Hard Times Vinyl & CDs

Review: Since re-emerging earlier this year, mid-90s Leeds label Hard Times (a spin-off from the now legendary club night of the same name) has released some killer material from Steve 'Silk' Hurley and Eddie Leader. Here they tap up another US house legend, Chicago's inimitable DJ Sneak, for an EP of typically loopy, funky and hard-edged workouts. Sneak lets us settle in with the groovy and attractive loop jam 'You're Mine', before wrapping alien disco strings and held-note chords around a bumpin' beat on 'This One'. He opts for a crunchier, tech-tinged house sound on the gently twisted 'Body Slangin', before rounding off a rock-solid EP via the hybrid acid/deep house/disco-house pressure of 'Deep Undercover'.

Review: Steve Silk Hurley is one of the original voices of house music dating back to there first wave that came out of Chicago. The multi-time Grammy winner here joins up with Leeds DJ and vocalist Sara Garvey who has a rich discography that includes singing on some of Nightmares on Wax's best material. Their collab kicks off the all-new Hard Times label and is a pure and unadulterated bit of timeless house music with steamy vocals, neat piano work and nice raw drums. It comes here as a peak time cut, deeper version, silky smooth garage-tinged vibe from Eddie Leader and darker offering from Terry Farley & Kevin Swain Angel. An essential package for sure.