Review: As always, the Hotflush Recordings crew have left us a truly tasty collection of snacks to chow down in here as they welcome the innovative percussive mastery of Braille inside for five tracks of pure original heat. Firstly, 'Anxiety' delivers a mind-numbing skip through luscious fields of digitized percussion and floaty synth textures, with the more club-driven sub punches of 'Cavernous Testing Zone' and uber-technical rhythmic designs of 'Hot As Hell' then following on further. We then jump into 'Red Rose', another crunchy side through glittering backdrops and sultry synthetic ideas, with the moogish melodies and constantly shifting soundscapes of 'Big Sith Energy' then giving us a thought-provoking closer. Lovely work!
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.
Review: Fresh off some terrific remixes of label boss Scuba's Caibu LP, Hotflush presents some emotive tech-house from some London based multi-instrumentalists: the classically trained Lawrence Hart (aka Duncan Tootill) and Algebra Records boss Casually Here. The incredibly evocative "Wanderlust" carries similarities to Hart's work with long time collaborator George Fitzgerald with its rich tapestry of sparkly synth textures and skippy drums. "Chimes" on the other hand is a bit tougher and has more bounce to it - its title refers to its hypnotic and resonating melody between interludes of sublime and heady ambience.
Review: 2013 was the last time we heard from Praveen Sharma aka Braille and Travis Stewart aka Machinedrum, who together have always made music as Sepalcure. In fact, it was this project that allowed them to make a name for themselves via Scuba's Hotflush Recordings, and the duo return to the the label with this new album, Folding Time. The best way to describe these scorchers is to dub them under neo-R&B, a rather wide banner, we know, but it really gets the mood of these tunes across. Electronic beats are always an important part of the arrangements, but the melodies and vocals are soulful, drenched in a spiritual pop flair that makes this LP as smooth as f***, and a perfect comeback to this great project.
Review: Sascha Borchardt has almost exclusively put out music by his Monoloc project on CLR, but he recently released an EP on Soma. Now the German producer continues his move into the mainstream with a release on Scuba's Hotflush. It's an atmospheric, esoteric release and proves that Borchardt is on the cusp of crossing over. The title track and "Makeless" are downtempo tracks, full of floaty, swirling textures and throbbing low end tones. However, it's "Trysome" that really stands out. The groove is inspired by Basic Channel's scuffled dub and the falsetto vocal could be from a New Jersey house track. United by a chiming synth, they come together to make for a bizarre but brilliant track.
Review: In the three years since his last full-length outing, Personality, Scuba's stock has continued to rise, nudging him further towards to higher echelons of DJ culture. The fact that he now plays colossal rooms and festival headline slots can be heard in the more dancefloor-minded material on Claustrophobia. While some of the best material is more downtenpo and circumspect - see the heady ambience of "Transcience", the spinetingling wooziness of "All I Think About Is Death" and the immersive dubstep of "Needle Phobia" - it's the stripped-back techno throb of "PCP", hissing rhythms of "Television" and the progressive house inspired hedonism of "Why You Feel So Low" that will get most attention.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.