Roche comes to ICEE HOT with quite an impressive resume, and this two track outing is the latest chapter in what’s quickly becoming an excellent body of his work.
icee hot
Ghosts On Tape – Only Now/Snake Box [IH008]
“Only Now” kicks things off in a rollicking fashion, its stuttering synth riff taking center stage and gradually building atop Ghosts On Tape’s trademark drummy percussion. Those whose who’ve followed Merry’s work know that his command of rhythmic interplay has always been at the heart of his production, and while that skill helps to make ‘Only Now’ an enticing proposition, it really shines on ‘Snake Box.’ Abandoning melody almost entirely, the track offers an intense, drumheavy workout over an insistently thudding bassline. On the remix front, ICEE HOT has enlisted Chicago duo Innerspace Halflife, who infuse ‘Only Now’ with soaring cosmic synths and twisting melodies, giving the song a decidedly (no pun intended) ghostly feel.
Contakt – Nobody Else [IH004]
The latest offering from San Francisco’s Icee Hot label finds the young imprint officially welcoming another artist to its gradually expanding roster, the Michigan-reared, New York-based producerContakt. Particularly on “Nobody Else,” Contakt’s flair for big-room melody remains intact, but he takes notes from classic KMS, filling out the song’s cresting synths with a full-bodied bassline, a hooky vocal sample and a sturdy rhythmic underpinning. “Tessera 04” goes deeper, channeling Maurizio while delving headlong into a dense cloud of synths and maintaining a steady sense of forward momentum. Remixes by Ghosts on Tape and Robert Hood.
The Hipodrome Of Music 