August: 14 house releases you need to hear this month

Various 'Summer 2017' (Madtech)

Kerri Chandler’s MadTech offshoot has arguably outgrown its big brother label, Madhouse Records, thanks to a slew of strong releases from Waze & Odyssey, Mia Dora, No Artificial Colours and Cera Alba, among others. The label’s new compilation is the ideal soundtrack to your clubbing holiday, then, with a combination of hard-edged tracks and melancholic terrace vocal cuts: Man Without A Clue’s ‘In Da House’ has a dancing bassline and tough beats, while ‘Remember’ by Made By Pete & Hilton Caswell feat Jem Cooke features forlorn chords and a sincere vocal. Elsewhere, Wheats’ ‘Sensate’ and Tommy Vercetti’s ‘Want Ya’ are skipping club jams, Kalyde’s ‘Snake Eyes’ and Mad Villains’ ‘Bay’ take things in a late-night direction, and Copy Paste Soul comes up trumps with the brilliant main-room cut ‘Mistical’.

9/10

Illusionists 'Volume 2' (Under No Illusion)

The first volume in this series from Under No Illusion was the first EP to have three tracks played on Pete Tong’s show in just one week. Highlights from this jam-packed follow-up include label boss Ki Creighton and Jamie Roy’s main-room gem ‘The Gathering’ and Leftwing and Kody’s huge ‘Drum Roll’ collab. Pirupa’s ‘Everyday’, meanwhile, sounds like Cajmere jamming with Eats Everything.

9/10

Cottam 'I Can’t Carry On' (FCR)

FCR is the new electronic-focused imprint from the hallowed Fat Cat Records, which has been responsible for a whole host of excellent music since starting life as a shop in 1989 (it became a label in 1997). Cottam, who’s previouly released on Aus Music, Use Of Weapons and Audio Parallax, steps up to the plate and launches the new label with this low-slung chugger that bumps along with a lively bassline, spooky voices, panned percussion and shimmering synths. Todd Mores then delivers a more dramatic version with his remix, rounding off a quality debut release that sets a high bar right from the off.

8/10

James Jacob 'Flow' EP (Food Music)

Shadow Child and Kry Wolf’s Food Music label brings us this new EP from James Jacob, who you may remember from his strong collaboration with T Williams for Strictly Rhythm. ‘Over’ is a heads-down stomper with a shuffling groove, hypnotic tones and a whispered vocal, while ‘One Second’ makes more of an instant impression thanks to its rave clangs, frenetic drums and tumbling bassline. The self-assured ‘Shifty’, meanwhile, will ably rock a dancefloor, but without banging it just for the sake of it. With productions such as these and endorsements from respected names, it won’t be long before Jacob moves into the big league.

7/10

DJ Merlon feat Black Coffee & Khaya Mthethwa 'Reflections' (DM Recordings)

South Africa has been carving out its house sound for some time now, and we love it. Sibusiso Mhlongo (aka DJ Merlon) released his excellent album ‘Original Copy’ back in 2015, with the record standing out thanks to its dramatic musicality and organic percussion, as well as stunning vocals from Khaya Mthethwa. To celebrate the 50th release on the DM Recordings, Merlon has decided to revisit one of the tracks from that album – ‘Reflections’, a collaboration with Mthethwa and South African house star Black Coffee – with this strong remix package. Radeckt’s rework lays the stunning vocal over a pulsating grove, before Cuebar teams up with DM Recordings boss D-Malice to give us a beautiful percussive workout. Enoo Napa gives us a twilight remix and a dub version, too, rounding off a great package.

8/10

Bruno Furlan 'Action Juice' (Dirtybird)

Brazil’s Bruno Furlan is established as a regular first-team player for Dirtybird. He’s appeared as part of a duo with Kyle Watson, in addition to featuring on albums such as the ‘BBQ’ compilation. The skipping beats on the A-side of his latest release, ‘Action’, trundle along before breaking into an elastic bassline with notes so low they’re almost kick drums. Some vocal sample chops and an edgy breakdown fill out the rest of the track. B-side ‘Orange Juice’ is an after-party jam, but as good as it is, it can’t quite rival ‘Action’.

7/10

Melé 'Sunshowers' (Snatch! Records)

Melé, aka Krissy Peers, has previously released tracks on labels such as Grizzly, Girls Music and Lobster Boy. Here, the Liverpool-raised producer lands on Riva Starr’s Snatch! Records, with ‘Sunshowers’ mixing organic percussion, bongo lines, congas and drum rolls before breaking into a dark bassline. ‘Parris Traak’ has similar percussive elements, too, but boasts a stauncher main-room vibe: its retro, 90s-sounding “Wooah” samples, killer bassline and serious drum workout all come together to help move your hips. It’s top-notch stuff, and that’s before Matthias Tanzmann transforms ‘Sunflowers’ from a percussion-heavy Balearic cut into something more suited to an after-hours Berlin warehouse.

7/10

Fouk 'With Lasers' EP (Heist Recordings)

Coming to you on Detroit Swindle’s Heist Recordings is this great EP from Fouk. With strong releases on Razor-N-Tape as well as their own Outplay label, we were expecting quality from them, and they don’t disappoint. ‘F3000’ has a driving bassline, laser beam FX and an arp line that will drive a dancefloor wild. It takes a break in the middle to switch a cosmic disco track, before the arps kick in again; the result is something that sounds like a DFA track on speed. ‘With Lasers’, meanwhile, has a walking disco bassline and some soulful vocal loops, as well as wooshes, swirls and – yes – a lot of lasers. Waka waka guitars and Rhodes piano give ‘See You On The Other Side’ an organic, live-sounding feel. It’s then handed to Mount Liberation Unlimited, whose rework makes it sound like Pépé Bradock on holiday.

7/10

Clyde P & Tim Baresko 'Crazy Female' (Strangelove)

Strangelove has been wowing us with excellent releases for a while now, honing a sound that comes on like the love child of Dirtybird and Relief Records. For the label’s latest release, it’s enlisted the considerable talents of French duo Clyde P and Tim Baresko. Lead track ‘Crazy Female’ is built around a Green Velvet-esque vocal that slides in and out of a driving drum workout, while ‘No Request’ is an ode to DJs who have to endure the annoying demands of punters. Both tracks come with radio edits, too – a sign that the label knows it’s got two solid cuts more than capable of infiltrating the airwaves and dancefloors.

8/10

Butane vs Alexi Delano Worldline 'Omega' EP (Alphahouse)

After putting out 44 releases over the last 12 years, Butane has decided to finally close the doors of Alphahouse for good. But he’s determined to go out with a bang: the label boss and producer invited his long-time collaborators and friends Alexi Delano and Worldline to join him in the studio for one last bash, bidding goodbye to a label that’s put out records by Ricardo Villalobos, Mark Bloom and Ryan Crosson. This swansong release features a full-on tech-house assault with ‘Bass Theory’, complete with a creeping bass tone, before ‘What We Do’ brings proceedings to an end in dark-tech style.

7/10

Lisbon Kid 'At The End Of The Day' (Alex Phountzi remix) (Wall Of Sound)

Lisbon Kid are Rui Da Silva and Danny De Matos, with the duo releasing an album last year on Wall Of Sound. ‘At The End Of The Day’ was available in a limited run for this year’s Record Store Day; here, it’s taken to the dancefloor with
a pounding, broken beat remix from Bugz In The Attic’s Alex Phountzi. There are also lush downtempo versions from Justin Robertson and Lenny Ibizarre, but Alex’s remix is the one.

6/10

Roosevelt 'Moving On' (Joe Goddard mix) (Greco-Roman)

Roosevelt has asked Greco-Roman co-founder and Hot Chip/The 2 Bears supremo Joe Goddard to remix ‘Moving On’, and it’s not hard to see why: Goddard’s work ethic is unrivalled, and he always delivers the goods, too, as proven by his recent solo album ‘Electric Lines’. He turns in a mid-tempo house cut here, which is powered by a driving bassline and bolstered by classy piano and saxophone. Roosevelt also asked fellow Cologne producers AndHim for a remix, too, and he responds by delivering a straight-up dancefloor growler.

8/10

Illyus & Barrientos 'Let’s Go' (Zoo Music)

Glaswegian duo Illyus & Barrientos have been gaining plenty of fans and plaudits with their releases on labels such as Circus, Toolroom and Exploited. Their latest effort is this no-nonsense two-track EP for Monki’s Zoo Music label. The title track has a filtering bassline that rises and falls in all of the right places, with its frenetic hi-hats, pounding beats and vocal snips making for a tasty festival house cut. ‘Heart Of Stone’, meanwhile, has retro, saturated kick drums, soft pads, crowd whumpers and a pulsating groove that further cements this pair’s ascent up the ranks.

8/10

Solardo 'On The Corner' (Sola)

We’ve enjoyed (and danced to) Solardo’s tracks for labels such as Cajual, Of Unsound Mind, Toolroom and Hot Creations. The Manchester duo have now produced their strongest EP to date. ‘On The Corner’ has a spoken word sample that sounds like it’s taken from a documentary about kids who work in the drugs trade, as well as a bouncing bassline and solid drums. ‘Mental Atmosphere’, meanwhile, is a dark basement jam with all the hallmarks of a top-quality release, including sprightly drums, clever samples and gravelly bass.

8/10