Review: It's that time of year again, when the industry's finest head en masse to one of the biggest events in global dance music - WMC. As always, the Toolroom family will be a known presence throughout the week-long festivities, and here's a sneak preview of the future classics they'll be dropping at this year's parties in The Magic City. Label chief Mark Knight naturally kicks things off (in collaboration with Mason) on the sweltering funky house of "Givin' Up", label stalwart Maxinne teams up with Chicago veteran Gene Farris on the deep tribal workout "Our House", the ascendant Carly Wilford & Anelisa Lamola keep on with the uplifting vocal house energy on "We Rise" while the always impressive GotSome teams up with Kokiri for the Inner City-inspired "Big Time Love" (feat Tasty Lopez) plus the welcome addition of Kittball Records boss Juliet Sikora with Tini Gessler on the high tech minimal of "Tidy Up" among many others. Comes with two continuous mixes to boot.
Review: A series packed full of greatest hits and near misses from the Toolroom family, 'Best Of Toolroom' remains as a yearly highlight and essential listening for house music lovers across the globe.The 2021 edition features the uplifting house anthem by label chief Mark Knight & Beverley Knight "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (feat London Community Gospel Choir), label staples such as Maxinne & Lauren L'aimant getting slinky and hypnotic on the vocal cut "Tell Me Something", as well as GotSome & George Kwali's sensually deep groove "In The Dark" (one of ther year's biggest tracks) in addition to hot Romanian duo Sllash & Doppe's well received "Off My Mind".
Review: Toolroom gets straight back down to business with Club Rave Dance, featuring 50 club essentials plus continuous mixes by scene heroes Flashmob and Volkoder - marking a return to clubland after a long break. Highlights come from label chief Mark Knight on the uplifting and soulful vocal house of "You Saw Me" (feat Damon Trueitt - GUZ extended mix), the slinky and hypnotic rhythm of dream team Danny Howard & Gene Farris' "How Do We Feel?" as well as Leftwing : Kody serving up the sexy and emotive "If You Wanna". Elsewhere, Baltra & Darius Syrossian drop the year's biggest bassline on "I Want You", the mighty Siege gets back to the disco on "Reach Out" and Tuff London deliver their best Kevin Saunderson impression on the Motor City vibes of "Heart Beat".
Review: With a whopping 70 tracks featured on this latest installment in the 'House Party' series, you'll forgive us if we don't go into each one individually! It's fair to say though that whether it's peaktime tech-house, pumping discofied grooves, tuff tribalism, off-kilter jazzy bizniss or sweet soulful vibes you're after, you'll find it all here and more besides, with Hoover stabs, rolling Afro beats, speed garage basslines, the Korg M1 organ, torchy fem vox and ragga chat all making cameo appearances along the way! Dive in and find your personal faves, or just sit back, press play on one of the three bundled DJ mixes and let GW Harrison, Chaney and Tim Baresko do the selecting for you.
Review: VIP Edits is curated by Toolroom for selectors who want to get the best of the label's new releases into their sets, now that live events have returned. From the swing-fuelled funk of opening cut "Do You Remember" by Frenchman Dombresky featuring Camden Cox, to Italian scene veteran Flashmob on the hypnotic groove of "Closer" where he nails it as always and the mighty Belgian Siege (Saved/Truesoul) absolutely slams it on the disco-infused energy of "Reach Out". There's all you need right here on VIP Edits.
Review: Despite the setbacks brought forth by the pandemic, we're confident that Toolroom will still have a stellar year as always! With that in mind, the fifth edition in their 'House Party' series' looks to be the biggest yet, with a whopping 70 tracks to keep the party going for days on end. As a bonus, label signees such as Wankelmut, TCTS and Siege (who appear with contributions to the compilation personally) provide a continuous mix each - bringing the party to your house. Other highlights come from a wide variety of artists within the tech/house spectrum such as: legends Technasia and Green Velvet with the aforementioned Siege on the mighty "Suga" (Siege extended mix), the ascendant Luxembourger Amii Watson with the sensual mood music of "Higher" and the Fuse London affiliated Rich NxT teaming up with minimal techno vetran Christian Burkhardt on the slinky and hypnotic "Basics" - plus many more.
Review: An outlet for both unreleased and exclusive music from the label's family members alongside rising talents, this is the fourth instalment of Toolroom's popular 'House Party' series. Featuring standout releases from Mark Knight's label plus the scene's biggest imprints, with highlights coming from: industry heavyweights Nic Fanciulli & Andrea Oliva on the slinky "Medium Rare", the inimitable Yousef with the pounding acid of "Save Me" (feat. Molly Green), legend Todd Terry with TCTS on the boompty bounce of "Get Freaky" and UK tech house hero Seb Zito delivering the peak time stomper "Don't Stop". As if that was not enough, there are also three continuous mixes by scene stalwarts such as Lefti, Piero Pirupa and label staple Maxinne.
Review: Toolroom is back with the second instalment of the 'House Party' series, with Chicago veteran Gene Farris, the enigmatic Wh0 and ascendant duo Raumakustik closing out the summer in style with their respective mixes. Featuring 80 tracks from leading international names including Carl Cox who goes for a minimal vibe on his remix of Hannah Wants & Kevin Knapp's "Call Me", Hot Since 82 serves up something different than usual on the summertime vibe of "Rise", Saved chief Nic Fanciulli gets some spiritual and life-affirming vibes in effect on "Virgo", Hamburg disco stu Tensnake gives Dombresky & Boston Bun's "Stronger" a neon-lit makeover and label boss Mark Knight impresses with the funky house anthem "Tonight" ft. Chenai and Mr. V.
Review: A mighty collaboration here by Belgian Siege (Saved/Circus/We Are The Brave) and Spain's Fer BR (Mindshake/Minus), who have long admired one another's work and have realized that ambition here for Adam Beyer's Truesoul. Packed with surefire main room tackle, such as the chunky mentasm fuelled banger "Say My Name" and its infectious rap vocal, while the steely greyscale austerity of "Something" or the dubby "Or What" are loaded directly off the factory floor - proper tension and suspense for the warm up. Finally, it's back to bang the party at peak time on the relentless stomper "Put It Down".
