Classic US House - Free Downloads

DJing @ Savannah in Ibiza for Mark Hill's
Soundproof Records, 2003

With the sun beaming down for a second day, it got me to thinking about the time I was first getting into soulful house - days spent manning the counter at what was then one of Southsea's premier record stores - Groovefinder Records.

From my recollection, those days in the early/mid-noughties were sun-drenched times filled with DJing, vinyl pushing, vinyl digging, partying, and numerous trips to blag sets in Ibiza. Most of all, for those first few years of the 2000s, I filled my life with incredible US house - guys like Miguel Migs, Richard Earnshaw, JT Donaldson and Lance DeSardi were making incredible music back then, super-soulful percussive and deep house that has aged beautifully and now has an unmistakable sound.

DJing @ Kanya in Ibiza for
Groovefinder Records and MN2S, 2006

Anyhow, sitting here in the sun, I thought I'd reminisce somewhat and see if I could find some cuts from and of the era. So after hours of scavenging on the Interwang, here's six picks available for free download via Soundcloud.

If the sun is shining where you are, grab a beer and turn it up!

Youthful, houseful nostalgia

So while I was working at Groovefinder Records in Southsea back in 2002, a certain boss and soulful ol' boy Jeff Powell (now famed for his rep of Karin Park, among many others) picked a few crisp, imported 12s from the shelves and said to me, 'This is house music as it's meant to be'.

At the time, I was being offered a valuable sales tool, but what he actually did was introduce me to the real sound of the super-soulful US, and I was hooked.

Naked Music, OM, Soulfuric. Labels as synonymous with the modern club sound as the likes of Trax way back when. So here's three sounds from an era that truly shaped by music obsession. Hope you like.

Miguel Migs - Nude Dimensions Vol. 1 (The Petalpusher Session) 

(Naked Music)

I listened to this over and over again on a sunlounger on my first ever trip to Ibiza. A mix that still gives me shivers.

Kaskade - It's You, It's Me 

(OM)

[Buy from Juno Download]

Another of Jeff's recommendations, and a twelve I could still never bare to part with.

Hardsoul feat. Ron Carroll - Back Together (Main Classic Mix) 

(Soulfuric)

[Buy from Juno Download]

Recently released on Defected's 'For The Love of House Vol. 2', this is another treasured, timeless soulful house benchmark; a track I went on to play relentlessly during my uni years at Bournemouth's Klute and Funki Sushi, and a tune that still inspires me now. 

As the name suggests, this is a true classic.