Paul Cottam is a name synonymous with quality, hard-driving underground house. The Preston producer shot to notoriety in 2009 with three limited edition 12 inchess that blew up the underground deep house and nu-disco scenes with no advertising and no info – combining neo-soul, afrobeat and hip hop with slo-mo house grooves – all three sold out in double quick time and ended up in many best of 2009 charts.
Since then, Cottam has concentrated on developing his own style of sub-aquatic acid house – remixes for Luv Jam on Phonica’s label, Pattern Select on Delusions of Grandeur, Morning Factory on 20:20 Vision offshoot Fina and for Last Waltz on Endless Flight have complemented original tracks on Quintessentials, Wolf Music, German undercover label Story, Deep Deep Down EP for Aus Music and the summer anthem ‘Sunrise Sunset’.
Now he makes his debut on Iron Blu’s label Flight Recorder with two tracks that are unmistakingly the Cottam sound. ‘The Long Dark Road’ moves along with a deep aquatic sound that is peek-time fodder with a hard and boomy kick-drum driven rhythm section and swathes of eerie synth pads.
‘Untiled’ slows down a tad, going deeper with dub elements enmeshed within the tapestry of analogue sounds and a bassline you can ‘feel’.
With both track coming in at just under 11 and 12 minutes, respectively, this is a 12″ that is a must have.