Scuba: Talk Torque & Hardbody (Hotflush Recordings)

Scuba’s cup runneth over! His last full-length, Personality, pushed further into techno and house than the broken beat hybrids of his previous one, Triangulation (referring to the triangulation between breaks, techno, and house). Both of these tracks were released as one-offs after Personality, and they are no doubt aimed at moving the dancefloor. “Talk Torque” brims with handclaps, a punchy bass kick and a handsome FM bass line before introducing a looping, filtered diva vocal refrain of “I’m your fantasy.” Despite many of these tricks perhaps being nothing new, especially for Scuba given the density of Personality, it all works quite well and would sound great on a dark dancefloor well after midnight. “Hardbody” also carries on in a similar vein, this time with a syncopated square bass and vocal sample stabs. Neither of the cuts is so minimal as his vowelless SCB moniker’s tracks, but closer to the meaty techno-house hybrid of 2011’s “Adrenalin.” Relative to the album, I wouldn’t say either one is necessarily essential, but both show off Scuba’s production chops and knack for a steady groove quite well nonetheless. And when they’re available as single downloads, it’s hard to argue with the bang for your buck.

Buy Talk Torque: Bleep | Boomkat | iTunes
Buy Hardbody: Bleep | Boomkat | iTunes