Long time house and disco devotee Dave Lee comes through on Z Records once more with a sampler from this years ZR Essentials collection. It features two of his masterful reworks starting with Jamiroquai's 'Little L'. He flips into a funked up cosmic delight with plenty of the original's synth flourishes melodic hooks and orchestration all present and correct but with added slap bass, replayed rhodes and beefy new drums which make this a surefire dancefloor winner pretty much anywhere. On the flip comes Dave Lee's Disco Fantasy mix of Shelia & B Devotion's 1979 hit 'Spacer' which has a more retro disco sound thanks to the masterful original work of Chic. Additional clav, new string parts and solo-ing keys give 'Spacer' the extended DJ mix it never had at the time of original release.

Toronto native Demur is a master of groovy, funky deep house and has been since his fine debut TruSkool back in 2016. He has been busy of late with Visions back in March finding him collaborating with the likes of Fred P and Aaron Gray. Now comes another full length in Under The Waning Moon, another compelling mix of contemporary deep house sounds, well-sourced and deployed samples and elements of everything from jazz to funk to downtempo colouring the grooves. For steamy late-night stuff look no further than '21 Days A Hoe' while 'Wasted Wednesdays' is delightfully sunny and well swung for cosy back room vibes.

Lost City Archives was a vital label back in the 1990s and now founder and Motor City urban legend Gari Romalis has brought it back from the dead. He has been crafting fine house and techno for 30 years but lots to the future here with some new school stars. 'Dendo Mojo' is first up as Joey and Ron Head Back combine for deep and dusty drums, molten synth lines and plenty of traditional US house goodness. The Gari Romalis Special mix is more heavy and laced with subtle acid, then 'Belle Gruv' slips into a gorgeously skipping groove with leggy bass and brushed metal snares. 'Dance Worthy' closes out with another deep, cuddly, aloof groove of timeless appeal.

Coming up on Innamind, Killa Sound and Moonshine Recordings, Ago has been flying the flag for soundsystem innovation in the scene where dubstep still pushes forwards and the connection to traditional dub values remains at the forefront of the practice. It makes perfect sense he's now been snapped up by V.I.V.E.K's System label then and he arrives on the label with four outstanding cuts pushing at typical 140 forms and offering something wholly unique. 'Your Eyes' keeps plenty of space in the half-step rhythm, but the springy synth out front runs with an urgent double time which elevates the impact of the track. 'Crippling' is a more claustrophobic pressure cooker, while 'Eight Times Eight' turns out a leftfield strain of steppas before 'Riverwind's techy propulsion brings the record home in outstanding fashion.

BootyBart keeps things in house again for this third outing and it is another one with the dance floor squarely in mind. As well as the label, EP and artist all coming under than name, the tracks do too, which suggests this artists is all about the music rather than the faff around it. In the case of the opener it is percussive tackle with sleek drums and loops smoothing the grooves. On the flip is 'BootyBart03.2' which flips the vibe and layers in some buttery Sade samples to a dreamy deep house groove. Last of all is 'BootyBart03.3', a more intense and percussive tech cut with a fluttering snare up top and acidic bassline.

Forbidden Dance Records sure does know how to signup the big boys with previous EPs from Patrice Scott and Dego making a fine impression. Next up is another house don, this time from Chicago: Specter can really go wild with his rhythms and raw textures as shown on EPs for Theo Parrish's label, but here he starts off with something soulful, dusty round the edges and deep. 'Putazo' then finds him embracing the occult with edgy and glassy synth lines zipping about more turbulent groves. 'Run The Course' is a grinding and mechanical groove of the sort he does so well then 'Humble Pie' is all fizzing lo-fi synths and scuzzy drums patterns.

New York City native Darand Land is one of many dons of deep house to come from the Big Apple and its environs. He sits right at the top of the pile alongside the likes of Fred P for his smoky, low-lit basement sounds as he once again shows with this new EP on regular label Downbeat. 'Melanin Vegan' is a gorgeously bottomless and smooth as you can imagine with wispy pads and vocals off in the distance. It's gorgeously melancholic and is backed up by the heads down 'Deep4life Retrograde', more upbeat and airy 'Wonder Seven', and final gem 'Dug Deep'. What a doozy.

It's Time to Play says this new Italian label, and when you hear what they have put together on their first EP to entice you to do so you will be happy to get involved. It's a classy deep house outing from the off with Meftah's 'Recognizing Strength In Healing' exploring subtle sound worlds with muted chords and gentle finger clicks. Colosimo's 'It Works' (feat Alessandro Barbieri) has dancing synths and deep and dusty drums overlaid with jazzy chord work and Phonorem keeps the late-night jazz houde vibes coming with 'Hyper Dino' (feat Stefano Nardon). Two more B-side cuts round out with more classy and sophisticated house depths.