- Dovercourt doesn't refer to a corner of the United Kingdom, but a neighbourhood in Toronto. The Canadian city's "new guard" includes some of the most promising new names in house and techno, and Martyn seems to agree. He's snatched four of the best new(ish) Torontonians for a compilation EP that could almost be a brochure for the city's underground.
First up is the quietly brilliant Kevin McPhee, whose "Version 5" bounces a reedy-sounding synth on a straightforward thump; it's strangely old-fashioned, like zydeco techno. Stepping away from the white-hot metal of some of his Turbo material, Nautiluss goes deep for "Zero Gravity," with a cheeky ascending bassline that you won't get out of your head for days. Nacho Lovers member Bruce Trail debuts his promising new solo project with the chunky "Beatrice," heaving analogue house that belches and flutters in all the right places. But where all these producers have something distinctly earthy about their tunes, it's Gingy (of Gingy & Bordello) that blows them all away with something defiantly robotic. "Swirlie" is repetitive to the point of derangement, cycling and filtering two chords so fast you can almost smell the friction burn on his knob-twiddling thumb. Once he throws down a kick drum it's pure decadent savagery.
TracklistA1 Kevin McPhee – Version 5
A2 Gingy – Swirlie
B Nautiluss – Zero Gravity
Digital: Bruce Trail - Beatrice