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Hotflush Recordings
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Scuba/Various
Scuba/Various
Various
Played by: Juno Recommends Bass
Review: The Hotflush name and brand has always been synonymous with futuristic flavour, making this exceptional collection a perfect way to celebrate their success over the years, taking the title 'Post Whatstep?'. The project takes a serious deep-dive into the concept of thinking outside the box, whilst still maintaining genre ties to garage, dubstep and techno throughout. The roster involved is pretty outstanding, with household names such as Scuba, Mount Kimbie, TRG, Dub U and Untold all providing seriously high quality inclusions. There are definitely a few stand out features, with the sweeping synthetic layers of 'Don't You' from George Fitzgerald being an immediate point of interest, next to the heavily sidechained atmospherics of Sepalcure's 'Love Pressure' and the more old school garage chops of Or:la's 'UK Lonely' also setting a high standard. Exceptional work, as we have come to expect from such a critical UK label voice.
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Review: Toasty is the alias of veteran British producer Damian Russell, a staple of Scuba"s Hotflush Recordings as far back as 2004. This latest release on Hotflush features four tracks of UK underground flava. Whether it"s the brooding subterranean jungle breaks of "The Knowledge" which receives two killer reworks; first up by Untold (Pennyroyal/Hemlock) as well as esteemed Bristolian duo Vex"d who really take it over to the dark side on their seething rendition. One more original track follows in the form of techstep deconstruction "Like Sun".
Played by: Juno Recommends Funky House
Played by: Juno Recommends Minimal Tech
Various
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Hotflush unveils a diverse, dance floor-focused compilation full of original productions and high-quality remixes. Kiimi's "Breaking My Mind" and the Baltra take on label owner Scuba's "Never Forget" are vocal, dusky house tracks. Meanwhile, Truncate's take on the Hotflush owner's "Speed This MF Up" and the string-soaked "Hyperdrive" by Locked Groove both offer fine perspectives on deep techno. On "Mescalito", Nightwave drops a rolling tribal track, while underlining the diversity on offer on this compilation, Alden Tyrell's remix of TML's "Cell ID" from the 2019 Tensor release also features. It's a gnarly electro workout that sounds like it crawled from a sewer in the Hague.
Played by: Ell Murphy
Review: It would be fair to say that this second selection of remixes of tracks from Locked Groove's brilliant "Sunset Service" album will not go unnoticed. For starters, both mixes are collaborative affairs, with the unifying factor being Hotflush label boss Scuba. He first teams up with fellow big name Skream to deliver a brilliantly punchy and weighty breakbeat version of "Do Not Freak" that makes great use of rumbling, low register bass and spacey synth stabs. He then joins forces with Lawrence Hart to take on "Out of Orbit", re-imagining it as a four-to-the-floor stomper rich in sparkling synthesizer lines and sweet female vocal snippets.
Review: A marked difference from his most recent Scuba originals, 'Expectations' signals a contrasting path for sonic exploration by the Hotflush chief - covering house, garage and rave sounds. He references classic Stateside house of the early '90s on the title track to stunning effect, before heading down an introspective route on the evocative acid epic "Voices" (including Rose's own vocals) and going deeper on the glassy-eyed and melancholic vibe of "Burn Out" - calling to mind his earlier output several years ago under the SCB alias. It also features recordings of live acoustic riffs by the artist. Cover art by Lando (Decadence Comics).
Review: Isaac Reuben's music has already graced Hotflush owner Scuba's Fabric mix and now he gets a full release on the label. The fast rising producer shows his diversity and smart programming skills across NRO; the title track is a solid tribal banger, underpinned by tough kicks and sharp percussion. Meanwhile on "Rouz", he opts for a more stripped back approach, with a lean rhythm, subtle, dubbed out effects and rickety hi-hats combining to create a deep dance floor track. Last but not least is "Pastel Trax", a sample-heavy looped banger that calls to mind 90s techno projects like User.
Review: Tim Van der Meutter has been in fine form this year, offering up a string of must-check releases including his Locked Groove debut album "Sunset Service". This EP, which boasts two fresh jams and a couple of previously unheard remixes of album tracks, is similarly essential. Opener "Eb & Flow" is superb: a shuffling, loose-limbed chunk of loved-up techno rich in glistening piano riffs, looped strings and rushing electronic positivity. "Green Pastures" is similar uplifting, though Van der Meutter's choice of sounds, riffs and electronic elements give the track a distinctive neo-trance feel. Elsewhere, Yves Deruyter re-imagines "Moon & Sun" as a creepy chunk of trance-influenced early morning techno, before TML re-imagines "Eden" as a ludicrously heavy breakbeat hardcore smasher.
Various
Review: Following on from the recent 2.1 compilation, Hotflush again shows why it is such an essential dance floor label. It features established artists like Agoria, who drops the discordant tones and spiky minimalism of "Helice" and Recondit with the deep, dubbed out "Channel" , alongside emerging producers like Glaskin with the twisted acid of "You Are Simply A Machine". No Hotflush compilation would be complete without its owner Scuba's input; here it takes various forms, including a broken beat remix of "Ruptured" by Surgeon, and the SCB sub-project dropping the sub-bass led "Rope". If that wasn't reason enough to buy Floor 2.2, there is also a fine techno track from the late, great Trevino.
Various
Review: The latest compilation from Scuba's label features some of dance music's most distinctive producers. Recondite delivers "Pour", a throbbing, spaced out groove that will leave listeners mesmerised. Locked Groove, another Hotflush regular, also focuses on the deeper end of techno with the hypnotic, flowing "From Beyond". The compilations also includes "If You Still Want Me", an evocative house cut from Yotam Anvi, where plaintive vocals unravel over a dubbed out groove, while Scuba himself impresses with the synth-heavy "Nineteen Eighty" and, working as SCB, drops the steely, stepping rhythm of "Five Degrees". Floor 2.1 is an essential release for anyone with even a passing interest in forward-facing techno and house.
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Hotflush has commissioned some of techno's most talented producers to rework tracks from Locked Groove's debut album from earlier this year. "Out of Orbit" gets turned into a frenetic, rolling club track by Anastasia Kristensen, with the original's shiny synths incorporated into breezy filters. On his version of "From Beyond", Alan Fitzpatrick diverts from his usual big-room sound to drop a lazy, hazy break beat piece that is sure get dropped during Balearic sunsets. Striking a note of discord is Prequel Tapes, who turns "Eden" into a dark, droning banger led by pile-driving kicks and wave upon wave of percussive dissonance.
Played by: Claptone
Review: Four years on from his last outing under the alias, sometime Sepalcure member Praveen Sharma has finally delivered a new Braille EP. Astonishingly, it marks his first appearance on Hotflush since 2011. Perhaps the most striking thing about EP opener "Stand Still" is how deep, dreamy and picturesque it is, with Sharma peppering a snappy rhythm track with drowsy vocal samples, woozy chords and a wonderfully warm bassline. "Igloo" is, if anything, even sunnier - a tactile sample patchwork that sounds like Sepalcure after an afternoon on the beers at a Croatian festival. Elsewhere, "Needs" is a sweet and piano-heavy chunk of glassy-eyed, leftfield house brilliance, while closing cut "IOU" alternates between skittish breaks, booming sub-bass, twinkling pianos and mangled vocal samples. Like the rest of the EP, it's brilliant.
Review: Label boss Scuba dons his SCB alias to deliver this split release with Wehbba, who has previously released on high-profile labels like Drumcode and Tronic. That hypnotic, big-room sound is audible on "Survival", where steely drums are fused with wild acid pirouettes. The title track is less intense, and sees the duo deliver a pulsating groove that's framed by steely percussion and ponderous vocal samples. "New Culture" is more stripped back, with this unlikely pairing focusing again on those steely drums, underpinned this time by an insistent filter. "Green Planet" is similarly focused, as rolling, Palstikman-style percussion and acid drones unravel over solid kicks.
Review: Acclaimed Italian duo Mind Against return with a four-track EP of spiralling, hypnotic techno on acclaimed label Hotflush - for the second time since "Elysium" / "Pulsar" (with Locked Groove) in 2015. From the tunnelling adrenaline rush of the title track which is sure work the floor under the strobelight, there's also the brooding heads-down factory floor stomp of "Forevermore" and a bit of material more familiar of the duo on the epic dance floor drama of "Mirage" - complete with its wonky bass line, intoxicating melodies and euphoric pad layers all geared for some moments of pure zen in the main room.
Review: Following two admired single-track salvos on Hotflush, George Fitzgerald collaborator Lawrence Hart (AKA Duncan Tottill) and Algebra Records boss Nic Neill AKA Casually Here join forces for their most expansive release to date. Predictably, they begin in confident mood, wrapping woozy vocal samples, simmering strings and hazy, sun-kissed electronics around a crunchy, off-kilter rhythm on the rushing bliss of "Innocent". The pair moves effortlessly towards techno territory on "Swimming Up (Extended)", where fluid ambient electronics smother a chunky dancefloor groove, before Model Man delivers a fuzzy, piano-sporting rework of previous single "Ochre" that benefits greatly from intergalactic electronics, jazzy samples and distorted bass.
