Hey all. Back from New York City, where I had a terrific weekend. Didn't play out this time, but I did get a chance to hang out at Chris and Peter's Tech-House Connection night at Halcyon in Brooklyn. If you live in New York or plan to visit, this is a quality night you need to check out. And let's face it, there are very few places I know of where you can rock out to latest Brett Johnson tune while sipping on a milkshake!

Anyway, lots of new records came in over the weekend, including massive new promo action from our friends at Dufflebag. (Thanks, Wally!) New records are online now at Primalrecords.com; here's the hitlist:

WALLY CALLERIO "The Love Safari" LP 2x12" Dufflebag (Promo) [House, Tech-house] Lots of online stores will tell you they have the exclusive, but how many actually have the words "Limited Test Especially made 4 Primal Records" printed on the label? Didn't think so. Dufflebag mainman Wally Callerio has finally delivered his full-length album, The Love Safari, and this is quite possibly the best deep house album you'll hear all year. Things kick off with "Not A Day Goes By," a soulful vocal cut that carries a West Coast swing and practically demands a remix package of its own. "I Like Cherries" is a punchy bleep-houser in the Chicago tradition. "The Affair" is a deep tech-house cut with a Seasons vibe. "Smile" dices up a vintage sample collection for a Greenskeepers effect. And that's just half the album! We love it, Mr. Callerio.

www.dufflebagrecords.com

UNKNOWN (Christina Aguilera / Missy Elliot) "Dirty / Work It" (Phil Weeks Mxs) White Label [House, Tech-house] These whites are illicit and limited, so don't blink: The Fries half of Fries & Bridges works Missy Elliot one last time before getting dirty with X-tina. I'm personally down with the Aguilera mix for its tough backbeat, playful vocal cut-ups, and breakbeat climax--and let's be honest, the girl can sing. First come, first serve on this one.

TONY HEWITT & GRANT DELL "Takin' You High / Know The Word" White Label [House, Tech-house] The second white label collaboration between Tango Recordings mainman Tony Hewitt and UK tech-house impresario Grant Dell is every bit as great as the first: "Takin' You High" is chunky low-slung chugger with dirty bass and techy attitude, while "Know The Word" takes a tougher tribal approach that works in Dell's trademark dubby sonics with Hewitt's tight and funky sequencing. Can you really go wrong here?

V/A (DJ Ali / DJ Timeline) "All I Want / Whip Girl" Live To Tape [House, Tribal, Tech-house] Since I'm feeling all informal today, I might as well just tell you that this record has been in my box for months on end, and next to "You Don't Know," has been basically my favorite DJ Ali track ever. Bring on the delay and usher in the dub! The drums have a nice MPC swing to them and a slightly classic Roland feel and the b-line defines the track with its spatial bounce, but it's the effective FX that have been keeping the dancefloors enthralled in a wash of echoplexism. And don't forget the
B-side: DJ Timeline's "Whip Girl" is an electro-influenced houser with a much different take on the dancefloor, likely to find favor with fans of Metro Area, DFA, and Felix Da Housecat.

www.livetotaperecordings.com

CHRIS LUM "Chairman of the Messageboard" EP Flat & Round [House, Tech-house] For those who don't know, Flat & Round is the new deep house label headed up by Ben at Undergroundhouse.net, and the title of this EP, I assume, is Chris Lum's cheeky reference to its always interesting and sometimes heated message board. As a debut, Flat & Round are going to have a lot to live up to: Lum's contribution to the label is stunning house music at its best. "Deep Diablo" is a warm and dubby deep-fix with a slightly disco-funk vibe, while "I Remember When" follows suit, adding lush keys and an airy sax to the Moulton formula. Fantastic.

www.flatandround.com

SEAN Q6 "Out In The Shed" (Original & Freaky Chakra Mxs) Hallucination Ltd. [House, Tech-house] Second Hand Satellite and scene critic Sean Cusick makes his Hallucination debut with "Out In The Shed," a tweaked out tech-house cut that finds itself somewhere between Terry Francis and Aphex Twin--heady and druggy, but still physical enough for a serious club workout. On the flip, Freaky Chakra makes the first of several comeback appearances and maintains a similarly tweaked vibe, extracting mechanical sounds from the original, but injecting a very human techy funk. It sounds
like no other record you've heard in recent memory and chalk that up as a good thing.

www.hallucination.com

Also in this week is new remix and production work from DJ Spettro, Hesohi (remixed by Brett Johnson), Saeed & Palash, Hipp-E, David Duriez, Hydrogen Rockers, Schmoov!, Haris, Rhythm Unlimited (Flash Brothers), Nooncat, Freestyle Man, Pump Action, and Kevin Freeman, among much more.

New label output from Brique Rouge, Aesoteric, Addictive, Sadie, Serial, Advance, Laus, Plastica, Silver Network, Moon Harbour, Sound Of Habib, Konvex, and more is also in.

More new records coming later this week, including exclusive whites from our friends at Big Chief and Kaskade's latest venture into the land of illicit mixes. Keep one eye open.

(Norman Arenas)