A selection of heterogene musical approaches that sound homogene in any second of the dramatic suspense that Optimo created. In their night not only the smiling faces crowd the floor. The sad and lonely dance too to soulful, transcendent music of the spheres. When you want to top their mix down in styles again Optimo go the genre spanning way: melancholic techno, space out acid house, minimal wave, or even bittersweet synth pop call the tune to represent the diversity of sounds and emotions that a dark dancing night can offer. A mix that would perfectly fit on one of those Voyager Golden phonograph records. It could tell all extraterrestrials and future humans who find it that the humans of the now are able to dance to the deepest haunting sounds without loosing their sense and sensibility. More

OK, so this is a bitter sweet moment for me. After 4 years and 60 remixes, we are about to release the last re-workings of Romanthony's vocals. Most of you will know the version of this song he recorded with Daft Punk. Before he died, he made a new recording of the song and sent me the vocals to source the remixes. It was a tough job - the song is such a classic - but hopefully I've done it justice. First on the remix list was Detroit Swindle. The guys are just a class act and if anyone could take this classic song and give it a timeless twist it was the Swindle. They do not disappoint. Warm moogs, soft and spacey keys provide the funk-fuelled backing, strings soar around Roman’s gorgeous tones and all the while their tight rhythm section keeps the groove bang on. With the standard that DS set, you’d expect the other remixes to struggle in comparison but each remixer took a different style so I think they all stand up superbly. Doctor Dru's version is pure gold filled with classic chords and a baseline to die for - a future end-of-the-night anthem for sure. Christian Nielsen opts for a loopier, DJ Sneak style groove and Nice7 go for a dubby acid workout. Here they all are, I hope you like them as much as I do. - Kevin McKay More

Next up for us on GU is a project that's been a bit of a labour of love for me. One of my favourite labels from Back In The Day was the Dutch imprint, Touche. I'd actually love to do a best of compilation for them but unfortunately the two main men (who recorded most of the labels output) don't really see eye to eye any more. One release they didn't make - and therefore one I could license - was this 1995 classic from Orlando Voorn. So after much googling, random Facebook messages and so on I finally tracked down Mr. Voorn and got his permission to re-release this killer bit of grimey 90s house. Who better remix a track with this title than Mosca. Ever since I had "Bax" on repeat in 2011, I've been asking him to do something for the label and finally, last year, with a rework of this classic on offer, he relented. And what a job he's done, taking the spirit of the original and transposing it into a modern day sweat-box jacker. Next up are Mia Dora. They've been a bit quiet since the release of their EP on Optimo Trax but this tough-as-fuck Basic Channel influenced rework proves quality beats quantity any day. I love the big keyboard hook in the original "Old Skool Mix" and so I've taken Orlando's vocals and worked them into my own bass'n'piano jam for 2015. Lastly, the original mix is included so you can see the kind of thing I used to love playing in 1995 (and that still sounds good today). More

If "The Wanderer" was the record that brought Romanthony's obscure Blackmale label to a wider DJ audience, "Testify" was the release that cemented its reputation as one of the labels to check for in the US import section. here are brandnew remixes: Jimmy Edgar, in true Blackmale style, takes Roman's original chops it in his sampler and lays the results over a thundering distortion tinged beat. It is proper raw jacking business, perfect for small dark rooms with a few hundred sweaty bodies. Waifs & Strays deliver a brilliant modern update complete with an air-punching sax solo (something that was definitely one of the nails in the deep house coffin the first time round and the kind of thing that could get you shot if you used in the 00s). Illyus & Barrientos deliver what is arguably their strongest remix to date dropping snips of the original over a quite brilliant bassline groove. Ed One & Boddenalso opt for some bassline action but add in classic organ stabs and Todd Edwards style vocal chops to their big-ass bass wobbler. Lastly, we have the previously unreleased CD#9 Vocal Version which as usual, features one of Roman's deeper, more organic mixes.
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Mermaids are a band from Glasgow who've previously released their own blend of live, slow-burning disco on labels like Foto, A Friend In Need & Non Local and supported the likes of Errors, The Field and theeSatisfaction. Their debut EP for Glasgow Underground carries on this super-cool disco aesthetic but, crucially, adds in one ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS TUNE. "Who's That Girl" is a summer anthem waiting to happen. Based around a simple Madonna lick, this is good-time, sample-based dance music at its very best. Like Mylo's "In My Arms" or Jean Jacques Smoothie's "2 People" this is an end of the night killer for any kind of DJ. For those that are looking for something a bit more underground to fuel their sets, Mermaids provide two serious jams for the heads. "A Pale Wolf" is a kind of Pachanga Boys-esque trip that's already found a home in the sets of Jackmaster & Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and "Callisto" sounds like Idjut Boys and Bugz In The Attic remixing Candido's "Jingo" into a Mr Scruff-friendly broken groove. More

Claptone was one of the first names on the list of people we wanted to remix Romanthony. Amazingly, right at the beginning of the whole project he agreed. But for some reason or another, it just didn't work out. Each time we put together a new remix package, we would check and see if he was available and each time something meant it couldn't happen. Either the track didn't work for him or he was too busy. It looked for a while like we weren't going to get our man. Finally, late last year, we sent him the Floorpiece acappella and that was it. Something clicked and he delivered this MONSTER of a remix. Like Schatrax's "Mispent Years" or Inner City's "Ahnonghay", this is underground house music at its very best. Heavy garage beats, a dark'n'moody bassline and some killer keys underpin Romanthony's unmistakable story about his Dj-ing experience. Get ready Miami, Ibiza and beyond, this is a future anthem for sure. Next up is Dogmatik main man Alex Arnout. Fresh from his killer "One Nation" track with Tyree Cooper on One Records, the Circo Loco resident delivers a super deep bass-heavy mix filled with dubbed-out vocals and spacey arps. One for the afterhours… Kevin McKay follows up his heavily-supported single on OFF Recordings with another peak-time stomper. In keeping with his previous remix on Romanthony's "Trust", McKay takes Romanthony's vocal on a heavy-duty ride. This time the acid is replaced with cascading synths and heart-melting strings and the overall effect is like a Dixon mix on 4 Es. Serious stuff. Finally, from the Glasgow Underground vaults, there is an unreleased mix from 1999 where Roman strips his original mix down to is essential components. Killer RAW house music. More

We've been a fan of Motor City Drum Ensemble since the brooding and eerie "Escape To Nowhere" in 2007 - a track that sounded like someone had listened to "French Kiss" on acid and then tried to recreate what they heard. So when we started re-issuing Romanthony's classics with fresh remixes, MCDE's Danilo Plessow was always someone we wanted to on the project. It has taken 2 years to organise this mix and now it is finally here it doesn't disappoint. Taking on "Trust", most people would head straight for the vocal but Plessow instead eschews that idea for a warm, low slung dub mix reminiscent of Muzique Tropique and early Glasgow Underground releases by Studio Blue. As a more dj-friendly alternative he also delivered a completely instrumental dub mix More

Small Pyramids is LA's Zach Hunsaker. Heavily influenced by nu-disco, early house music and edit culture, Zach began cutting up old disco, funk and r&b tracks for his DJ gigs in Los Angeles as Small Pyramids. Making the move from producing edits to sampling for original tracks was a natural progression and crucial step to developing a unique style. As a result of remixing acts like NightWaves and Arohan, Small Pyramids gained blog exposure on sites like Disco Workout, Tracasseur, In the Deep End and Disco Delicious. The first Small Pyramids EP, "Another Way to Feel" was released late in 2010 to great critical acclaim and shortly thereafter Zach signed to Glasgow Underground. His first single, the foot-stomping disco of "I Want Blood" came out on a limited 12" in November 2011 and made it straight into DJ Magazine's Tunes of the Year. Zach followed that up with a contribution to GU's "Spring/Summer Collection 2012. "The Music" is a slice of prime time hands-in-the-air goodness complete with elated vocals and butt-wiggling bass. Diverse DJs began picking up on Zach's sound with Rub'n'Tug, Laurent Garnier, Grum, PBR Streetgang and Harri from the Sub Club all play-listing his tracks. As well as his original material Zach remixed Mary Epworth, Sam Sparro and local hero Goldroom and found blogs like Golden Scissors and La.Ga.Sta full of love for his sun-kissed sounds. 2013 saw Zach featuring on GU's "Summer of Love" compilation. "Don't Do It To Me" is his city's take on the garage revival. Out went the M1 organ sound of Ejeca et al and in came touches of Todd Edwards and MJ Cole all wrapped up in a blissed-out Small Pyramids groove. Meggy loved it, Gilles Peterson described it as "killer" and Agoria said it was simply "a bomb". The album "Slow It Down" takes in these three and adds 7 more slow burning, unforgettable jams. There's the title track with its looping, lazy vocals and glittering synths, the joyous heavy thump of "Look No Further", the raw cut-up funk of "Lil' Bit" and the hypnotic piano love song "I'm Gonna Beg You". And that's before Zach takes you to the heart of his dance-floor with the three singles. Add to that the mid-tempo R'n'B pilfering of "Make It Smoother" and two near-perfect chill-out tracks "Stranded" & "Warmer" and you have the kind of album that sounds as good in the sunrise café's of Ibiza as it does in the basement clubs of London's East End and the pool-side parties of Zach's own LA. More

We first discovered young Glasweigian talent Barrientos in 2012 via the always on point synthglasgow.com blog. His debut mix for them effortly mixed tracks from Atjazz and Matthew Styles to Loco Dice, Vince Watson and Steve Rschmad and took the listener from the early bounce as the club doors open right through to hands-in-the-air madness of a packed dancefloor. We loved it. He alsoreleased the good-time, sun-soaked Sky EP (for free via Soundcloud) around the same time and the quality of both his music and production really stood out from the crowd. Since then he has delivered 3 remixes for Glasgow Underground (Romanthony, Walker & Royce & Visitor) gaining support from a wide range of DJs such as Junior Sanchez, Mark E, Sasse, Sean Brosnan, Grum, Russ Chimes, Coyu and Severino. "Feel The Waves" is his first full single release. And what a killer bunch of tracks he's delivered. If you want a floor-filler there's the heavyweight garage bounce of "And Uh" and the classic M1 organ house of "On My Mind". If you're looking for something deep and vocal the blissed out summertime beats of "Feel The Waves" defintely make you feel like you should be beachside at sunset with a beer in your hand. And if you need something to bring everything back down again, look no further than "Los Suenos", a solid, slow-burning Latin groove that sounds like Mark E remixing Gui Borrato and "Eventide" - the best ambient song we've heard in years. Support from: Groove Armada, Gilles Peterson, Jaymo, Funk D'Void, Jozif, Tom Flynn, Baunz, Adana Twins, Tube & Berger, Brett Johnson, Justin Sloe (Culprit), Mash, Mia Dora, Hernan Cattaneo, A.N.D.Y., Yam Who?, Chopstick, The Mekanism, Aston Shuffle, ATTARI, Luna City, Christian Homan (RTE/Pulse), Harri (Sub Club), Graeme Park, Max Pask,...
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Glasgow Underground launches a new mix compilation series in May with the release of Optimo:The Underground Sound of Glasgow mixed by Optimo’s JD Twitch. Each installment of The Underground Sound of… will see a DJ focus on his or her home city, compiling mixing and collection of music from said city. Keith McIvor, aka JD Twitch is a name synonymous with quality and eclecticism in modern electronic music and his Optimo project alongside Jonnie Wilkes is no different. The duo’s Optimo (E!pacio) club night, which ran from 1997 to 2010 on Sundays in Glasgow’s Sub Club, is the stuff of legend. McIvor had previously been an electro, rock and punk funk DJ as well as promoter of Pure, a techno night that dominated Glasgow’s clubbing landscare for ten years, until by his own admission, seamless mixing and ‘obvious, easy and predictable’ musical selections wore thing with him – planting the Optimo seed. This 12” features 5 of the rarer tracks from the mix.
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The first release since Romanthony’s tragic passing had been sent to the pressing plant before he died. Following discussions with his family and advisors, Glasgow Underground is continuing its series of re-issues to help create a legacy for Romanthony’s children. Andre Crom takes Roman’s 1995 classic and takes it on a modern day garage journey filled with skipping beats and stabbing chords and – in tribute to the original - one massive organ bassline. Big tune. Ejeca opts for a more direct, heavy on the kickdrum treatment and while he’s opted for a similar sound palette to Crom but in the young Belfast producers hands “Ministry Of Love” becomes a hypnotic, crowd-pleasing piano anthem that is up there with the best work he’s done. On one of his 3 mixes on the package and given that this was one of the few Romanthony classics where the remixes had access to the full parts, Kevin McKay reproduces Roman’s original jam in his “90’s re-edit” to give a flavour of what the original would sound like had it been released today.

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The first release since Romanthony’s tragic passing had been sent to the pressing plant before he died. Following discussions with his family and advisors, Glasgow Underground is continuing its series of re-issues to help create a legacy for Romanthony’s children. Andres – and its some feat – takes Roman’s garage classic and turns it into a tripped out disco groove. Pure and blissful this superb mix of wandering bass and crackly chords is the kind of record you want to dance to when the sun is out and the mojitos are flowing.
Young Glaswegian producer Mirrors teams up with McKay and take Roman’s vocals down a pitch or two, get out the juno & the 909, slap on a thunderous kick drum and deliver the kind of synth workout that wouldn’t be out of place on Power House. Finally McKay delivers his own re-interpretation of “Ministry of Love”, wrapping the full song around a simple, acid-driven groove. More

Glasgow Underground launches a new mix compilation series in May with the release of Optimo:The Underground Sound of Glasgow mixed by Optimo’s JD Twitch. Each installment of The Underground Sound of… will see a DJ focus on his or her home city, compiling mixing and collection of music from said city. Keith McIvor, aka JD Twitch is a name synonymous with quality and eclecticism in modern electronic music and his Optimo project alongside Jonnie Wilkes is no different. The duo’s Optimo (E!pacio) club night, which ran from 1997 to 2010 on Sundays in Glasgow’s Sub Club, is the stuff of legend. McIvor had previously been an electro, rock and punk funk DJ as well as promoter of Pure, a techno night that dominated Glasgow’s clubbing landscare for ten years, until by his own admission, seamless mixing and ‘obvious, easy and predictable’ musical selections wore thing with him – planting the Optimo seed. This 12” features 5 of the rarer tracks from the mix.
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When Gilles Peterson reacts to a house record, you know it’s a very special house record. “Deep and soulfull, Love it” was what the 6 Music Dj thought of these two. If that wasn’t enough, Trickski described “Best Things In Life Are Free” as “one hell of a bomb”. Add in support from Jimmy Edgar, Mark E, Severino and Dusky and this is looking like one of Glasgow Underground’s most successful records to date. “Love Games” is the a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. What starts off as hooky percussive groove slowly morphs into a full vocal classic with swirling chords and a killer synth hook. Severino dropped it at Fabric recently and took the roof off the place. “Best Things In Life Are Free” is a darker affair – all wandering acid lines and moody, emotional strings - but as Trickski proved when they played it at Watergate, just as effective. More

On this second remix 12” PBR Streetgang deliver a wonderfully deep modern house groove, Toby Tobias delivers 2 mixes straight out of the 90s basement and Glaswegian wunderkind Barrientos offers a kind of sun-kissed Gypsy Woman style re-invention. More

"Freaky Bitches" is the latest 12" from Glasgow Underground. Available in a limited edition, 200 only, numbered& hand-stamped & spray-painted release. Lee Webster is totally against monogamy in music. "I love Hiphop like I love House and theres room in this relationship for more," he explains. He cites influences as wide-ranging as Lord Finesse, Ed Rush & Optical, Disclosure, Recloose, Jamie Jones and makes music to match. On this ep for Glasgow Underground he covers jacking chicago house ("Freaky Bitches"), deep garage ("My Fantasy" & "Friday Night") and a sultry, mid-tempo disco groove ("Detroit Cheeky Things"). We didn't have room on this ep to cover all the styles this talented young English-born, Barcelona based producer can deliver but rest-assured there's more to come. More

A1. Kevin - The Rushes
A2. Small Pyramids - The Music
B1. Franky Redente - What U Want (Kevin McKay Edit)
B2. Admin - Whatever You Want
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The Wanderer" is one of Romanthony's all-time great songs. Kompakt's Michael Mayer describes it as a "huge track, indestructible... my favourite was always the acoustic version on B2." while Spiller says, "The Wanderer is one of my top records ever. Always in my bag... That crazy intro... The rough beats with "years of pressure" sample... The pain in the vocals... Just outstanding." And its not just older heads that are in love with this track. Boys Noize is such a fan he licensed it for his Bugged Out compilation, "Suck My Deck". But on to the remixes for 2011… Rather than compete with the "The Journeyman Thump" mix that both Spiller & Boys Noize keep in their box, Glasgow Underground have taken the vocals from Michael Mayer's favourite, the acoustic version on the Prescription Underground release [Romanthony regularly records different vocal takes for different styles]. And instead of pairing them with that version's super-deep guitar groove both Rob Mello & Kevin McKay have taken the track straight on to the dance-floor. Rob delivers a Chicago-style house groove with serious bass bounce whilst Kevin offers a techier workout complete with heavy drums and a hypnotic bass & synth groove. Photo 51 are Nico De Ceglia and Franky Redente. Nico is one half of the Hyena Stomp project with Severino (Horse Meat Disco). Here they create a low-slung bass-heavy bump that was supported by Seth Troxler @ DC10 closing (amongst other places).LIMITED TO 100 NUMBERED HAND SPRAYED COPIES

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