HAMMER Vinyl & CDs

Review: It's been a wee while since we last heard from Rory Hamilton AKA Hammer, whose formative releases on Bicep's Feel My Bicep label were special to say the least. This is, we think, the Northern Irish producer's first solo EP for almost five years. He starts in style with 'Swerve', a pulsating slab of house-powered body music rich in sequenced bass, shimmering chords and saucer-eyed melodies, before opting for a deeper, tech-tinged and analogue-rich Italo-disco-goes-deep-house sound on 'Swivel'. Over on side B, 'Tbilisi' is a hushed, warehouse-ready affair full of sweat-soaked cymbals, restless square wave bass and vocal stabs, while 'Push Repeat' sees him pepper another sturdy house beat with melodic motifs and quietly moody pads.