfield tip" sounds like they might appeal, then this will for sure.

Out: This week

About: I've just realised that Falk Recordings are based just down the road from TIWWD – in Bath, to be precise. So, erm, hello neighbours! Anyway, you can find them on Soundcloud or at their own website, or on Facebook.

Various – Full Circle EP

A five-track EP of deep grooviness here from the ever-reliable 5 And Dime stable. Actually, I say five-track but now I come to look it seems only three have downloaded – don't remember that happening.  I'll just have to tell you about the three I've got...

So, Quin's You Are It is a dark, moody, slow-paced affair in its Ben A Remix form, a track that owes as much to deep techno as it does to deep house. The same track, as remixed by Maxim Laskavy & Derek Turcios, becomes a dubbed-out deep house workout bordering on chill-out territory, while finally (for me) label stalwart Zach DeVincent's Cabrillo Hwy is a somewhat more uptempo number, but still one aimed fair and square at lovers of the deep… especially lovers of the 'deep with a little bit of prog around the edges'.

Obviously I can't tell you what the other two are like but on the evidence of these three tracks, plus the fact that this fledgling label really haven't put a foot wrong so far, you're unlikely to be disappointed!

Out: This week

About: You can find 5 And Dime at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

GVK – C Love

A great man once asked – or it might just have been the bloke out of Sha Na Na in Grease – "how low can you go?" But that's not the question tonight. The question tonight is "how deep can you go?" And if GVK and assorted remixing chums were asked that questions, the answer would have to be, "Pretty fucking deep, actually".

C Love would come under the 'deep house' heading to start with anyway (just about): it's a midtempo groover with chopped-up female vocal snips and one of those squelchy, filtered synth stabs that always remind me of Akabu's Ride The Storm. But the remixes take us deeper still. First there's the Leif Remix, which mutes the synths somewhat and lets the warm bassline shine through, replaces the vocal with some mournful male wahs and woohs, and has a somewhat more laidback, horizontal vibe generally.

Even that's as nothing, however, compared to the DJ Da Remix… with production that truly warrants the term 'cavernous', this is as sparse and echo-y as the most demanding of deeper heads could possibly ask for. It's probably best suited to listening purposes, but there is a surprisingly insistent 4/4 which means, on the right floors – and you'd have to pick them carefully – this would absolutely slay 'em.

So while all the mixes are certainly playable, it's DJ Da's rub all the way for me: it's as beautiful and involving a piece of sonic meandering as you'll hear all week.

Out: This week

About: This comes on the always-checkable Trendy Mullet… that's about as much as I can tell you. I don't know who GVK is/are, cos no-one's told me… and I'm not sure what the Courtney Love connection is either, though I'm sure it all makes sense to someone. But anyway, you can find out more about Trendy Mullet (and maybe ask them yourself!) by hitting up their website, Facebook or Soundcloud pages.

Malbetrieb & Rik Woldring – Diepe Vlakte EP

Some typically deep underground house vibes here from Sebastian Davidson's Nightbird Music.

Diepe Vlakte itself is a dub-informed cut sitting right on the deep house/deep techno borders, with the tiniest of chopped-up breathy female vocal snips sitting atop a fractured pulsating groove tailor-made for late-night smoking sessions. On the B, Vlakke Diepte is in a similar vein; this one's perhaps a little more floor-friendly but we'd be still only talking warm-up/afterhours play and it'd be equally at home on the sofa. And then finally there's a third bonus slab of deepness in the form of Malbetrieb & Sebastian Davidson's Song For M.

'Uncompromising' is the word here… this is proper head music for losing yourself in, not one for dropping at your cousin Trevor's stag night, as Nightbird continue to explore house music's more cerebral fringes.

Out: This week

About: You can find Nightbird Music on Soundcloud and Facebook. And Diepe Vlakte and Vlakke Diepte are I believe Dutch for, roughly translated, "deep and simple" and "simply deep" or something like that. Thank you, Google Translate.

Chronophone – Voce De Sa Trincha EP

Veteran US house label King Street is definitely on something of a roll right now. I had a big batch of promos through from them the other day and almost every release coming up over the next couple of months is a killer, trust. Don't know what they're doing but let's hope they keep doing it…

In the meantime, there's this, a five-track EP from French producer Chronopone, AKA Stephan Joulin, that serves up various different flavours of deep house. Por La Vida is a languid, laidback affair, all lingering pads and muted trumpets,  while Mellow Cotton is a sparse, techy number with proggy overtones. Both are good at what they do, but the standout by far here is the title track.

NowI don't know what the original of Voce De Sa Trincha sounds like – nor the fifth track Gold, for that matter, cos they've not included those on the promo mailout. But for once I'm not screwing, cos what they did send is the DZeta & Basile Remix. And THAT is as officially crucial a slab of heavily dub-inflected deepness as June is likely to deliver.

After that, Gold could be a Eurotrance cover of the Spandau Ballet song with a rap by Dappy, for all I care – you'd still need this anyway.

Out: This week

About: Here's that familiar King Street link again! So, just for variety's sake, here's the Dzeta & Basile Facebook page as well. Haven't heard from these boys in a while – they used to feature on TIWWD quite a lot when it started and I put them in iDJ's rising stars of deep house thing last year, then it's been a bit quiet since – but great to have them back.

PS That's it for tonight… been a long day and I'm tired. Plus after getting lost in the sparse, bass-y beauty of the DZeta & Basile offering, nothing else would sound as good right now anyway...

Tony S – Either Way Around/Feel It EP

Another simple two-tracker here, this time from Essex boys Unrivaled Music.

On the A, Either Way Round is a techy, deep-ish groover with muted kicks, heavily filtered/effected instrument sounds, female vocal stabs and then, on top it all, jazzy pia-pia-piano shining through all bright and clear. More warm-up than peaktime, for sure, but very nice all the same. On the B, meanwhile, Feel It fuses crisp old-skool Chicago beats with rich Guerrilla-esque dub-house-prog tribal percussion, synth washes and yearnsome "I can feel it in my soul" fem vox.

Solid stuff as ever from Unrivaled, with Feel It taking top honours for me.

Out: This week

About: Unrivaled Music, as you know, is part of the Endemic Digital stable.

ALBUM Various – Deeper Shades 01

Normally known for progressive house vibes – sometimes of the deeper, more satisfying variety but sometimes veering a little too far into shiny, trance-y territory –  here Russia's Spring Tube flip the script in a most pleasing fashion, serving up a whole album of the deep stuff, which we're promised will be the first in a series.

And if you were wondering if they'd do it properly, then the inclusion of two tracks from sometime Lost My Dog contributor Artie Flexs should go some way towards setting your mind at rest. There are ten tracks in total, coming from the aforementioned Mr Flexs plus Deep Herman, Universal Solution, Suke 8, Phlegmatic Dogs and Leandro Dutra, and generally speaking the vibe ranges – to take two tracks more or less at random – from the deep, floaty prog of Universal Solution's The Way Back to the dubbed-out, sub-aquatic deep house of Deep Herman's Three Fast Days (one of the album's standouts for me).

If lazy, stoner-friendly deep and progressive house grooves sound like a pleasant way of spending 71 minutes to you then trust me, you won't be disappointed with this set… I'm looking forward to volume 2 already.

Out: Last week… but I'm a bit behind with albums and I'm gonna be trying to catch up a bit over the next few days, so deal with it :-)

About: This is Spring Tube's 60th release, and you can find out more about 'em from their website and Facebook page.

Intereresting to note that another Russian prog label, Incepto Music, has recently launched an Incepto Deep offshoot… could the Russians finally be moving on from their long obsession with prog, electro and trance? We live in hope!

Jay Bliss - The Art Of Doing Nothing EP

Only the second release here from a new label headed up by Alex 'Hypercolour' Jones, Ste Roberts and Dave 'MN2S' Elkabas. And if you're looking for stylistic clues in that last sentence, then Hypercolour's forward-thinking, leftfield house and techno rather than MN2S's uplifting vocal house are what you need to be thinking about.

Opener Doing Nothing is the most 'traditional' cut on offer, a fairly chunky deep house floor-groover with bubblin' sub-aquatic synths, a meaty bass riff and a simple three-note piano hook. X then takes us further into experimental pastures with its lo-fi crackles, skittish rhythms and sci-fi synth noises. The latter's accompanied by a 14-minute Petre Inspirescu mix that may appeal to fans of Plastikman, Aphex Twin et al, though I have to say it's a glitch too far for me personally… but digital bonus cut Atonement lets us end on a high, as Bliss relaxes the tempo and gets his dubwise skank on.

Out: This week

About: The new label from the Hypercolour/Glass Table/MN2S/1Trax boys is called Initials and can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud… you can also read an interview with them at Greg Fenton's Magazine Sixty

Kaua – Spuma EP

Some serious deepness here from Switzerland's ever-excellent Acryl Music and Japanese producer Kaua.

The title track Spuma itself is the most obviously dancefloor-oriented of the three tracks on offer, a deep n' moody groover topped off with dreamy, floaty, proggy twiddles. Next up, Abelia is a late-night, sofa-surfin' kinda thang with ambience galore, periodic injections of fat squelchy bass, mournful brass and glitchy broken/two-step beats.

But while those are both very cool, the killer to these ears is Owni, which is as fine a slice of heavy dub-inspired deep house/deep techno bizniss as you'll hear all week. In fact it's probably closer to straight-up dub than anything… but that's by no means a problem, obviously. Crucial vibes, seen?

Out: For a couple of weeks on Beatport, but getting a full worldwide release this week.

About: Find Acryl Music at their website, on MySpace and on Soundcloud.

Matthieu Duchesne – Afternoon In The Garden EP

So this was gonna go into the So many tunes round-up… only on playing it again I realised a) it was too wonderfully varied in style to sum up quickly and b) it was too just plain wonderful to not get a full review in its own right.

Afternoon In The Garden in its original form is a tough, heads-down chugger for deep house dancefloors, preferably circa 3-4am. When the hecticness has worn off but you're feeling good and you're feeling like you could go all night… those are the moments this is for. The Alvaro Hylander Remix then heads off on a very different tip… it's a late-night deep smooth groove worthy of Harley & Muscle themselves.

Flip it over and you'll find Deep In The Night. In its original form, this is another deep n' jackin' dancefloor workout that drops down to some seriously heavy-duty, er, droppery in the middle (hear it and you'll see what I mean). Perfectly suited to today's techy floors, it'll also delight those who remember the glory days of NYC dark garage circa 1995… it's big, it's sparse as you like and it's freakin' gosh-darned storming, frankly.

AND THEN, as if that wasn't enough, there's a remix from Robots Need Oil that takes us into heavy dubbed-out territory, with reggae stabs a-gogo and rasta vox. And that's also pretty awesome.

It's a personal pet hate of mine – as a hard-working sub by day – that words like 'stunning' and 'breathtaking' get so over-used these days that they've ended up meaningless. It's doubly a bummer right now, cos it leaves me struggling for words to describe this EP. So I'll just say that I've tipped Matthieu Duchesne on this blog before – he always does great stuff. But this… this is as good as house music gets in 2012. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Jesus Pablo and Di Riviera's Something Different label…find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud

Do It Proper - Dubtronic

You never quite know what you're gonna get from Do It Proper, AKA US-dwelling Brit producer Lee Jarvis. Do It Proper tracks and mixes to cross TIWWD's radar to date have ranged from the deep to the techy to the discofied… and now Lee throws us another curveball with a slab taking its influences primarily from dub techno and, well, straight up dub.

Three mixes to choose from. The Original is a tad more jerky and experimental, making me think – just a little bit – of vintage sonic explorers like Gang Of Four (though you'd still want to file this generally under techno/tech-house). It's interesting stuff, but doing it more for me are the Tronic Dub from Daniel Allen, a smoker's delight in the finest Basic Channel tradition, and the far housier Deez Raw N Deep Mix from Demarkus Lewis, which ups the dancefloor ante considerably.

Like I said, you never quite what to expect from Mr Jarvis… but you can generally rely on it being quality stuff, and this is, no matter which mix you go for.

Out: This week

About: This comes on San Francisco-based Headset Recordings… here's their website, Facebook and Soundcloud.

Various - Now Departing: 5D004

Now let's go from deep to deeper, with another new offering from some of the most promising new kids on the house block, 5 And Dime Recordings. Once again, it's a V/A affair featuring F Stop, Zach De Vincent and Quin.

F Stop's Sense Of Perspective is like an object lesson in how to do deep n' dubby house music properly, so much so that this could equally appeal to lovers of deep techno or future garage. Ain't a whole lot going on but crisp, insistent beats, lashings of bass, dubbed-out sub-aquatic FX and some meandering Mr Fingers-esque synths… but if that isn't enough to satisfy then you might just be reading the wrong blog.

ZdV's Walking On Down is a more upbeat, more obviously dancefloor-oriented affair, with a PHAT n' funky b-line, disembodied and heavily effected 'aahs' by way of a vocal and, again, not a huge amount else! And finally Quin's Everything Is Alright works pounding kicks, Afro-esque but non-noodlesome hand percussion and another full-phat bassline, and tops it all off with some soaring, dare I say even euphoric synths.

The latter's the one that could find its way into the sets of a broader variety of jocks – it's just a good groove that's packed with sunshine and smiles – while the first two are more your 'connoisseurs only' tackle… but that's a good thing. Proper deepness for those that know.

Out: This week

About: Only four releases in and Denver-based 5 And Dime is already rapidly establishing itself as one of the hottest labels to watch… in my humble opinion of course. Here's their website, Soundcloud and Facebook, if you wanna know why!

Proj3kt Dharma - Forgotten By The Universe

And from the bouncy, ravey, big-silly-grinny vibes of Munich Disco Tech, let's jump right to the opposite end of the spectrum with this latest from Denmark's Deepwit Recordings… if you like it deeper than deep then this is for you.

The original of Forgotten… is slo-mo house taken to the Nth degree, with a three-note organ riff, an echo-drenched, breathy female vocal and the most fragile of high-end percussive sounds drawn out over four-and-a-half luxuriant, lazy, head-nodding minutes. This chilled beauty then gets reworked into a dubbed-out post-club deep house groove by Jeff Fontaine & Deep Spelle on their Lost In Space Remix; into a Balearic/Italo-flavoured smoocher by tONKPROJECT on his From Another Galaxy Remix, which reminds me of those glorious Irma and Antima dubs from the early-mid 90s; and into a quirky warm-up number with techy tinges by Addex.

Just gorgeous. Now sit back and relax…

Out: This week

About: Find out more about Deepwit at their website, from their blog, on Facebook or on Soundcloud. You can currently HEAR THIS at the latter.

Monsieur M – Appletini

I wish Savoir Faire Musique would hurry up and put out a rubbish record, just so's that we could break this seemingly endless loop of me telling you how good their releases are… you'll think I sleep on Savoir Faire pillowcases. Well, I don't*, but the fact is, that longed-for day has yet to arrive – this is yet another bomb from the Savoir Faire stable.

The original of Appletini is like an object lesson in how to create the deepest of deep house without losing the music's essential danceability… it's the kind of track that's equally at home on the floor or on the sofa, and that's a harder trick to pull off than it might seem. With a dubby, almost sub-aquatic feel coupled with hip-shaking beats that just don't stop and a floaty female vocal which sounds like it's intoning "hot looking babes" over and over but I guess might not be, it's pretty damn near perfect, IMHO.

Mix-wise, John Diloo takes us deeper still into proper post-club dub territory, also adding some 'did I really just hear that?' warped sax stabs, while Dimi Wilson's rub uses a different female vocal and reminds me a little bit of Mission Control's classic Outta Limits, which is no bad thing!

Truth be told, all three rubs are absolute killers… d'you know what? If Savoir Faire do ever decide to bring out a range of bedding, I just might have to buy some.

Out: This week

About: Here's where to find Savoir Faire online. Monsieur M himself is Turkish-born but raised in Athens; John Diloo is also from Greece, I'm not sure about Dimi Wilson though.

*I actually sleep on very boring plain white pillowcases, if you must know

Rob Small presents Uncle Rico - All That Jazz

Rob Small takes time out from mastering for the world and his brother, to deliver this three-tracker for 3am under his Uncle Rico guise.

The original of All That Jazz explores the area where jazz and deep, dubby house/techno… to remarkably pleasing effect, it must be said! Universal Solution's Remix tones down the jazz elements (bar the spoken vocal) in favour of a smoother deep house ride, while the Jamie Adam Tune Remix takes us in a proggier direction. But while both are playable for sure, neither competes with the original for sheer out-there freakiness.

House music for the mind as well as the body. To coin a phrase.

Out: This week

About: The mighty 3am Recordings don't need any intro from me by now, surely? But click the link anyway – it'll take you to their Soundcloud page where you can HEAR THIS for yourself.