DJS: MOST CHARTED - MINIMAL / TECH - MOST CHARTED IN APRIL 2013

Review: XDB makes a welcome return to Sistrum with Frocks, a 12" offering that demonstrates quirkier side to the Greek producer's palette than Espac, his 2008 debut for Patrice Scott's label. Lead track "Frocks" commences with some wonderfully angelic chords and unintelligible vocals before veering into a hypnotic tunnel of droning bleeps that touches on infinity before those chords re-emerge in unison with some rigid claps. Just as your senses become adjusted to this about turn into dancefloor territory, XDB elects to end the track in all too abrupt fashion. On the flip "Modula" opts for a more stripped back approach, with some insidious acid licks dominating proceedings whilst Patrice Scott adopts a reflective mood himself on a seductive remix of the title track.

Review: Norm Talley of late has traded his housey sound for a dub techno sonic, and joins fellow Detroit house-head Rick Wade in contributing to the German Minimood Extra imprint (sub-label to Minimood). His Analog XTC EP is reminiscent of something Fachwerk might produce, with steely-tinged dub chords, junky percussion clatters and a clipped vocal sculpted in a Dehnert style. Sascha Dive supplies a Deep Echo Vibration dub, which rolls in grungy perpetual motion, fathoming deeper by the bar into spacious and sunken sub-sonics.

Review: Though his career has taken many turns over the last decade, DJ Koze has remained that most illusive of creatures: a minimal-minded producer with an ear for a melody. This fourth full-length, packed to the rafters with big-name collaborations (Apparat, Caribou, Ada and Matthew Dear all feature), continues his move towards the home-listening sphere. So, while many of the heady rhythms and shuffling grooves hark back to his stripped-back past, Amygdala impresses with its woozy songs, genre-straddling fusions (see the modern soul meets deep house of "Homesick" or the steppy, tropical vibes of "Marilyn Whirlwind") and homely atmosphere.

Review: Whilst it might seem initially surprising that Actress has contributed these remixes for the new Jack For Daze release, Danny 'Legowelt' Wolfers has spoken widely about his admiration for Actress; calling his work "futuristic and advanced", it makes perfect sense that Clone should now extend an invitation to the Werkdiscs boss to remix material from Legowelt's recent album The Paranormal Soul. Actress has offered up two versions of "Elementz Of Houz Music," a track that perfectly encapsulates Legowelt's mastery of melodic, part-mysterious, part-cheesy synth lines. The first remix has Cunningham shuttling Legowelt's arrangement through a cloudy car wash of hissy mist, chopping up the original into his trademark cubist techno; this dovetails nicely with his second 12 minute offering. Markedly more drastic, this offering slows down the synths, kicks and percussion to a drunken stupor, with the results not unlike playing a 45rpm record incorrectly at 33rpm.

Review: In his funk-informed, edit-rich guise for Daphni/Caribou's Jiaolong imprint, Chaz 'Toro Y Moi' Bundick drops another sublime two-tracker of impeccably informed groove for sharp dancers and fearless romancers. "Grind" wastes no time in getting down with a sublime roll of drums, sleek bass and perfect touches of boogie synth, leaving space for some spaced out vocoder vocal over the top. "Prelims" heads off into more experimental territory with a low riding beat and droning, detuned melodies aimed squarely at creating a future-soul hybrid for the open-minded heads to tap into. There are serious legs to Bundick's project and this record serves to build on those pins with plenty of grace and oodles of style.

Review: With fewer appearances on wax in the last few years, it's always a cause for celebration when Baby Ford crops up with a slew of new wares. This time he's doing the business for the Ugold Series, and he's in fine fettle continuing to explore the minimal abstractions that have characterised his output since becoming aligned with the Perlon imprint in the 00's. "Snakes & Ladders" even sports the trademark weirdo vocal treatment that you would only find on a BF record, while the subtlety of the melodics slowly creeps up on you through repeated listens. The micro shuffle of the beat itself takes no time to work out, so sublime it is in its simplicity. "Last Call" comes on more spaced out, with a whisper of 90s leftfield techno about its disembodied machine bleeps.

Review: Having made some initial splashes with their sought after compilations, Russian label Arma spread their remit further with this EP from Chicago's Area. "Bourbon Skies" is an instantly engaging track, taking a roughly hewn yet also sparse bump of a house groove from wooden drums and splaying sinister vocal sneers around it in a bath of effects. What pins this together is an equally menacing bassline that growls and purs underneath the action, making for a beguiling and alluring jam. Vakula switches this up with a thoroughly soothing remix that lays the bubbles on thick, as sumptuous ripples of melody come rising through a rich delay in a perfect antithesis to the A-side.

Review: With some highly sought after 12"s languishing in the past and a solid 13 year gap between releases, its high time Neil 'Nail' Tolliday got back in the swing of things and served up some fresh goods. Airdrop were wise enough to get on the case (along with the recent Fear Of Flying release) and so you have six completely fresh jams from the kind of deep house producer who makes the genre interesting. From the brooding, almost krautrock tones of "Bulldogz" to the spacious and dizzying "Tripped", via bleary-eyed Detroit flavoured house freakiness and uplifting bump, there's a lot to get excited about on this jam-packed 12". Welcome back Nail, you timed it well.

Review: Anunnaki Cartel is the newly launched sub label of Amir Alexander's Vanguard Sound operation and this first release sets the bar high; Alexander himself features alongside cuts from Joey Anderson and Chris Mitchell. The latter producer leads the way with "Illuminescent Invasion" a relentlessly rewarding concoction of fierce snares, deviant saw tooth synths and almost criminal abuse of the 303. Amir Alexander is growing into a personal favourite of the Juno review team and "Ostinato" demonstrates why in abundance. It's a direct and druggy assault on your sensibilities based around discordant square synths and a undeniably funk heavy groove. Things get even weirder on the flip as Joey Anderson drops the kind of off-kilter, off the grid house production where all the elements appear to be pulling in separate directions but somehow combine for a unique cohesive groove. Mitchell and Alexander join forces to close this excellent 12" with the cosmic techno of "Dark Memories" which has got the best snare sound since "Set It Off". Don't sleep!

Review: German house abstractionist Isolee makes a welcome return, surfacing on Pampa with his first new material since dropping his album Well Spent Youth on Koze's label back in 2011. Creative batteries recharged, Isolee is in familiar form on the three track Allowance 12"; the title track adopts his trademark bare bone approach with soothing lines of melodic intoxicants gently pulsing with intent over the soft edged house groove. This hypnotic opener hogs the A Side, leaving the chiming minimalist rhythmics of "You Could Do Your Memories" to duel for your attentions with the far too playful "Wobble".

Review: Italian duo Alien Alien return for their second EP, this time on fledging American imprint Discaire, also at its second release. A hazy, Balearic and pitched down "Monday" opens the EP, with a midway break down choc-full of machine gun clap sequences, lightly salted 909 hats and jungle squeaks before dropping back into the track rhythmic groove. The same druggy voice that appears in "Monday" reappears on "The Nights" for what is a grungier and black acid version of the A-side, only with minor chords added for that doleful touch.

Review: Berlin based Cobblestone Jazzer Mathew Jonson precedes the release of a second solo LP, Her Blurry Eyes, for Crosstown Rebels with this two track 12" for Damian Lazarus' towering imprint. Jonson is no stranger to Crosstown, releasing numerous 12"s through them since his debut appearance in 2004, and his return with Automaton highlights the Canadian's penchant for intricate and nuanced beatwork. This is most apparent on the title track "Automaton" whose percussion is almost tribal in execution and augmented by some truly hypnotic weaving analogue lines. Complementing this, "In Th Stars" offers some insight into Jonson's more abstract and esoteric leanings, it being a fluttering journey through worming analogue textures and rippling percussion that's strangely reminiscent of an early Royksopp B Side.

Review: Trelik reach into their recent archives with a much needed repress of Whalesong, the label's 2011 debut from UK producer OCH. With a compulsive passion for the dying art of crate-digging combined with a love for modern synthesis techniques the now Sweden based OCH manages to put together a 12" that could easily be described as psychedelic Chicago. "Whalesong" is a pulsating floor work-out which references the US greats whilst building an emotive sub-aqua soundscape. "Blind is The Wind" follows with a sneaky chord driven spoken interlude which creates an air of tension before climaxing into "Last Chance Saloon".

Review: **REPRESS** Enjoying something of a renaissance with releases on Real Tone and now Apollonia, DJ Gregory is in fine form for such a veteran of the French house music scene. Wisely tapping up his Point G alias for this release on the new label from Shonky, Dan Ghenacia and Dyed Soundorom, Gregory demonstrates exactly what years of service to house music can do for your mastery of the genre. With a steadfast and perfectly balanced beat as a backdrop, a strangely LFO'd Rhodes-like instrument wails out a lead melody, winding up in a bizarre mixture between a rock solid track and a freak-out moment, sustained for the whole tune. Both sides of "Underwater" explore this off-beat way of defining the track, creating a record to begging be hammered across a staggering range of spinners.

Review: Established last year, Lisbon label Assemble Music has been making ripples in minimal circles with their output from Dorian Paic, Daze Maxim and St. Joseph. This fourth release should engender something akin to a wave of appreciation as Ricardo Villalobos continues his fruitful collaborative streak with the two track Veric 12" in conjunction with Vera Heindel. The pair are known to frequently share the decks at her home town club in Frankfurt and the chemistry between them translates to the studio, with both "Rambutan" and "Take Me" masterful examples of extended, hypnosis inducing minimalist productions.

Review: Amygdala, the forthcoming LP from DJ Koze holds the dual title of being one of this year's most keenly awaited long players as well as the album with the most bizarre cover art. Quite why the producer is riding a reindeer hasn't been made clear yet, but this two track 12" does clue us in to to the possibility the album will hold up to such high expectations. "La Duquesa" is one of the few tracks on Amygdala not to feature a collaborator and stripped bare of any outside distractions finds Koze on sublime form; equal parts tender, refined, casual, serious, deep and euphoric. When those strings hit is a joy to behold. In contrast "Burn With Me" is dark, druggy, delicious and decadent.

Review: The master of the understated house track, Audio Werner is back on his own Hartchef Discos label with three prime slabs of heads-down, shuffling magic for the innermost folds of the night. "High" is arresting in its grandeur, holding down a trademark crisp, clean beat while massive walls of pad hover behind filters and bewitching melodies and vocal samples bleed out into the space around. "Duvel" is a pared down affair, upping the stakes in jazzy, shuffling drums while freaky noodles of synth twist around the insanely funky groove. "All Of Her" is the obligatory curveball track, running rich piano samples and double bass over a chugging drum machine stomp buried way down in the mix.

Review: Often a worthy wildcat amongst more play-it-safe deep house pigeons, Axel Boman can now be found prowling to Hypercolour with an EP brimming with originality and vitality, taking the less trodden path through house music. "Television People" heads into a nervous state of uneasy synth lines, oddball speech and gently simmering drums, while "Cubic Mouth" goes straight in the opposite direction with a light and breezy refrain revolving around carefully treated piano chords. "Look What You've Done To Me" is a more sombre affair, but still boasting some developed dynamics to move the track, and then "Klinsmann" switches up altogether with a heartfelt, epic vocal track that gradually builds into a measured acid psych-out.

Review: Ben Westbeech's Breach alter ego continues to frolic wildly in the lush pastures of low-end house music with "Jack". The bassline swings like an acid house pendulum while the beats shuffle nonchalantly in the background and a sultry staccato vocal delivers concise instructions on how to unleash the sexual potency of the groove. "Let's Get Hot" continues the timeless less-is-more jack magic but does so with much more of a techno twist. Getting hot is not an order... It's a promise.

Review: Tevo Howard's Tyrez moniker first debuted on Steffi's Dolly imprint as a way of showing the darker, more passionate sides of dance underneath the umbrella of Chicago house, and here he returns as Tyrez for another four tracks on his own label. The A-side features two mixes of "Moda"; the "High Fashion pop mix" is the kind of masterful key-drenched vintage house we've come to expect from the producer, while the "Underground Fashion house mix" opts for a more raw approach. The flip sees a turn into deep and hypnotic 2am techno territory, featuring "Obsessions (Plastic mix)" with its twisting, pulsing bass and syncopated beats, and "Relationship" with its stacked analogue arpeggios and defined 4/4 pulse.

Review: Danny Daze debuts on the Ellum Audio juggernaut overseen by Maceo Plex and Alta's Ellum Audio with The Calm EP. The title track bounces in bass as slight flanging effects traverse up and down its arrangement along with other subtle and sinister synths. "I See You There" sports a poppier feel with warmer synths and vocoded vocals, but Daze brings it back to the dancefloor with some spazzed out resonators. Dexter's remix to "The Calm" raves up the original with cut vocals, a sultry spoken word sample and naughty acidics.

Review: Responsible for housing an array of beloved French talent like I:Cube, Joakim, Chateau Flight and Zombie Zombie, the Versatile label opens its doors to ARK with the Street House EP. The A-side features two versions of "Emba Anthem"; the first is a sleazy house jam that veers into ghetto and footwork terrain with its use of snappy east coast hip hop vocals shortened to focus on one or two words. The other version - a dubbier and reduced mix - features the same vocals, only used sparingly to give the track a drowsy pace made for settling the floor, not raising the roof. The B-side has two more versions of the same track, this time "Nuark". Rapid fire claps sequenced like Steve Reich's Clapping Music give the track its linear flow, which hold rocksteady alongside swirling synths, reversed strings and pained Gil Scott Heron vocals. The dub version sees a thickened low end pump more power into its original groove, warranting the track for peak time play.

Review: Always a man with an unstoppable flow of music coming out, Mr G is at it once again on his own Phoenix G imprint with another three slices of no-nonsense club tracks. "Do This?" is a minimal affair, keeping the drums submerged and letting a plastic keyboard line take centre stage, but things are much more tangible on "Playerz" which pumps with purpose on a solid beat track whilst playing a chord and a bass synth off each other, leaving ample room for the nagging vocal loop. "G Beatz 20" presents a more balanced argument, hitting on a more overtly house tone with a catchy riff, cheeky claps and a good old fashioned "come on!" sample. Built with understated poise and primed for the DJs, you can never go wrong with a Mr G 12".

Review: Calling upon a strong contingent of contemporary house innovators, London's Half Baked crew make the leap to a vinyl-only release in utterly fine style. Le Loup steps up first with a cleanly delineated groover that calls upon a lilting string hook and crisp drums to tap into a forgotten well of micro house imagination. It's a vibe carried through each of the tracks on the record in different twists, with Ordell coming up trumps with a woozy, squinting meander into detuned hum and slackjawed rhythm. Seuil is in an equally downtempo mood on "Teoparti", throwing in plenty of brushed cymbals and tricksy percussion without ever sounding overly busy, while Yakine takes a slightly snappier stance with cheeky Rhodes stabs and a prim shuffle to get early doors heads bobbing.

Review: Ever loyal to their Cocoon homebase, Minilogue are back with their second album after 2008's sprawling Animals, and once again it's a bombastic affair taking in both functional club concerns and outright ambient listening, with a clear split down the middle. Vinyl lovers still get the ambient tracks in CD form, reserving the wax space for the bangers in this new set. Blomma sports the hallmarks of classic Minilogue production, from ethereal harmonies to elegant rhythmic constructions that serve to support the music rather than define it. There's arguably a move towards crustier synth sounds on tracks such as "Atoms With Curiosity That Looks At Itself & Wonder Why It Wonders", but this still comes rendered in the classic warm minimal tones that Minilogue have built their name on.