Minimal / Tech House Recommendations April 2013

Review: As label statements go, the Textures series from Concrete has been superbly successful in transferring the ethos of their increasingly legendary Sunday boat parties to a label format; the diverse approach to DJ bookings matched by a wonderfully far reaching spread of artists across the three Textures 12"s. Previous instalments have seen contributions from Abdulla Rashim, Jared Wilson, Bleak, Sampling As An Art and Awanto 3 and this final record of the showcase series demonstrates Concrete's willingness to embrace the techier fare. Telegraph's Jean-Guillaume Cabanne hogs the A Side and represents Concrete's desire to embrace local talent, whilst Club der Visionare resident Binh offers a stripped down but smudgy highlight in the form of "Hufer". Priku ends the series in requisite style with "Mare Mirare" and his presence demonstrates Concrete is aware of Romania's current status within minimal circles. It remains intriguing to see what Concrete have planned next after such an impressive start.

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: 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: 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: As part of Watergate's illustrious 10 year birthday celebrations, the Berlin club and label have really treated us in commissioning Carl Craig remixes of "Take Words In Return" by Henrik Schwarz. The German's original appeared on Watergate's grandiose X Ten Year Anniversary compilation and features here too in "Return Version" form as context for what Mr Planet E has done to the track under his C2 guise. Schwarz' original is a vocal-based house-anthem, which emerges from his musical finesse to gasp for air in form of a folk-inspired hook line. After a percussive break the record's to-the-floor efficiency is unleashed. This is where Carl Craig's remix begins. From dreamy to sawing synth-lines, he utilizes the original's massive potential to 12 minutes. The first 500 copies will be pressed on 180g white vinyl!

Review: As part of the crew that put out releases as Special Case on Culprit and Souvenir last year, Roustam is making the right moves towards a strong tech house career, and he makes his first fully fledged solo appearance with this stealthy 12" for Romania's equally emergent Nilla imprint. "Rustospace" is a delicate and widely spread cut that avoids the temptation to up the tempo and fire off lots of samples, instead finding a combination of light and airy melodic phrases to loop over each other and waiting for the kick to appear in its own sweet time. Noidoi is only marginally more forthright for the remix on the flip, finding a respectfully measured rhythm and working it around those gaseous elements, although smartly shifting into a different key to bring a fresh mood to the track.

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: Ever dependent bastions of the French scene and commonly found on Phil Weeks' Robsoul imprint, Chris Carrier and Hector Moralez get snapped up for some prime placement on the ever-strengthening Apollonia imprint, and they're packing the kind of heavyweight beat tackle they made their names on. "5000 Watts" is a track that focuses on the drums and uses little more than a sprinkling of hip hop-friendly samples for the rest of the entertainment. "Disco Remodel" is even more drum-driven, working a sizzling locomotion and choice flecks of disco samples with devastating skill. "Island Breeze" is a touch lighter in tone, not least for the brass samples that sit over the bumping groove, but "Wonki Wonka" reiterates the importance of the percussion with a low-slung hip hop excursion that calls to mind the finest early 90s East coast production.

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: 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: Rounding out the vinyl representation of their latest collaborative offering, French mainstays Chris Carrier and Hector Moralez throw down further lessons in beat technology rooted in the hip hop stance on sampling. "Keep It Movin'" has a light swing to it that wouldn't sound out of place on Nu Groove, were it not for the more leftfield sample tweaking occurring throughout. "Astronomers Dream" gets straight into a broken beat of magnificent stature before reforming with dexterity into a pumping house juggernaut without so much as a warning. "Lotus Seven" is a more simmering affair that burrows into a more unconscious groove, while "Finger Story" finds the pair once again indulging their love of the old-skool hip hop sound. The spirit of Motorbass and La Funk Mob lives on.