Juno Recommends Bass: June 2022

Review: The opening track from this special collaborative EP from London-based artists TSVI and Loraine James says it all: 'Gloom'. Created during the third and most depressing lockdown we had last year, as the pair shared a space in the same Hackney studios, this is the sound of two artists trying to find light during a very dark time and the results speak for themselves. The delicate pianos and industrial strength beats of 'Gloom', the scattershot breakbeats and tension of 'Awaiting', the rising-but-barbed optimism of 'Eternal', the ploughman cosmic techno of 'Observe' and the rays of hope on the finale 'Trust' are all the product of a moment in history and a reflection of how the pair made the best of their time. Unique.

Review: Best known as the figureheads of Equiknoxx, Gav Gavsborg and Jord Time Cow get super freaky on Jon K and Elle Andrews' MAL imprint with this extended EP / short LP deliciously titled Writing Ov Tomato. In keeping with their boundary-pushing experiments of yore, the results playfully twist and shout between the dancefloor and headphone wizardry with an air of subversive derring-do. The title track, for example, starts off as a surreal cascading percussive roll before turning into a hypnotic techno banger while 'No Sweat In My Sweatpants' deftly flips between soft chimes and booty shaking beats. The highlight for many, however, will be the finale 'Brent Bird'. Relentless, industrial strength but loaded with soul, it represents everything we love about Equiknoxx.

Review: Breakfake joins the Firmly Rooted Records label with a superbly haughty selection of cuts designed for maximum destruction via a serious sound system. These tunes are inspired by his time spent at roots and dub gatherings all across the UK and find him mix up a new age and sappers sound with hefty 140bpm bounce and plenty of earth shattering bass. On the flip you will find two fresh remixes by two of the Bristol scene's core artists in Inner Echo and Sepia, both of who offer up their own interpretations of the original sound system wreckers.

Review: Par Avion co-founder Greenleaf gets his freak on with Redstone on this deliciously deviant 12". Four tracks in total, all big contemporary club-focused rump-shakers, there's an intense sense of variety and ferocity across the selection ranging from the grainy bubbles and mutations of the swaggering opener 'Kirkstone Pass' to the heavy pressure technoid two-stepper finale 'Group Translate'. In between we have the modern day electro messages of the brilliantly titled 'Headache District' and the epic shimmering doomstepper 'Put By'. Hard to put down, more like.