its a universal truth that sometimes we all need a little time out. but time away from the coal face doesnt necessarily mean putting your feet up, and though sheffield house master squarehead has taken a break from the release schedule of late, hes remained hard at work in the studio.

tooth faeries brings together mark brydon and parrot. the sound is their new release on shabby doll - two versions of the title cut plus the gently pulsing love & resistance. deeply melodic yet also crisp and compelling, the sound layers carmen squires lush vocal over a martial drum beat, unleashing a dose of deep sheffield bass just when it matters most.

nail is a bit of a legend. with his career flourishing once again it seems there are plenty of ears alert to his next musical move: a limited edition and individually numbered nine-track double pack on shabby doll called nite music . and they re not going to be disappointed. this collection shimmers and shines, packed with gleaming house music designed both for early evening head-nodding and early hours hands-in-the-air moments. from deeply delicious tracks like angel dub and lunar views to harder-edged delights like track two and bikky swing , nail has created another must-have set for the fast-expanding shabby doll catalogue.

no sleep for those guys at shabby doll records. not long since nails lost trax 1997 sold out shortly after going on sale, and they are already about to drop shb014… this time shabby doll bring a killer package from two of the most highly respected men in house music today - south west seven. pressing on yellow colored & marbled vinyl.

for some ageing producers, the nineties represent a lost land of hazy parties, forgotten nights and emotion-tugging tunes. but for the fresher-faced end of the dance music spectrum - such as the la-based dj and producer urulu - those post acid house, pre-mp3 days are a neverland of the imagination, something to be relished vicariously through the mags, memories and music of 20-odd years ago. two years back, urulu - aka taylor freels - even released a single called *1991*. it might have made some grizzled club kids feel a bit old, but the love and euphoria in his music are there for all to hear. but jump right up to the minute, and urulu is back in action for sheffields shabby doll label.

hidden away on a dat tape since 1997, 8 raw cuts from house legend nail are now being released as a limited pressing, individually numbered double pack vinyl. shabby doll records co-founder matt swift, who managed nail throughout the nineties, and along with charles webster ran remote records, found the dat in a box of tapes at his house when looking for something entirely unrelated. result. only one of the trax, brothers & sisters had previously ever seen the light of day. an edited version was released in 1998 on matt and charles s remote record label. shb012 will hold the full unedited version of brothers & sisters, along with all 7 other trax from the dat, exactly as they were left in 97...

the enigmatic oushe has already remixed a stack of tracks in the shabby doll catalogue and from his studio, surrounded by his beloved analogue machines, produced a slew of dancefloor hits for others. now though, he is ready for the limelight and with his solo *starz on 33 ep*, it is clear he has got the slippery world of celebrity on his mind. his debut ep packs in a quartet of raw, percussive, heavyweight house cuts that are guaranteed to make any dancefloor shake. impressive stuff - a taste of the future now.

nail teams up with shabby doll again. so pin em back and listen up ... because the sweet sound of *lugholes* is here.

squarehead is the latest young producer to sparkle on shabby doll, with his *bats & stuff* ep delivering yet more bump and wallop for the discerning house head. otherwise known as oliver ledger, squarehead is possessed of a precocious talent – his debut *keep it moving* ep on bad taste was a juno download number one, while his records have won hard-earned airplay on radio one thanks to supporters like toddla t and skream – and with dj appearances across europe plus his own 5andseven label, he is right at the heart of sheffields current underground scene.

it can be hard to pin down the elements that make up a citys signature sound, but when you hear it, you know it. and winston hazels new track, *break up*, is 100 per cent sheffield, from the boom and buzz of its bassline to the bitter-sweet choral hook that pierces it through the heart. not that this is a surprise.

if there is one thing in this world that is certain, it is that things change. and in the life of one dance producer with a new release on sheffields shabby doll, there have been transitions aplenty. with a switch from garage to house, a move from doncaster to london, and a change of identity from ryan aitchison to mella dee, his spacious four- to-the-floor sound has emerged from a state of constant flux. and yet… the more things change, the more they stay the same. *things dont change* is the name of mella dees new shabby doll ep, and when you tune into the title tracks compulsive twitch, you can hear the echo of his south yorkshire antecedents coming through.

if chicago and detroit are the cities in which house and techno were born and raised, it was in italy circa 1990 that this delirious party music experienced a piano-driven coming of age. so far, so spangled. but while that may be the official story, there are other italian narratives too. take francois le roy and nanni for instance - two djs and producers from southern italy for whom, in the early nineties, the likes of aphex twin, autechre and air liquide were important, alongside the machine funk of detroit and the immersive soundtracks of the ambient generation. both artists are steeped in underground club music, and their new release on shabby doll records is a fine example of tough, tech-edged house. the *crossing roads* ep features four tracks that showcase their melodic yet relentless groove, they may be based in milan, but on this record, the influence of detroit, chicago and new york runs deep.

dont wait for yonks! nail returns with the yonks ep on sheffields shabby doll label. just what is house musics secret? what has enabled it to disperse its genes throughout contemporary music while still staying true to itself and remaining, frankly, irresistible? if there is one man who appears to possess the answer – or who at least has access to the secret vault where the formulas kept – it is nail.

new sheffield label shabby doll records makes its debut with nails donks ep. nail is nottingham-based neil tolliday, a producer who spent the last decade creating deep downtempo joy as one half of bent – their debut album *programmed to love* helped ease the worlds ills back in 2000. now, with love for nails solo manoeuvres truly reignited, sheffields shabby doll label is taking the next step with his first new solo material for years. called donks, nails new four-track ep showcases his flawless dancefloor instincts: there is something deliciously seductive about this early hours charmer. one to play when things are getting wonderfully weird… and finally, never4gedit brings back the sunshine with some sweet, melody-flecked disco. with nails vintage house output currently proving to have real staying power, lovers of real british house music eagerly await his new tracks. so if you have got a dark room and a feeling, let nail, shabby doll and donks add a little magic to the night.