Juno Recommends Minimal / Tech House June 2020

Review: There are few more prolific producers in tech-house than East End Dubs. While this itself is remarkable, what's more impressive is the consistent quality of his regular vinyl missives. This three-tracker marks his first appearance on Hot Creations and offers another sign of the producer's growing profile. A-side "Dis" is a suitably celebratory and energy-packed affair, with East End Dubs utilising starry-eyed breakdowns, loved-up vocal snippets and sweaty snare-heavy builds between bouts of bass-heavy, garage-influenced tech-house grooves. Over on side B, "LFO" sees him pepper another booming, bass-heavy grooves with waves of razor-sharp electronics and mutilated motifs, while "Staines Groove" is an undulating affair built around ear-catching acid bass, snappy drums and stripped-back riffs.

Review: The heat just keeps coming from the EYA camp as they swiftly follow up LONEWOLF 003 with this crucial care package from Kiev's Zolaa. Moody atmospheres abound on the stripped and stalking electro opener "Silver Needle, Golden Pain" before giving way to the decidedly cheekier acid snapper "Noctivagant". "Horiy Spokiy" broadens the remit of the record too, taking on a widescreen sound that takes in rich layers of melodic counterpoint to create a vivid soundscape that still kicks in all the right places. Then Etienne drops in a remix for the B2 which shakes things up with some breezy, feel good chords to counteract the punchy thrust of the drums.

Review: Silverlining keeps up the pressure with his flawless series, hitting the tenth release in style with this batch of remixes he's sprinkled some metallic underground house magic over. First up is Arctor & Jay Hill's "Mercurial", which gets given a cavernous rub down, as brittle but mightily groovy percussion pirouettes around dubby inflections, whispered atmospherics and more besides. Ravi McArthur's "Here & Now" takes on a '90s tint as a killer phased lead hook and woozy pads bring the wiggle to Rizvi's limber deep house rhythm structure. "Conspiracy" by Spook In The House completes the set with a fractured ping into more experimental territory that sports a serious whiff of Stasis-esque psychedelia in its genetic make up.

Review: 2019 was a breakthrough year for Adam Longman Parker AKA Afriqua, thanks in no small part to the release of his brilliant debut album on R&S (the mixed-up and imaginative "Colored"). It's a curious quirk then that his latest single features tracks not recorded last year, but rather way back in 2017. It shows a producer trying to take tech-house in interesting new directions whilst still maintaining the club-focused rhythms and late night hypnotism frequently associated with the style. We're particularly enjoying the melancholic, funk-fuelled deep-tech eccentricity of "Haven" and the colourful melodies of the decidedly druggy "Noga", though lolloping and layered opener "Moonspa" may well be the best of an off-kilter bunch.

Review: Is there a techno producer quite as capable of crafting melodious, far-sighted and wonderfully positive techno workouts as Derek Carr? If there is, we've yet to find them. There's perhaps slightly more of an audible tech-house influence at work on his latest EP, but the producer's alluring obsession with colourful electronic motifs, glassy-eyed pads and spacey sci-fi sounds remains. The A-side is all about "Tiger", a glittering sprint through swelling chords, snappy machine beats and lilting sunrise melodies that's subsequently given a chunkier, funkier tech-house makeover (with added deep bleeps) by Giuliano Lomonte. Over on side B, Carr deftly joins the dots between bittersweet melancholia and sun-kissed warmth on deep electro number "Technopolis", before painting broad brush strokes of aural colour on emotive techno gem "Remain".

Review: Mannheim's Sukhumvit returns after a little time out to focus on brother imprints such as NCSS and Yaji Project, with a release by Mancunian Josh Baker who's on duty for this orange beauty, delivering four fresh cuts for the dancefloor - no remix needed! Four strong cuts on "EP Y": from the ethereal hypnotism of A side cut "In Two Minds" followed by the tough rolling funk attack of "Barge Deluxe" and its subtle French touch (think Djebali!). On the flip, standout track "Laid Back Trax" with it bumpy and swing-fuelled groove hammers the message home in style. Tip!

Review: The always heady Slow Life is back with more of that otherworldly minimal house music, this time from groove futurist Alex Neri. He toys with silky, serene loops and slithers of synth on opener "Redeem" that don't so much race forwards as tread water in beautifully delicate fashion. "Riding Light" is more of a classic house bumper, with knocking drums and bright finger clicks run through with some mind melting bleeps. "Peaceful Warriors" is somewhere in between, with puddles of synth disappearing down below into an oceanic abyss, but also direct, driving house drums that keep you nice and upright. "Cosmic Rain" closes in playful fashion, with dancing drums and perc so nimble and light-footed you'll be hopping like a cat on a hot tin roof. Pure vibes.

Review: Colin Chiddle's Art Of Dark is back with more tripped-out retro techno, following up some great releases of late by the likes of Alec Falconer, Z@P and Santiago Uribe. The 'Mind Control' EP comes from Berlin-based Matthias, who runs Superluminal and co-runs Foundation with Modex. On the A side, we have the bleepy and futuristic banger that is the title track, followed by the strobe-lit energy flash of "The New Dominion". On the flip, the party vibes continue with "Wide Open" hailing 'all aboard the Hoppetosse!', while the acid flashback of "Fatal Crusher" will surely help to get on your tunnel vision. All killer, no filler - tip!

Review: An imprint devoted to minimal sounds, UK-based Afterhours is off to a great start with this three tracker by Cluj Napoca-based RQZ. The Club Midi and Mioritmic resident retains his sonic stride, after promising forays into production recently heard on Unic, KS & Friends and Modeight. Woozy and knackered grooves abound on "Sublevels": from the understated paranoia of the title cut, much in the tradition of local hero Mihigh which is perfect for Sunday morning weirdness. On the flip, he picks up the pace with the groovy dub-laden roller "Bleep Dialog" which is aimed squarely at the main room, while functional tool "Phobos" closes out this fine EP with its entrancing polyrhythmic action.

Review: The enigmatic Au Pair imprint resurfaces for its third edition, featuring yet more dusty and understated grooves. On 003, be utterly hypnotised by the deep and woozy boompty business of "An Understanding", while tripped-out grooves that are perfectly engineered for sleep deprived Sunday mornings are catered for on "Nothing Else". The moody B-side cut "Wild In The Isles" is similarly perfect for those moments of solitary paranoia on the dancefloor. Overall, this release will certainly appeal to fans of afterhours minimal house, in the vein of recent releases by 'Rominimal' heroes such as Crihan and G76 - tip!

Review: Berlin's mysterious Lize imprint have chosen yet another kindred spirit of the most enigmatic kind to present the next release: none other than Tommy Vicari Jr. The Sheffield based producer serves up his idiosyncratic style of deep house on 'Portrait Of Thomas', from the dusty and looped-up emotions of the title track that's reminiscent of Motor City icons like Andres or Big Strick, to the roughed-up and off-kilter jack of "Track 3" (Tribute To RP) on the flip, followed by the dirty, heads-down basement vibe of "Pretend It Didn't Happen". All four cuts are made to play and perfect tackle for any decent open-end afterhours party.

Review: Jake Williams has been fairly productive since bringing his Rex The Dog project to Kompakt in early 2015. Even so, Teufelsberg marks his first single release of 2016. The title track sees him in fine form, lacing woozy, stretched-out lead lines and dreamy pads atop a thrusting, Italo-disco influenced, arpeggio groove. It also features a peach of a breakdown, which is guaranteed to get the spine tingling before the groove returns with a vengeance. Flipside "Shortwave" sees Williams combining Bobby Peru bleeps and Moroder style arpeggio synthesizers to devastating effect, a clutch of notable, repeated vocal samples rounding off a sweaty, floor-friendly concoction.

Review: The most surprising release this week comes from Thomas Melchior's newly inaugurated My King Is Light label, presenting its sophomore release courtesy of veteran U.S. producer Amir Alexander. The Vanguard Sound main man isn't usually known for his minimal house exploits, but sure proves his talent for it here on the 'Wisdom' EP. A side "Catacombs2" treads along a ghostly trail similar to Melchior's own work, with all its deep and hypnotic elements aimed squarely at the afterhours dancefloor. On the flip, we have the lean and subtle groove of "Globus" which continues with the arcane and 'magickal' vibes; its bouncy melodic bass works your feet, while the warped/operatic vocal tones flip your mind!

Review: Iranian-Danish artist Nima Gorji has been consistently busy for over 20 year in the game, and he's sounding as inspired as ever on this exciting release for Melodeum. While knowing how to hold down and sustain a groove with relative ease, there's much more to opener "Opinions" than genre conventions alone. The fluttering acid arps, the subby bassline funk, the teasing analogue wobbles and wriggles, all masterfully deployed for maximum impact. "Beliefs" finds fruitful directions to explore with the minimal house framework, which Christian Burkhardt then magnifies with a driving remix that retains some of the atmospheric invention of the original.