Review: Hot Creations chief Jamie Jones is back with a killer new tune in the form of "Handy Work". Said to have come about at the end of a studio session after working on other tracks, he rediscovered a classic diva sample originally used on a Junior Vasquez production from back in 1994. Completed in about an hour, Jones played it out in the club shortly after where the crowd reaction was intense - he knew he was onto something massive. Jones also serves up the deep, down and dirty afterhours bounce of "Mind Meld With Spock" as well as the deep and sensual mood music of "Sunday In Paris" with its sexy saxophone melody.
Review: CircoLoco Records is a new record label forged in partnership with the iconic video game creators Rockstar Games. After four editions of colour coded releases, we now have the entire collection of 20 tracks compiled here in one package. From the Black edition there's the tunneling techno of Adam Beyer's powerful "Break It Up", from the Violet edition you have Margaret Dygas' majestic broken beat journey "Wishing Well", TINI with the neon-lit disco of "What If, Then What?" featuring Amiture (Green) and Sama Abdulhadi with the steely and hypnotic techno of "Reverie" taken from the Blue series - plus many more.
Review: Despite being friends and operating in the same sonic sphere, Richy Ahmed and Jamie Jones have never before collaborated on a joint single. This EP for Four Thirty Two is therefore significant, not least because it comes from two of the biggest names in the business. As you'd expect opener 'More Energy' sounds tailor-made for big rooms, with the pair adding minor-key motifs, mid-90s garage organ sounds and spoken word snippets to a tech-tinged, peak-time house groove. Arguably even better is 'I Need It', a super-charged, retro-futurist piano house number that also contains some decidedly druggy minor-key synth sounds. Butch and Ray Mono both remix that track, with the former's deep house/tech-house fusion revision just edging out the latter's smoother and chunkier tech-house take.
Review: Caernarfon, Cymru meets Cali, Colombia as Jamie Jones teams up with Harvy Valencia (real name Jhon Valencia Harvy) for a two-tracker on Hottrax, the Hot Creations subsidiary dedicated to "showcasing the darker side of the dancefloor". The two tracks they've come up with between them sit most comfortably under the tech-house banner, but 'Electric Mama' has echoes, too, of the dark tribal sound of the early 00s (think Sondos, Fluential, etc) and is the pick to these ears, while 'Kwik-E' has the twitch-glitchy microsounds of minimal, but also a playground vocal and the jagged, attitude-y strut of post-punk and indie-dance.
Review: Hot Creations continues to pioneer a contemporary house sound, with two of the scene's most established talents collaborating on their debut release together. Label chief Jamie Jones teams up with MOOD Records boss and techno mainstay Nicole Moudaber here for "Pepper Shake", a tough rolling tech house jam aimed squarely at the main room dancefloor with the peak time in mind. Second original offering "Bubble Ride" is a more straight ahead affair in the vein of classic UK tech house. Moody and bass-driven, this functional cut is equally worthy of being played in the early evening or the morning hours alike.
Review: Jamie Jones returns to his Hottrax imprint for a various artists release. Named after his respected Ibiza party series, Paradise marks the Hot Creations founder's first original solo material since launching the label in 2013. Joining him are three respected producers. Jones kicks things off with the intoxicating bass-heavy bounce of "Under My Control", Finland's Kiki follows up an appearance on Exploited with the dub inflected tech house of "ALT:TUDE", heavyweight Parisian POPOF (Mindshake/MOOD) gets groovy on "Nowhere 2 Go" and Spanish artist Rafa Barrios, who's recently released on Sola and Stereo Productions presents "Lawless" which is aimed squarely at the mainroom dancefloor with that massive drop.
Review: Hot Creations boss Jamie Jones manages to find time for another release, in between his Ibiza residency and travelling the globe as one of modern house music's most popular DJs. His latest offering brings everything you'd expect from the Welshman and nothing less. These four Summery and pop-inflected tech house cuts are hot material on their own and make a cohesive EP. Starting off with the anthemic "Sound Of Music" covering jungle legend Nookie's track of the same name and with pop sensation Katy B on vocals. The rolling peak time groove "Kooky Chords" is absolutely the sound of not only 'The Island' but Jones' label and will bang the party just as much as recent offerings by wAFF or Phil Kieran.Then there's a bouncy and sleazy early evening jam in the form of "Positive Pressure" featuring American Kevin Knapp and the druggy/minimal afterhours DJ tool "Parallel Universe".
HECTOR - "Sound Of BPM Festival" (continuous DJ mix) - (1:22:44) 124 BPM
Review: Mexican producer Hector has sure come a long way. From his humble beginnings in London's underground scene, working the counter of London's infamous Phonica record store and becoming a regular at popular London haunts of the time like fabric and T Bar (R.I.P.) he has gone on to international stardom, playing the word circuit and launching his Vatos Locos imprint: the very label which launches this compilation and credited to the highly popular Playa del Carmen festival that he has since become a regular guest at. Highlights on here (and there's many!) not limited to: the hi-tech soul sounds of Carl Craig with his classic "Sandstorms" or Martin Buttrich with his classic from 10 years ago "Full Clip". More recent classics such as Loco Dice's remix of Carl Cox's "Family Guy" and Nicole Moudaber & Skin (of Skunk Anansie) with their explosive "You Like This" getting a rolling rendition courtesy of Paco Osuna. The VL Recordings head honcho appears also, with a bunch of new exclusives: the best being his track "L.A. Kr3w" getting a makeover by Detroit boss man Stacey Pullen.
Review: He's Hot Natured, tres Freak 'N Chic (once upon a time) but now he's gonna raise Kaoz on the dancefloor: business as usual from the UK tech house legend Jamie Jones. It's more of the smooth and slinky house you'd expect from Bangor's finest on "Illicit Behaviour" often copied but never matched. He ups the ante on next track "New Skool Acid" which is much more fierce and funky. This dirty and druggy shuffler is definitely for the peak time. There's a bunch of killer remixes of said track too: we're particularly feeling Matthias Tanzmann's rendition where the Leipzig legend gives it a dark and atmospheric makeover for late night sleaze. Stephane Ghenacia's however is smooth and sultry deep house for chilled Sunday sessions with floating pads, bumpy bass and lush Rhodes keys doing all the right things.
Review: Due to his work on the Hot Natured album, Jamie Jones's solo releases have taken a back seat of late, and this four-track EP on his own Hot Creations imprint is, amazingly, just his second release of the year. Predictably, there's plenty to enjoy, from the rolling, intergalactic funk of "Planets, Spaceships" - think rave-era stabs and spacey electronics riding a groove built around an MK style US garage bassline - and wonky, tech-tinged throb of "Cookie Monster", to the glistening, Italo-influenced wobbliness of "Starp Trek" (our pick), and deep, stripped-back late night shuffle of "Stick". All four tracks sound like ready-made peaktime bombs.
Review: Hot Creations boss man Jamie Jones resurfaces on the Crosstown Rebels label with his first solo transmission of the year, the rather fruitily titled Moan & Groan. Filled to bursting point with all the typical Jammy Jones production points - think bouncy groove, irresistible drops and hushed deviant vocals - "Moan & Groan" arrives just in time for the summer slog on the Croatian coastline. It's complemented by two remixes of "Tonight In Tokyo" - one of the secret weapons Jones included on last year's Crosstown Rebels album of sorts Tracks From The Crypt - from Breach and Cassius. Ben Westbeech's darker alias teases out some deep basslines for his rework whilst veteran French duo Cassius are on altogether more epic form.
Review: Whatever you think about Hot Creations - and opinions are, of course, divided - you can't deny that Jamie Jones and Lee Foss's label has been a game-changer. Their combination of contemporary house grooves with classic house, disco, boogie and garage influences now dominates dancefloors the world over. This label retrospective tells the story of their runaway success between 2011 and 2012, offering up three hours of unmixed floorfillers from the likes of Waifs & Strays, Miguel Campbell, Burnski, PBR Streetgang, Jamie Jones and Lee Foss, plus a smattering of lesser-known gems. For those who missed the label's formative years, there's also a tasty bonus mix of early material from Russ Yallop.
