Anthony Naples emerged late last year with the Mad Disrespect EP, inaugurating the label arm of much-feted NYC party Mr. Saturday Night. The bustling grids of hihats, lilting samples and playful swing of the title track, in particular, seemed to reference New York’s dance music heritage whilst sounding utterly contemporary. Rough-edged house is undeniably in vogue right now, but with that 12” Naples was shown to have a particularly deft touch.

The producer has launched into 2013 with a salvo of similarly high-quality releases, and a hook up with Will Bankhead’s Trilogy Tapes label seemed inevitable, given that both parties are fast gaining renown for their idiosyncratic takes on house, techno and beyond. The El Portal EP, though, almost goes so far as to exceed expectations, showing Naples on his finest form yet. The galloping, sun-kissed deep house of the title track and ‘Busy Signal’ are extensions of his past work; as always, there’s an appealingly raw quality to them, with samples occasionally dipping in and out of focus or sputtering to a halt. ‘Pueblo’ and ‘La Cuarta’, though, represent something of a departure for the producer, the former an ungainly dub-disco number cloaked in tape hiss, the latter a glistening synth etude.

The El Portal EP is due out on Trilogy Tapes next month.

The Fourth Wave label is best known for releasing the leftfield house music of Gerry Read. Lo-fi, stumbling and often queasy in tone, Read’s productions are a fine analogue for the label’s aesthetic: a playful take on the dancefloor that can be as perplexing as it is rewarding.

Followers of the label may be relieved, then, that their latest signing is an altogether more accessible proposition. Greek producer Dimitris Dimas - aka ∆∆ - crafts agile beat-sketches that tend to evoke sunnier climes. The six-track Skyway EP is a jaunt through melodious house (‘You’) and unstable hip-hop (‘Loose & Limber’), deploying a sonic palette that’s decidedly soft around the edges. And while Dimas’ productions may be slight, often exploring one or two simple ideas, they more than make up for it in prettiness. It’s a trend carried through in the tropical ‘Skinny Dipping’, an offcut from the EP, whose woody percussion and lush harp-like melodics make for an odd hybrid - equal parts garage flex and New Age meditation.

The Skyway EP is out now on Fourth Wave.

There’s been plenty of downcast RnB doing the rounds lately, but Inc.’s No World, released last month on 4AD, sits somewhere near the top of the pile. While others may explore darker themes (The Weeknd) or frame their ideas with more daring arrangements (How To Dress Well), it’s difficult to fault the sophistication of Andrew and Daniel Aged’s creations. Contemporary rap is clearly a touchstone, but so is sensuous Quiet Storm balladry, 90s and early noughties RnB, and the breathy eroticism of Prince at his most tender.

Perhaps this depth of knowledge ought to come as no surprise, given the lengthy CVs of Inc.‘s two members. The Aged brothers have worked as session musicians for the likes of Pharrell and 50 Cent, and it shows in the effortless precision of these tracks. But slickness, fortunately, doesn’t equate to soullessness. Andrew’s whispery croon ought to be dissatisfying but it’s coloured with the slightest shadow of expressive urgency, while Daniel’s succinct arrangements are frequently subtler than they first appear. It’s a sound that translates well into a live setting, as evidenced in this performance of album highlight ‘Black Wings’, filmed by Yours Truly. A twin-drummer setup lends the track a newfound dynamism, but this is still, at its core, music for lovers.

Inc.’s No World is out now on 4AD.