Juno Recommends Minimal / Tech House: Best of 2022

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: Steve O'Sullivan invites a trio of artists to lay down some serious head nodding beats for 'Rhythm Method Vol.4'. Calling on one of Canada's trusted talents and solid purveyors of deep grooves Jay Tripwire leads the charge with 'Mung Bean Medley'. There's simply no messing: pushing through a taught rhythmic workout, incessant toms and metallic tones etch deep into the mood - awash with dubbed out atmospherics and crafty touches that more than a give a nod to the dark house dubs of yesteryear. On the flip, 'Hidden Sequence' inject their creative flex, demonstrating the all important art of minimalist bounce with 'Synchro'. The kind of fully swung beats and tripped out twinges that brighten the groove more often than not when 7am comes calling. The svelte bustle and soothing tones of 'Makka' from Fletcher by contrast, soothe the mind and leaves plenty of room to kick back as weary limbs take their toll: a fine tonic indeed.

Review: Botanic Minds is a vinyl-only record label that deals in heady tech house and minimal and has since 2017. The sounds are often lush and ethereal for those sun up or sun down moments that send shivers downtime spine. That continues once more on this new one from an apparently unknown artist. Track 1' pairs nice supple and silky synth modulations with flappy drums that come up from below as spoken words add dreamy details. 'Track 2' is a little darker and more wonky in its linear grooves and finally 'Track 3' has fleshy bass and bumping drums with spangled metallic synths and DIY percussion.

Review: Last year DisDat dipped into Andrew Weatherall's archive of unreleased music and unleashed 'Y.W Eleven', a deliciously chuggy, druggy, synth-heavy affair that sounded like the late producer's take on 'Enjoy The Silence'-era Depeche Mode after a fistful of hallucinogenic mushrooms. 'Y.W Fourteen', a kind of sequel mined from the same source, is a little breezier and quietly Balearic in tone, with attractively fluttering synth lines bubbling away atop a crunchy, mid-tempo electro beat and intergalactic electronics. The accompanying remix comes from the effervescent Ricardo Villalobos, who successfully re-imagines the track as a rubbery, bass-heavy chunk of locked-in dancefloor minimalism in his distinctively wonky-but-funky, otherworldly style.

Review: Mystical dreamweaver Edward has previously brought out some of his classiest club-tooled gear for Trelik, with 2018's Rumours EP being a particular highlight in his glittering career in minimal. Breaking a protracted silence for Baby Ford's label, this new three-tracker once more takes us into the unique atmospheric zone Edward occupies with his productions. 'The Giver' has an unnerving, desolate quality but it's also rock-solid in the rhythm department, with subtle threads of warmth to balance out the eeriness. 'Memory Motions' is a spicier cut with a pronounced house jack to propel a tense set of sonic motifs, with a special mention to the wobbly organ-like chord line. 'Tuned' is the most upfront of all the tracks, using some processed piano hooks and a full compliment of nagging, funkified ingredients to make a certified, if left-of-centre, party starter.

Review: Berlin native and Rubisco label head Nick Beringer lays down some serious rolling beat science for Mosaic's 5th LTDX edition. The EP kicks off in style in the shape of 'Intercity': straddling a square 4/4 house rhythm with an 'Art of Trance' spirit - all brought together in contemporary style. Layers of subtly filtered melody pulsate their way throughout, rising and falling as minimal elements collide for maximal sonic impact.Switching to more familiar territory, 'Time Shift' reins things back a notch as tight 909 beats swing to well rounded bottom end, carrying the warm layers of evolving synths and chorded elements with precision effect. Ending on the introspective mood of 'Counterclockwise', Beringer displays an even defter touch, heralding the light fantastic as the spectre of night passes by.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Margaret Dygas may be based in Berlin but her unique sound can't be tied down to any one city or scene, as she proves on her latest 12" across three tracks for the consistently exciting Half Baked label. Not that there's anything half done here, of course, with A-side tune 'Butterfly Effect' a prime slice of groovy. resonant techno that's understated and restrained enough to gain comparisons to Jaydee's 'Plastic Dreams' classic. 'CC Is 33' is warmer, with nicely slidy, jazzy organ chords and itchy technofunk rhythms, with the most minimal of the three tracks, the static-infused, atmospheric 'Subliminal 20A7', coming last but by no means least. A great showcase for a great, original talent.

Review: Rolling into the spring of 2022, Mosaic turns to Berlin based Yorkshireman and co-founder of Tact Recordings, Fletcher, for Mosaic LTDX6 .

Following his impressive "Mechanical Garden" debut LP on Mosaic DTL, 'Violet Shift' focuses on Fletcher's ability to weave magic for the dancefloor with DeepChord's Mike Schommer adding a contrasting touch of class on the remix.

Title track 'Violet Shift' is a trip into the light fantastic: centring around a delicate fusion of deftly programmed beats and continuously shifting filtered chords. Brought together with muted pulses of sub bass and splashes of effects, it's a masterful exercise in restraint and a true delight with repeat listening.

Taking it the other way, Schommer's remix focuses on a four to the floor journey: adding tribal elements and tight percussion that inject more urgency into the mix. A tough but fair take, you wouldn't expect anything less.

Last but not least, the dawn chorus of 'BOHTS' eases you into the mood with a trimming of airy optimism and brushy bounce to the beats as warm chords sweep their way through.

Review: Once again Dungeon Meat bring the club heat with what will be their first ever double pack release on the label. A chunky collection of 7 prime cuts featuring new unknowns and more established names, some of them under mysterious alter egos which will never be revealed. It's all about the music for Dungeon Meat and this fresh selection of tracks and tools hits that nail on the head. Tried and tested as always this dynamite double pack will be one of those releases that never leaves the bag and is constantly reached for by discerning DJ's and ninjas who come to play and slay. Just like it says on the label, these jams are weapons of ass destruction. Handle with care.

Review: For the next edition of Mosaic's LTDX series, label boss Steve O'Sullivan invites a trio of artists to lay down some seriously infectious beats on 'Rhythm Method Vol.5'.

Kicking off proceedings with '3 Days Cooler,' from Cologne based Hidden Sequence, you'll find yourself instantly locked into the groove. One of those simple yet effective stripped back jams that balances rhythmic effervescence with subtle evolving elements, steeped in that all important dubby twist.

Next,Berlin based Yorkshireman Fletcher steps up with the robotic twinge of 'From Somewhere' - fusing electro styled drum programming with a heavy dose of psychedelics, the sort of thing you'd expect from Romanian minimalist party starters. A powerful rolling and intoxicating brew, this one will find favour among the sound purists.

Last but not least, trusted Canadian talent Jay Tripwire pairs up with newcomer JayBee with the heady, off-kilter throb of 'Cookie Maschine' - a punchy, incessant ride that just keeps on coming back for more as spatial overtones rise and fall.

Review: It was a decade ago that Dallas' Eric Estornel, a fairly underground artist known for his electro exploits as Mariel Ito and for his techno as Maetrik, presented the hugely successful Life Index LP under the Maceo Plex alias - setting his career on a rather different course. Later that same year he released the High & Sexy EP on his Ellum Audio label, featuring the classic 'Stay High Baby' which had all the hallmarks of his now idiosyncratic sound: razor sharp basslines, disco motifs and soulful vocals underpinned by minimal house beats. Of equally anthemic proportions was the sultry, late night boogie-down vibe of 'Ain't That Love' over on the flip.

Review: Oscuro London follow up their drops from Bilal and Deyayu with this tidy split 12" from Alex Dima and Cristian Sarde, offering up a particularly sprightly kind of tech house peppered with 90s techno motifs but rendered in sleek, modernist shapes. Dima opens up the A side with the charmingly bleepy 'Soul Melody' before locking into the heads-down dream reverie of 'State Of Joy'. Sarde's approach on the B-side maintains the stylistic focus dealing in sumptuous pads and crafty leads which evoke the good old days without sounding tired or dated. 'My Best Friend' nudges into electro territory, but the melodic and textural qualities of the track remain wholly aligned with the housier strains found on the rest of the EP.

Review: Three distinctly outer space-themed cuts from Greece's Alex Celler, each with a linear minimal/tech skeleton that has other, interloping musical influences draped elegantly and classily across it. 'Ancient Astronuats' has the weird, wired mystical stirrings of early Black Dog about it, complete with melting, bendy electro notations that coax it along and add a psychedelic dimension. 'Stargate To Cosmos' has a playful, Drexciyan feel to it, with crunchy, organic drum beats flirting alongside the more rigid electrics. 'Object In The Sky' is the most minimal of the pack, sleek and stalker-like, but still contains enough action - mainly floating around up there in the ether - to hold and build attention.

Review: When he's not dishing out breaks-y garage and slick retro-future electro, Burnski still finds time to exercise his decades deep prowess in the art of tech house. On this new drop for Constant Sound he's clearly having a lot of fun sculpting a hefty, big room sound with Ibiza in its sights. 'Trigger' hinges around an epic breakdown-build up which goes off like a rocket when it drops, swinging with glee and leaning in on playful synth licks. 'Go' is an absolute monster too, which nods to Burnski's recent UKG explorations with some rough bass and a killer 4x4 groove. If you want to do some damage in the dance in the classiest of ways, look no further.

Review: Thomas Melchior's take on minimalist house and techno - wonky and off-kilter, but surprisingly funky, far-sighted and pleasingly atmospheric - is amongst the most accessible and ear-catching around. It's a sound that works as well on albums as it does on singles and EPs, so it's somewhat surprising to discover that Vulnerabilities is his first full-length as Melchior Productions since 2007. It's been worth the wait though, with the veteran producer offering up tracks that combine brilliantly programmed, often off-kilter drums with smooth but druggy basslines, tactile chords, addictive melodic refrains and his usual subtle (and occasional not to subtle) nods towards deep house, dub techno, two-step garage, trippy ambient and the quirky, funk-fuelled eccentricity of Ricardo Villalobos productions.

Review: Following six years of increasingly impressive EPs for such labels as Distant Hawaii, Bokhari and Lobster Theremin, Sweely has finally got round to producing a debut album. Slightly more eclectic than his 12" singles but still dominated by spacey chords, intergalactic electronics and tactile grooves that sit somewhere between tech-house and techno. Closer Energy is a quietly impressive collection that puts mood and melody front and centre. Our picks of a very strong bunch include the electro/analogue deep house fusion of 'Keep On Rock'n', the late 90s UK tech-house lusciousness of 'Techy Sunrise', the acid-flecked micro-house squelch of 'MiniLook', and the two hazy ambient cuts that top and tail the LP.

Review: Following the release of a swathe of fine collaborative singles over the past couple of months, Keinmusik regulars Adam Portm Rampa and &Me unveil their second collaborative album, which lands four years after its acclaimed predecessor, You Are Safe. Send Return is an undeniably attractive, collaboration-heavy set, with the experienced trio cannily blending elements of tech-house, deep house, soft-touch techno, street soul and nu-disco to create a wonderfully warm, woozy and melodious hybrid sound. Highlights include Yet Full collaboration 'Paris' -a kind of 21st century take on Soul II Soul - the sleazy, Italo-influenced throb of Bell Towers hook-up 'Pay To Play', and the summer-fresh deep house warmth of 'Saving My Luv', featuring Little Dragon.

Review: Cult minimalist Fumiya Tanaka last released an album on Perlon in 2019. He now returns with a new collection of precision tool tracks hat have been made by sampling his own sounds from his own DAT tape archive from the 90s. Reconstructing those sounds today in news ways makes for a faultless blend of the old and the new. There are silky, dubby tech house tunes, rich melodic minimal work outs and deep house grooves along the way. This release is the first part of 'One More Thing' with the second part dude later in 2022 as a separate double pack.

Review: Rayka Records chiefs Charonne were isolated for months in their studio, during which they reflected on the past few years of releasing music. The result is Innervoice: Alex T. & Noe B's first album featuring 14 tracks pressed on three 12''. Featured are some spacey jams as expected, that cover a wide spectrum of moods and grooves such as the early UK Peacefrog techno vibe of 'Jinx', the gleaming late night rave mood of 'Move Me' to the downbeat alien funk of 'Future, Past, Present' and the intelligent drum 'n' bass experiment 'Utopia'.

Review: Chicago extraordinaire Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being's third solo album is titled There Is No Acid In This House, and sees him return to Soul Jazz Records. Using his idiosyncratic electronic sound, Moss takes influence from the experimental minds of fellow Windy City innovators such as The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sun Ra, through to icons of his hometown's house music scene like Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, Lil Louis and others who have defined Chicago's musical universe over the last half a century.

Review: R&S sublabel Apollo are back at it with a new release from Romanian composer and DJ Ada Kaleh, bringing four long-form trance movements to a singular slice of mind-body-unifying vinyl. Originally working in minimal and tech house, Kaleh here demonstrates a more recent spate of 'getting a bit more trippy with it', reawakening every moving part of his productions to produce a sentient, ambulatory sonic organism. There's not an 808 or a squelch-funk bass in sight; every minimal cliche is upended for spectacular, time-stopped visions. Also clock track 4, which opts for a metric modulatory mode and odd time signature. Clearly, whatever entheogen Kaleh has been ingesting, it's paid off.