Juno Recommends Electro November 2021

Review: Captain Mustache is a new energy in the club scene who surfaced with a bang last year and has since notched up releases on Bordello A Parigi, My Favourite Robot, Bedrock and Kompakt no less. Now he's stepping forth with his biggest belters to date on Return To Disorder, kicking off with the massive 'Danger' featuring certifiable legend Paris The Black Fu on vocal duties. 'Floorwax' is also packing some club scene clout into its electro fantasy, with the mighty Foremost Poets sneaking some spooky lyrics into the mix. On the flip, 'Floorwax' gets remixed by Cardopusher and Hrdvision, who respectively jack the track up and freak it right out, widening the scope of the record without leaving the seedy ambience Return To Disorder prefers to lurk in.

Review: Fasme is a new signee to the much loved Feel My Bicep label after the bosses, Bicep, have been riding high off the success of their own new album Isles. This French producer brings plenty to the label with his new EP, which is all the more impressive given that his first release ever was just back in April last year. These are melodic sounds with big breaks, trance chords and plenty of main room energy. 'Home' channels electro into an explosive track packed with emotion, while 'ICI" is a nebulous mix of acid synths, heartbroken chords and warped pads and 'Coton' closes down with a more pensive and reflective vibe.

Review: Arpanet is Gerald Donald, the Detroit techno producer who is most famous for his work as Drexciya alongside the late great James Stinson. Following the reissue of his most essential 2006 album Inertial Frame, it is now Wireless Internet that gets served up afresh by the French label Record Makers. In the 19 years since the album first arrived - his first under the alias - nothing has dimmed its shine. The sound throughout is warm and futuristic, with bleeping melodies and bumping drums, silvery hits and a cyborg funk that defines everything Donald ever does. From the bright lights and optimism of 'Illuminated Displays' to the more down, dirty and rugged bass of 'NTT Docomo,' you do not want to sleep on this one.

Review: Veteran DJ Jonny Rock reboots his Old School Rider alias here to inaugurate School Of Rock with more respectful edits of retro dance classics, previously heard on RKDS, Foot & Mouth and MCLTD. On the A side we have the euphoric second summer of love energy of "Rock Rave", while over on the flip the balearic beats of "Rock Love' feature the unmistakable vocals of Boy George, followed by the hooligan riddims of 'Rock Life' which will surely make you shut up and dance.

Review: Trust's new XY series is based around what the label describes as "recombinations", though most would say that what's on offer is a fine set of remixes of tracks from the label's bulging vaults. Fittingly, DJ Glow's 'The City', which opened the label's first release in 1998, is the first to undergo treatment, with Viennese duo /DL/MS re-wiring it as an acid-flecked electro stepper. Electro legend Keith Tucker dons the DJ K1 guise and turns Microthol's 'Binary System' into a vocoder-sporting, funk-fuelled electro roller, before the Exaltics re-imagine DJ Stingray's 'Herd Instinct' as a high-octane acid-powered acid-electro throb-job. Finally, Privacy delivers the most revolutionary rub: a ghostly instrumental hip-hop take on VC118-A's 'Eha'.

Review: Dynarec is one of France's foremost electro exports. He has many accolades to his name such as the mighty 'Moving Corridors' tune on Elektro Diktators Vol.1 - The French Dissidents back in 2015, but now sets himself some new highs. The raw, dystopian electro style he is known for draws you in deep from the off here with 'Disenchanted' being a multi-layered pice with an icy mechanical beat. 'Correlation' gets busier on some rugged arps and slapping drum lines and 'Influoncers' then explores a more heads down sound with coruscated bass flashing bright.

Review: The fifth LP by French enfant terrible Vitalic will be released in two volumes. DISSIDaeNCE is described as a return to the roots of his sonic identity and the rock energy of his early albums. From the Italo-infused euphoria of first single 'Haute Definition' which harks back to his pioneering electroclash days in the early noughties, to the pounding acid techno of 'Rave Against The System' featuring the rapper Kiddy Smile (of 'Be Honest' fame) to the sleazy electro-noir of 'Danse Avec Moi' there are more experimental pieces on offer which reflect the wide variety in tis veteran producer's repertoire. The dystopian soundscape of 'Lost Time' and the near gabber tempo of the relentless closing cut 'Carbonized'' are such examples. In a word: epic!

Review: Koova is head of London Modular Alliance and MSRG has previously realised on this label. Both take care of one side each of this new 12" and mangle synthesizers, modulars and drum machines to alluring effect. The worlds of IDM, electro and techno minimalism are all referenced with 'Is This Machine Recording' making for a dreamy start. 'Mammal' then ups the ante with slick and high speed electro rhythms, and 'DLD' layers up balmy pads and clacking hits. For his part, MSRG keeps it fully electro-funk on 'Bubble07 Getaway,' which for us is the standout.

Review: Carl Finlow has been a prominent name in UK electro since the mid-90s, releasing music at an astonishing rate under a variety of monikers. Silicon Scally defines his most strictly electro-oriented project, reflective of the Kraftwerk era and the emerging electro-scene, with releases on respected labels such as Cultivated Electronics, CPU and of course 20/20 Vision, with music from a variety of Carl's monikers being amongst the labels earliest releases.

'Crushed' is a sought after album project originally self-released on Finlow's Bandcamp during the 2020 lockdown. We felt the release was to important to be overlooked without a much deserved run of vinyl, so have pressed a limited run of records featuring futuristic electro highlights and the best unreleased cuts.

'Proton Mass' kicks things off with perfectly crafted robotic funk, solid mechanical breaks and mind bending glitches, setting the landscape for a journey into the abyss with Silicon Scally unshakeably at the helm. 'Centronix' follows up with razor-sharp rocking beats, squelchy bass and jarring grooves as if designed for high pace no nonsense club sets from the likes of DJ Stingray or Helena Hauff.

On the flip side 'Axiom' takes us deeper into the void with dark basslines, complex drums and unapologetically disorientating frequencies. A track that makes us question if Finlow has transcend to a future state where he is more machine than man, sending psychoactive messages in the form of killer electro cuts.

'Cascade Lasers' wraps up this epic dose of electro with interstellar energy, driving things home with deep bass wobbles, high octane breaks, wrapped grooves and tormenting yet playful synth licks. Yet another release that has us convinced the late great Andrew Weatherall was indeed correct!

"For quite a number of years now I have been convinced that Mr Finlow is a conduit for musical transmissions beamed from a parallel universe, sometime in the future" - Andrew Weatherall.

Review: Analogical Force sign up Promising Youngster for a debut release that covers plenty of ground on four fine tracks. It's cosmic and bumping electro on the opener 'Both Of You,' with its far-sighted chords and shimmering synth work. 'Outer' slows right down, with reflective groove and twitchy pads encouraging you to go in on yourself. It's back to upbeat electro-tinged grooves on the forward looking 'Easy Love' and 'Infected' then rounds out with another pensive mix of beats and synths that take you to the stars. Not one of these pays heed to tradition, with all four cuts breaking plenty of stylistic rules in fine fashion.

Review: Mr Kuldaboli hails from Scandinavia and brings with him the subtle sounds of his homeland on this new EP for Stilleben. It is an electro EP with a unique personality, one built on excellent basslines and with plenty of romantic electro overtones. 'Baktus Theme Song' with shiny chords and a pixelated bottom end over crunchy drums, then 'Hlith VIth Hlith Helviti' gets more dense and busy, with squelchy sounds and distorted vocals. 'Skulagata' is a more clean and sparse sound that voyages off into the future while glitchy mashing sounds and far-sighted chords play off against one another to great effect on 'Sorry Meth Mig.'

Review: Guga Gusein's MSRG alias has led to some choice EPs on labels like Heretic Electro, Between Places and Analog Concept since 2018, but most of that has come this year. The purple patch continues with a new one on Between Places that offers some super delicate and sleek electro on opener 'Dancing Data.' There is a turbocharged sense of ghetto tech funk to the hyper-driven drums of 'Keep On Wshn' while 'Echosystems' is a balmy, widescreen deep house cut with spaced out ambient pads. The lush and pensive 'Istisu' closes down with more superbly tender electro stylings.

Review: Lerosa has a flexibility in his sound which can reach from immersive techno pastures (as on his album for Acid Test) via exquisite deep house on to true-school electro and Italo. It's the latter formation which takes the lead on this new 12" for Welt Discos, with 'Karnak' revelling in a cascade of heart-wrenching synths with a snappy funk to the drums. 'Pledge' strikes a unique sweet spot where minimal wave and dubwise steppers meet, offering a hitherto unexplored dimension to the Italian man in Dublin town. '893' brings a more classic electro-techno flavour for the uptempo crew, and then 'Universal Balance' smooths things out with blown out piano chords atop a relaxed machine funk beat.