Juno Recommends Minimal / Tech House May 2018

Review: Edward's graceful take on modern house and techno is a perfect fit for Trelik, and the German producer sounds comfortable as he unfurls swooning threads of otherworldly music for the tripped out dancefloor. The "Ogermania Mx" of "Mikko" is a hazy, string soaked affair pitched somewhere warm and dreamlike, but there's plenty of energy churning away in the lower register. "Lottery" is a more twitchy affair for darker times, all moody bass bounce and looming drones around a shuffling set of percussion. "Groaning Ghosts" is the techiest of the bunch, and there's a whole lot of freaked out sound design swirling around in the mix as well. This is simply stunning, highly advanced dance music from a modern day maestro.

Review: The Politics of Dancing crew are launching a brand new venture here, instigating some choice collaborative action with their nearest and dearest, jammed out and cut to wax for your listening and spinning pleasure. Of course it figures that they'd start this project close to home, bringing in some of their Parisian brethren for two assured cuts of heads down, straight up house music. Djebali lends a hand on the A side, with a spread of swirling pad tones drifting around the sturdy drums, while Franck Roger brings a more flirtatious sound to the B side with playful diva samples and crafty synth lines played out in his inimitable style.

Review: Mr KS continues to build on the strong foundations of his label with this on-point slice of high grade minimal from a rising talent on the Romanian scene. RQZ hails from the city of Cluj, and holds down residencies at Club MIDI and the Mioritmic festival. It's no surprise to learn that his tracks are already getting spun by the likes of Petre Inspirescu, not least the subtly trippy tones of lead track "Abacus". It's a jam that would sit comfortably in an extended morning session, and the same could be said for snappy workout "Voodoo". "Ghosts" lets the fidgety vocal samples lead the way for a quintessential exercise in Eastern European minimal house.

Review: Tony Allen's "Asiko", the leading tune on his 1999 LP Black Voices, has been a favourite of our regardless of impeding remixes, reworks, or reissues. It's still a pinnacle of the future jazz movement, blowing everything else out the water in the process. Rightfully, Holland's Dekmantel have decided to resurrect its timeless qualities and to give German-Chilean legend Ricardo Villalobos the tools to deliver some reinterpretations. Thanks to Honest Jon's Records, the two have already worked together, and Villalobos' ritualistic percussion has proven to work wonders next to Allen's legendary drumming and arrangmements. In short, it's as if they were made for each other - two ends of the spectrum that merge beautifully. The firs remix is moody, funky, and absolutely lit, banging out hypnotic drums over deep bass and glitch sonics, while the second part strips the beats out in favour of more wide-eyed melodics, infused with a futuristic style of jazz that is prone to opening minds. Warmly recommended.

Review: Alex Font's Acme label is back in action once more, welcoming two lesser known but promising talents from the ever buoyant Romanian minimal scene. Lizz leads the way with "Chord Everywhere," and as the title suggests this is a swirling, dubbed out cut with plenty of delay and reverb splashing that titular chord all over the shop while the drums stay on point. Font himself kicks off the B-side with the shuffled funk and psychedelic flourishes of "A Pie De Calle," and Vincentiulian rounds the record out with the playful blips and pulses of "Rhode Hits".

Review: Parisian producer Gab Jr has been active for a couple of years now, mainly appearing on Automatic Writing with a quirky strain of minimal house that harks back to the fine legacy of leftfield 4/4 oddities that have hailed from the French capital since the 90s. Albion Records clearly dig that sound, having previously welcomed Ark into their ranks, and Gab jr sounds right at home slapping down the chunky rhythm and spannered sound bites of "Indecent Exposure." "Drunk & Disorderly" pares the beat down and ramps the freakiness up with a killer synth hook and some oddball vocal processing, and then "Fraudulent Cheque" bowls across the B side in a fit of tough drums and screwy micro sampling.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Trelik returns with a repackaged edition of one of the catalogue's most treasured releases. "Overcome" and "Lady Science (NYC Sunrise)" need little introduction, and now come sporting the new TR11:11 matrix number. Written and produced by Thomas Melchior and Baby Ford aka Soul Capsule, these tracks came from one of the many sessions recorded at the West London Ifach Studio in 1999. On the A Side "Overcome" is stripped back and energetic, driven by rolling and shuffling garage style beats, tight bubbling bass and atmospheric synth pads. The intermittent vocal samples and the release's signature organ set you up for the flip, "Lady Science (NYC Sunrise)". Possibly one of house music's most emotive pieces, the track builds slowly with the introduction of each part building a story of soulful optimism based around a sparse palette of deep synths, uplifting keys and warm analogue bass. The understated beauty of the main vocal riff never seems to grow old or tired with the track lending itself perfectly to either main room, peak-time play or after-hours sessions alike. Remastered by Rashad at D & M.

Review: The Eastenderz label drop their 20th outing to date, just in time for the Easter weekend! That means you'll be able to smash out some killer house on the floor, and these tools are just what you need to do be able to do that. Wickham's "Digsy" kicks off with a delightful injection of bass, pushing a fat groove over a vast 7 minutes of bounciness, while Viceversa's "Aden" tones the pace down and heads into the murkier end of the deep house scale. On the flip, Doubtingthomas comes thorugh with "Jegun", a space-age roller with vast synths extending the track's reach, leaving Cosmjn's "Butterfly Drop" to deliver one final shot of bass-driven house that can only be smashed out on a jam-packed dancefloor. Badness from the Eastenderz!

Review: French house and tech producer Doubtingthomas is all over our charts as of late, coming through with the deepest and most glitch-ready dance couture that we have experienced from the French capital. "Puffed Daddy" manages to blend wondrous pads with dusty percussion and a minimalistic swarm of drones, whereas "Diapason" is pure-class deep house for the chill-out hours, and "Passing Tone" adds a slight melodic twist to Doubtingthomas' signature loops. All in all, this is the best kind of deep house out there at the moment - ethereal and from the soul.

Review: Offenbach-based Traffic has been one of the most interesting tech-house labels around for a while now, largely through serving up material that conforms to the sub-genre's original ethos (I.E futurist Motor City techno sounds and house rhythms). Further confirmation of this approach can be found on side A of this hook-up between Traffic founder Martyne and label regular Jacob. Titled "Qauesiquini", the track is rich in spacey synthesizer chords, bustling "bleep and bass" style electronic melodies and beats reminiscent of early British tech-house classics. Turn to the flip for the wiggly analogue electro jam "Quasi" and "Grosse Pause", a creepy, sub-bass heavy fusion of electro and Yorkshire bleep.

Review: If you're after a dash of mystery minimalism, step this way. All we can tell you is that Telum is a new, publicity-shy label dedicated to letting "the music do the talking". No names (artists or tracks), just two tasty workouts that have already seen support from Raresh, Rossko and Ricardo Villalobos. The A-side is a surprisingly dreamy, deep space affair, with becalmed, intergalactic pads and bubbly electronics gentky rising above a subtly acid-flecked groove. Turn to the flipside for a slightly warmer riff on the same basic blueprint, where yearning synthesizer motifs cascade down over a tactile but chunky bassline, woozy chords and snappy, machine style percussion. Both tracks feel like the kind to soothe the frazzled minds and aching limbs of locked-in early morning dancers.

Review: Mark Ambrose doubles up on his appearance on Was/Is with this strident bout of deep end dwellers, kicking off in style with the charged up strut and punchy mono bass of "Makossa (mix 1)," making a point of stepping into a more peak time sound. "Makossa (mix 2)" takes things in a more bugging direction, but there's still plenty of pressure to be felt in the wriggling low end mess and nagging hi hats. The Teakup mix of "Makossa" is a devilish broken beat track, and then "Wagamama" slips in a loopy melodic hook and lets a firm but freaky slice of techno roll out underneath.

Review: Australian techno royalty Carmelo Bianchetti has put out a lot of music under the Late Night Tuff Guy alias with his 2007 tweak of Roland Clark classic "I Get Deep" among his best work. Originally released through the short lived TBot's All Nite House Party label, the track is given a timely reissue through Bianchetti's own Tuff Cut label in newly remastered form. Clark's classic vocal would be arguably be a hit over anything with a 4/4 groove, but there is something satisfying about this grimy arrangement from LNTG. Complementing this is a fresh take on the track from Sydney's Cassian.

Review: Romanian producer Iuly.B has been turning out his wares on all the right labels, from Visionquest and Claque Musique to Memoria and Fuse London, and now he's been tapped up by Burnski's Constant Sound label to unfurl a vision of minimal house in 2018. At this stage the influence of early deep techno is as powerful as any kind of modern stripped down house sound, and that comes through in abundance on the shimmering, ambient-tinged "Spaceport". "Dynamics" maintains the celestial trajectory of the record, but with a more looped up, bleep-led approach, while "Meditate" draws upon some of the more familiar tropes of minimal house. "Spherical" finishes the EP off with another set of ethereal pad tones and a crisp, snaking beat for adventurous dancefloor trippers.

Review: In the two years that have passed since his last EP on Kompakt, Jake Williams (that's Rex The Dog to you and me) has spent much of his time releasing his "secret weapon" edits as digital-only singles. Perhaps he intended them to be his swansong to the nu-disco scene, because both tracks here are far more driving and intoxicating than many of his previous releases. "Crasher" is a throbbing chunk of peak-time Euro-techno underpinned by a pulsating arpeggio bassline, echo-laden computer bleeps and waves of undulating electronics. Flipside "Hold It/Control It" sounds like an EBM lover's take on Paul Woolford classic "Erotic Discourse", albeit with the addition of some catchy cut-up vocal samples.

Review: Enzo Siragusa is no stranger to studio collaborations, having previously worked on EPs alongside Alexkid, Archie Hamilton, Seb Zito and Subb-An. His latest temporary studio partner is Nima Gorji, a Danish producer with two decades of releases under his belt already. In its original form, "Foreal" is something of a dreamy, mind-altering treat, with backwards vocal snippets, deep space electronics and drowsy, elongated pads rising above a crunchy, club-ready tech-house groove. Parisian deep house producer Djebali opts for a more paranoid vibe on his remix, which feels altogether dirtier and more driving than the A-side despite judicious use of the duo's pads and vocal snippets. To complete a tasty package, Seb Zito serves up a heavier, percussion-rich interpretation full of mind-altering acid tweaks and dubby sub-bass.

Review: Dhaze has been busy in the last five years, hopping from the digital label scene to more established wax imprints such as Metroline Limited and Electronique. His minimal sound has plenty of admirers it would seem, and now he can add Blind Box to the list. His sound is a perfect fit on the label, focused on crisp, lean floor tracks with steady, razor sharp beats and just the right elements of light and shade darting round in between. B2 track "Ichnusa" might well be the secret weapon on this record with its playful chord lilt and easy going dubby mood.

Review: Mihigh hails from the ever-productive Romanian minimal scene, having first appeared alongside Arapu back in 2013 before releasing a few solo EPs that cemented his presence amongst the big hitters from Eastern Europe. Now appearing on Trapped Ldn, he kicks off his Dark Fader EP with the appropriately murky tones of "Corridors". It's a brooding piece shaped out by clanging delay and reverb tones that echo into infinity, creating a perfectly trippy and evocative atmosphere. "Mutual Contemplation" is a quirkier affair that gets all kind of lopsided, pitch bending antics going on, with a sturdy beat carrying the experimental tones in the direction of the dancefloor.

Review: Harry Wills and the EXT label are still largely residing in an unknown space, where we know very little and want to know very much. "69in" is an off-kilter house gem, weaving its way through funky, broken beat basslines and jungle-inspired drums that could easily have been a part of Four Hero's sets back in the early 00s. On the flip, "Bakkup" provides yet more glitchy house rhythms, bouncing up and down with the help of dusty percussion patterns and shady, complex sonic patterns from the depths of Wills' studio. More, please.

Review: Bedrock (aka UK figureheads John Digweed and Nick Muir) team up here with current scene favourite Chris Barratt aka English born/Los Angeles based producer Eagles & Butterflies. The dons of progressive house merge their knack for all things evocative with Barratt's sublime use of melody on A side cut "Crazy Diamond". This is a breathtaking expression in pure dancefloor drama. On the flip, there's more adrenaline and dynamics on "Divenire" with its elevating bassline, immaculately programmed rhythms and yet another serving of hypnotic melody - if this one doesn't push the crowd into absolute euphoria, we don't know what will!