Juno Recommends Bass October 2021

Review: High pressure manoeuvres from Ilian Tapes on this mysterious and highly limited one-off run. 'Pulse' is a Samurai style slab of hybrid dub techno that's layered in grains and textures whole 'Procedure' flips the UK garage two-step vibe into a distorted, crunchy and physical groove that's not dissimilar to Tim Wright's early work on Mute. Once again, a very special release from Ilian... Blink and you'll miss it.

Review: Numbers present a very special release from old friend SOPHIE. On the A we have a fulfilled prophecy... Back in 2015 SOPHIE stated that no one could remix her, unless it's Autechre. Five years later, they delivered. Slowing SOPHIE's subverted take on classic NY house down to an 1989-style, B-side dubby trip, the pioneers keep that riff bubbling subtly but bring her voice to the fore in a sultry, 6AM way. Flip for another special as a bonus digital track 'Unisil' brings a brittle technoid twist on wax for the first time. This can make you feel better.

Review: Proving that a track doesn't have to be lengthy and laborious experience, SOPHIE comes bowling up to Numbers with a second dose of rapid fire neon-lit madness to get heads a-spinning while marking another step towards a full-blown J-pop-meets-electronica zeitgeist. As singular as his approach is, you can hear how the beats powering SOPHIE's tracks reach out to bass weight ravers and teeny boppers alike. "Lemonade" is positively cheeky in its deployment of catchy hooks, garish choruses and occasional bursts of monstrous bass, sounding utterly futuristic in its vision of where chart-minded dance music might well head. "Hard" takes a more obtuse approach that actually seems to distil some of Plaid's starry-eyed melodic wonder and Aphex Twin's Drukqs-era sound design, while the lyrics nod to S&M in the most sinisterly cartoonish way possible. As such, it's a triumphant collision of styles and ideas.

Review: Fiesta Soundsystem once again asserts himself at electronic music's top table with this dexterous new offering on the Of Paradise label. The warped synths and jumping bass of 'Pulse Fiesta' open in visceral fashion. It's a big, booming cut for lively dance floor workouts. The subtle arrival of an acidic, turbocharged synth line adds fuel to the jungle breaks of 'Acid Tool' that will ensure it cannot fail to go off, then 'Not To Be (Rude)' blows minds with its dense jungle drums and percussion and lithe synth work. Closer 'The Slip' is a dark, face screwing and brain-melting monster.

Review: Following the release of Flore's remarkable album Rituals, here comes the all essential version collection. Maintaining the dot-joining, explorative spirit of the original LP, each remix sheds a whole new perspective. Highlights include Tunisian talent Azu Tiwaline's percussive hypnosis on 'Evidence', the far-away drums and leftfield jungle bumps and bashes of Deena Abdelwahed's take on 'A Thousand Years', LCY's pounding flip of 'Congos' and an all-out squat party-ready demolition session from 3Phaz on 'Coded Language'. Just when you thought the album was mindblowing enough...

Review: Following releases on the likes of Gourmet, Encrypted, Deep Dark & Dangerous and DNO, US talent Sectra makes his debut on Tectonic. Four tracks, all veering and weaving between genres and sounds, there's a strong experimental fusion running across the textures and tempos. 'A Demon In My View' is a frazzled, high voltage halftime piece that's brittle with tension. It sets the scene for the rest of the EP as 'Counter Culture' strip things right back for a blunt-nosed 120BPM techno march, 'Ashes' flips back into 140 mode with an almost electro-like deep space paranoia feel before 'Bedlam' brings us back to earth with a slow and low droney bump. What a trip.

Review: Thoughtful vibes: Berlin-based-Brit Cressida checks in to see how we're all sleeping during these turbulent times with this impeccable five-tracker on Voitax and we're all the better for his attention. The title track is a very sweet and shuffley house cut that coated in strange glitches that are reminiscent of Swayzak's work many moons ago. Elsewhere we find Cressida joining the dots between electro ('Purple Hayes') dub ('Same Dance') and instrumental grime ('Semtex') Time to wake up.