Review: Two long-serving tech-house talents join forces for the first time, as Romanian scene stalwart Cristi Cons and French powerhouse Traumer lay down a trio of tasty tracks. They set the tone via title track 'Stranger To No One', an undulating and hypnotising beast in which progressively more intense TB-303 'acid' lines, spacey textures and echoing synth riffs rise above a rolling, loose-limbed groove. On 'Apres Midi', they layer more squelchy acid bass and psychedelic motifs atop hip-swinging grooves and foreboding melodic motifs, before rounding off the EP with the subtly breakbeat-tinged early morning tech-house of 'Farside'.
Review: Guti is arguably one of dance music's most enthusiastic collaborators. To date, the Argentine producer has released joint productions with an impressive list of house and techno talent, including Martin Buttrich, Shlomi Aber, Benny Rodriguez, Morgan and Guy Gerber. On this EP, he's joined in the studio by Romanian rising star Cristi Cons. The like-minded pair hit the ground running with "Volver", a stomping tech-house floor-filler whose tough, acid-flecked groove and metronomic bassline come wrapped in ghostly chords and trippy electronics. Then, "Nuevo" is a chunky but spacey deep house affair. That track is given the remix treatment by Enzo Siragusa, who brilliantly toughens it up and drags it further towards peak-time techno territory.
