New releases last two weeks: Deep House

Review: Swayzak is a micro house, minimal and techno duo, aka James S Taylor and David Brown from the UK, whose name alone will get many older dancers hot under the collar. Their craft was second to none during their peak and here we get a reminder of that with a new outing on Rawax. 'Floyd' is a jazzy dancer with live claps, spinning hi-hats and louche grooves all topped with synthetic synths that never quit. 'Doobie' is a more deep sound with late-night headsy vibes. The drums are supple, the synths squeal and spoken word mutterings add a human touch. Two well-realised and effective cuts from Swayzak.

Review: Shut Off Notice welcomes Teakup - a local Columbus, Ohio DJ and producer born Lauri Reponen and known for his stylish techno - for a second outing on the label. 'Forest Bed Moss' kicks off with dusty mid-tempo breaks and deep basslines full of soul, while 'Mhm' is a mechanical groove with dubby undertones and nice chopped vocals. 'Rain Groove Revisit' is a deep, percolating and stumbling rhythm with a smattering of percussion and bubbly feel infused with cooing female vocals. Finally, Teakup remixes Rew's 'Fragile Abundance' into a deft and lithe minimal dub for the small hours. Sophisticated stuff once more from Teakup.

Review: Dan Piu and Grant's Theory of Movement project has served up gold for lovers of heady tech and minimal. After something of a hiatus, it is now back on When The Morning Comes with more of the sort of tuneage that is going to quickly sell out and soon become the ID request du jour at your favourite underground parties. These are of course sophisticated sounds from the silky house bumps of 'Now & Then' with its seductive vocal allure to the throwback 90s sounds of 'Over Time' (Acid Mix). 'Basis' (Foundation mix) is another immediately classic house sound with analogue and dusty drums and zippy melodies next to more smooth chords. 'Motion Of Objects' shuts down with a more zoned-out vibe and widescreen melodic architecture for late nights.

Review: The Disco Gioconda crew spin narratives as they do grooves, dream-weaving throwback Italo-style records through editable wattles. Trend-chasers begone: Gino Tonico and Tino Arancino together tap into a sound whose immanent quality foregoes any need for PR preservatives, letting each section breathe, twist, and evolve organically as energy builds. 'Vorrei Rubaria' leans into drama without excess, moving through bold shifts in tone and rhythm that hold attention from first bar to last - its dub mix, meanwhile, swirls our medulla, leaving us cochlear blear. It's a record designed for full playthrough, rewarding those who stay with it.

Review: Berlin-based Aussie Tornado Wallace has a long track record of tiptoeing the fine line between perfectly judged dancefloor pleasure and the more musically immersive sounds of Balearica and sun-soaked, sofa-ready deep house. He touches all those bases on 'Bitter Suite', his debut for Apiento's excellent Test Pressing Recordings imprint. In its' full length, near ten minute original mix form (side A), the track joins the dots between psychedelic, lightly acid-clad 1993 progressive house and - via waves of instrumentation and positive melodic motfs - the colourful musical rush of the System 7's most gorgeous early-to-mid-90s productions The latter element comes to the fore on the kaleidoscopic, string-laden and slow building 'Symphony Mix', while the 'Bitter Beats' version is a pounding, sweat-soaked drum track.

Review: UV & Nenor link up once more and return to Fossils with three new edits that take the form of spaced-out deep cosmic chuggers. These are all classy tunes with an analogue edge, great deference to the classic synth sounds of days gone by but all with nice modern touches. 'Space Love' is a widescreen odyssey with sultry female vocals and a sweet theremin sound. On the flip, 'Shwag' has hazy pads and slowed down, rugged, sleazy drums and bass and then last of all comes 'GoGo Stomp' with another bubbly bottom end, squelchy bassline and weird but wonderful vocal sounds. A brilliantly high-grade addition to your record back.

Review: San Francisco's Dirtybird label has been kicking out big-ass party jams and wonky house and tech for a full two decades now. After 20 years of keeping clubs bumping the label now launches its first-ever commemorative vinyl box set. Dirtybird Hand Picked Box Set, Volume 1 features fan favourites from label founder Claude VonStroke, Aussie sensation FISHER, house vocalist John Summit, the legendary Sacha Robotti and mainstay Nikki Nair amongst many more. The set spans iconic tracks that have defined the label's legacy across the years and each one is big, bold and colourful, much like this set which includes one of a selection of exclusive items

Review: 'Celestial Dance' is Tommy Vicari Jnr and Loopdeville's latest, collaborative contribution to new label Foxtail. 'Go Again' and 'What Kind Of Love Is This' draw on the slung-down timbral strength of amapiano's log basses for reuse in crowd-busting house groovemanship: we hear giggly knock hits stiffening otherwise angelic house ambiences, making for staunch low-end scaffolds. Loopdeville's B-side is the real hoot, meanwhile, as crowd murmurs and restless rhythmic petri cultures heard to come to life across 'Los Pollos', before the r&b inflect 'Do You', which samples what sounds like Miguel, closes on a potent tearjerker.

Review: Niklas Wandt is a Berlin-based man of many talents including drumming, singing, playing synth and percussion and DJing, as well as crafting delicious techno depths such as those on this latest EP from the fledgling Viscera Transmissions. Initially, 'Mehr Phett' veers towards hi-tek soul a la early Detroit with its surging pads and sleek percussion. 'Feuerwerk Der Rhythmen' is another quick and kinetic cut but one with great meaning in the musical synths. 'Subcutaneous Dance' then gets more wild and free with layers of synth pulses, scintillating drum programming and a driving bass line that will lead to dancefloor lift-off. Eden Burns remixes the opener into a tropical, dubby, elastic house workout with an off-balance bassline.

Review: Ralph Lawson's legendary Leeds-based label 20/20 Vision is in the middle of celebrating 30 years in the game. Part of that now extends to this reissue of a record that played a huge part in establishing the imprint back in the day. It comes from the co-founders' production alias Wolf n Flow and though it was recorded more than 20 years ago, this record still bangs. 'Messin' With My Mind' is a perfect mix of squelchy tech and vocal loveliness that calls to mind early Fresh & Low. The Oliver.r dub is more sleek and blissed out and two Electric Press remixes close out with some late-night heft.