Sound Gypsy – Way I Feel EP

Having warmed up with all that deep stuff, time to move towards the floor now with this latest from Sound Gypsy, aka Dobara Music boss Harsh Puri.

There are three tracks in a total of six mixes, so you can't fault this one in the VFM stakes! Way I Feel itself is in its original form a chunky deep/tech houser, done in that very 'now' stylee but tempered with soulful vocal samples and killer space disco stabs. SION's remix then dubs things right out in quite a satisfying fashion.

The original version of Just Like That has more of those ace stabs over a more upbeat backing, with some rave-y keyboard stabs thrown in for good measure, while the Rafael Cerato remix heads off again into dubbier but this time also into slightly proggier territories. Havens & Hart perform a similar dubby trick with Everybody Keep On Movin' but here it's the original that stands out for me – a wicked little slice of soulful, disco-fied deep house done properly, with boogie-era male vox and lashings of fat bass.

So that's: Just Like That for the youngsters, the original of Everybody Keep On Movin' for the older heads and SION's rub of Way I Feel for the sofa surfers. Everybody's happy!

Out: This week

About: This comes on Sleazy Deep, who can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud or at their own website.

Crazy P – Heartbreaker

You've got to hand it to Crazy P really. I remember buying A Nice Hot Bath With… from Replay Records in Bath back in 1999, but as fine an album as that was, I'm not sure if you asked me then if I'd still be talking about them 13 years later, what I'd have said. But now here we are, and clearly I am.

Specifically, we're here to talk about a set of new mixes of Heartbreaker, taken from recent album When We On. If you didn't pick up the album yet then in its original form, Heartbreaker is a typically lavish, midtempo slab of Balearic-leaning, soul-drenched nu disco, while the new mixes of it come from Huxley and Mark E. The latter goes down the 'less is more' route, transforming the track into an epic slo-mo chug aimed at spangled late night/early morning floors, while Huxley's rub sees him doing what he does best and serving up a slice of funk-driven dancefloor deep house with garage-y overtones.

Basically, this is every bit as good as you'd want it to be… and with a line-up like that your expectations are gonna be pretty high!

Out: This week

About: This comes on 2020Vision, which has been pretty much the former Paper artists' home for the past five years or so. 2020 should need no introduction from me but here's their website, Soundcloud and Facebook.

DJ Mishakov – Prophet Of The Streets

Another label here that should be very familiar to TIWWD readers by now, with the latest from Tokyo Red Recordings.

There are two mixes of Prophet Of The Streets, and they're really quite different. In its Original form, it's a very playable deep houser with sampled (movie?) speech and some beautiful garage-y piano chords, underpinned by driving kicks and off-beat hi-hats that lend it plenty of the requisite dancefloor energy. But fine as it is, the killer here for me is the Nu-Disco Mix, which drops the tempo slightly and adds a big phat fuck-off squelching bassline.

And to put it simply, there's nothing that'll win you friends round these parts like a big phat fuck-off squelching bassline! Another winner from my boy Sydney's stable, then.

Out: This week

About: Find Tokyo Red on Facebook. Gotta go now run out of Sunday…

Various – As Heard At ADE

It has been, dear reader, something of a trying day, for reasons I won't bore you with. So gonna keep it to a couple of V/A eps tonight, the first of which is this seven-artist, seven-track sampler from fledgling Dutch label Trick Track Records, who recently hosted their first ADE party.

Trick Track are based in The Hague and describe themselves on Soundcloud as a "deep house/nu-disco/tech-house" label. Which is as good a way as any to describe the overall melting-pot vibe here! William Medagli & Thallulah give us Flavor Does It, a bouncy, bassy tech-house groove that uses big chunks of the Dr Love vocal – big dark rooms beckon, as indeed they do for Nicola Nolli's Mercury, which is in a similar vein but instrumental. Albert Santizzo & Micket Franc's In Zoo Boogie is a deep little chugger sporting an unlikely-sounding fusion of soulful vocal snips and Theremin-type wibbly-wobbly noises, Chris Luzz's Jungle Juice is a sparser,  tribal-inflected workout and, well, there's some more goodness in the form of strong cuts from Lightzoff, Nick Safado feat Andrea Love and Colino.

All told, it's very checkable indeed. So check it!

Out: This week

About:  Something else Trick Track have to say about themselves:

The ideal of Trick Track Records is to generate the future and the past into a unitary sound of electronic music and give the listeners a moment of quiet in the sound, finding themselves wondering with their mind in places never thought of.

I'm not entirely sure what that all means either, but anyway as well as the sound of the cloud you can find 'em on Facebook or at their own website.

Giorgio Moroder – From Here To Eternity

In which Europe's original disco don gets the remix treatment from a clutch of today's young whippersnappers.

Aeroplane, Antilope, Fusty Delights, Attari, Compuphonic and Daryl are the whippersnappers in question, and while I'm not going into each and every mix individually, suffice to say lovers of nu-disco will be more than satisfied with most of 'em, while the Fusty Delights rub edges towards deep house and Compuphonic's slower, dreamier version could appeal to a wider audience as well. I'm thinking listeners to Rob Da Bank's shows and such.

Oh yeah, and the original came out on Casablanca Records in 1977, BTW, and all the remixers are Belgian. For all you fact-lovers out there!

Out: This week

About: This comes on Martin Brodin's MB Disco label, who can be found hanging around the internet looking shifty (and Swedish) in such places as Facecloud and Soundbook.

Zee & Elli – Release Yourself EP

Only the third release here from new UK label ZiiZii Records, and the first to land on the TIWWD doormat.

The EP opens with Release Yourself, er, itself, a nu-boogie/slo-mo house groove. It's got one of those ubiquitous down-pitched vocals intoning "it makes no difference", but is most notable for its FAT bassline. Next up is my personal fave Reflections, a midtempo space-disco workout with some killer pyow! stabs. Need Ya Back is another deep house-meets-nu disco jam with a big diva vocal, while the EP ends with The Dub Rub, which doesn't have much to do with dub in any sense but is a perfectly acceptable nu-disco/slo-mo cut that sounds a bit like the Yellow Magic Orchestra playing Morel's Grooves while on downers.

But I wanted to end the review on a high note, so before you get to the latter there's also The Ghostly Track, which is my close-second pick after Reflections and which chugs along at a house-y tempo while making enough use of spooky Theremin-type noises to render the title entirely accurate!

Out: This week

About: You can find ZiiZii Records on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Sare Havlicek – The Diamondback EP

Seems like ages since we heard from Sare, one of TIWWD's favourite purveyors of nu-disco grooves… but now here he comes again with a second single lifted from his sophomore album Escape Machine, which came out back in what we laughingly referred to as "the summer".

Diamondback Parts 1 and 2, from said album, are now cojoined as the lead single track here, and have lost none of their sophisticated, string-drenched appeal. "Big, Balearic, lavish, majestic… evening dress optional" is how my notes read for this one! Part 3 ups the tempo a notch and adds some Prince-ish geetars, while Part 4 edges even closer to a house tempo and rides a chunky walking bassline.

Gotta say I'm less into the down-pitched male vox on Part 5, while as for Pure Sin (Diamondback Part 6), which drops back down in tempo again and features a vocal from Lara Love… well, Mrs TIWWD heard it and said, "Are you listening to Kylie?" which tells you about all you need to know.

But no matter, cos Diamondback Parts 1 & 2 is just awesome – disco goodness for grown-ups – while Parts 3 and 4 will serve you well for taking the track to housier situations.

Out: This week

About: This comes as ever on the mighty Nang Records. Oh, and you can HEAR IT at Sare's own Soundcloud page.

Pete Oak – Slow Groove Sex Moves EP

Three on a nu-disco (-ish) tip 4 ya tonight, starting with an EP on Sleazy Deep that, typically for the label, sits right on the deep house/nu-disco borders.

Opener Want You So is a slow, lo-slung affair that's nearly instrumental… it's GOT a bloke singing "you know I want you so bad" but it's so heavily down-pitched and treated that it can probably be considered another instrument as much as a vocal! Hey Boy is a bit too 80s Euro synthpop for my liking but Only You is another kettle of fish entirely… with its lazy, chunky synth riff and Tony Di Bart-ish 'soulful' vocal this has the potential to acquire anthem status in the more skinny-jeaned spots. Finally, Baby Baby is in a similar vein to the latter but a notch more house-ified.

Something of a mixed bag then, but like I say, watch out for Only You… in the current climate it could be huge.

Out: This week

About: You can find Sleazy Deep on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Monkey Boots – Hold Back The Night/Whitworth Strut

A two-tracker here from New Zealand's Grass Green Recordings – who I don't think have featured on here before – which they describe as "swirling, dramatic disco-inspired house business". Let's have a listen and see if they're right…

Hold Back The Night doesn't have much to do with The Trammps' soul classic of the same name, as far as I can make out, being instead a big, beefy, midpaced dancefloor cut with a heavily treated "in the night/you're gonna find yourself alone girl" vocal sample, that sits somewhere between contemporary-style deep house and nu-disco. Over on the B, meanwhile, you'll find Whitworth Strut, a paean to Manchester's Whitworth Street, home to many famous nightclubs including The Hacienda at one end and the Twisted Wheel/Pips/The State at the other. Aah, memories… anyway yes, the track, which is another mid-paced affair with a suitably loose-limbed, baggy feel.

Overall verdict, then? Well, I'd say 'house-y nu disco' rather than 'disco-inspired house' personally, but you can't fault 'em on "swirling and dramatic"…

Out: Tomorrow (Oct 23)

About: You can find Grass Green Recordings at their website, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Rory Phillips – Mixed Fortunes 3

The third release in a series apparently, though the first to wing its way TIWWD-wards.

It's a two-track affair. On the A, Don't Stop is a) a collaboration with London producer Martin Dubka, and a) a lo-slung slab of nu boogie/electro with a vocoder/voicebox vocal that Roger Troutman himself would be proud of. Over on the B, meanwhile, E-Bow could safely be filed under 'slo-mo house' methinks, its opiated beats and reluctant b-line topped with a lead line created using the epoymous guitar tool.

It's Don't Stop that stands out for me, though.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Mixed Fortunes, which isn't so much a record label as a project by Phillips in which he'll be releasing six two-track 12-inches over the course of the year, instead of an album. Which means the good news is, if you dig Don't Stop as much as I do there's plenty more to come and not too much backtracking to do! Anyway, you can find out all about it here.

Havens & Hart – Glow EP

We move into more discofied pastures now with this four-track EP from Havens & Hart.

The EP's made up of three mixes of Upper Level, plus bonus cut Shootcha Down. The former in its Original mix is a bass-y 3m slab of nu-boogie/electrofunk shiny spangled synth-iness, while the Cristoff Remix is a tad more house-y and pumped. The standout mix for me, though, comes from label boss Rob Made, who wins my favour by the most reliable method short of oral favours – to wit, by spraying the track liberally with pyow-pyow-pyow! space disco stabs. That always works.

Shootcha Down, meanwhile, turns out to be a lo-slung homage to First Choice's The Player, done really rather well. Jolly fine work all round.

Out: This week

About: This comes from Sleazy Deep, who you can find – as you can find so many people – on Soundcloud or at their own website. And if you do, you'll notice they've currently got their second label comp out. It's full of good shit like this y'knaa.

Flash Atkins – Did You Forget To Shine?

Deep house and nu-boogie collide on this latest from the mighty Paper Recordings.

In its original form, Did You Forget… is a funk-fuelled, slinky nu-boogie gem in the Crazy P mold. For me, the vocal's a little too pop-tastic but never fear, cos there's a Dubstramental on hand which is all about that pulsing synth bassline… if you've got Night Dubbin', Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing or Love & Dancing in your collection this is the mix that's gonna push your buttons. Then again the lo-slung Jamie L Remix is pretty spiffing in a sleazy, lights-down-low kinda way too. The Havana Candy Mix is, again, a bit too bright and shiny for these ears but again fear not, cos rounding out the EP is the Hot Toddy Mix, which mixes up vintage house flavas (deep, Balearic and acid) for an all-round dancefloor gem.

The beards' treat of the week!

Out: This week

About: You can find Paper Recordings on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

Rafael Fernandez - Memories & Imagination

Known for their deep house grooves, here Tokyo Red take a slight detour into nu-boogie pastures.

I'm not sure if the vocal used on Memories & Imagination is actually a Leee John sample or not – it sounds like one and it'd make sense of the title, but I couldn't tell you what track it's from off the top of my head. But you get the idea – this is pretty much an homage track to the early 80s Brit funkateers. On the B, the Josh Dupont Remix is a touch more strident and housified but otherwise in a pretty similar vein.

So: let Senor Fernandez take you through a night of ecstasy, and show you all the glamour and the gold. Or something*.

Out: This week

About: You can find Tokyo Red at label boss DJ Sydney's Facebook page.

*That's not the sample in question, by the way – that'd be easy.

Dunkan Disco – The Edge EP

Something of a surprise release from Hype Muzik here, as a label better known for progressive and tech-house grooves gets its disco shimmy on.

There are five tracks and six mixes in total, and they do vary quite a lot. The Edge itself and Just Give are slo-mo, Balearic-type numbers that'll appeal to the nu-disco beards, Groove Tonight (coming in two mixes) is more yer Joey Negro/Sunburst-style disco house, while Lady Funk has a chopped-up, almost garage-y feel. But perhaps the most notable cut here is Love Me… which stands out for its sheer audacity in basing itself around a riff that owes not a little to Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

And I'm aware that might sound like a terrible idea. But listen to the track and you'll see that it definitely isn't, as Dunkan adds heavily-filtered vox to create a nu-boogie gem that wouldn't sound out of place on the likes of Nang, Permanent Vacation or Bear Funk.

A departure for Hype, then, but a very successful one.

Out: This week

About: Hype Muzik is of course part of Norman H's Stripped Digital empire

Los Amigos Invisibles & Dimitri From Paris – Glad To Know You

Proving that you can't keep a good tune down, that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that talent borrows, genius steals and, er, other platitudes, three new releases for ya tonight that all, one way or another, pay homage to classic tracks of yesteryear.

First up, this cover of Chas Jankel's Glad To Know You from 1982 – something of a fave on the disco/boogie floors and now re-rendered in remarkably faithful fashion by Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles and their regular collaborator Dimitri From Paris. Their version is just a wee bit housier than the original and comes accompanied by an instrumental, but the most exciting news here is the inclusion of an 11-minute-long Ray Mang Flying Dub.

If the words "11-minute Ray Mang dub" don't get you at least a LITTLE excited then you're probably reading this blog by mistake. If they do, then we'll just say it's every bit as lo-slung, groovy and slightly bonkers in a vaguely Levan-esque manner as you'd expect, and leave it at that.

Beards and cardigans are optional; checking for this isn't.

Out: This week

About: This comes courtesy of uber-hip German label Gomma. Click for the website, or here's their Facebook and Soundcloud pages as well.

Jouhl – Cold Calling

Okay, so after Damien Exton took Jesus P into dark, twisted corners it's time to get even deeper and even freakier with this superb nugget from Sleazy Deep.

Sitting somewhere between slo-mo house, sonorous deep techno and the most K'd-out of underground disco wonk, Cold Calling features a seriously fucked-up male take on the Love Hangover vocal and comes in four mixes in total, with rerubs from Mekanism, Max Belobrov and Sleazy Deep themselves, AKA label bosses Rob Made and Jamie Le Vack. And I'm struggling hard to pick a favourite cos in their various ways (Mekanism go just a little housier, Belobrov adds some vintage Chi-town sounds, Sleazy Deep's Social Remix is a notch techier) they all, including the original, completely rock, basically.

Awesome stuff… and that's on the hi-fi. On big speakers, this record might actually make heads explode.

Out: This week

About: You can find Sleazy Deep on Soundcloud or Facebook.

Sound Gypsy – Keep On EP

After Can I Hold You One More Time and the Whatever EP, Sound Gypsy makes it three in a row on fledgling UK label Dobara.

This latest offering features three tracks in a total of four mixes. Keep On is a floaty yet still kinda heads-down number sitting right on the cusp of deep house and nu-disco, Never Hurt You is a midpaced nu-boogie cut mixing influences from filter disco and vintage Chi-town house, while With You continues in the house/disco/nu-boogie vein and has a very cool phat n' squelchy b-line. And comes with a Dub if sampled, filtered disco vox ain't your thang.

All told: some nice smooth grooves for more discerning floors. Dobara apparently have plans to release some non-Sound Gypsy material soon as well, so are definitely a label to be keeping an eye on.

Out: This week

About: Sound Gypsy is called Harsh Puri in real life and, as you might've guessed, Dobara is his own label. Based in Newbury, Berkshire, they/he can be found on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their/his own website.

Ruben F – On The Dancefloor

Something of a 'usual suspects' feel to the blog tonight, with three labels representing who get a LOT of TIWWD love I know, but when they keep putting out records as good as these what's a boy to do?*

So this one, then, comes on Al Bradley's 3am and features three mixes of Groovin' plus bonus cut The Man Machine. Groovin' starts life as a garage-y organ groove, gets a slightly more contemporary-sounding refix from Poussez Vs Toast Burglars (!) that features elements of both tech-house and nu-disco, then on the Terry Vernixx High Desert Remix becomes a more percussive affair that'd be suited to terrace play, but without losing the deep/soulful timbre of the original. The Man Machine rounds out the EP on a deeper techy tip, with disembodied sample speech and a simple nagging organ/synth riff.

And between 'em, any DJ who plays deep house should find at least something to spin here.

Out: This week

About: You can find 3am Recordings on Soundcloud and Facebook.

*Actually I think you're supposed to build 'em up for six months then knock 'em down to make yourself look 'clever' and 'cool', that seems to be what a lot of dance music magazines/blog/etc take great delight in doing… but I've never played that. Never felt the need…

Richie J & Paul James – Moments In Mind EP

Quality house grooves as ever here from south coast-based Beats Me Music.

Paul James has had stuff out before on Salted, while Richie J supplied Beats Me's second-ever release, Sinister Thoughts. Together they give us three originals here. The Waiting Game is fairly pace-y deep house with a little bit of acid, The Need is more sumptuous, late-night and lazy with garage-y female vocal snips, while Daydreamin' has something of a Balearic, blissed-out kinda feel and a hint of nu-disco around the edges.

Also included are two remixes: label boss Rob Clarke supplies a superb Organ Donor Remix of The Waiting Game that adds the eponymous instrument to devastating effect, while young Croatian producer DJ Narda takes on Daydreamin', beefing up the beats and bassline somewhat to make it more readily suited to peaktime house floors.

Like I said: quality stuff as ever from the Eastbourne massive!

Out: This week

About: You can find Beats Me Music at their own website or on Facebook.

Fideles feat Bradsucks – Get Your Fable

The first release here from a brand new label, Zouch Records. Run by Chris Ward, also of K9 Records, the label's purpose in life is "to cater for house music of the deeper and nu-disco variety", in Chris's own words.

In its original form, Get Your Fable is a mid-paced house/nu-disco groove with a throbbing bass riff as the key musical element, and an indie-ish male vocal from Bradsucks that couldn't sound much more Underworld if it tried! If you hear it – and I've got a feeling you might be hearing this quite a bit – it's the one that goes "you make me sick".

The Della Zouch remix is slightly more spaced-out and twisted, but only slightly… if you really want to head off into that spangled 5am afterhours zone then the Heston Dawg Remix with its pitched-down vocal is the place to head.

A dub might not've gone amiss but this is a strong first release for the label all the same. And apparently it's getting played by DJs as diverse as M.A.N.D.Y, Laura Jones, Horse Meat Disco and Slab already…

Out: This week

About: You can find Zouch on Facebook and Soundcloud. And look out for the label's second single, which is coming very soon from Heston.