House News

For the sixth instalment of their highly collectable Black Ops series, the Sleazy Beats chaps welcome Andy Hart back to the fold.
While Andy is certainly not new to the production game - the man has an impressive string of tracks on esteemed labels like Quintessential, Foto, Box Aus Holz and his own Melbourne Deepcast imprint under his belt - The Love Technology EP is in fact his first solo outing on wax !

He couldn't have delivered a better debut if he tried.

Title track Love Technology is a moody basement chugger that fuses the gentle and the raw effortlessly. Building on a basic groove with clever funk samples and sharp claps, Hart keeps subtly adding new elements and layers to proceedings. Intricate simplicity never sounded so good !

On the B Side there's Jasmine, a warm slice of deep house pie with sweet synth lines, classic piano melodies and the kind of rolling drums that made Hart & Graef's collabs so outstanding. Sharing the side is Aquarius. Take one exceedingly infectious groove from an underground disco classic, add subtle percussion, some kick ass drums, Andy's masterful arrangement and the result is a classy Summer anthem that may just become one of the biggest party starters of 2014.

As always, this is a limited, vinyl only release. It will not be repressed and will not be released digitally. Not now, not ever.

only 1x each customer !!!
Infinite waves shaped this rough stone.

Leeds based Fullbarr have already release 12' involving Luke Solomon, Hans Berg, Immer, Kris wadsworth, Samaan, Vince Watson, Losoul and many more

Now sees the turn of Liverpool based Andy Ash.

To date Ash has been much in demand on a range of labels including Quintissentials, Fly By Night Music and Dessous, offering up fresh house that ranges from deep and moody to acid laced and angst ridden..

6th Borough Project are all set to release the follow up to their 2011 debut LP One Night In The Borough at the start of March. A hectic couple of years have been lived out by Graeme Clark and Craig Smith during the making of their Borough 2 Borough LP with Graeme continuing to play week in and week out as Revenge and setting up his new imprint Roar Groove whilst Craig has established the brilliant Fifty Fathoms Deep label. Studio time has been tight to say the least but that hasn't stopped the duo from pulling out all the stops and ensuring that this LP surpasses the already sky-high benchmark set by it's predecessor.

As a taster for the LP we present you with this sampler single containing three gems that'll whet your appetite and leave you gagging for more! Kicking off we have In Your Arms which sees the duo deliver some classic 6BP business with a party-starting house track laced with Philly strings and a heavy dose of soul. Next up things take a slightly darker direction on U Know U with this heads-down track incorporating a crisp, stripped-back beat joined by filtering pads and a distant vocal for company. Flip over for Read My Mind which brings some deep and brooding warehouse vibes to the table. This is the sound of 6th Borough Project doing techno with just a hint of 909 ride adding to the layers of bouncing stabs and off-kilter vocals.

Back with more dance floor weapons, One Records bring you Alex Arnout and 'One Nation' featuring the legendary Tyree Cooper. Killer remixes come courtesy of Cocoon and Cadenza favourite Argy and Dame Music's Bloody Mary.

Dogmatik boss Alex Arnout has been a firm staple in the One Records crew since the huge hit 'Vanishing Point' was released on the label back in 2011. For this next venture on One he offers a true slice of Chicago house featuring the Midwest favourite Tyree Cooper. An absolute hero for Alex and label heads Subb-an and Adam Shelton since they first heard his seminal tracks including 'Turn Up The Bass' and 'Move Your Body', they all jumped at the chance of having him involved in the release. With a punching beat and deep chords holding the rhythm, melodic keys soon creep into the foreground, complimented perfectly by Cooper's sensational voice.

Originally from Greece, first class DJ and producer Argy takes the reins for the first remix, offering a peak time house bomb like only he can. A firm favourite in the One Records camp yet making her first appearance on the label, Bloody Mary twists 'One Nation' with her sultry edge. Dark and hypnotic, she uses her own voice with added synths and a deep dose of acid.

With a string of successful releases and a hectic touring schedule already in place, Alex is soon to launch his new record label Convert alongside his existing Dogmatik imprint. Watch out for the first release featuring his new vocalist Tempo O'Neill called 'Alex Arnout Presents Project 16'.

Being around since May 2009, the Greek imprint, ''blind stitch'', now finds itself releasing a triple LP by Label- head Bengoa. A Long story of sound and rhythmic communication can be found on this album, entitled "What You Give". This record features deep grooves, spiced with uplifting melodic crescendos and occasional collaborations, leaving a release full of impressions.
Laid back, groovy and mesmerizing sounds, take you through the narrative of this LP. With smoothly arranged soundscapes and old school synth vibes the record motivates listeners to move and get lost in the sounds. A productive output from Bengoa, with focus on molding his own personal sound, and that of the Alexandroupoli- based Label. 3x12" of delicious deep house grooves, spiked with occasional vocal work, and reverberating glass like rhythmic percussions.

For the last 20 years he's plied the dub-ways as Beat Pharmacy & Echologist, & here he's in one of his trippiest modes to date. "Where There is Smoke" has been road tested in Fred P sets for months.

Visionquest's resident electronic songstress Dinky is back on the label with the third single from last year's impeccable 'Dimension D' album. The seductively soporific and texturally nuanced 'Xanex' weaves another enticing tale with Dinky's voice floating atop a soundbed of grinding digital bass and shimmering guitar. Surging new life into the original are a pair of top drawer remixers - Tuff City Kids (aka Gerd Janson and Philip Lauer) take 'Xanex' on an dancefloor acid trip while Roman Flügel channels a more stripped back, spaced out approach.

Dinky came to Berlin a decade ago where she quickly became a dominant force in dance music, making her mark through releases on Carpark, Cocoon, Ostgut, and the critically acclaimed ´Anemik´ album in 2009 on Mathew Jonson´s Wagon Repair. Her fifth studio album, 'Dimension D' was released in June 2013 on Visionquest and saw her evolution into singer-songwriter and performer with a new musical direction.

Based just outside of Frankfurt Tuff City Kids is the alias for production duo Gerd Janson, boss of Running Back and long time DJ and Arto Mwambe member Philip Lauer. Besides their far-reaching and esteemed solo careers, Tuff City Kids have provided remixes for high-profile artists such as Azari & III, Tensnake and Ali Love and released original EPs on Delsin and Osgut Ton sub-label Unterton.

One of the most heavyweight artists in the German electronic music scene, Roman Flügel has been active since the 1990s and a production chameleon with styles ranging from ambient/IDM to house, techno, electro and leftfield. Working solo under various aliases or with long-time partner Jorn Elling Wuttke, they are also co-founders of the Ongaku/Klang/Playhouse labels.

Somehow No 19 are about to do it again - the label run by Jonny White is about to unleash a truly monstrous new EP that will not only soundtrack dancefloors for months to come, but fully announces the arrival of a talent who has been bubbling under for a while now in the form of UK producer Eric Volta. Having been road tested in almost every Art Department set since January, No 19 are now ready to unleash drop their most powerful secret weapon into the wider world, and it's sure to be one of the biggest of the year.

This will be Eric's first solo outing for the label after contributions in the past, but no-one quite saw these standout tracks coming despite him also releasing well received sounds on Visionquest, 1trax & Dirty Bird. Now based in Berlin, Volta maintains his own unique sonic signature that is part house, part techno and always comes with a healthy dose of off kilter invention.

The first of the two remarkable tracks he serves up is the beautifully wide-screen synth vista of 'Love Your Illusion'. Warm but industrial kick drums and taught bass set the tone as searching synths then spray ominous across the whole face of the track. After building and teasing for a while, the synths go into melt down, decaying into acid gurgles and bubbles as the beats below grow that bit more driven. It's an epic and dramatic track that speaks of a lonely future with plenty of raw and analogue production élan and is just the sort of fresh ad refreshing new direction that will make dancefloors exceedingly happy.

The equally impressive 'Masters of Puppets' is a little less devastatingly cinematic, instead Volta crafts a much more organic and human groove that is deep and shuffling, imbued with spoken word musings and subtle ad libs that help make it all the more inviting. The production is still exceptionally proud - every perfectly crafted element jumps out of the speakers and grabs your attention with the overall effect one of subdued house funk.

These are two quite different but equally excellent tracks that have your head as well as your heel in overdrive when you are lost inside them. They are so proudly produced they speak wonders of the very real new talent the dance world has in Eric Volta.

yellow vinyl pressing

With his last EP 'Rhythm Trap' released on One Records in July last year, rising star John Dimas makes his next appearance on the label with the sensational 'Hypnotize Me' with a perfect remix courtesy underground house producer and admired cult DJ, Nail. Originally from Greece but now residing in Berlin, John Dimas has been moving from strength to strength with a real break through year in 2013, releasing on the likes of La Vie En Rose, Dame Music and family label One Records. He was also snapped up by the highly respected Lola Ed Agency in France alongside artists such as Apollonia, Chris Carrier, Terence:Terry, D'Julz and many more. Playing DJ gigs worldwide John also delivered his impressive live show at Watergate and at fabric as part of a One Records label showcase. 2014 looks set to be a huge year for John being part of the Lola Ed crew and with plans to play at most of the upcoming One Records parties. He also has remixes and releases on the way for Silver Network, Moon Harbour, Black Rose, La Vie En Rose, Overall Music and Djelbali's Rework Series.With Adam Shelton, Subb-an and John Dimas all huge fans of Nail they are extremely happy to have him as part of this release. His 'Slap My Ass' track released back in 2000 on Classic Records was what first brought him to Adam Shelton's attention and was a real standout track with Adam being a big Derrick Carter fan. There has been a recent resurgence in popularity for Nottingham's Neil Tolliday aka Nail. Having spent much time on his other project Bent enjoying a huge and more commercial success, they recently parted allowing Neil to retreat into solitary to make new music. In 2012 'Till The Feelings Gone' from Nail's 1996 album made it on to Zip's 'fabric 67' mix CD, followed by Fear of Flying requesting more DiY tracks for repress, coming out as 'Ode Rammel' at the beginning of 2013. He was also signed to AirDrop Records, who put out six new works: 'BPMs Vol 1' bringing him to Berlin for his first solo stint behind the decks in over ten years. Recent releases have also been on the likes of Robsoul Recordings and Shabby Doll Records proving he is fervently back and more pertinent than ever.

The Truth (feat Marshall Jefferson)', one of the standout tracks from Matt Tolfrey's debut LP, 'Word of Mouth', sees a full single release with additional remixes from Gerd's Geeeman project and John Charnis.

Leftroom boss, Tolfrey, dropped his 'Word of Mouth' LP late in 2012 and the project served as an insight into the influences and passions of the increasingly well-travelled DJ/Producer. 'The Truth' was a particular highlight for both listener and producer alike as it featured the vocals of none other than the 'godfather of house', Marshal Jefferson.

Tolfrey's original version opens the package with a strident simplicity. Bare bones house with classic influences distilled in to a contemporary slice of 4:4 heaven, 'The Truth' ends up sounding distinctly timeless. L.A. Based producer Jon Charnish, an artist with increasing clout following work for Innervisions and No.19, turns in a moody late-night interpretation that drops Jefferson's vocal input in favour of steadily building melodies.

4Lux boss and Dutch house-master, Gerd, dons his Geeeman for two versions which take on a rough-edged, brutalist house sensibility. Saturated Juno licks and 909 stomp form the backbone of both mixes but the 'Deep Vox Voyage' showcases rich chords and Marshal Jefferson while his 'Rough Mix' takes things even grittier.

The mighty Hot Creations welcome back firm label favourite Miguel Campbell with 'Beams of Light ' already supported on Radio 1 by Pete Tong, this sensational slice of modern disco featured on his highly successful debut album 'Back In Flight School' released on the label last year. A stellar selection of remixes come courtesy of Alexis Raphael and Crooked Man aka DJ Parrott
Alongside the evocative sun soaked original version of 'Beams of Light' is Alexis Raphael's infectious digital-disco take on it. A firm dance-floor favourite from Alexis who has had recent releases on Culprit, Nurvous and Jackathon.
On the flip and the legendary DJ Parrot provides a hallucinatory transcendental Crooked Man Remix that is simply outstanding and is set to soundtrack warm summer evenings and sunrises. From his formative production as Sweet Exorcist through his work with All Seeing I, to his latest Crooked Man incarnation, Parrot once more rubberstamps his outstanding production techniques with this timeless remix.

Mike Gill who has already featured on Roots For Bloom teams up with Taymor Zadeh to bring us the Coppin' A Feel EP featuring a John Dimas remix. The A side "Coppin' A Feel" brings us hard hitting groove with a hypnotic vocal line carrying the track. Loose percussion and bold tom drums really cement this to work on any dance floor. The B side cut "The Message" is a more rolling groove with a strong Rhodes line that features later on really making the track evolve. John Dimas takes "The Message" and takes the atmosphere up a notch, with slick cut up vocals. This one will work in the early hours.

Returning with a blazing double single release, Yoruba's golden boy Mike Steva hits us with two bangers preceding his debut effort 'Who Am I' As all our releases we take pride in the development and artists freedoms. Mike has managed to do what most new artists haven't, create a complete musical story, full of soul, sounds from his homeland Macedonia as well as soon to be house classics. IN this release we get a glimpse at the wide spectrum and diversity this album promises. Weekend Love takes you back to place when love made you smile. Featuring the voices of Melbourne's own Motty & Siobahn, the perfect vocal duo bringing it all together. Oro takes you on a journey back to the village where baltic brass and handclaps and foot stompin' are required. Overall judge for yourself, I hope you will be as pleased with this music as I am sharing it with you.

Osunlade

Patrick Topping's productions have an effortless swagger when it comes to working the dancefloor and still only on his second EP, the North-East's star in the making is showing plenty of nous with his massive debut for Hot Trax and now the intoxicating 'Any Amounts EP' on Hot creations. A-side 'Any Amounts' is getting hammered by Jamie Jones and crew, packed with stomping bass and ridiculously infectious top-lines, it's a simple and dangerously effective weapon to destroy all dancefloors. 'The Point' moves into glitchier territory with another tough and raw bassline and old-school synths. On the flip, 'Look Around' weaves provocative vocal clips with heavy bass, a disembodied chorus and syncopated beats. Last but not least Patrick pairs another breathless vocal sample for 'In My' with a stripped back bumpin' house groove, arpeggiated synths and subaqueous growl.

Patrick Topping delivered his first EP 'Walk On' on off-shoot Hot Trax earlier this year, which reached no.5 in the Beatport Deep House charts and was championed by Pete Tong on his legendary BBC radio 1 show.

With his tracks gaining support from heavyweights Franck Roger, Richy Ahmed and Darius Syrossian and Jamie Jones even before they were signed, it was only a matter of time before the budding artist broke into the limelight.

Now 24 years old Patrick, first built a DJ career around playing at his own popular club night in Newcastle, Motion while at Uni but started concentrating on production in 2011. Through the old-fashioned demos route, Patrick caught the attention of the Hot Creations camp as they recognised the talent and Patrick's innate ability to craft a banging record.

QY life in the western part of Leipzig which is dominated by industrial architecture from the past. Some of the tracks created here were released on the 'Blank Slate' (2013) and 'Ortloff' (2013, 2014). Shortly, an E. P. will expand their catalog, released on the U.S. label 'Roundabout Sounds'. In addition to new productions QY are currently working on a system based solely on hardware live set.
A part of QY is the illustrator Cheslo (www.cheslo.de), who also did the artwork of their EP Roundabout Sounds.

Keinemusik's Rampa teams up with one half of Azari & III vocal section SYF (Starving Yet Full) for the follow up the hugely popular 'Everything' release last year.
'Where Did I Go Wrong' is Rampa at his best combining amazing underground dance music with stunning vocals. On the flip the Rampa Club Mix beefs up the percussion for the main rooms.

Lee Curtiss, Ryan Crosson & Cesar Merveille form the Sweatshop Boys and this May they drop their second EP 'Wanna Be More' on Leftroom with remixes from Tom Demac and Ryan Crosson himself.

Sweatshop Boys return to the Leftroom family following their 'Wide World' EP released back in June 2013. Collectively, the three artists stack up an impressive back catalogue with tracks spanning labels such as Wolf + Lamb, Visionquest, Cadenza, Get Physical and Culprit.

The opening track 'Wanna Be More' leads with a dancing bass line alongside sub-led low-end tones and a stripped back rhythm, all of which gets seamlessly laced over broken female intonations and whirring atmospherics to deliver a subtle yet infectious groove.

On remix duty Welsh lad Tom Demac, whose recently been tipped by no less than Thom Yorke of Radiohead, breaks into the raw side of things utilising distorted harmonies that build towards a warm breakdown in earthy percussion and rumbling bass lines.

For the final offering on the EP Ryan Crosson re-imagines his original and twists it into a deep down-tempo house cut, chopping up the female murmurings and working them around shuffling drum patterns and a quaking bass line.

Please note Ryan's remix will be released on vinyl only.

The Leftroom imprint returns this June with 'Man Like Me', by William Kouam Djoko, backed with a remix from house veteran Matthew Herbert.

Dutch producer William Kouam Djoko has been steadily building a highly praised reputation over the past few years, with original work and remixes for the likes of Rush Hour, OFF, Carwash and Area Remote.

The release kicks off with the original mix of title track, 'Man Like Me', seeing Djoko delve deep into contemporary deep house, employing bright chord progressions, simple yet effective drum programming and whispering vocal licks. The latter stages introduce jazzy melodies and high strings adding musicality to the record. Up next is Matthew Herbert's rework of 'Man Like Me', Herbert puts his unique spin on the original number, with a profound depth instilled in the production through hooky low-end bass, swirling background tones and subtle automation touches. The record slowly blooms to a focal point where the groove is stripped back and dubbed out delays build on the atmosphere.

Entering the B-Side of the release we have 'Mystic Niger', showing a darker side to Djoko's productions with acidic bass hits, hypnotic vocal lines and heady shuffling drums. William shows his musical capabilities throughout the track, with seemingly improvised, jazzy resonant synths easing in and out sporadically, while the boomy sub bass, carries the weight. Lastly, closing the release is 'Africane Autumn', a dusty, low-slung workout featuring off-kilter drums, warbling bass and sampled brass hits, giving off a hip-hop meets deephouse aesthetic, and showing a further uniqueness to Djoko's style.


The Leftroom imprint returns this June with 'Man Like Me', by William Kouam Djoko, backed with a remix from house veteran Matthew Herbert.

Dutch producer William Kouam Djoko has been steadily building a highly praised reputation over the past few years, with original work and remixes for the likes of Rush Hour, OFF, Carwash and Area Remote.

The release kicks off with the original mix of title track, 'Man Like Me', seeing Djoko delve deep into contemporary deep house, employing bright chord progressions, simple yet effective drum programming and whispering vocal licks. The latter stages introduce jazzy melodies and high strings adding musicality to the record. Up next is Matthew Herbert's rework of 'Man Like Me', Herbert puts his unique spin on the original number, with a profound depth instilled in the production through hooky low-end bass, swirling background tones and subtle automation touches. The record slowly blooms to a focal point where the groove is stripped back and dubbed out delays build on the atmosphere.

Entering the B-Side of the release we have 'Mystic Niger', showing a darker side to Djoko's productions with acidic bass hits, hypnotic vocal lines and heady shuffling drums. William shows his musical capabilities throughout the track, with seemingly improvised, jazzy resonant synths easing in and out sporadically, while the boomy sub bass, carries the weight. Lastly, closing the release is 'Africane Autumn', a dusty, low-slung workout featuring off-kilter drums, warbling bass and sampled brass hits, giving off a hip-hop meets deephouse aesthetic, and showing a further uniqueness to Djoko's style.