Leeds-based production duo Aartekt are residents at the popular Flux club night. Their dark, thudding debut EP was released via Alland Byallo’s Bad Animal imprint back in 2012 and received heavy rotation from Tom Trago and Locked Groove.

Aartekt have been busy lining up plenty of new, unreleased material which will see them explore a more organic house sound.

In the meantime, the pair has put together our latest podcast: just over an hour of groove-laden house music, straddling warm, melodic deep house and raw percussive stompers.

Pelski Podcast 010 – Aartekt

1. Sinc & Matteo Spedicati – La Premiere Danseuse
2. Adesse Versions – Pressured
3. BLM & Pawas – Waiting Game (Rndm Remix)
4. Agraba – Z20XX (Monkey Fish Remix)
5. Baunz – Let me feel it
6. Aartekt & Ollywood – The Tempest
7. Daniel Avery – All I Need
8. Adesse Versions – Metachemistry
9. Gerry Read – Yeh Come Dance
10. Jonas Kopp – Desire
11. Intruder – Amame (Radio Slave Remix)
12. Guti, Fosky & Hector – Chicano
13. Marshall Jefferson – Mushrooms (Trevino Remix)
14. Aartekt – Autumn Mist

Each release has been house music at its most tasteful – breezy and groove-driven with a fondness for lush and organic percussion that you can get lost in. (Read our review of his Rebound Round EP last here.)

Ben’s addition to our podcast series is scattered with typically low-slung disco grooves and funk-laced house. Look out for his forthcoming remix of 6^th Borough Project in there too.

Pelski Podcast 009 – Ben La Desh

1. MermaidS – Two Moons Rising (CDR)
2. The Small Hand Gang – Love Has Finally Found Me (LUVSINXXX)
3. 6th Borough Project – Walk Away (Ben La Desh Remix) (Delusions of Grandeur)
4. Tornado Wallace – Tornado Never Dies (Sleazy Beats Recordings)
5. Ben La Desh feat. Blg – Untitled (Unreleased)
6. Michael J Collins – Nothing Wrong With Holding On (Maurice Aymard Remix) (Apersonal Music)
7. Norm De Plume – Ohio Replayed (Plumage)
8. Detroit Swindle feat. Sandra Amarie – Center of Gravity (Dirt Crew Recordings)
9. Franc Spangler – Camberwell Beauty (Delusions of Grandeur)
10. The Tortoise – She Took The Tortoise Home (Genius Of Time Remix) (Undertones)
11. Ben La Desh – Bohicon Bossa (Sleazy Beats Black Ops)
12. Soulphiction – Maybachswagger (Pampa Records)

Credit OO is the alias of Alexander Dorn, a staple of the excellent Dresden imprint Uncanny Valley. His unique synth-heavy productions betray a love for synthesizers and drum machines, and have invited comparisons to the sinewy textures of Legowelt.

Announcing himself with the analogue roughness of his The Living Room Life EP in 2012, he followed up with Ice Cream a year later, similarly robust in its mechanical house grooves.

His distinct brand of machine music shines through in his Pelski Podcast: an hour’s journey of resolutely brittle analogue beats.

1. Akis – Into The Light
2. Streetwalker – Straight Face
3. Frak – 999
4. Richard Wahnfried – Time Actor
5. Tolouse Low Trax – Local Vers
6. Ike Yard -Half A God
7. D.A.F. – Absolute Körperkontrolle
8. Charlélie Couture – Congas Macadam
9. Patrick Cowley – Journey Home
10. Instead Of – Bad Angels
11. Xao Seffcheque Und Der Rest – Eine Nacht In Deutschland (Je ‘taime Non Plus)
12. Fan Tan – Dress Up
13. Les Yeux Interdits – Prison

Our latest Pelski Podcast arrives via Amsterdam and one of our favourite producers, Kid Sublime – an artist who straddles both hip hop and house with equal aplomb. But if all of his sets and productions have one thing in common it it’s that feel-good factor.

His dusty hip hop instrumentals – driven by healthy doses of nostalgia – have cemented the Dutch artist as a respected mainstay of the scene. His more recent house and funk productions have drawn on this cut ‘n past hip hop style, making the most of cheeky, upbeat samples. For example, last year’s ‘I Won’t Give You Up’ plundered an Alicia Mayers acapella to thrilling effect on the Faces imprint. The release that really did it for us was 2012’s The Good EP, dirty percussion-led house as raw as it was soulful.

Here Kid Sublime serves up an hour of assorted disco-funk, rugged grooves, tropical loops and obscure vocal house. Essential.

1. Lenny Williams – If You’re In Need
2. Dubtil – Remaked
3. Blaze – Change
4. Julien Chaptel – I’m lonely
5. Ron Trent – Open Roads
6. Instant House – Awade
7. Linkwood – Rip
8. Underground Resistance – Technology Gap
9. Moodymann – Me And My People’s Eyes
10. Steve O’ Sullivan – Soft Scoop Memories
11. VIL-N-X – Give Ya Love Show Ya Love
12. Black Traxx – Your Mind Is So Crazy
13. Manzell – It’s Over Now
14. Steve “Silk” Hurley – The World Is Love
15. Kid Sublime/Blaze – So Special Dub
16. Dave Angel – Black
17. Dave Valentin – Sidra’s Dream

Our sixth instalment arrives by way of one of our favourite DJs: Ooft! Anyone who likes their house with a sprinkling of disco will be familiar with the Glaswegian’s exceptional pitched-down tracks on the likes of Instruments of Rapture, Delusions of Grandeur, Rememory, Dikso and Wolf Music.

Ali ‘Ooft!’ Herron initially cut his chops as an edit maestro alongside his pal The Revenge (Ooft! was initally the name for their DJ duo), before moving onto original productions under his solo guise. Some years later, he started his own imprint FOTO Recordings – home to a slew of deep, Detroit-indebted gems and slo-mo disco numbers.

As a DJ Ooft! is second to none, a true crate-digger with an ear for unearthing forgotten soul, funk and house. His Pelski Podcast focuses on the housier side of things, full of light-footed percussion and locked, bumpy grooves. Look out for an unreleased track nestled in there by Prophets Of The South, Ali’s new project with Esa Williams.

1. The Revenge – Wreck My Love
2. OOFT! – Jareth’s Revenge
3. Jee Day – Sum Of Love
4. Fantastic Man – Groove With You
5. Suzanne Kraft – Maybe Snakes (Permanent Vacation Remix)
6. Prophets Of The South – Shiboba
7. South West Seven – If You Want (Club Silencio Remix)
8. Cle – The Jam
9. Darius Valkas – Early (OOFT! Remix)
10. Nubian Mindz – Let Me Up
11. Reggie Dokes – Once Again (Morning Factory Edit)
12. Room 303 – You Don’t Know Me (Tuff City Kids Main Mix)
13. Foremost Poets – Reasons To Be Dismal? (Motorcitysoul Remix)

Our latest podcast comes from the Swedish pair Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie, curators of the exceptional Karlovak label. Since the imprint’s debut back in January, the duo have already released seven Karlovak EPs (each consisting solely of original material from Mr Tophat & Art Alfie).

The production pair have carved out a distinctively rough sound across Karlovak’s seven releases, a raw sample-based house music doused in thudding low-end and a vintage aesthetic. The dirty, often pumping grooves are refreshingly uncomplicated; as warm as they are tough.

Equally, the fledgling duo have proved they can also do light and delicate on Karlovak’s more understated counterpart Junk Yard Connections – co-run by Mr. Tophat. Check our glowing review of their waltzing house EP Dusty Ballrooms.

Their Pelski Podcast installment is a typically percussive journey that starts with elegant disco and moves through various shades of downbeat, clinking house grooves – and includes plenty of unreleased material from the Stockholm duo.

01. 6th Borough Project – Closer [Instruments Of Rapture – IOR005]
02. Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie – Untitled [Unreleased]
03. Scott Grooves – Bitter Sweet [Modified Suede Recordings – MS-003]
04. Ivano Tetelepta & Alex Jansen – Holy Day [Rue de Plaisance – R2P009]
05. Mr. Tophat – Mood Switch [Forthcoming on Junk Yard Connections - JYC-009]
06. Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie – Kamerun 3000 [Forthcoming Karlovak - KVK500]
07. DJ Aakmael – Soul Of A Woman [UnXpozd Entertainment – UNX4]
08. Moomin – I Whisper A Prayer [Smallville Records – SMALLVILLE 35]
09. Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie – Hustak [Unreleased]
10. Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie – Dusty Jazz [Junk Yard Connections - JYC-006]

Our fourth podcast is a bit of a curveball, an obscure selection of slinky r’n’b and rugged grooves from Washington DC’s Jay Simon.

The unfiltered crunch of raw house pervades Jay’s style, a Detroit-influenced sound that feels right at home on Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats imprint – who last year released his wonderful edit of Faith Evans’ 90′s number ‘I Remember’. With its rough and rolling beats, ‘Faith’ fast became a highly sought-after slab of wax.

The Washington DJ also oversees a podcast series, Just A Groove, and launched his own imprint in 2012, Must Have Records, drawing on jazz, hip-hop, and house.

Get stuck into this refreshingly uninhibited mixtape: sexy 90s vocals, off-beat soul and stark, deep-as-you-like Detroit grooves.

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2. Dazzle – In The Disco [PPU]
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4. Cece Peniston – Crazy Love (Kenlou 12″) [A&M]
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6. -
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8. Omar-S – Amalthea [FXHE]
9. Dolo Percussion – Dolo 4 [L.I.E.S.]
10. -
11. Philippe Laurent – Et Hop [Fraction Studio]
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13. Model 500 – Ocean 2 Ocean [Transmat]
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15. Jay Simon – Royal Rumble [Future Times] (forthcoming)

He first turned heads with sublime deep piano-house cut ‘Salty Tears’ on his own label Voyeurhythm and has since released on Delusions of Grandeur, Quintessentials and Royal Oak. Each and every one has been a subtle, cherished gem, whether it’s the analogue synth disco of ‘Path of Non Attachment’, the melodic and sultry cuts on the Love Momentum EP,  or the chiming sunniness of the recent ‘Footprints’ (of which you can read our five star review here).

In arguably the best Pelski Podcast yet, Ben Sun offers up a slinky selection of gentle bluesy jazz, aching, slo-mo soul and deep Detroit percussion.

1. Weather Report – Milky Way
2. Gabor Szabo – San Franciscan NIghts (intro)
3. Melvyn Price – Happiness is…
4. James Last – Inner City Blues
5. Alif Tree – Forgotten Places (Moodymann remix)
6. Vakula – Different Tone
7. Mike Grant – The Struggle Of My People
8. KDJ – Moods & Grooves 5
9. Rick Wade – Pimp Factor
10. Ray Parker Junior – I Don’t Think That Man Should Sleep Alone
11. Linkwood – Miles Away
12. Andy Hart – Tokyo Lights
13. Marcos Cabral – 24 Hour Flight
14. Tokiyushi Honda – Lament
15. Quincy Jones – Tell Me a Bedtime Story
16. The Alan Parsons Project – Fall of the House of Usher

The Floridian’s own floor-burning heaters are a gleeful mishmash of funk and house, like a wriggling, 4X4 bastard child of Prince. And over the last seven years, McQueen’s brand of bumping, sexed-up dub-disco has earnt him a name amongst clued-up selectors.

This podcast was recorded live at an LA warehouse party and, in inimitable Sleazy style, it’s a no-holds-barred selection of hedonistic, hip-shaking bombs.

1. Fernando – Decadance
2. Last mood – Sequence in time
3. Alien Alien – The Night
4. Sound Stream – Julie’s Theme
5. Boney M – Ma Baker (SMQ Edit)
6. Alkalino – Own Thang (out now on Whiskey Disco)
7. Marius – Disco Magnifique (Pete Herbert Version)
8. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Your Love (Waze & Odyssey Remix)
9. Sleazy McQueen – I’m Tired (Pete Herbert remix)
10. Larse – Tonight
11. Lou Lou Players – Hum Hum
12. Volta Cab – I Feel Good In My Skin (Severino & Ray Mang Remix) (forthcoming on Lost Paradise #3)
13. Beard In Dust – Revolution In Morder (forthcoming on Whiskey Disco #18)
14. Paul Parker – Right On Target

Slow Hands first rose to prominence as part of the trend-setting Wolf + Lamb troupe (dropping ‘Fast Tongue’ via the Significant Others EP) and has since released on Let’s Play House, Double Standard, Future Classic and 2020 Vision. In 2011 he produced one of the year’s stand-outs with the fantastic Formal EP on More Or Less Records, all chunky pianos and sprightly, warped funk.

Slow Hands has cemented himself as a proficient and prolific remixer too – almost every outdoor party in 2012 saw at least one spin of Ryan’s irresistibly sunny rework of Runaway’s ‘Indoor Pool’. He even put out a highly sought-after cover of Sade’s ‘Sweetest Taboo’ on vinyl-only Double Standards.

True to form, Slow Hands offers up a colourful, insistently groovy mix, taking us from slo-mo house to discofied acid to bouncing pianos:

1. Pachanga Boys – Legs
2. Headman – Voices (Hannulelauri Dub)
3. Marvin & Guy – Sunday
4. John Talabot & Pional – Braves
5. Renaissance Man – Trance Central (Joakim Remix)
6. Tyson – Mr. Rain (Mano Le Tough Remix)
7. Woolfy & Projections – In Your Own Words
8. Rhythm Operator – Back In The Days (Monitor 66 Remix)
9. Michoacan – Back Breakin’
10. Casbah73 – I’m Feeling Lucky! Feat. Andy Docherty
11. The 2 Bears – Be Strong (Ratcliffe Lil Whistle Remix)
12. Simian Mobile Disco – Cerulean
13. The 2 Bears – Church