JUJU & JORDASH レコード& CD

Review: Given their frequent habit of charging off in different musical directions, predicting the contents of a new Juju & Jordash record is getting increasingly difficult. Down To The Roach, their latest 12" for regular home Dekmantel, is typically wide-ranging, variously exploring bouncy fusions of techno futurism and whimsical deep house (the title track and its' accompanying dub), new age-influenced dream house (the bizarrely titled "Bean Bag Motel"), and spiraling, synthesizer-heavy house/electronic disco hybrids (the stargazing goodness of "Lights at Night"). It goes without saying that all four tracks are imaginative, immaculately produced, and hugely enjoyable. Excellent work all round.

Review: Juju and Jordash are rather good at making albums. Their last full-length excursion, 2012's brilliant Techno Primitivism, was a gloriously maudlin and evocative affair, as influenced by drowsy ambient and experimental electronica as house and techno. While there are some similarly dark tracks lurking in the shadows of third album Clean Cut (see the creepy "Swamp Things"), for the most part it's a pleasingly dancefloor-centric concoction. That's not to say that they've packed it with jolly moments - the tipsy, melodious "Anywhere" and dub disco-meets-deep house wonk-out "SP Shakes" aside - but rather their leftfield blends of house and techno have a more club-friendly feel. The results are, for the most part, extremely good, with the rave-era revivalism of "Whippersnapper" (a kind of darkroom, Detroit-influenced take on T-Coy's "Carino") standing out.

Review: Juju and Jordash are rather good at making albums. Their last full-length excursion, 2012's brilliant Techno Primitivism, was a gloriously maudlin and evocative affair, as influenced by drowsy ambient and experimental electronica as house and techno. While there are some similarly dark tracks lurking in the shadows of third album Clean Cut (see the creepy "Swamp Things"), for the most part it's a pleasingly dancefloor-centric concoction. That's not to say that they've packed it with jolly moments - the tipsy, melodious "Anywhere" and dub disco-meets-deep house wonk-out "SP Shakes" aside - but rather their leftfield blends of house and techno have a more club-friendly feel. The results are, for the most part, extremely good, with the rave-era revivalism of "Whippersnapper" (a kind of darkroom, Detroit-influenced take on T-Coy's "Carino") standing out.

Review: Juju & Jordash are noted for their experimental nature - with last year's triple LP for Dekmantel perhaps the most conclusive example. Unleash The Golem: Coffin Train sees Jordan Czamanski and Gal Aner return to their conceptual Golem series for Golf Channel with the A Side challenging the aforementioned Techno Primitivism in the experimental stakes. Seventeen minutes long, "Coffin Train" sees the Amsterdam pair conjure up their most claustrophobia inducing production thus far, marrying the freeform electronics of their Magic Mountain High material with vast, droning passages and corrugated acid tainted bass lines. The accompanying "Coffin Train Getaway" is much more rhythmically focused, paring back the textural experiments in favour of plundering through a broken techno rhythm that's got Clapton squat party written all over it.

Review: It's rare these days that you have a spare 90 minutes to focus on an album, but Techno Primitivism is one of those albums that makes you want to change your lifestyle accordingly. Everything about this new album from Juju & Jordash breathes class - released on Dekmantel with three slabs of 180 gram vinyl spread across a gatefold sleeve complemented by killer design from Orpheu De Jong, and brandishing a blend of music that's fully representative of the Amsterdam based duo's styles and influences. At 15 tracks deep, the full beauty of Techno Primitivism will undoubtedly reveal itself slowly, the cheeky misnomer of the title hinting at Gal & Jordan's often revealed humour. Opening in grand style with the triple suite of "Stoplight Loosejaw", "Diatoms" and "Backwash", the duo set a hazy, atmospheric tone that remains throughout, with brief machine funk interludes such as "Slow Boat To Haifa" and "Rogue Wave" in between longer improvised explorations. Favourites on this album change with every listen, but you can't deny the potency of tracks such as "Powwow" or the Magic Mountain High referencing "Track David Would Play" or the superbly titled "Dr Strangepork". One of the albums of this year, without doubt!

Review: Dekmantel unleash Detroit legend Robert Hood on Juju and Jordash's "Deep Blue Meanies" from last year's self titled album. The virulent pulse that ran through the track marked "Deep Blue Meanies" as the most impressive moment, and Hood does the track justice with two differing but equally astounding treatments. The A Side Sci Fi Mix is akin to a full on sensory assault, flipping the track into a relentless thumping future techno groove replete with throbbing bass that absorbs brain matter and multi layered percussion that demands to be bounced off cavernous warehouse walls. On the other side Hood's "Monobox Remix" tones down the percussion to focus on crafting hypnotic patterns of scratched melodies and singular drones atop a minimalist groove. The growing acid tension that characterises the closing stages of this remix make it hard to choose a favourite. Special mention to for the rather attractive screen printed sleeve art.

Review: Freerotation Records returns with another 12" featuring Freerotation residents and regulars. The theme for this release is live hardware techno and the A side features two cuts from Juju and Jordash's live improvised set from Freerotation 2017, while the flip showcases two of Freerotation 2017's live hardware acts, the evergreen Shawn Rudiman from Pittsburgh USA, and the recently revived North-Easterners Cubic Space Collective.
Collectively these artists are some of the best live techno performers in the world today, with decades of experience behind them, and true dedication to their craft.