Juno Recommends Funky House November 2020

Review: Hot on the heels of her excellent Chapters of Beginning retrospective, Anane offers up something even more righteous: a storming cover of Munich Machine's 1977 disco epic 'Get On The Funk Train'. On the A-side you'll find the original mix by Anane's other half, Louie Vega, which brilliant layers mazy synth solos, undulating orchestration and her powerful vocals on top of a driving, house-style disco groove. It's a killer cover all told, offering a faithful update that should delight all disco heads. Over on the flip, Michael Gray and Mark Knight reach for the synth-bass on a smoother disco-house version, before Todd Terry drops some instant excitement via a sweaty, beefed up loop-house revision.

Review: Four seriously heavyweight cuts on this one, a various artists classic in the making from Pi Gao Movement. Lost Trax gets down and dingy with 'The Disruptor', a gurgling, menacing mid tempo cut with dystopian feels. Ultradyne's contribution is much more forward facing, with superb drum programming making for a frictionless broken beat groove that is run through with lithe synths. The machines cut loose on manic head wrecker 'Ultradyne' and last of all, 'Deconstructing The Immortals' sounds like the sort of tech Kraftwerk might make if they were now globe trotting DJs.

Review: Given that Defected's multi-arist EP series was designed as a way for vinyl DJs to get hold of some of the imrpint's biggest digital download hits, you'll be unsurprised to learn that volume nine contains some seriously sizable material. Riva Starr kicks things off with a remix of Dennis Ferrer classic "Hey! Hey!" that turns the track into a Moroder style electro-disco throb-job, before Ferreck Dawn delivers some big room vocal house pleasure. Over on the flip, John Summit's "Deep End" is another beefy big room workout built around sweet female vocals and a thickset bassline, while Offiah's "Play It By Ear" is a 21st century update of the muscular, mid-90s MK sound.

Review: Three years after their last collaboration 'Lost In Translation', French producer Darius and Nigerian singer Wayne Snow cross paths once again for two sublime moments of contemporary soul. Trembling with echoes of Thundercat and Plant Life, Wayne's high notes are the perfect complement to Darius's dreamy signature as 'Equilibrium' shows off their penchant for hazy house music while 'Apology' takes more of a sedate, breezy stroll in a similar way to Amp Fiddler. Also included is a stunning instrumental from Darius ('Sonar') and an extended version of 'Equilibrium'. Soulful perfection.