To a bartender, a hot toddy is a potent concoction of brandy, tea, honey, and lemon (Worchester sauce if you're feeling extra tough) meant to sooth the ravages of a common cold. To a house head,
Hot Toddy is the solo project of
Chris Todd, one half of the U.K. funky house duo
Crazy Penis. And much like its libation namesake,
Todd's music will warm the insides and protect from even the bitterest weather that his Manchester home has to offer. The first single, "Stratocoaster," and "2000 Records" rely on a funky guitar groove to heat up the casual house beats. "Ebus Groove" is even steamier, with a soaring female vocal that enunciates a feel-good house music mantra, "Doin' the best that I can." But most of the cuts here are of the instrumental variety, with a simple piano line on "Together" or funky synthesizer attacks on "Midnight Function" providing just enough melody to keep the soothing rhythms interesting. You won't find any club smashes or even really any standout tracks among the consistently strong bunch. But leaving the hits to
Crazy Penis,
Todd frees himself to groove for days. A strong remedy for the boring deep house disease.