**Kenny Hanlon talks Rob Hood, the Mathematics label and his love of the mid-west. **

Quite a bit was said last year about a re-emergence of deep house in clubbing in Europe with some criticism being levelled at DJs and producers based on the idea that a lot of it was a case of Emperors New Clothes. While there was a certain truth in this it's interesting that a lot of techno that has come to the forefront in recent years is arguably just as guilty of this too.

Be it the likes of Sandwell District, Ostgut Ton/Berghain and the over abundance of Basic Channel knock offs seeping out from labels such as Styrax there has been a softer critical response from many, partly I feel as people were just happy to see a heavier, more intense sound do it's best to stomp out the drab, pissant sounds of mnml. Also many artists and Djs involved in popularising these techno sounds are very open in name checking and giving the nod to the likes of Planetary Assault Systems, Rob Hood and Maurizio, instead of pretending that what they are doing is all brand new. And, of course, Regis, one of the pioneers of the Birmingham/UK sound is heavily involved in Sandwell District itself. Last year Luke Slater brought back the PAS moniker on Ostgut - and ended up showing all the young pretenders just how its done with the fantastic Temporary Suspension album - Robert Hood decided to bring back his M-Plant label - more of which in a moment - while Maurizio released the MVO3 album which saw him moving into a more abstract and less dancefloor orientated sound.

After a mix and match of re-issues and new material on M-Plant Rob Hood brings things up to speed with his latest project, a new soundtrack to 70s flick The Omega Man, which brings those classic bedfellows of sci-fi and techno back together again. The lead off 12" for the forthcoming album is arguably Hood's finest work in many a year. "Alpha" is a searing, metallic beast, where we see Hood reduce the bpm a little but keeping the intensity as high as ever. Each element of the track is clearly defined, various percussive elements appearing and re-appearing at exactly the right moment throughout it's 8 minutes. He manages to use just one note throughout the whole track, but it really does not need anything else. "Omega (End Times)" on the flip side is a deeper, less instant track, once again containing those trademark Hood shifting elements. I await the full album with baited breathe. Also, for those who missed it first time around, Hood's "Funky Souls" cut he released under the Floorplan name in the mid 90's has gotten a pristine reissue from Rush Hour in Amsterdam. In this instance Hood took a housier approach to his minimal aesthetic.

Sticking with Rush Hour for a moment they are certainly leading the way this year in the re-issuing department. While Clone's Classic Cuts series has slowed down it's release schedule over the last couple of years this year has seen Rush Hour come through with some truly special re-pressings. Along with the Floorplan 12 they've given the uber-rare "Sensation" by Ron Hardy - at one stage the most expensive Trax Records rarity out there - a new lease of life. Hardy's classic slams in diva-ish vocals, thunderous, crashing piano chords and synths with a thumping jack backing track. One can only imagine the sweaty abandonment this caused in the Music Box. Rush Hour have also taken classic Virgo 4 tracks, some of which were also first released on the seminal Trax label, and put together a self titled double album (dropping the 4 so we can seemingly get confused with the other Virgo that featured Marshall Jefferson and Adonis). It contains 8 crisp and jacking examples of late 80s Chicago house, which similarly to Hardy's "Sensation" wear their European influences openly with some wonderfully dramatic synths layered over some piercing high hats and deep kick drums. Both releases are perfect examples of what happened when artists took the melting pot of sounds that were been heard in the clubs of Chicago at the time and moulded them into their own original wares. The likes of which went on to make their mark all over the world, to this day still influencing many house producers.

Keeping it Chicago for a moment, the Mathematics label is one example of the original Chicago aesthetic being kept alive today. Jamal Moss' label is known for it's distinct and uncompromising sound. Raw, distorted and gritty house music, stripped to it's bare elements is what one usually expects from this sometimes brilliant label (it suffers from quality control at times), but 2 of it's recent compilation 12s have displayed a somewhat mellower side. The aptly named "Soft House Experience Vol.1" is a 3 track comp featuring new or rarely released artists. First off is Soulomon's "The Soft House Theme" which doesn't actually appear in it's original form, but is instead remixed by Low Low into a poppy shuffle beat track. Your enjoyment of this song may somewhat rest on how much you like shuffles marching rhythmic ways, and it is certainly the most insistent track on here. The Exaltics "Moments In Time" is the highlight of the Ep, a warm electro-tinged house number (no, not fucking electro house), driven by a fuzzy bass and melodies that conjure up images of laying around as the sun comes up. Things go down another notch on the closing "Stargazer" by Florian Buechel, continuing in a similar vein musically to the first two jams, making this Mathematics most poppy release to date.

Now I said that another Mathematic's release also veered towards mellower territories, but "Music For Mathematics Vol. 4" is not quite all sunshine and happiness. The a-side provides the optimism kicking off with "Hogans Run" by Stabil Elite; a deep dance floor number that subtly offsets it's pressing rythym section with jaunty keys. It's followed by what may be the most un-Mathematics sounding song ever to be released on the label, the vocodored boogie of Kelton Prima's "No lies". Maybe with the recent popularity of the likes of Dam-Funk Moss saw this as an opportunity to get in on the action a little bit. It doesn't really matter anways, it's just a killer slab of 80's funk. Check it! After an ep and a half worth of relatively blissed out sounds, the flipside of "Vol.4" sees us back in more traditional Maths' territory. Le Matin's "Ne Veux Pas Vivre Comme Ca" is an abstract, claustrophobic work out that will more than likely make people hide in the corner of a club than get on the floor, but I still really like it. Finally Takeshi Kouzuki's "Control Addict" is a drone-y dancefloor killer, closing the ep off with clattering drums and claps, that should wig out some badly lit 'floors.

Chicago Skyway is, like Tevo Howard, a new school Chicago producer who's productions are steeped in the city's musical heritage without being a pointless re-tread. His latest ep on Uzuri Recordings, the "Wolfgang Hair" Ep is another fine example of deep techy house music with that little bit of bite, not dissimilar to the likes of Arroy Dee or Legowelt in his mellower moments. Before departing Chi-town a mention has to be given to two wonderful releases from Jerome Derradji's Stillove4music's imprint. Derradji and Rahann are first up with the "Concrete Reservation pt 1" 12" which contains 3 slamming edits jumping from the disco-funk of " The Way It Goes" to the cut up new wave synths of " Energize Me" through to the 80's boogie sounds of "Give it Up". Bruce Ivery delivers 3 raw minimal house bangers on "Things i want". A1 is that perfect dj tool for when one needs to suddenly up the ante in the middle of the set while B1 has echos of Steve Poindexter's stripped down wonk. Things get a little noisier on the inside B side track, but again it surges along with a rugged potency.

As most of you will know at this stage, Traxx:files likes things Midwest style, so it's time to hit up Detroit and see what else is going on there. Alex Omar Smith continues his FXHE label's impeccable run where it's gotten to the point that I'm nearly getting sick of mentioning it's releases on this here column. So I'll keep it short and sweet. If you like what this guy does then you may as well just straight away go and check his own "Plesetsk Cosmodrome" 12" and the latest release from his cousin Big Strick the "100% hustler" double pack, half of which is original cuts, the other half remixes from Mr Smith. Both are simply brilliant.

Going from one 313 native who gets bigged up all the time to one who should but rarely does; Pirahnahead has dropped an almighty bomb with his latest 12" the "NGTV NRG EP: Stage 1", on London based Third Ear Recordings. Predominately known for the deepest of soulful house music, this time around we get an altogether different type of sound. "Mirror Muse - Internal Inspiration" starts thing off with massive slab of acid, taking in Chicago and techno influences, furiously throwing them back at the listener, giving one little time to do anything but get down. I cannot wait to hear this played out, it's sure to cause some craziness. "Disconnected - Dissed Connection" keeps up the energy and tempo with a drummier sound and a warping, rubber bassline, that gets shut down sporadically for some dial tone sounds, generating a funky and jagged concoction. Again, this is one to get arms and legs flailing about the place. It gets a little darker and deeper on the b-sides "Self - Con-science" and Self - Opus 72 - #37" (answers on a postcard with any idea on what he's at with the song titles here), which both share a similar groove and can't help but be overshadowed by what came before.

"FM Sucks/Nothing's Like Detroit" by Detroit In Effect aka D.I.E. was probably my favourite electro 12" from last year and in a time when quality electro is light on the ground I was pretty happy that they decided to drop not one but two new releases on the same day. "Detroit Party Train" and "Work It" are two releases with PARTY written all over them, taking some age old classic electro sounds and throwing them in to a big pile of funk. The 2 releases are jam-packed with silly vocal hooks and the sort of basslines that will get the least funky of us trying to do The Jit till we fall over. A special mentions goes to the title cut off "Detroit Party Train" (I really, really, want to get on that train) and the closing "Shake A little Faster" on "Work It" which has a small melody line that bizarrely reminds me of "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney. I presume it's just my ears playing a cruel, yet amusing trick on me.

Two ex-pat Detroiters who are coming on strong at the moment are London based Scott Ferguson and Maine based Disco Nihilist. Ferguson's "Midwest Born and Bred" ep kicks off with what I think is possibly Ferguson's finest cut to date, "Keep On Lovin' Me". It's got a bassline that Kenny Dixon Jr would pimp out his MPC for which on it's own would have this in my bag for months on end, but half way through he opens the song up with a truly inspired 303 line that takes things to a whole other level. The McNichols & Woodward mix takes the original in a much deeper direction and is a cool, light alternative to the first version while things close off with another of Ferguson's louche mid tempo work outs, "Staggering & Stumbling ". Those are certainly two words which do not desribe where Ferguson is at with his music on this 12. Disco Nihilist is, in a relatively short time, making small but noticeable waves on the house scene, and his efforts are sure to gain even more notice with "From One Place to Another" on Construction Paper. The lead off number "Easy" is sure to be the hit, a deceptively simple sounding Chicago inspired number that has a beautifully understated refrain that gently comes in and out of the background through out before leaving way for a well timed acid line to close things off. "Leaving Bull Creak" keeps up a similar vibe as the opener, with a melancholic air hanging over the un-tampered analogue drums. The b side takes things in a darker, heavier direction with both "Gallop" and the closing "SH-101" showing that 25 years down the line it's still amazing how effective a couple of drum machines and not much more can be.

From the midwest of the USA to the midlands of Ireland, Carlow based Tr-One made an interesting introduction in 2007 on their debut 12inch "Inner Thoughts" on Fine Art Recordings with the statement "We Owe Our Musical Heritage To The City Of Detroit" printed across the label. Was this to be another case of "Detroit-esque" techno (ie, throw a rising strings hook over a 909) and why should we bother paying attention? Well, that debut of impressive lo-fi acid was followed by the mid tempo soulful, disco influenced "Mystery Train" on Nice and Nasty in 2009 so it actually seemed like we might have something more interesting here. Their latest Ep "It Ain't Hard To Tell" on Pogo Recordings again shows them to be willing to utilise an impressive array of sounds and it is the seemingly contradictory mix of bleakness and hope that is a mainstay in much of the Motor City's electronic music output that is the "heritage" they speak of more than any particular sound. The music has a musty, late night groove with an improvised feeling prevalent, with the middle cut "Bombay" being the stand out of the 3 songs. Fitting to it's title there is an eastern tinge to the uplifting keys that bring this masterful house cut to its end. Closing things off on this round up is the latest from the Dublin based Enclave Recordings; the debut ep from Rogan, "78". All 4 songs are heavily influenced by the jazzy, looselimbed works of Moodymann, utilising vocal samples in a similar fashion, but they more than hold their own in a world gone mad on knocking off 90s deep house and the closing "Control" especially is a fantastic rush of stabbing chords and uptempo disco drums.

Top Ten
Rob Hood - Alpha [M-Plant]
Scott Ferguson - Keep On Lovin' (Detroit v Chicago Mix) [Ferrispark]
Pirahnahead - Mirror Muse - Internal Inspiration [Third Ear Recordings]
Shake - Frenchie [Frictional]
Disco Nihilist - Easy [Construction Paper]
D.I.E. - Detroit Party Train [MAP]
CRC - Mandragora [Heliocentric Music]
Tr One - Bombay [POGO]
Tevo Howard - Data (Long Version) [Our Hour is Your Rush]
Gosub - The Last Time I Saw You [Citinite]