With a name like Melvin Oliphant III one could be forgiven for thinking that this Windy City native is more lord of the manor than lord of the jack. But you would be wrong. More commonly known as DJ Traxx, Mr Oliphant is one of the new(ish) breed of house producers who are rewiring the early sounds of Chicago for their own means. Playing records for the guts of 20 years and producing since 2000, Traxx's take on house music is as raw and abrasive as it gets.

His style - which he has named Jakbeat - takes early acid as a starting referencing, before pile-driving in industrial and new wave influences. Anyone who has witnessed his impulsive and animated DJ sets will know that Melvin is not one to fool around. Floating around the underground with releases on Gigolos and Crème, it looks like the arrival of his long-player, ‘Faith’, on his own Nation imprint will make the world stand up and take some more notice.

Traxx has cleaned up his rough-hued sound – only slightly – resulting in some of his most accessible and exciting output to date. The grit remains on tracks like ‘XTC 4 Love’ and ‘Violet Epoch’ – all clanging hats and 303s - but there’s a softer touch on display on the likes of ‘Enka’ and Cosmic Zig Zag’, while, elsewhere, occasional hypnotic vocals – including a guest turn from Nancy Fortune – make this a satisfying release.

Clipping at his heels is Steve Summers - aka Jason Letkiewicz - whose latest 12", the ‘Jack Flash’ EP, is his 2nd contribution this year to Clone’s Jack For Daze label. (I've lost track of the Clone-related releases I've covered this year, but with six sub labels it's just too hard to ignore then!). Summers could be criticised for his slavish devotion to the likes of Larry Heard, but there is a respect and devotion to these sounds that make this music so enjoyable. The enjoyably dark warehouse edge brings something different to the table.

Moving beyond retro into straight-up vintage, Theo Parrish revists Leon Carson’s work on ‘Red Lightbulb Theory ’87-’88’, out on Sound Signature. (Apparently) all of 15 years old when he recorded these unseqenced cuts, Carson’s combination of minimal drum patterns and heavy, funky basslines are clearly right up Theo’s street. The rest of can be thankful he’s shared these slamming cut with the rest of us.

Despite his Three Chairs collab, Marcellus Pittman’s been flying under the radar for the past while. The new 12” on Unirhyhtm – 500 only, but how many 12”s get a bigger run these days? – won’t change that, but it’s worth checking for both house and techno heads. The a-side is a stripped-down drum work out, while the flip adds detail and melodic layers, resulting in a floor-pleasing jam. Pittman’s got something about what he does that separates him from his peers, but it remains to be seen if he can make the leap.

The proliferation of clean, over-produced dance music in the last few years has now resulted in something approaching a cohesive reaction. Berlin’s Ostgut Ton perhaps epitomises the acceptable face of the movement – and the latest 12” from the label highlights two names that may have passed some people by. Basic Soul Unit pip Lerosa on this one – the former’s clanking bassline, jagged percussion and surprisingly meaty, pad-fuelled meaty breakdown outshining the latter’s stomach rumbling rumbling bass.

So despite our assertion that decent LPs with this sub-section of dance music are rare, here’s this month’s second proving-us-wrong moment – Juju and Jordash’s self-titled effort on Dekmantal. The opener, ‘Deep Blue Meanies’ - a wide-screen, multi-layered house track that is as thrilling a piece of music I've heard this year - manages to be something more than a big club number (though I cannot wait to see what it does to floors). Stick with it until the very end. It's rules relevant for the whole album, even if there is little in the way of quick fixes. ‘Pulse A Denura’ and ‘Dirty Spikes’ are shining examples how more is actually more for once. Similarly to Reggie Dokes, Juju and Jordash have the ability to mix the organic and the electronic seamlessly.

Lunat Disko are Dublin-based, but Holland at heart. The label’s fourth release hands the controls to DJ Overdose, famed for his old-school electro and hip-hop sets. The ‘2012’ EP features four uncompromising electro cuts - the cinematic ‘What’ stands out, while the body popping ‘You Can't Beat’ comes with added Overdose scratching. It’s menacing and ass-shakingly funky at the same time.

Overdose and Alden Tyrell deliver their second Hasbeens 12” in a remarkably short space of time (although it did take an age to get ‘I Fall To Pieces’ out, so perhaps that’s affecting our judgement!) with ‘You And Me’. There still a bit mean in the terms of output, with just a vocal and dub mix here, but it’s still as essential. This took a few listens to crawl under my skin but the vocoder refrain of “She may be cute, but she's just a substitute” got there in the end. As ever, it's not a particularly cheerful world view, but they wrap it up in such catchy style that you'd barely noticed. And what is certainly a turn up for the books, they've even made a video to accompany the release. Check it out!

The Belgian Flexx label’s been doing a mean trade in Italo reissues since 2005, but the original material has also been decent, with ‘Visions’ by Stephen Falken no exception. The title track references Italo, with the rest of the release looking as much to John Carpenter for inspiration. I sometimes wonder what the soundtrack composer would think of the regard is he held in certain underground niches. He should shoot a promo for these guys!

A heavyweight match-up to close things off: European house darlings Ame and the always-in-form New World Aquarium. Why not put them together? An odd decision for some, but an inspired one from Delsin. The first ‘The Force’ remix slowly builds with some rolling snares over a quintessential lick of NWAQ funk. Some gorgeous keys float around in the background, developing into a muscular beast. The flipside Alternative mix is surprising different. Working with fewer elements, the ambient version clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, slowing down and filtering the key elements, exploring a darker territory. It's interesting to listen them directly after each other to see how it all fits together. A superb and deeply satisfying cross pollination.

Top 10:

1. Juju & Jordash ‘Deep Blue Meanies’ [Dekmantal]
2. Traxx ‘A Heart Alone’ [Nation]
3. Robert Hood ‘Superman/Range’ [M Plant]
   
4. Tevo Howard ‘Passion Sound’ [Beautiful Granville Records]
   
5. DJ Overdose ‘2012’ EP [Lunar Disko Records]
   
6. Da Posse ‘It's My Life’ [Clone Classic Cuts]
   
7. The Hasbeens ‘You and Me’ [Clone - The Sound of the West Coast]
   
8. NWAQ ‘The Force’ (Ame Alternative mix) [Delsin]
9. Scott Ferguson ‘Warehouse Dreams’ [Ferris Park]
   
10. Ben Klock ‘OK’ (Kenny Larkin remix) [Ostgut Ton]