Review: Since making his debut in 2014, Bontan has made a serious impression. This first outing on Hot Creations follows much-played material on Madtech, Circus, Toolroom, Cajual and Suara. "The First Time" is retro-futurist in feel, featuring as it does a combination of undulating, acid-style motifs, jacking Chicago-style drum fills, bouncy tech-house beats and a drowsy, seemingly sampled spoken word vocal. "Personal Question" takes a similar sonic approach, utilizing a bolder, Adonis style bassline, nagging bleep noises, and delay-laden vocal snippets to conjure a sweaty, late night mood. Both tracks are solid rather than sensational, but undoubtedly have the right blend of ingredients to cause major dancefloor devastation.
Review: Well, we all know by now that Circus Recordings was set up by the legendary Yousef and named after his world-renowned club event Circus, in his hometown of Liverpool. The in-house label has been doing the business for a while now, presenting us future British heroes in the form of Lewis Boardman, Krankbrother and Ki Creighton in recent times. It's now over to their newest recruits on Selector pt 5 where young gun Bontan gets straight into it with the funky and sexy tech house of "C'est Moi" which is reminiscent of classic Greg Fenton or D'julz. Next up, Lee Walker presents "2am At Medicine Bar" which does exactly what it says on the tin; taking you to a sweaty dancefloor in the legendary Middleborough club. Adrenalised tech house aimed squarely at the last night once again from Napoli's DJ Dep on "Hot Vibe", while Glasgow's finest Illyus & Barrientos give us the hands in the air anthem "Galvanized" complete with diva vocals, cowbells and euphoric house organs galore.
Review: There's a distinctly old school flavour to this compilation as Thee Cool Cats take to the controls. Patrick Topping's "Forget" sees the fast-rising producer serve up insane rave stabs and diva vocal samples over insistent cowbells and slamming beats, while Catz'n'Dogz mine a different part of 90s music culture. The duo's "Booty Comes First" is inspired by the rude and raucous sound of ghetto house, as pre-orgasmic moans and a slamming rhythm reinforce the vocal that "yo booty comes first". At the other end of the emotional spectrum, Tough Love impress greatly with the acid-laced, soulful house of "Dreams", while the next generation of Detroit techno, fronted by Dantiez Saunderson and working with Altus Project returns to early 90s US house with the vocal-led "I Need You".
