Philip George
Bad Thing EP

Reliance is one of many labels run by British powerhouse Burnski and it continues to establish itself here with a fifth EP, this time from Oldboy. It opens with a naughty, filthy, throwback dark garage shuffler, 'How'd Ya Feel', complete with old school vocals and warehouse vibes that get heads down and feet marching. 'Straight Hittah' is another throwback with a bumping low end and urgent drums that are brought to life with withering pads and killer bass. 'Hustla' closes down with another bumping and authentic dark garage wobbler. Pure sleaze from front to back

London's Luke Dean makes big moves again, this time on the emerging Reliance label. He's someone with a healthy reverence for garage pioneers like MJ Cole and Todd Edwards and brings that to his own house perspective. To date, he's landed on the likes of MicroHertz and neXup recz and played everywhere from fabric to Circo Loco. This latest EP is a bold and club-ready slab with garage and house combined into muscular rhythms with smart samples and hooky pads. 'Coast2coast' is the one for us - a tight, bouncy cut with a nod to the old school that is going to be pure bait for dancers.

Vinyl only. New label Slam Duncs by Duncan Thomas introduces itself with 4 super deep grooves,focused on swung, ultra funky drum patterns, dusty deep bass lines and lush harmonies. This fusionof 90s and minimal house act as an ode to the old school with a fresh lick of paint.

Originally released in 2005 and now repressed due to high demand, Da Sunlounge's ‘1972' EP remains an underground classic 20 years later. The tracks continue to appear in deep house and tech house DJ charts and influential sets around the world to this day.The track ‘1972' features a tightly crafted groove that blends tech house elements with a gritty, bumping house sound, enhanced by sampled jazz elements.‘Elvis' is a playful, bass-driven deep house track that flows smoothly with rich chords and spoken word samples.'Whore House' is a club-ready banger built around cheeky spoken word samples, gritty hooks, and a funky, bumping

Mr. G, aka Colin McBean, presents a remastered, 23-track compilation entitled 'OG Retrospective''The day I found my original studio masters and got my rights back was the starting point, and then I realised it's 25 years on and it's time to recode, remaster and reevaluate because I've never looked back properly. I've always been like a bat out of hell, never quite thinking I'm good enough or great at what I do, but it's important to celebrate, because there's nota lot of people still here, still doing it after this length of time'.With new masters provided by Simon at the renowned London mastering house The Exchange London, a direct link to the original mastering done by the late-Nilz (Nilesh Patel) from The Exchange, Mr. G's 'OG Retrospective' marks a reflective period in McBean's life.'All I've ever done is write and move forward, but more and more, I get the new generation sending me videos of my old tracks and sometimes I don't even recognise them, so finally I thought, 'ok, you're comfortable in your own skin, let's really see how you sounded at the beginning, how you've changed, how have the techniques changed'?It was quite raw going back over these; some of the memories are riddled with pain and angst - friends dying, where I was in my life at the time, having a heart attack and so on. Having a sound, too, can be a cross to bear. You're only ever competing with yourself, your only game is being better than your last game, so if you dwell on the past too much you can't move forward. Getting to the point where I can look back and feel happy, feels good.Invariably, what will come from this is 'more', because, with my own label I have endless possibilities and will continue telling my story.'

Hidde Van Wee hails from the Netherlands and is an emerging house talent who does it all from electro to minimal, always with a future-facing outlook. After outings on PIV and Heavy House Society, he lands here on Ebullience with four stylish and fresh house sounds. 'Seduction' is sleek and synoptic with cosmic pads and space-tech energy, 'Use Me' layers heartfelt chords onto crispy and softer-edged drums with a balmy mix of bass and pads. The flip brings the bouncy tech of 'Another Day,' and 'Dig This' shuts down with some moody bass but radiant synth smears that hark back to early Gs like Danny Howells.