Hot City - Twist/Lonely Boy

I'm quite suspicious of contemporary records that claim to have a 'speed garage' feel. Too often they're just all about the big wobbly bassline, and devoid of any of that essential skippy funk that made SG such fun the first time around.

Not this one, though, which captures the spirit of the late 90s perfectly. The presence on vocals of MC DT (of Pied Piper, Do You Really Like It? fame) does perhaps give Twist a slightly cheesy feel, but at the same time it also lends it a certain authenticity. And you need have no such pop qualms about the female-vocalled Lonely Boy, which does the MK/Todd Edwards choppy-uppy thang with the vox while the beats skip and shuffle and the organs parp underneath.

So yeah, if it's a slice of retro SG-flavoured dancefloor action with bags of energy you're after, you won't go far wrong here.

Out: This week

About: This is on Moshi Moshi, one of those labels whose output seems mostly aimed at U21s in tight jeans and stupidly bright colours so I don't normally pay much attention; proof were it required of how important it is to listen without prejudice to as much as possible, or you'll miss nuggets like this! Anyway, here's the Moshi Moshi website.

As for Hot City themselves, here's what the hype sheet has to say:

Call them rave revivalists or put them next to the newest convergent sounds of post-dubstep and UK funky – Hot City are just as happy playing next to garage legends Ramsay & Fen as next to the intricate dubstep scientists Spatial.. similarly their tunes will mix into Todd Terry or Cooly G, Basement Jaxx or Brackles, 2 Bad Mice or – if you're that way inclined – 2 Unlimited. Ultimately it all flows to and from the same place: the dancefloor.