Collection: House

Originally released back in 1996, Felix Da Housecat's one and only release under The Visionary alias gets a much needed reissue here on original imprint Music For Your Ears - a lesser known sublabel of NYC legend DJ Duke's Power Music Distribution, While the mesmerising energy of "Free My Soul" does well in its own right, here it's accompanied with remixes by the legendary Danish-born label boss: the first being the sensual and emotive deepness of the "Deep Skool" Mix, followed by the stomping "Visionary" Remix that's powered by a thunderous rhythm department and a hypnotic vocal refrain. Get your hands on a piece of proper house music history!

After five years of on-off collaborations and side projects, Aaron 'FIT' Siegel has finally got round to making a new solo record. It's rather good, with startling A-side "Exist On" delivering a brilliant blend of breakbeat-driven turn of the '90s grooves, chunky bass, ultra-dreamy chords and the kind of bleeping top-end melodies more readily associated with the early releases of Warp Records. Title track "Formula" moves even further towards bleep techno territory via deep space chords, thumping techno beats, Kraftwerkian lead lines and the kind of distorted analogue bass found on LIES releases, while "Wayne County Stomp" sounds like a mutated, mind-altering cover of Steve Poindexter's "Computer Madness".

Four highly requested remixes of Jacques Greenes sophomore Dawn Chorus album by Fort Romeau, Big Miz, Ciel and Martyn Bootyspoon. Last years “Dawn Chorus” album showed Jacques Greene outgrowing the limitations of the tempo-defined dance genres he rose to notoriety within. And while his own music grew in scope, Dawn Chorus became his most collaborative work: courting friends and instrumentalists to lend their work to the album. For that reason, Dawn Chorus feels so much richer than his prior, solitary bedroom production and spoke to Greene’s competence as a curator. Inviting friends to contribute original remixes to the Deluxe Edition of the album which speaks to his ability for curation in a whole other sense: building on the album with club primetime house and techno, afterparty warehouse versions from Greene’s friends and family.

Over a decade after the first LiveJam collaboration surfaced - on a strictly vinyl-only basis - an entire cosmos of interconnected artists, labels and releases have spawned off its mystery - a perpetual praising of the shadows that is less and less present within the underground. At its core, it instilled an ethos and a clear aesthetic both for the label’s regulars, and for the wider house and techno spectrum as a measure of quality. The initial collective, led and curated by founders EMG and John Swing, gave rise, together with the Analogue Cops, to the tirelessly anonymous APPOINTMENT project - an improvisational, techno-minded session - and the SPS moniker that includes talented producer Battista, with both sets of crews making a return after a long break from the label. Ten years later and the cooperative expands, finding mutual respect and admiration among two heavyweights of the UK house and techno ecosystem - house maestro, Mr G, for the former, and British techno luminary, Ben Sims, for the latter. Even so, this remains consciously limited to vinyl, and while they now have official support from two of dance music’s legends, it’s been earned through a dogged pursuit of Livejam’s founding principles. Simply, a physical production ethos from conception through to performance.

As you'd expect from someone as experienced as DJ Qu, this two track, single-sided salvo manages to strike just the right balance between dancefloor weight, drive, and the kind of mind-altering weirdness that sounds so good in the early hours of the morning. This is particularly evident on hazy and heady opener "A Lucid", where off-key electric piano notes, weirdo noises, echoing percussion hits and mangled vocal snippets ride a wonky, bass-heavy techno groove. "Tape" is a little less brain melting and a touch deeper, but still makes use of wiggly acid lines, spacey stabs and reasonably robust beats. Like the A-side, it sounds like it is probably best enjoyed in a very dark room at five in the morning.

The pleasingly unpredictable Adeen label returns with another record of outstanding and distinctive quality. Scott Hess is an emergent talent, originally from Detroit but now based in Bangkok, who channels the heat and clamour of the Thai capital. The result is a funkified strain of house with rich synths and some satisfyingly organic licks. "Redlight" is the heavy lifter, all muscular bass synths and a nagging, twitchy groove, while "Circle Of Funk" brings a more introspective tone embellished by some gorgeous slap bass. "The Rhythm" pushes a more steamy kind of funk that nods to the Detroit house grandmasters.

1 Life returns to its "Keep It Deep" series with another sizzling slab of feel good party wares designed to blow the clouds away. First up, Vincent Inc remixes Julian Sanza's "Starduster" with the slickest kind of '80s funk - like a Level 42 deep cut on steroids. Rune Lindbaek and Frisvold get deep in the mangroves with their swampy version of "Sunset On Punta Paloma" by Incarnations. Cosmic master Danielle Baldelli and Dionigi bring some slick Italo vibes and subtly psychedelic flourishes to their original production "Prepare To Energize", while Jorge Savoretti shakes up Mateo & Matos' "Vibe" and turns it into a snapping, clacking deep house workout par excellence.

The grooves are heavy and dubby but still resolutely house-oriented as William Caycedo steps up to Dungeon Meat with his first EP in a couple of years. "Rock It" perfects the lean and mean groove - just a nasty drum jack and a big subby bassline, and utterly infectious with it. "Lock N' Load" follows a similar trajectory, although functions more as a tool than a standalone track. "Cut I" is a little more bubbly in its demeanour while still following the formula of drums, bass and little else. "Cut II" has a sweet bassline that will hook the dancers in, while "Cut III" keeps the pressure up with its nagging hats and subtle rhythmic fills. This is one for the DJs, but don't be fooled - there's bags of attitude tucked within these stripped back jams.

The sweet and funky side of the Constant Sound empire is back for a third bout. Cardiology deals in the finest disco edits and deep house delights for soul-centric groovers, and so it continues with this sure-footed 12" from The Owl. "Soul on Fire" is an appropriate title for the lead track, which keeps the vibe sizzling throughout with a strictly managed dose of Philly disco magic. "Universal Funk" takes things more upfront, but still those drops hold just enough back to keep the track utterly cool. "Funk Town" gets wild on the filter with the core sample hook before dropping some sassy bass and bongo heat at the track's apex. "Concrete Soul" completes the picture with a wistful choice in samples and the nastiest b-line on the whole record.

B-tracks, the duo of Soren Jahan and John Barera, return with their first release together in many years. Unfolding across these six tunes is an extended EP of hard rocking, raw and rough house trax in the immutable b-tracks style - with no weak links.

Joe Corti's latest outing on China White follows the premise laid out by his previous turns - unbridled feel-good house music with more than a little disco sauce poured into the mix. So it goes on this new drop, a two-track bomb guaranteed to set the party ablaze. "You!" is the consummate A side burner - all fever-pitch diva vocals, searing strings and a powerful peak time rhythmic thrust. Providing the balance on the flip, "If I Could" takes things deeper with some smouldering loops kept sizzling under an array of processing without diluting the heavy funk of the groove. Seriously tasteful disco edit tackle right here.

Less than a minute into the first track of 'Ce Es Music', Jordan Zawideh slams a relentless loop of a chopped lo-fi vocal sample: a jacking "House Me!". That sample will linger, distorted and reassembled, throughout this double-pack, freshly released on the consistently unpredictable No 'Label'. Zawideh channels the raw and ardent machine rhythms of classic early Chicago house era. Interspersed literal and hypnotically repetitive short vocal loops recall the Muzique crew's edgier iterations of this classic sound. It's a relatively straightforward idea, but one that's meticulously executed with such an individual touch to shape classic tropes into refreshing and unorthodox sonic forms.