Review: Fresh from a first appearance on Weapons, Space Jump debuts on Pets Recordings. The Birmingham producer hits the ground running with 'Make It', a driving, funk-fuelled tough house romp full of undulating bass, squirrelly synth stabs, kaleidoscopic melodies and early 2000s flourishes. Liverpool newcomers Matrefakt re-cast the cut as a swinging, sub-heavy blast of boogie-house badness before Space Jump returns to round off proceedings with 'Take Me Back'. This one is a touch darker and moodier than 'Make It', with driving beats and weighty bass topped off with restless riffs, cut-up samples and the kind of foreboding spoken word samples that reminded us of Sound Factory-era Junior Vasquez.
Review: Drum and bass fans unite with the inception of Nowheretobefound on Pets Recordings who welcome the Arrival EP from Polish drum and bass producer turned dub techno, house and percussive progressionist, Nowheretobefound. Across five-tracks the producer delivers a pop, UKG and trance-like sound with deep arpeggio numbers shining like stars in "Existence" next to the dubby and minimal groove train that is "Arrival". Breathy '90s pop, UKG, soul and house elements are poured into the trance vocal number "Giving Up", with "Hard Times" installed as this EP's filtered down piano ballad next to the stripped back and ultimate B-side cut "Error". A new direction into the deep for an artist best known for his music on labels such as Lenzman's The North Quarter and Artificial Intelligence's Integral.
Review: Friendship is the fourth artist album by Pets Recordings owners Catz'n'Dogz. Written and produced in the Spanish countryside, it sees the duo push the boundaries of modern electronic music. "There" combines robust, steely drums and spiky rhythms with James Yuill's dreamy vocals, making for a refreshing take on deep vocal house, while on "Mind", Rosalie's high-pitched tones are set to a mesmerising harpsichord and shuffling drums. The duo explore their own unique take on r&b-inflected pop with the playful "Yi Fang" -which features Taco Hemingway on vocals - while they showcase their underground credentials with the deep, pulsating techno on "One Plus You". All of these elements make for the most well-rounded Catz'N' Dogz album to date.
Review: Shockingly, 19 years have passed since Renato Cohen lighted up dancefloors with his Brazilian techno classic "Pontape". Little he has released since has enjoyed the same level of success as that colossal cut, but he continues to serve up some seriously good music. Here he makes his bow on Pets Recordings with a four-tracker that looks to Giorgio Moroder, Italo-disco and 80s electro-funk for inspiration. He hits the ground running with the rolling, arpeggio-fired Italo-disco funkiness of "Lone Ranger", before wrapping fizzing electronic motifs, Hi-NRG style synth stabs and a squelchy electro bassline around nu-disco drums on "Bismuth". Elsewhere, "Deocleciana" is a delicious blend of crunchy beats, cowbells and warehouse-ready riffs, while Jennifer Cardini's remix of "Bismuth" turns the track into a muscular, Patrick Cowley style slammer.
Review: Christian Nielsen's Elusive EP delivers a powerful four-track release showcasing the artist's insatiable range of sounds and styles, locking in a strong debut on Pets Recordings. Commencing with "Techno Viking," an unyielding and unwavering lead track, it's a metronomic stomper fueled by a concrete kick drum and pulsating waves of sub-bass. We also encounter "Let Me Go," a breakbeat bubblebath that transports us back to the euphoric spirit of 90s rave culture which continues in "On and On" - a stripped-back, lo-fi & jacking house gem. Its pressurised synths, raw-cut beats, and cascading sirens seamlessly blend to create a potent weapon primed for festival dancefloors. Luke Alessi takes up remix duties and with "Let Me Go" he takes the original to new heights, infusing it with nostalgic old-school vibes, rendering it a compelling noughties-flavoured anthem.
Review: Kevin Dennis Pierre aka Demuir out of Toronto is a legend of the scene with a discography that dates back 20 years. An OG house gangster, his music in recent times has hooked up with the likes of DJ Sneak and Cassy with other releases making their way to Yoruba, Robsoul, Desolat and most recently in 2019, Hot Creations. Now for Catz n Dogz' Pets Recordings in 2020 he drops the three-track Black Soul + Techno EP. Channelling a hardcore acid and Detroit styled techno edge comparable to the work of Blake Baxter, Demuir's "Something Inside Of Me" delivers a tunneling, bass heavy, grooving techno burner. With an extra dub version to boot, "Black Kids Love Techno" then looks towards trippy touches of bleeps and mind bending synths in a banging b-side alternative.
Review: Catz 'N Dogz Pets Recordings are really on a roll at the moment and for their next release they have Mathias Kaden, the tech house hero from Jena is back with more high-octane dancefloor energy with "Polyphonic" which rises and rises in suspense with its tightly programmed groove. "NoKick" does exactly what it says on the tin on this beatless, dark acid house jam which will make an effective DJ tool for the more adventurous DJs or be perfect as an opening track.
Review: Madrid based Italian Bawrut follows up a run of great tracks on top labels such as Midnight Themes, Ransom Note and Multi Culti with this absolutely kickin' new release for Berlin based PETS Recordings. Across the Jomo EP's four tracks, you get treated to a deep trip aboard the acid express on the woozy "Desert Island", hear the drummer get wicked on the dusty shenanigans of "Piano & Piano" and going deep into the late night on the psychedelic madness of "Your Job Is My Job".
Review: Grzegorz and Wojciech are back - has it really been ten years now that these guys have been plying their craft? Some would consider them legends now. The Polish via Berlin duo are back with a couple of sleek tech house cuts for their always reliable Pets Recordings imprint. "Opsi Bubsi"has just the right amount of bump and bounce to warm up crowds during the pre-peak time slot. Otherwise "Elixir" gets deep and atmospheric on that Crosstown Rebels esoteric vibe with layers of hypnotising pads doing most of the work over a low slung groove.
Review: The list of remixers involved in this reworked version of Catz 'N' Dogz 2015 album Basic Colour Theory makes interesting reading. While the Polish duo has called on some big-name pals - Claude VonStroke, Fred Everything and Jamie Jones, for starters - they've also recruited some more left-of-centre talents, including Psychmagik and Polish contemporaries P'taki. The variety and depth of talent shines through from the start, with Fulton's synth-boogie interpretation of "Good Touch" making way for a lusciously deep and electronic mix of "Nobody Cares" by Karizma. Elsewhere, highlights include a rubbery tech-house take on "The Joy" from Anja Schneider, some sweaty, late night business from Eats Everything and Skudge, and Matthew Herbert's thrillingly wonky, Isolee style revision of "Good Touch".
Review: When lockdown hit earlier in the year, Catz 'N' Dogz were still basking in the positive feedback that greeted the release of their fourth studio album, "Friendship". With all of their gigs cancelled, they chose to use the quarantine period to record a follow-up. "Moments" is an intriguing proposition, not least because it deftly displays their growing musical dexterity. It features only a handful of dreamy, drowsy, dancefloor-focused cuts (see bluesy shuffler "Memories", the soulful and jazzy deep house workout "Time", and tech-tinged soundscape house closer "Tomorrow"), with the rest of the album mixing up dusty, trip-hop style beats, bittersweet downtempo grooves, slo-mo Balearic house and jazzy, hard-to-pigeonhole inspirations. As a result, it's their most mature and quietly impressive set to date.
Review: This release is leading up to Thorsteinsson's album '"Academy of Heroes" to be released on Catz 'N Dogz revered imprint. As a teaser before the album, Pets Recordings have treated us to a few remixes. First up, London's Ashworth gives "Sixtrak Blues" a bumping, rolling and overall smooth remix suited to the early evening or after-hours alike, then Dutch legend Geeeman aka Gerd delivers a rusty and banging jack attack. Finally, Berlin figureheads and Cabinet Recordings main men Cab Drivers give "Midnight At Taffey's" their signature sound: an emotive, all analogue and ultra deep treatment that you should not miss!
Review: Thorsteinsson Is Gunnar T. Viggosson who has released previously on Comfortable, Legendary Sound Research and Horse on Horse but finds a good home on Catz 'N Dogz Pets Recordings who present his fourth LP Academy Of Heroes. It's quite a diverse affair all over its 15 or so tracks. Starting out with the lo-fi deep house of "Midnight At Taffey's" or the emotive nu-disco vibes of "1976", there's also some soulful Detroit inspired techno on "Sixtrak Blues" or the dubby deep house of "Channel Disq" until he closes out this LP in great style with tracks like "Beneath A Steel Sky" (which gets infectiously balearic) and the Steve 'Silk' Hurley sampling "The Point".
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