Review: Toy Tonics may be renowned for delivering delicious deep house and kaleidoscopic nu-disco, but the label is not averse to mixing things up - as their championing of Baby's Beserk, a contemporary four-piece inspired by a mixture of 1980s new wave, 90s indie-dance and post-punk posturing, emphatically proves. The band's self-titled debut album does a great job in setting out their sonic vision, where stylised male and female vocals rise above a mixture of low-slung bass guitar, sharp analogue synth sounds, delay-laden drums, proto-house pianos, woozy drum machine rhythms and dark, clandestine electronic textures. It sounds like it could have been made at some point between 1979 and '83, which of course is entirely the point, but with enough freshness to dispel any thoughts of hollow nostalgia or 21st century revivalism.
Review: Berlin's Toy Tonics present Mushroom House - a series for 'Indie Afro Disco House' now in its fifth edition. Stockholm's Art Alfie made a lot of great records with partner in crime Mr.Tophat and is part of the Studio Barnhus crew. His deep and minimalist slow burner "Dance To The Conga" will hypnotise you into submission. Harry Wolfman has released on Lost My Dog, Under the Shade and Dirt Crew - and is a specialist in that they call 'underwater house'. He presents a dusty, urban flavoured jam here called "Downstream" which wouldn't have sounded out of place on a label like Money $ex. There is also great track by The Barking Dogs - two guys from Milan who run Serendeepity Records. "Mamarracho" is a raw, old-school house jam featuring Marcelo Burton's sleazy deadpan vocals. Lastly, a 'psychoboogie' jam by Jacky Mingo and Kapote in the form of "Make It Hot" was made in three hours in Berlin last summer, while 42 degrees in the studio!
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