Nigel Hayes - Northern Lights EP

Four no-nonsense dancefloor cuts here courtesy of Nigel Hayes and UK label Intelligent Audio, spanning a range of styles.

Actually, I say a 'range' of styles but really it's more the proverbial game of two halves, with Elektricity and D-Tek both techy and heavily electronic while Raise The Bridge and Wallfield opt for a more organic, funk-fuelled approach. To be more precise, D-Tek is a chunky and now-sounding tech-houser, Elektricity has a retro Chicago-meets-Detroit sound, Raise The Bridge is drenched in soul with a lazy, hazy, Sunburst Band-y kinda feel while Wallfield brings the heavy funkin' slap bass. It's between Wallfield and D-Tek for the top honours for me but it's good stuff all round.

As is Intelligent Audio's wont, look out also for a soon-come 'Part 2' featuring more eclectic/downtempo flavas.

Out: This week

About: Here's the usual website Facebook and Soundcloud links for Intelligent Audio, then…

Sean Biddle - Livin' In Ecstasy

Okay, so this might not be the coolest, most underground, chin-strokey-est release ever mentioned on TIWWD but hey… NYE's a-coming and it's time to loosen up and dig out those big, silly party tunes.

In which case, this shiny disco-house tribute to the sisters Sledge should do the job nicely. It doesn't do much you don't expect, but then with a track like this you don't really need it to… all you want is for it to fill the floor, and that it most certainly will. Especially if there are any girls around.

Out: This week

About: This comes not on Sean's own Bid Muzik but on Mac and co's Nocturnal Recordings.

Freaky Funk – No-One EP

Freaky Funk is the nom de guerre of a house DJ/producer from Montenegro, who in real life goes by the name of Nikola Jovicevi. That's about all I know about him but I can tell you that, here, he's delivered an EP for Macedonia's Artefact Records that should appeal to a range of house jocks.

Sitting somewhere between 'deep' and 'funky' on the house music sliding scale of subgenres, the four tracks here – No-One, Never, Like You and Funk Awake – tread that fine line that Om once made their own: credible enough to appeal to more discerning heads, but with enough of a disco shimmy to tempt more a more casual audience to their feet as well.

There's perhaps not that one killer cut that means you need to stop what you're doing and buy this record immediately, though No-One itself, with its disconcerting spoken vocal samples, does stand out (and so merit its title position). But overall, it's quality stuff for sure. Let's hope we hear more from Freaky Funk soon.

Out: This week

About: I'm pretty certain Artefact Records are making their debut appearance on this blog today, but they're based in Skopje, Macedonia (despite having a .co.uk web address – go figure) and can be found on Soundcloud, Facebook and MySpace, or at their own blog.

2 for 1 special! Trad house delights

Right, it's just kinda dawned on me that there's a shedload of stuff to get through this week and I'm actually going away… first proper holiday in about five years, so that's a good thing, but it means we're gonna have to double up on the next few reviews if we're gonna fit everything in. Kicking off with two releases that will appeal to lovers of traditional uplifiting vocal/soulful house music…

First up, we have I Wanna Know by Little Carlos & Realm Of House. The Original here could easily have come out on the likes of Yellorange, Distance or Henry Street in the late 90s/early 00s, driven as it is by a rolling disco groove and featuring as it does a happy, party-time vocal. R.O.H's Throwdown Mix is even blatantly disco-housified, while Little Carlos's own Beats N Bass Mix… well, that's fairly self-explanatory, surely, and will suit if you're looking for something a tad more subtle.

About: This one comes on Realm Of House AKA Victor Hernandez's own Korner Gruve Records outta New York.

Secondly, there's People Get Together from Marco Finotello & Maggie Smile. Working a big funk bassline, handclaps a-gogo, euphoric pianos and a rousing fem vocal whose slight rawness is actually a big part of its charm, this is peaktime, uplifting vocal house music as only the Italians can do it. If you're looking for something moody, techy and cool, this isn't the one… if it's nostalgic hands-in-the-air abandon you're after though, then step right on in.

About: The artists hail from Italy as stated but this comes on the UK's own Favouritzm Records. It's out now on Traxsource, or in other stores from 1 Dec.

Geisha Twins - Love Situation

See this record? It's like a thousand records you've heard before, basically: file it under 'cheesy filter disco'. It's the kind of thing hairdressers and receptionists dance to at your local Oceana/Syndicate/Po Na Na/etc on a Saturday night. It's commercial, obvious and formalaic and it certainly isn't the kind of thing that gets covered on This Is Why We Dance. Usually.

But you know what? I don't actually mind it, despite all that. Or at least I don't mind a couple of the mixes (stand up, Joey Chicago and Agent Stereo).

So shoot me. Part of the reason for TIWWD's existence is to cover good dance music REGARDLESS of genre, and this is… well, not great admittedly, but it's the least-worst commercial and obvious Saturday night house record I've heard lately. And if it was by Daft Punk you'd call it 'unabashedly uplifting and joyously party-tastic', so get off your high horse.

Out: This week

About: This is on DJ EQ's US disco-house label Stardust Records. And supporting small independent dance labels is also one reason this blog exists, so here's their Soundcloud page (where you can HEAR THIS... if you're man enough to not fear the fromage!)

PS Tread carefully with those mixes, mind!

PPS Normal beard-stroking snobbery will be resumed shortly...