Juno Recommends Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz: May 2022

Review: We're always stoked to hear a new 12" from K15. The London beat maker has plenty of tricks in his box, from lush deep house to jazzed-out synth music, collaborative projects that fuse the two and plenty more. Here the deep thinking producer layers up cosmic synth work with jostling broken beats and far-sighted pads that speak to Detroit. That's the case on the heady A-side 'Demo of Heart' at least, while things get more funk and energetic on 'Tomorrow's Promise,' a perfect coming together of London beats, sun-worshipping synths and jazz invention.

Review: Horatio Luna is a mainstay on the Melbourne jazz scene and a fine composer, bassist and producer. His last album came in 2020 and got high profile support from the likes of Bradley Zero and Jamz Supernova and now he makes a welcome return on Jitwam's The Jazz Diaries label. It is an EP that sees him ask a wealth of his fav producers to add their own take to some of his standout tunes. These fantastic remixes take in smooth gives doused in bass and soulful cuts with real energy.

Review: As far as contemporary drummers go, Richard Spaven is one of the most sought-after. He is master of progressive and contemporary sounds who has played with all the greats such as Jose James, Gregory Porter, Flying Lotus and The Cinematic Orchestra. He got sit alone here on this new 7" for Fine Line. Opener 'Hoodie Beats' shows off his considerable skills with an airy, floaty grove that is like live and deep drum & bass, then neo-soul vocalists Jordan Rakei joins for the superb 'Nova.'
Barney Artist drops some verses on 'Icarus '88' to bring a real edge and the title track closes in seductive fashion with lingering chords melting your heart.

Review: New Zealand's Julien Dyne has a highly developed strain of song-led house music which he's been cultivating over a run of albums for BBE and Soundway. Three years after his standout Teal, he's back with a new album featuring a heavyweight cast of collaborators and yet further developments in his instrument-embellished sound. You can't miss the honey-coated tones of Joe Dukie from Fat Freddy's Drop on 'Resolution', but there's also repeat appearances from Lord Echo, Ladi 6 and Mara TK, not to mention Che Fu and Troy Kingi. Balancing out a danceable sensibility with the passion for crafting beautiful songs, Dyne once again elevates his craft with stunning results.

Review: Mike Katz has been releasing music as Harvey Sutherland since 2013. The Melbourne-based bandleader has popped up on labels like Echovolt and MCDE in his time, but this marks a new step on in his evolution as an artist. With a warm and playful sound which touches on kosmische, boogie, synth-pop and funk, he rides strident rhythm pulses to explore melodious landscapes where the sun shines without fail. You can tell he's been on tour with the likes of Khruangbin and Hot Chip, not to mention steering an 11-piece band for Leroy Burgess on an Australian tour, but equally he's most definitely doing his own thing on Boy and there's boundless joy to be found in each and every track.

Review: Bristol's Dundundun enlists poet, visual artist and filmmaker Nadeem Din-Gabisi on this, a second EP from the band. The six-piece outfit sold out their first EP o the Worm Discs label and so anticipation for a follow-up has been huge. It was written in a small studio and started as a dance floor jam but evolved into music with room for the vocals to shine. The multilayered rhythms come from heavy beats with big horns, deep bass and magical keyboard skills as well as some superb wordsmithery from Nadeem Din-Gabisi. A club ready Red Rack'em remix seals this great value deal.

Review: Beautiful Japanese only vocal version of the Yusef Lateef Jazz classic in a hip hop tempo flipped by a tech house version of Transformer

Review: Joshua Smeltink is a pianist and producer who works under the On-Ly alias. Since around 2017 has he been playing local bars as well as being a part of a number of different bands. He is currently busy with his own On-Ly band which features Carl Lindeberg on bass, Henry Hicks strumming the guitar and Bryce Zelno from Astral Feld on drums. This heavyweight new album explores worldly rhythms with plenty of off-beat grooves, finger clicks, hulling great drum hits, dark synth sounds and expressive broken beats and jazz melodies to make for an album that is as primal sounding as it is beautiful.