SHIBA SAN レコード& CD

Review: Toolroom sits at the top of the tree when it comes to big room house music. Mark Knight's label has mastered the art of maximal sounds and this eighth volume of the Tooroom Sampler series is another one that will do plenty of damage. Essel's 'Sweat' is a rigid tech cut with stiff synths and libidinous vocals, then Shiba San and Ayarez get direct with shuffling tech house cut 'Twist It' complete with big skewed synths. Friend Within's 'Pilka' keeps the energy levels high with fizzing synth loops over textured drums and a fat bassline. Maur x Westend and Cami Bear close out with some brighter melodies to get hands in the air on 'Over.'

Review: You can always count on Dirtybird to bring the nastiness back to tech house with their bassy taste in tunes, no more so than on this EP which celebrates the annual day time hoedown that is their summer barbeque. Shiba San steps up first with the punchy tones of "Okay", where the bottom end is well placed to knock you off your feet, before Secondcity and Tyler Rowe jump off the top turnbuckle with the leaden sub pressure of their own "I Enter". Catz N Dogz are comparatively skippy with the tripped out layers at work in "Drop It", but no less focused on getting bootys bouncing. Ghostea finishes the EP off with a more steady tempered cut that channels the Dirtybird sound into a more staccato framework.