Review: Kapote and Kosmo Kint's various collaborative tracks on Toy Tonics are all top-drawer, so hopes are naturally high for his epic, action-packed remix EP. The headline reworks come from Detroit deep house legend Andres, who delivers vocal and instrumental takes on 'Misbehave' that place Kint's slick, soulful lead vocal atop an attractive bed of rubbery bass guitar, crunchy mid-tempo house drums, lilting lead lines and colourful chords. Elsewhere, Tom Jarmey offers a funky, shuffling, post-electro nu-disco rework of the same track, while Coeo drops vocal and instrumental versions of two distinctive mixes of 'Strangers': a rolling, retro-futurist 'House' take (all fluid and jazzy synth bass, sustained synth-strings and warming electric piano riffs) and a 'Garage Mix' underpinned by an Armand Van Helden style 'dark garage' bassline.
Review: Last year, Kapote joined forces with regular home Toy Tonics to release Teutonik Disaster, a compilation of his own re-edits of late '70s and early '80s, "German new wave funk". 12 months on he returns to the same label with a new collection, Mushroom House, which boasts a mixture of Balearic, Afro and cosmic-influenced cuts from the imprint's vaults. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the rubbery, dubbed-out Afro-house bounce of Ponty Mython's 'Slippin' Into Darkness' and the dusty Afro-disco haziness of Munk's 'Nigerian Jam', to the intergalactic electro trip of the Asphodells' killer remix of 'The Circular Path' by the Deadstock 33s, and the deep space Italo-disco chug of Baldelli's sparkling 'Phobos (2020 Version)'.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from Toolroom's "Poolside Ibiza" compilation strand, namely groovy nu-disco, house and laidback Balearic beats inspired by afternoons spent lounging by the water in stonking White Isle heat. Naturally, there are plenty of gems to be found amongst the 40 unmixed tunes selected by chosen DJs Moullinex and Xinobi, from their own collaborative post-punk/dub number "X Marks The Spot", to the slick '80s synth-pop dreaminess of Tensnake's fine remix of Xinobi's "Far Away Place" and the drowsy, Morricone-influenced soundscape weirdness of Simple Symmetry's remix of Moscoman's "I Ran". Throw in some seriously good cuts from Felipe Gordon, Donald Dust, Pin Up Club and Meera (whose carnival-ready boogie jam "Fine Without You" stands out), and you have a fine collection of summery cuts.
Review: Kapote is head honcho down at Toy Tonics HQ in Berlin with Manuel Kim and Bavarians Munk. He presents the label's latest offering in the form of The Body Move EP. It starts off with the funky and disco-fied jam that is the title track and then moves into "Tell Tony" which continues on in a deep and filtered fashion reminiscent of early Daft Crew releases: full of whirly synths and rough beats beneath. Finally, you can recline for the lo-slung acid jazz inflections of "L.O.V.E.". This is slow grooving dance music. In the words of the label, nothing is stressed here: just mid-tempo house with live played bass, keyboards and plenty of warm harmonies.
Review: Toy Tonics are getting their money's worth out of Kapote. Since making his debut for the label 18 months ago, the Berlin-based producer has had a hand in no less than four other EPs. There's no messing around on this latest four-track missive, as he launches himself at the dancefloor with the rubbery, punk-funk bass, fizzing percussion and jazzy disco samples of "The Nose". He heads for smoother, groovier deep house pastures on "Get Down Brother", before dipping the tempo a little on the shuffling, pie-eyed disco-house goodness of "Uhh Baby". That track also gets the remix treatment from Irish twosome Brame & Hamo, whose jazzy-but-driving interpretation makes excellent use of clattering drum machine hi-hats.
Review: The second volume in Toy Tonics' ongoing Mushroom House series gathers together more Afro-influenced dancefloor jams from an impressive selection of producers. Zut and Kapote kick things off with the bouncy house rhythms, chanted African vocals and heavy dub disco bass of "Afro Rico", before Gomma regular Munk pays tribute to Afrobeat on the excellent "Nigerian Jam". Elsewhere, Freerange and Objektivity regular Hyenah throws down a typically tactile chunk of atmospheric, Afro-tinged tech-house ("Fire"), and Glaswegian genre-bender Auntie Flo layers up indigenous instrumentation and hand-held percussion on the standout "Kampala Boda Boda Ride".
Review: Toy Tonics regular Kapote returns to action, and this time he's brought a friend along for the ride. Zhut joins the party, lending a hand on the EP's two original tracks, "Make It Cold" and "So Damn Hot". The former is a lively, off-kilter disco-meets-deep house gem built around rubbery electric bass and picturesque melodies, while the latter sounds like a balls-out, pitched-down take on the Soundstream disco-house sound. Nachtbraker remixes "Make It Cold", adding some swinging beats, fluid synths and a whole lot more energy, while Kian T turns the more restless "So Damn Hot" into an undulating, Mister Saturday Night style deep house groover.
