We Play House Recordings is a young label. Belgian DJ Red D founded it in 2008 to showcase his favorite deep house. Soda’s singles make up half of the label’s output so far, so it should come as no surprise that Red D chose him for WPH’s first full-length.

I’m reviewing the vinyl version, which features seven new tracks, but the CD will include five previously released singles as well as interludes and a bonus mix by Red D.

The album begins with “Juno Love,” a sweet downtempo jam. Big, round bass glides under sustained, melodic chords. Plucked notes and tapped percussion make you want to sway along. “Something About Compression” is a short experiment with heavily processed strings over a hip-hop beat. The treble is so degraded, it sounds tense and frail.

Rounding out the A-side is “Cocomo,” a slow-building (eight-minute) house track. The beat is crisp and simple. Gradually, syncopated notes take over with layers of reverberation. The deep walking bassline gets a solo as well.

The flip side kicks off with another downtempo number. “Kylie Bling” is so chill it’s virtually lethargic. “Shouts in Peace” brings up the tempo, but odd, wordless vocals inspire visions of a moaning ghost. I guess I’m just not a vocals guy.

“NMBSucks” is solid. Deep low notes pulse, then rest. A gentle melody slowly drifts over rhythmic piano notes. This is home-listening house. Lastly, “Timbapunk” is a tease. Speedy video game bleeps form a catchy melody over dramatic strings and intricate snares. In two and a half minutes it’s over, leaving you longing for more.

San Soda, like Shed on his new album, shows great versatility. I was surprised to hear so many nice downtempo jams. Also like Shed, Soda refrains from a direct Chicago or Detroit sound. I think that’s a good thing. This is the sort of album that is perfect pre- or post-club. Put it on in your car or living room to get you in the right mood.

Over the past few years, Shed has been receiving an education in dance music from the fine folks at Hard Wax. That’s my theory, anyway, since this album could serve as a thesis.

The Traveller begins with a reference to Shed’s STP alias. Atmospheric, textured chords build and decay. Then the beats of “Keep Time” drop in. Alarms accompany a big, bold drum kit.

On “The Bot,” Shed plays with dub techno conventions. He cuts off warm chord pulses mid-echo, then slowly fills the space between with percussion. “Atmo - Action” finds Shed returning to his Detroit-inspired roots, but with a twist—a contemporary, spiky beat.

“44A (Hard Wax Forever!)” starts and ends surprisingly light, with tinkling bells. As you would expect, a nice, dense bed of bass, beats, and chords make up the middle portion. “Mayday” explores the Detroit connection to IDM (and beyond), with spacey synths over a rippling beat. Syncopated double snares eventually appear between the third and fourth kicks. It’s really quite beautiful.

“No Way!” is a speaker buster. Sped-up repeating organ notes spatter, then a tar pit of wobbly bass pulls everything down. On “HDRTM,” an electronic waterfall splashes over low, galloping bass. It nearly induces motion sickness. “My R-Class” is a cold experiment with a single-note acid line and marching kick drum. “Final Experiment” is more palatable. Sands of static shift over wood blocks and, briefly, synthesizer swells. The title track is a short ambient piece whose plug is abruptly pulled.

“Hello Bleep!” (presumably a reference to Warp Records) is nicely done. Its beat has the bouncing ball effect Aphex Twin made famous on his “Windowlicker” EP. “Intelligent” melodic chords border on parody, but I still wish the track were longer. “Leave Things” is also short, but it’s a glorious four minutes. Lush electronics bubble, and drum ‘n’ bass beats soar. Emphatic bass provides the final piece of the puzzle.

Maybe this album isn’t a thesis as much as a victory lap, with Shed giving shout-outs to all those who helped him along the way. He has gained both confidence and range since his last LP. Even with such a wide breadth of styles and techniques, this album never seems disjointed. Rather, it feels like a celebration of electronic music past, present, and future.

Walter Gibbons was a pioneering New York DJ. In the early seventies, he was one of the earliest jocks to use multiple copies of a record to expand a break, a technique that inevitably led him to make his own edits and remixes. While Tom Moulton invented the 12-inch single, Gibbon’s mix of Double Exposure’s “Ten Percent” was the first commercially available one.

There’s no question Walter Gibbons’ spare, drum-heavy remixes heavily influenced the Chicago house sound. Ron Hardy regularly spun tracks off Gibbons’ Disco Madness album on Salsoul, choosing its version of “Let No Man Put Asunder” by First Choice (not included here) as the basis for his famous loop-heavy edit.

Suss’d released a 3-CD Walter Gibbons anthology in 2004, but it suffered from poor sound quality. This new compilation from Strut, meant to showcase some of Gibbons’ most adventurous work, sounds great. It begins with Jakki’s “Sun… Sun… Sun…,” a three-part affair. While the first and third sections haven’t aged well, the middle is beautiful. Gibbons looped a short break, and the result is more house than disco.

“Get Up on Our Feet (Keep on Dancing)” by TC James & The Fist O’ Funk Orchestra is a spacey disco funk adventure, with synthesizers gliding all over the place. Another find is a previously unreleased twelve-minute version of Gladys Knight’s “It’s a Better Than Good Time,” a Garage classic. It’s easy to forget long build-ups like this were new at the time, made possible by the space of a 12-inch.

Sandy Mercer’s “You Are My Love” was another Paradise Garage tune, but it is relatively straight-forward disco. By contrast, the stripped down version of “Ten Percent” included here would fit into any house set. (It’s the Disco Madness mix, mislabeled as a 12-inch one.)

Not all of these tunes have aged well. “Magic Bird of Fire (Firebird Suite)” by The Salsoul Orchestra (also off Disco Madness) and “Doin’ The Best That I Can” by Bettye Lavette are pure cheese. Gibbon’s unreleased mix of “Go Bang” by Arthur Russel as Dinosaur L is jarring compared to François Kevorkian’s smooth dub. Snares pound front and center while the bass guitar wanders or a synth drones. The best part is the keyboard solo at the end.

It’s funny that Gibbons is best remembered for “Set It Off” by Strafe. I remember listening to it on the radio growing up and thinking it sounded strange back then. It’s such a skeletal tune, yet it eerily anticipates nineties party music. Equally as deep and much more rare is the funky “I’ve Been Searching” by Arts & Craft. It took a while, but contemporary producers have finally caught up to its vibe.

Gibbons was always ahead of his time. Even his excursions into gospel don’t seem that odd in retrospect. It’s tragic he died so young. This compilation is as important for the attention it shines on Gibbons’ work as for the rare tracks it provides.

Steven Tang is best-known for his Chicago-based label, Emphasis Recordings, where he releases house/techno hybrids under several different aliases (including Misguided and Obsolete Music Technology). His latest 12-inch, however, is on Keith Worthy’s Aesthetic Audio, and it fits right in.

“Aerial” is aptly named, with airy synthesizer that reminds me of early B12. “Verged” begins with an extended tribal beat. Subtle variations tease until a long-held chord joins in halfway through. A simple melody offers release.

On the B-side, “Glimmer,” plays with filters over classic Chicago/Detroit sounds. The old-school snares are fantastic. “Rocket Deep,” like “Aerial,” reminds me of old British techno. The interplay between treble synths is perfect as the beat tumbles along. I just wish there was an equally strong bassline.

Steven Tang has a way of making new music sound timeless. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of his singles thus far become known as classics.

Jamal Moss, aka Hieroglyphic Being, created this exclusive mix for Gridface showcasing upcoming singles on Mathematics Recordings as he works toward his label’s 50th release. Download it here for a limited time (just three four weeks per Jamal’s request)!

Reggie Dokes’ latest single is on Ojo De Apolo, a relatively new label out of Chile. “House Iz My Home” uses many of the same odd sounds I found endearing on Dokes’ Rain Redemptive Love EP, but it adds a schmaltzy roller-rink organ solo over the wavering strings and persistant congas. The “Mindlo Deeper Mix” wisely smooths the strings, strengthens the bass, and swaps out piano for most of the organ parts.

On the flip side, “My Soul Reaches Up” is dominated by a muffled kick drum that cuts through layers of strings and piano. Halfway through, Dokes introduces much needed claps and bass. While it’s not a bad tune, it’s also quite similar to his previous work.

“She’s on My Mind” is my favorite track here because it is the most unique. Once again, organ melodies takes center stage. I picture Dokes playing away in a big old house while revelers clink glasses in the parlor. Whether this track would work in a club remains to be seen, but near the end a simple piano line and stomping beat beg for Darryl Pandy vocals.

About a month ago, Mille Plateaux kicked off a new “ambient/drone” sub-label, Cluster, with this digital EP. Artikler is actually Alexey Devyanin from Russia, who has been relatively prolific the past few years. Here, his music ranges from dense IDM to pure electronic experimentation in the Mika Vainio vein. “w” is the best example of the latter, with machine pulses, bass oscillation, and icy static. “e” is a churning froth of rapid bass pulses and treble chirps. A slow melody and radio interference draw one’s focus from the chatter. “r” is equally glitchy, with just a haunting hint of melody. “t” is a mob of computer alert tones over dark ambient drones.

The closing track, “y,” like the opening one (“q,” of course) is busy and unfocused. Parts of “y” are downright grating, with high-pitched beeps and a disjointed beat. Nonetheless, this release immediately stood out from its peers. Artikler’s musical vision shines through these bizarre sounds. In fact, I wish he had fleshed this EP out to album length, and I wish there were a lossless version.

If Oversteps is Autechre’s response to recent outside influences, Move of Ten sees them turning decidedly inward. These ten tracks are flat and claustrophobic. Via MP3 or over earbuds, the recording actually sounds cruddy, but on a good system, I’m able to discern at least a hint of depth.

On “etchogon-S” the beat pounds like a low-rider with rattling windows. Clusters of piano notes do little to lighten the mood. “y7” is a wonky acid track with panning vibrations. “pce freeze 2.8i” features massive electro beats. Shimmering treble, blocky mid-range, and a lower octave response all take turns speaking.

“rew(1)” reminds me of LP5-era Autechre. The beat is constantly changing, and the chords are dense. I picture a lumbering, face-less robot. “nth Dafuseder.b” is an odd concoction, with flute drowning in a murky sea of echo while crisp beats tap alongside.

“iris was a pupil” has some of the loveliest sounds on the album. The delicate melody is almost classical. “no border” also reaches back to earlier Autechre sounds. Notes stretch like after-images on a screen. By contrast, “M62” is compressed and oppressive, with all of its components smooshed into a dull midrange. I’m reminded of AFX’s Analord, where a computer program could be hiding in the vinyl grooves.

“ylm0” is lighter and more intricate. The choice of keys evokes Middle Eastern music. Finally, “Cep puiqMX” is a video game of blasts swallowing warped orchestral chords. It’s a tense juxtaposition, unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.

At first I thought Autechre (and Warp) were generous to release two albums this year, but these make for a perfect pair. Oversteps looks forward, while Move of Ten looks back. Once I got past the odd mastering of the latter, I’m no longer sure which vision I prefer.

Famous shoegaze/ambient band Seefeel are back on Warp Records after a lengthy hiatus. They are set to release the 10-inch single “Faults” September 21, with simultaneous digital availability. The band's line-up has changed, with new members Shigeru Ishihara and E-da joining Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock. According to Warp Records co-founder Steve Beckett, Seefeel was the first band Warp signed whose members used guitars. Seefeel will be playing at The ICA in London this September as well. Their singled can be previewed on SoundCloud and pre-ordered on Bleep.