The Animals Dancing crew have gained a solid reputation for putting on an eclectic and quality range of overseas acts in the last several months. Artists as diverse as Scotland’s disco edit maestro DJ Harri; London deep house jock Mic Newman; and now the one and only Tevo Howard. A fine purveyor of proper old school analog deep house, coming straight from birthplace of house music, Chicago U.S.A. With hits such as Age of Compassion and the Crystal Republic EP (released on premier Dutch house label Rush Hour) Tevo has cemented his prime position in the ever growing house music arena.

Entering the dark surrounds of the Mercat Basement, we were greeted to the sounds of Andee Frost at the controls, keeping the vibe nice and chilled with some lush, deep tunes. Next up was a live set from Andras Fox (local prodigy Andy Wilson) – armed with an MPC and laptop, he cut up and edited old school R&B and disco tunes with ease. The crowd, mostly comprising of guys at this point, seemed a bunch of budding producers themselves, standing stationary, and transfixed by Mr. Fox’s moves.

Briefly heading away from the dance floor, a moment of hilarity occurred when I was otherwise pre-occupied in the gents. From outside the cubicle I could hear my mate talking to a guy with an American accent. “Can you spare a square?” Ok he didn’t actually say it like that, but it would have been much funnier if he had. Holy crap, it was Tevo Howard! So here were the three of us, just outside the men’s toilets discussing the pronunciation of his name. Not the most high-brow of conversations to be having with one of my musical idols, but hey. “So Tevo, is it pronounced Tay-vo, or Te-vo?” I asked, and was told “It’s actually Tee-vo”. (Damn it, my girlfriend was right!)

Back on the dance floor, and following the fantastic Mr. Fox (terrible pun intended), Otologic took things up a gear or two, with the beats becoming gradually more solid as their set progressed – it was the perfect lead in to Mr. Howard. An instant feeling of recognition washed over the crowd as the familiar sounds of an analog drum machine spilled forth from the PA. Cowbells and handclaps, and kicks had the crowd swamping the dance floor, and instantly the mood picked up. Over the course of Tevo’s set the beats grew more muscle, as we were eventually left with a much techier sound. Andee Frost & Otologic picked up where Tevo left off. Veering between bouncy house music, and brutal tech, bringing the night to a close in style.

The only downside of the evening was that due to the acoustics of the basement, the sound was muddy at times, and a bit too much on the bassy side of life. This however, is a small qualm. Next up on the Animals Dancing roster will be none other than Jacques Renault from the prolific house duo Runaway (DFA records). By the look of things, this party will be keeping the quality house vibes flowing for some time to come.