Juno Recommends Electro October 2018

Review: Myn's excellent Public System label returns to the fray after strong early entries from Buttechno, DJ Spider and Grey People and the fantastic All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace compilation. This time around it's Fallbeil's Kluentah serving up some of that edgy, EBM-tinted beatdown business for the Paris-based label, creating some savagely potent dancefloor bombs in the process. "Muskelbein" is a slamming workout that Nitzer Ebb would have been totally satisfied with, while "Alternative Facts" takes a more uneasy route into grubby analogue arpeggios and snaking beats. "Diabolik" is another assured club wrecker, while "Der Wuestensohn" cools things to a sinister, subtly funky creep before the last noirish trip on "The Next."

Review: Holding Hands' fifth release - and third of 2018 - comes from a previously unheard source, debutant producer Adam Pits. It's a pretty confident debut, too, with the "London-Leeds" musician combining a range of complimentary stylistic elements on a trio if tasty cuts. On the A-side you'll find "Socket Power", a hard-wired electro cut that peppers a bouncy beat-box rhythm with raw analogue bass, ghostly electronic melodies and all manner of computer beeps and bleeps. You'll find an altogether darker and more macabre-sounding interpretation of the same cut by Junq nestling on the B-side, alongside the rubbery, rave-tinged electro/space-funk fusion of "Balance Beam".

Review: Next up with his take on the electro sound is Firecracker Recordings co-head Linkwood, who looks to Motor City greats like Drexciya and Japanese Telecom on the aquatic future-funk of "Fresh Gildans" which is quite majestic in all its soulful and bass driven feel. On the flip are two deeper and more introspective cuts, with the immersive "Solar Panel" going for a hypnotic ambient house vibe, or the sublime deep techno journey "Another Late Night" taking its cues respectfully from Detroit like on the previous side. Another great EP by this stalwart of the Scottish scene, which the label best describe themselves as designed for the dancefloor, the sofa and all points in between.

Review: Given his recent obsession with shoegaze-influenced psychedelic disco chug, it's easy to forget that Andrew Weatherall is capable of crafting seriously good electro. Of course, his take on electro is far from purist. "Blue Bullet", the title track from the veteran DJ/producer's second Byrd Out 12", features spacey, ricocheting machine drums and deep space electronics, but is powered by a typically fuzzy, restless dub disco bassline. Weatherall's love of dub soundystem culture comes to the fore on flipside "Making Friends With The Invader", where discordant, psychedelic influenced guitars rise above delay-laden drum machine hits and a suitably heavyweight bassline.

Review: Iceland's BBBBBB return with a second release by Volruptus, who in between presented a stellar 12" for Nina Kraviz's Trip imprint. The Berlin by way of Reykjavik based producer is highly regarded for his hardware-based live set and is widely considered a rising name in underground circles. He presents yet more tripped-out and bangin' jams (on a brazenly retro tip) on the Alien Agenda EP. If the hypnotic heads-down stomper "Svinastia 3000" or the breakneck electro bass of "Surmatur" on the A side doesn't float your boat, you can try "Misanthropy (Dark Stoff) v1" on the flip. This fierce and frantic thriller reaches a BPM to that of gabber and will knock your socks off!

Review: Dutch legend Jeroen Warmenhoven returns with some proper, thumping, electro-bass just the way you want it, following up some great outings recently on L.I.E.S., Unknown To The Unknown and his newly inaugurated RotterHague imprint. Hard dystopian futurism that's heavy on analogue synths and the most booming kicks await you on such belters as "Time Compensator" or the Detroit inspired aqua-funk of "D 6equij5 11 1" and "W SPEPS28+" respectively. They're all pretty fine jams, but A side cut "OS VCH" was the real winner on here - an emotive and soulful journey that sees the veteran producer employ a style that's definitely his own.

Review: Given Finland's iciness and eternal winter darkness, it makes sense that the Scandinavian nation should be host to some top-notch electro and techno talent. Here, one of the country's first underground electronic stars, '90s survivor Mono Junk, goes head to head with fellow Finns Morphology and sometime Hospital Productions noisenik Goner. Morphology hook-up "Electro Por Favor" is a deliciously dystopian affair, with doom-laden spoken word vocals and minor key melodies bubbling away over a typically punchy beat. It's accompanied on the A-side by Mono Junk's own "Dub" version, which is altogether weirder, fuzzier and apocalyptic. Flip for two Goner collaborations: the drowsy and creepy throb of "Later On", which boasts distinctive dark-wave tendencies, and the old skool '80s hustle of sparse funker "Fj".

Review: After slowly establishing his career via a handful of tidy EPs released over an eight-year period, Evan Baggs has really hit his stride in 2018. This outing on Partout is not only the American's fourth vinyl excursion of the year, but arguably his strongest, too. He hits the ground running on opener "New Language", where vintage Steel City bleeps rise above doom-laden chords and crunchy electronic percussion, before peppering another drum machine rhythm with spacey electro style synth lines on "5 Phased". Over on the flip, Baggs successfully breaks up the beats, ratchets up the sub bass and reaches for the deep electronics on "As It Is", while closer "Bo Jangles" is a fine slab of foreboding, acid-flecked late night techno funk.

Review: Melbourne (by way of Adelaide) reppin' hard on the inauguration of new imprint Global Skywatch, following in the tradition of affiliated imprints such as Untzz Twelve Inch, Big Doint and Rhythm Works. For the foreseeable future, they'll be 'releasing audio recordings painstakingly designed to protect your mind and body from government control.' Fair enough then. Features Furious Frank with the deep space transmission of "Victoria Park", the always on-point Dan White - who dons the Rings Of Saturn alias again for the dubby and minimalist stepper "Skywatch Dub" and Mic Mills with "HAARP" but it's all about Francis Inferno Orchestra's deep balearic rendition on the flip that's absolutely terrific.

Review: Frankfurt's Stefan Haag aka Chinaski first made a splash on the scene a couple of years ago, with his new wave Italo-noir heard on labels such as MMODEMM, Common Thread and Uncanny Valley. It is local institution Live At Robert Johnson that has released most of his output in recent times though, and he's fast become a stalwart of the label. His new Bodies & Places EP features more of the neon-lit aesthetics you've come to know and love from the man. From the electric boogaloo of the strong opener "Erscheinung" and the dystopian electro-bass bounce of "Paura" making for a riveting listen on the A side. On the flip, we have a couple of nice slow burners to take the pressure down, with the gloomy and cinematic ambience of "Face 2 Face" closing this EP out on a John Carpenter-esque kind of vibe.

Review: Parisian imprint Hard Beach Entertainment follow up some great releases by Corporation Mindfuck, DJ SCSI and Bastien Carrara with some old-school electro vibes by the mysterious Reflective Souls. This is their second release for the label. Beginning in bold fashion with the brooding retro bounce of "Doom 2020" on the A side, but it's on the flip where this 12" really shines. The evocative Motor City aesthetic of "G Club Live" was a particular highlight, while the tough electro-bass of "Body Control" has a wicked groove that's more than capable of getting some heads-down moments on the dancefloor.

Review: w+p by Matthias Schildger vocals on A3 by Tamara Meinhold.

Review: Seminal New York City imprint Serotonin lives on. John Selway and Jason Szostek present It's What We Live For: Volume 2 - the second in a series of compilations sharing their vision of sounds of tomorrow. Szostek himself dons the well known BPMF alias again for some fierce breakbeat techno action on "Zu Heib Fur Uns", the equally legendary Healy brothers aka Somatic Response still going strong - as heard on the slo-mo acid trance journey "Strategy Of Desire" and relative newcomer Heidi Sabertooth of Opal Onyx delivers some sludgy electro-punk antics on "So You Want To Take Back Your Will". There's some handy locked grooves on the electro-bass tip featured too by Synapse and Pointsman, which were pretty wicked too.