DJ Mag

DJ Sneak & DJ Soydan
The Latin Kardes (Yakuza)

Old hand Sneak teams up with young gun Soydan, and the result is a set of infectious, ebullient grooves that bubble with filtered Latin licks and insistent beats. Sure, it's basic and the formula varies little from track one to four, but if no-nonsense jacking, filtered loops and Latin vibes are your thing, this is for you - and the quality is there all the way.

Simian Mobile Disco
Cruel Intentions (Wichita)

Simian Mobile Disco, the wonderful Beth Ditto and a pretty damn good song should add up to a hit. So what's not right here? ?Disjointed marketing (the album was released last summer) and scattershot A&R (10 to 16 mixes depending on where you look) are probably good places to start. Of that stupendous number, which includes versions by Greg Wilson, Joker, Maurice Fulton, Heartbreak and DJ Pierre, Pierre's decent enough version is the only one you'd want to play in a club, but the open goal of a simple club version of the original is spectacularly missed. ?Even allowing for all that though, Simian's mid-tempo original is still a very good record with enough crossover appeal to mix it in the higher reaches of the commercial charts.

Stimming, Ben Watt & Julia Biel
Bright Star (Buzzin' Fly)

Pulling out something special for a benchmark release - the label's 50th, in this case - often puts on the pressure in a way that's not entirely positive, and there is a sort of vague notion here of trying too hard. But the joint talents of Stimming, Watt and vocalist Biel do indubitably represent the Buzzin' Fly credo, and the slightly austere melancholy of 'Bright Star' is something that will be more than a little familiar to Flyheads. With dance music heading away from harsh, jittery electronic sounds, maybe there's a feeling that the awkward rhythms and defiantly wintry feel of this track are riding against the current, but for all that, there's an underlying quality and sense of quiet nobility at work. And it's unarguably for heads and hearts over feet.

Micky More
A Touch Of Jazz (Street Of Soul)

Time was when you could barely find two records together without one of them being yet another jazz-house workout. ?That was then; now only the truly dedicated hold to the task and that happily means the quality is on the up. ?Italy's Micky More duly turns out a funky little number stuffed with all the usual piano and horns and the impressive, if fashionably super-sized, mix package yields passes from Alex Dimitri, the world's most unimaginatively-named remixers Andy & Dave, Scott Wozniak and, pick of the bunch, a satisfyingly refined rub from Groove Junkies.

Franksen & Tom Wax
Bodyworker EP (Salted)

Miguel Migs' Salted label is a return favourite on this page and this kind of gear is why. ?Franksen & Wax's three tracks are various shades of tech-funk, ranging from the mostly funky ('Curcumma') to the mainly techy ('Tshuwanna'), but the release is really more of an Ian Pooley-by-stealth record, with Pooley taking the elements of 'Bodyworker' and firing up some phenomenally fat beats, structured by a rumbling bassline, key stabs and a cool synthetic horn.

The Jinks Feat Carla Prather
What Happened To Us (Jinks Inc)

Chicago's Carla Prather has the sort of controlled vocal power and ability to hit notes that's somehow still in demand, even if vocal house is an endangered species - and it's records like this that show why it will never die. The Jinks create a set of impressive, moody string hooks to accompany Prather's classic vocals, and the result is a fine, timeless sounding production with that essential, life-affirming feelgood factor. And the only clich?ere is that good music will never go out of fashion.