Kicks – Space Opera EP

Five years after he contributed a track to Rutilance Recordings' double-vinyl "Volume 11" compilation, the label has finally given Kicks the chance to release an EP of his own. It's a rather good EP, too, with the French producer offering up a quartet of chunky cuts in the Phil Weeks style that add spacey tech-house sounds and retro-futurist motifs to bumpin' deep house grooves. Picking favourites is touch, though we're particularly enjoying the driving, funk-fuelled goodness of "Marvin C", and the intergalactic headiness of "Once There Was a Dream" - a track rich in deep space chords and starry-eyed lead lines. Elsewhere, "Sinister 9001" smashes together bombastic speed garage beats, weighty bass and Yorkshire bleeps, while "Amadeus" is a lusciously spacey romp in the French producer's now trademark style.

A1. Amadeus
A2. Marvin
B1. Once There Was A Dream
B2. Sinister 9001