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: Guiseppe Fimiani may be best known for his excellent re-edits as BPlan, but he's also released original material under that alias too. Here, though, he's decided to release music under his given surname for the first time, pitching up on Toy Tonics with an EP that joins the dots between American, Latin and Italian house sounds of the 1990s. This hybrid sound is exemplified by the piano-powered, Spanish vocal-sporting peak-time deep house release of opener 'Believe In Yourself' and the salsa-soaked joy of 'Amore Latino', where fluid piano solos ride a chunky house groove. Elsewhere, 'Melana' is a more percussion-laden excursion with live bass and a breathy, 'Sueno Latino' style spoken word vocal, 'Jungle Trouble' is a fine fusion of booming bass, bustling beats and sparkling piano riffs, and 'Vita Lenta' is a pitched-down, jazz-funk influenced disco jam.
Review: Following a string of collaborative EPs, Kosmo Kint goes solo to deliver a debut album piled high with effortlessly soulful vocals and colourful, synth-powered musicality. Of course, joint productions still feature - Sam Ruffilo makes his presence felt on two tracks (including the sparkling deep house synth-soul of 'Invincible', which also features Kapote), while Zac Tenebaum stamps his authority on 'Magic' and 'The Formula' - but there are far more solo works amongst our bulging list of album highlights. These include the deep, drowsy and soulful two-step garage brilliance of 'Only Gets Better', the seductive R&B/neo-soul wonder of 'Happy Ever After' and the subtly disco-influenced vocal house of 'Fake Love'.
Review: Last year, Kapote joined forces with regular home Toy Tonics to release Teutonik Disaster, a compilation of his own re-edits of late '70s and early '80s, "German new wave funk". 12 months on he returns to the same label with a new collection, Mushroom House, which boasts a mixture of Balearic, Afro and cosmic-influenced cuts from the imprint's vaults. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the rubbery, dubbed-out Afro-house bounce of Ponty Mython's 'Slippin' Into Darkness' and the dusty Afro-disco haziness of Munk's 'Nigerian Jam', to the intergalactic electro trip of the Asphodells' killer remix of 'The Circular Path' by the Deadstock 33s, and the deep space Italo-disco chug of Baldelli's sparkling 'Phobos (2020 Version)'.
Review: Four tracks by the mighty Phenomenal Handclap Band get remixed by the great and the good of the disco scene. Danny Krivit's Edit and Instrumental Edit of 'Let Out On The Loose' have a synth-y, epic feel, while Ray Mang's take on 'Judge Not' is the rumpshaking order-to-dance it was always gonna be. Cooper Saver's breakbeat house remix of 'Riot' is perhaps the most dramatic of the reworks on offer, while David Bay's Remix and Extended Remix of 'Do What You Like' are the most faithful to the original - but as that track was one of the strongest songs on the band's recent album, that's not a problem.
Review: They've been teasing it for a while, but finally New York disco fusionists Phenomenal Handclap Band have finally released the new album we've been promised for some time. Somewhat remarkably, "PHB" is their first full-length excursion for nine years. Bringing together recent club hits ("Remain Silent", "Judge Not" and "Jail") with a string of similarly ear-pleasing songs, the set's 11 tracks mix a loose-limbed NYC disco sensibility with nods towards arpeggio-driven nu-disco, chunky funk-rock, summery electrofunk (see the rather delicious "Do What You Like"), dreamy pitched-down pop ("Travellers Prayer"), gospel and Daft Punk-ish cheeriness (the radio-friendly goodness of "Riot"). As you'd expect, the arrangements, performances and production are all top notch, with even the more sanguine songs coming laden with DJ-friendly percussion breaks and heavyweight sections guaranteed to rock dancefloors.
Review: Toy Tonics' Mushroom House series has so far sparkled, delivering a series of "weirdo house" inspired EPs full of tracks that look to "ethno, Afro and psychedelic" music for inspiration. Each of the producers involved in this third installment predictably hit the mark, with Ponty Mython's trippy opener - think rolling tropical deep house with hallucinatory flourishes - expertly setting the tone. Fast-rising producer Kiwi steals the show with a low-slung fusion of dub disco and smacked out Afro-house, while the Barking Dogs join forces with Tom Trago for a seductive trip into cosmic deep house territory. Red Axes also do a terrific job turning Munk's "The Bolero Brunel" into a hazy chunk of nu-disco psychedelia.
Review: According to those behind the label, Toy Tonics' Mushroom House compilation was inspired by "the new wave of weirdo house" that's inspired by "ethno, Afro and psychedelic music". The collection's 15 tracks include a swathe of new or previously unheard cuts from the likes of Auntie Flo, Daniel Avery & Justin Robertson, Daniel Haaksman, Hyenah and Drrrtyhaze. With such a strong line-up, it's no surprise that the music is uniformly excellent. Highlights include, but are not limited to, DJ Koze's superb Hudson River Dub of WhoMadeWho's eccentric "Keep Me In My Plane", the epic build-ups and trippy, dubbed-out riffs of Munk and Rebolledo's "Surf Smurf", and the psychedelic acid attack of Massimiliano Pagliara's remix of Barotti's "She Once Knew".
Review: The second volume in Toy Tonics' ongoing Mushroom House series gathers together more Afro-influenced dancefloor jams from an impressive selection of producers. Zut and Kapote kick things off with the bouncy house rhythms, chanted African vocals and heavy dub disco bass of "Afro Rico", before Gomma regular Munk pays tribute to Afrobeat on the excellent "Nigerian Jam". Elsewhere, Freerange and Objektivity regular Hyenah throws down a typically tactile chunk of atmospheric, Afro-tinged tech-house ("Fire"), and Glaswegian genre-bender Auntie Flo layers up indigenous instrumentation and hand-held percussion on the standout "Kampala Boda Boda Ride".
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.