Back catalogue: Deep House

Review: NTThis EP on Milan-based label Stolen Goods is a great example of how house music can be both smooth and danceable at the same time. 'High Cutz Vol. III' is a solid EP that showcases the deep house talents of Italian producers Black Loops and Innocent Soul. The two original tracks 'Belive in U' and 'Destiny' are both bouncy and groovy, with catchy vocal samples and jazzy chords. The Pasta Boys remix of the latter adds a bit more energy and funk to the mix, while keeping the soulful vibe of the original.

Review: Synkronized is just three releases deep now but is already an assured and reliable outlet for fresh house sounds. This latest offering takes the form of a various artists EP and opens with the brilliantly spaced out electronic house of'Lorenzo Chiabotti & Just_Me's 'Darko FM'. It's a silky one with balmy pads that encourage you to dive right in. Martin M's 'Pleasure Minds' then strips things backed to a nice and empty but rolling groove and on the flip Chad Andrew & Imbue get crunchy with their broken beats. That leaves just Den Haas with his mellifluous and pillow deep house cosmic delight, 'The Spot.'

Review: Collab EPs are back in fashion, and Tropical Disco are leading their charge. The boundlessly potentiated space between disco, dance and jazz is their game, and 'Tropical Disco Volume 23' proves they can win it time and time again. Four tracks of trumpetting 4x4 glory-buzz dominate this EP. Clean Is Good wipes the floor with disco-edit edge, while Moodena comes through with a mighty mood of motor city madness, and Sartorial and Infrasoul share the B-side with a pair of broken, drum-banging and glass-shattering instrumentals. There's even a disco flute in there somewhere.

Review: Volume One of a label retrospective of pioneering early 90s Prog House label Interactive Test Compiled by Alex from Utopia Records and enigmatic Interactive Test founder Franco Falsini. Falsini, responsible for many of the underground classics on the label he founded in Florence in 1991 was first known for his 70s Italian Prog / Cosmic group Sensations Fix. A trailblazer who continued to push the boundaries of electronic music two decades later with Interactive Test, accompanied by the up-and-coming talents of Trance hero DJ Miki the Dolphin, his brother Riccardo and an host of cult Italian music producers. Here we start with 5 tracks from the archive, all highly collectable, remastered for DJs and psychedelic music enthusiastic alike from the best sources possible. Authentic and original dance sounds still hitting the spot in our times.

Review: Dobro is a house and disco edits label run by Belarusian DJ/producer Iner out of St Petersburg. For its fifth release, it's another various artists affair featuring a whopping six tracks with appearances from I Gemin on the dusty, boompty and off-kilter 'I Like 2 Party', Paul Rudder & OUI go ultra deep in the tradition of the Three Chairs sound on the emotive 'In The Sky For Our Love', while Bendrik serves up the mandatory late night mood music vibes on 'Chat House' and Swales provides the banger on the funky and tough rolling 'Blue Skies'.

Review: Since rebooting their long-dormant Droid imprint earlier in the year, the Idjut Boys have used it as a vehicle to release some of their most wild, heavily electronic music in years. Portion Out of Control sees Dan and Conrad continue this trend with pleasingly heavy, mind-altering results. On 'Gum Saucer', they expertly work a pulsating, throbbing groove to the max, peppering a druggy bassline with breathless drum machine fills, delay-laden electronic motifs and brain-melting noises. 'Gas On Tap' is a more stripped-back chunk of new wave/EBM insanity that once again prioritises dubbed-out, echo-laden percussion, while 'Tartine De Merde' is a deeper, woozier chunk of intergalactic machine funk. Finally, 'Quick Bowl' sees them twist a raw, arpeggio-driven groove into a multitude of nightmarish, echoing sonic shapes.

Review: The iconic North London dance music duo Idjut Boys are famed for their nostalgia fueled offerings of dub, disco and house and join forces again for this 4 track single featuring 4 completely different takes on the track 'Speedball'. The 'Full Whip' version is an 80s powersynth with powerful kicks and synth perfection, an authentic use of a commodified sound used in the past couple of years. 'Severe Itching' takes the party downstairs into an acid techno rave, the liquid bass seeping through your ear canal into your skull - an utterly extraterrestrial experience. 'Strip Off Dub' is just that: a stripped back dub version of 'Full Whip'. Focusing on the heftier synths and bass, with the rushing wind effects that compromised 'Full Whip'. 'Whizbang Mix' invites you back into the bassment for another slice of acid house pie, the meeting point between 'Full Whip' and 'Severe Itching' that feels like trying to listen to the former after the laters aforementioned liquid has blocked your eardrums. This one's for the messy afterparty.

Review: Shota Ikawa is Igaxx and is someone who focuses on the details in this music but never at the expense of the dancefloor. Across five new cuts here on his Echoes EP for the Angis Music label, he pairs dreamy pads with dynamic drums. 'Echo Vibe' kicks off and is laced with lovely cowbell as the lumpy drums and molten bassline all stream forward. 'Trips' has a more cosmic outlook with smeared pads encircling the loose drums and 'Sticky Journey' is more loud and proud with its mix of percussive clatter and broad-stroke pads. 'What Is Your Raw Emotion?' is the headiest of the lot for the way the wispy pads hypnotise and 'Nap' explores a darker and more downbeat mood.

Review: As Toolroom only puts out a small percentage of their releases on vinyl, those given the wax treatment tend to be anthems in waiting. Martin Ikin's 'You', featuring some seriously loved-up, glassy-eyed lead vocals from Chenai, certainly sounds like a future classic. Shamelessly positive and life-affirming, 'You' is a turn-of-the-90s style piano house workout with added 21st century weight, a few disco-house style filters and a raw, stabbing bassline. The cheery vocal version (side A) comes back by a quite different Dub mix. This opts for a darker, chunkier big room sound - all wobbly riffs, pulsing electronic noises, cut up vocal snippets and mind-mangling motifs - that should delight all those who love Toolroom's trademark sound.

Review: Martin Ikin has got a massive history in club music, whether dealing in jungle as Mayhem or slamming into the charts with Ultrasound. He's back on his regular stomping ground of Toolroom with 'How I Feel', a huge house cut with Hayley May on vocals. The 'extended mix' is a feel good slice of piano-pumping party gear pitched at the radio as much as the dancefloor, and MK knows exactly what to do with it when dropping his headsy 'Dub' mix. Biscuits creates a big room tech house mood to open up the B side before we drop back into the original 'vocal' which puts May's voice right to the front of the mix.

Review: It's hard not to have a soft spot for Eurodance if you are a dance fan of a certain age. And this single on Etichetta Nera out of Italy sounds exactly like a reissue of just that from some time in the mid-90s but apparently, it is an all-new cut from In Da Club. It's got Italo melodies, catchy vocals and accessible beats and sure will bring the good times. A dub and instrumental is included as is a Joe T Vannelli remix that has some acidic house spice to it.

Review: A Moodymann remix is a mad rare thing. The singular Detroit producer very rarely steps out to tackle other people's music but when he does the world takes note. This time he sets to work on 2022's 'Hold On To It' by Colonel Red and Inkswel. In his hands, it becomes a distinctively low sling bit of sleazy deep house with punctured drums, off-grid pianos and his own vocal mutterings. Potatohead People offer a more lush and soulful downbeat vibe, while a Moodorama Weird Mistake is perfect for late-night back rooms and the Moodorama Deep Rise mix is all bubbly bass and melodies that provide real musical comfort.

Review: First released on Nice & Ripe in 1994 when it was produced by early UK house and garage dons Grant Nelson, Si Firmin, and David Thackeray, this track has been remastered for the first time. The reissue comes on Digital Tape Recordings and sounds as good as ever, especially given the current revival of original garage. Reminiscent of their iconic 24hr Experience and GOD releases, it opens with the gritty and low slung sounds of '1 2 Luv', features the more thumping 'Sampler', diva vocal cries of 'Groovement' and stripped back version 'Dubment'.

Review: A top value for money opportunity here, as Moiss Music deliver the latest in their sweet and sticky Jam series of various artist 12" line ups, bringing you no less than six bubbling, vivacious disco triumphs from six artists. Khemir's 'Disco Bandit' kicks off proceedings, a production that sounds like it was made by a band of around 45 musicians, a proper cavalcade of strings, brass, brazen disco thump and beautifully bold vocals. Wurzelholz's 'Prince' goes for a bit more economy but with a slinky funk bassline like that - not to mention the occasional exclamation from the purple overlord himself - it's equally devastating in dancefloor terms. Among the other highlights, 'Golden' by I Gemin has the feel of a lost Daft Punk flip tune and Cosmocomics' 'Glamorous Garcon', boasting 70s-style synth bubbles that are as cute as they are retro. Tasty as ever.