The vocal is a rap hook, not the usual soulful house loop, and that single swap is what makes Throw It Up more interesting than the Toolroom average. Piero Pirupa has a real knack for the chunky, bass-heavy tech house that actually moves a room, and pairing him with Thomas Newson and the rapper Deetranada pulls the track toward something with more attitude than the genre’s usual polite groove. Deetranada’s bars give it a swagger most tech house, for all its precision, tends to leave on the table. Underneath, it is a clean Toolroom production, that reliable rolling bassline and a kick you could set a watch to, built for the exact middle stretch of a club night when people have stopped being self-conscious. The rap and the groove do not fight each other, which is the whole reason it works. It is funky, it is a little cocky, and it will do real damage in a DJ set. Tech house does not need to be this fun, and it is nice when someone remembers it is allowed to be.
January
Chrome Daydream
Chrome stars, jelly hearts and holographic colour. A nod to the glossy, optimistic graphics of the early web.