The second of Cocoon’s ‘Dots & Pearls’ gets into its stride pretty quickly with a couple of dark and brooding productions, Subb-an feat. Jacob Phono’s ‘In The Night’ hitting hard with its punchy bass sound. Once a ground mood is established, Mark Reeve’s ‘Carry Me’ is a cracking, smoking piece of tough house, Ambivalent’s ‘Iwato’ flexes its considerable bass line, and Harvey McKay’s ‘First Strike From Mars’, probably the best track here, has a great bit of offbeat action going on. Wrapping up the action is Sawlin’s ‘Posay’, the sort of thing Radio Slave devotees would like, spacey and very dark. Eight winning tracks, some of which are real dark bruisers – definitely worth acquiring if you like your house served with a touch of black steel.
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
