Back catalogue: Funky/Club House

Review: The legendary Little Louie Vega from Masters At Work revisits another disco classic and works his magic as always. This time around it is on the 1977 hit by American disco band John Davis and the Monster Orchestra titled "Up Jumped The Devil". Davis was a member of the MFSB studio session band during its heyday in the late 1960s and early to mid-1970s, appearing on many Philadelphia International recordings. On the A side we have got "Up Jumped The Devil" (Louie Vega remix) which compared to the original is much more uptempo and with a more direct dancefloor focus: it sounds like more of a an edit, until that brilliant string arrangement comes in: very MAW! Very soulful and funky. On the flip is a handy dub version too. Nurvous is a sub label of the more well known and seminal NYC imprint Nervous Records and founded in 2011.

Review: Baltimore-based DJ Oji has been in the house music game for a long time now, starting out with his own Poji label alongside DJ Pope around 1994 and steady trucking since then with his warm, approachable brand of deep house. Known for his collaborations with strong female vocalists, on this latest release for Foundation Music he teams up with Tracy Hamlin for 'Cranes In The Sky', a sentimental piece steeped in soulful composition. Pope steps up for a remix which strips the tune back without losing the message, while on the flip Joe Goddard brings his brand of bumpin', off-kilter floor-filling magic to bear, and then Star One drops the 'KDA Meltdown Dub' in a tougher, techier style which has plenty of fun dicing up Hamlin's vocal for a fresh and fruity version.

Review: More Fries and Bridges on Robsoul means more peak time proper house music with that soulful NJ garage flavour. The Ghetto Mix of "Just Because" ripples with percussive delight, whilst the drop into searing piano riff and uplifting vocal samples that play out the track adds a extra sheen of energy to proceedings - good work Mr Weeks and Mr Morales. On the flip, "Peep Game" rides a heavy bump aided by crisp 808 hits and a compressed disco bassline. There's a healthy dose of infectious EQing on the vocal loop that acts as the core rhythmic pulse too.

Review: Sergey's second release on his own Funkyjaws Music label ready for summer, vinyl only limited pressing!

Review: Dobro is a house and disco edits label run by Belarusian DJ/producer Iner out of St Petersburg. For its fifth release, it's another various artists affair featuring a whopping six tracks with appearances from I Gemin on the dusty, boompty and off-kilter 'I Like 2 Party', Paul Rudder & OUI go ultra deep in the tradition of the Three Chairs sound on the emotive 'In The Sky For Our Love', while Bendrik serves up the mandatory late night mood music vibes on 'Chat House' and Swales provides the banger on the funky and tough rolling 'Blue Skies'.

Review: For its sixth releases, the always funky DOBRO label has called up Dutchman Jan Janssen. He serves up a trio of gloriously sunny and slow motion house cuts with some top shelf remixes from Lay-Far, Scruscru and Juravlove. 'Architecture Of Happiness' opens in heart melting fashion with shuffling drums and atmospheric vocals next to leggy drums and warming bass. 'Sense Of Wonder' is another jazzy and soulful house cut with skip in the drums. 'Where Have You Gone' ups the pace but is no less loved-up before the remixes add extra funk, club beats and blissed-out deepness.

Review: Tommy Largo is a big deal in the world of jacking house and here he lands on Greenhouse Recordings with plenty of evidence to support that. His sound comes steeped with Southern influences on opener 'BBQ Ribs' with its noodling jazz chords and spoken word mutterings making for a lively atmosphere over funky beats. The Jam Funk Remix has a Chicago bump to it with the jazzy keys left in place over well-swung drums. 'On No Not Again' hints at new jack swing with its steamy sax lines and effortlessly catchy groove before 'BBQ Ribs' (Oddphonic remix) closes out with the deepest sound of the lot, perfect for when the sun has gone down and the party heads indoors.

Review: Lay-Far's critically acclaimed debut album "So Many Ways" which took him worldwide gets a friendly treatment from the global music family! In the first installment of the remix series we have artistic versions from Atjazz, Inkswel, Jonny Miller and Thatmanmonkz! Martin Iveson kicks off the EP with a masterpiece of a remix for one of the highlights of the album - electronic ballad "Stand Up" featuring Pete Simpson. When the strings come in you realize - it's Atjazz at his best - conscious boogie for the soul! We believe it may easily become future classics! Inkswel's version of "When I'm Seeing You" is soaked in the warm sound of distorted drum machines and tape delays. Be warned - this heavy-hitter can actually damage your speakers! The B-side opens with the deep and sophisticated afro house of Jonny Miller whose remix of "Summer Vacation" immediately teleports you to the open air party in the Adriatic Sea coast. Last but not the least we have Sheffield's own Thatmanmonkz revisiting "That Dream". Inspired heavily by classic blaxploitation movies, Shadeleaf Music label boss comes up with a dynamic soundtrack for the imaginary chase scene. Badass!

Review: .Four Framed Music is a brand new label that opens up with a stylish house EP full of heart. It comes from Manuold aka Emanuele Macagnone, who was born in Palermo in Italy and has already had some decent outings on respects imprints such as Kerri Chandler's Madhouse Records, Esuoh Records, We_r house and Crystal Grooves. There are crowd pleasing vocal samples next to the big house beats of the opener, then things get deeper and heaver with 'Intense' but still a diva vocal brings the fire. Showing his range, 'Metropolis' explores a more hi-tech soul sound and 'Palermo Centrale' gets raw and tough.

Review: New Digital Fidelity has been making sweet moves recently with a debut on the lauded Moods & Grovers label out of Detroit followed up by a single on his own Scopic Records. Now he brings his class to Crush On The Beachside and again shows off his love of Detroit house vibes. Opener 'Crush On The Beachside' is raw and intense with humid chords and jacked-up drums, then 'Shattered' brings more loose and jumbled beatdown grooves and 'Crush On The Beachside' (K15 remix) is then bubbly, jazzy and cuddly. 'Cracking' rounds out with more rich chord work and bristling drum funk.

Review: Californian pair KG Superstar & B.Valentine join forces to bring plenty of island influences to some steamy and funky house music here. 'Get Up' features KG's expressive Jamaican style vocals with lots of B.Valentine ad libs which are designed to get those asses shaking and hands in the air. It's a perfect party time cut that comes in the form of FRZVL's Massive main mix and then a more clipped and funky dubstyle version. DJ Spinna then shows his class with his Galactic dub Vox which is all percussive energy and broken beat loops.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: The fifth volume of their magnificent Super Spicy Recipe series finds the label's crew in full party effect, with the six tracks here crossing the borders from peak time dropping to essential warm up/down gear. First up, Vagabundo Club Social takes 'Beso Loco' featuring Tomjake Sax and turns up the controls to maximum fun, the Colombians throwing in tons of groove and Afro -influenced percussion, before Monsieur Van Pratt and Guatemalan singer Teff Brolo. This all-original track is leaded by the powerful soulful vocals, accompanied by a groove-infused piano which keeps the beats nicely anchored, followed by the ever dependable Reece Johnson who closes off this side. Flip it over for Bernardo Mota & Boogietraxx and the euphoric 'Keep On Doing Your Thing' before Sartorial takes proceedings into slightly jazzier territory on B2 and B3.