Juno Recommends Breakbeat: July 2022

Review: Arriving some five years after the original 12" created a dancefloor paradigm shift, Roy Of The Ravers returns to his 'Emotinium' classic with an EP of updated retakes, complete with the previously unheard original demo mix in all its twenty minute glory. 'Emotinium' first appeared on the '2 Late 4 Love' cassette in 2015, and caused a storm as part of a four track EP with the same name a year later, played as a festival opener by the likes of Bicep and in Sameheads' Berlin basement parties. The dreamy electro meets 303 melodics of the original are brought up to breaks speed accompanied by an Ambient Dub for afters and of course the longform demo.

Review: Emotional Response is delighted to present Benoit B's new project 'Terra Utopia'. 8 tracks of atmospheric breaks that unfold across ambient and drum and bass.

This debut offers the artist a new direction, connected to feelings of an intangible warmth - where empty urban expanse and latent stillness meets a Mediterranean azure of sky and sea. Oscillating, ethereal.

The music was created in a short time frame; short pieces, linked around a laconic structure flowing as if across some imaginary astral void.

An invitation, where time slows, days stretch, cloudless nights lead to a romantic dawn, the narrative to allow the listener the space and choice to dream.

Fear no more, the heat of the sun.

Review: Johannes Kolter is Kolter, an artist formerly known as DJOKO, and now a hotly tipped breaks and garage head who has already got plenty of attention. Here though he makes a grand and widescreen statement with the first release on the all-new Pilot label. It is a stylish and adventurous record with plenty of killer cuts from the downbeat hip hop opener to the deep house delights of 'Journey' via the elastic and energetic future house kicks of 'Roboflow.' Showcasing both a knack for well craft synths and expert drum programming precisions, this record plays out like a mini DJ set with all the twists and turns you need to keep you on your toes and fully engaged.

Review: Infinity's 'Judgment' originally came out in 1994. It was one of a few 'side aliases' of one Enzo Annecchini, a little known house / bleep producer who released very limited-run 12"s on his own label Miracle Records. It came as break from his only other known project, playing synths in the Bradford thrash metal band Slammer a couple of years earlier. That's not to say Annecchini wasn't in the know, though; he had a close affiliation with Unique 3. It's not known how Kalahari Oyster Cult found this one, but its relative obscurity hardly detracts from its inimitable tranciness, electric pianized cheek, and grooving swing. Don't miss this textural reissue of a masterclass in '90s trance-bleep.

Review: Amen Brother asked Darren Woolard aka DAWL, said to be a regular customer of Vinyl Fanatiks from the hardcore generation, to use his knowledge of the scene to create 'a proper little rave induced banger' and here are the results. Four ravey breakbeat numbers await you on the Pump Up The Noise EP featuring the euphoric, Mentasm-laden energy of 'Moonstruck' which kicks things off, followed by the title track which is packed full of Todd Terry style motifs mixed in with MC chants and rewinds. Over on the flip, it's all about the proto jungle vibe of the menacing 'Freak Of Nature'.

Review: Manchester born drummer Morgan King is behind these all consuming and dubbed out, tribal-tinged breakbeats. He dropped them first back in '91 and now they get a reissue right when this sort of sound is back in fashion. They have been remastered for the occasion and are perfect for head down and soot-black floors in the dead of night. 'Brother This' (Techno Om mix) is a 12 minute trip with snaking bass and real menace. 'Brother That' (Tribal Om mix) gets more stoned and zoned out and 'Brother That (Om beats)' is a final piece of this well-crafted puzzle.

Review: There is something of a tribal feel to the throwback drums and breaks of Byron Yeates's first solo EP. It comes on Radiant Love and showcases a fine studio skill that draws on his experience as a DJ to really work the floor in fresh new ways. After an epic eight minute breakbeat bubbler, 'Waves' flips the vibe entirely with a beachy downbeat cut perfect for Cafe Mambo at sunset. He links with Eoin DJ & Ruin for the high speed chase that is 'Dreaming Is Essential' and then to round out, Lawrence Lee remixes the title track into a scuffed up and flat footed techno banger.

Review: After a productive couple of years dropping releases on BORDE and Physical Education, Sasha Nevolin heralds the start of a new label OCV with this sophisticated EP of trancey house gear. 'Dukalis Is On Duty' kicks the EP off with richly rendered synths speaking their own space age language around the solid thrust of the drums, while Banditos takes things into mellow, pad-soaked pastures driven by a light, rolling breakbeat. 'Biathlonist' takes a pause in strictly beatless, ambient, and then 'Chaotic Mood' plunges deeper into backroom techno for the chillest of souls. 'Grey Sky' completes the package with a dreamy electro diversion sporting a soupcon of acid.

Review: Looking back to push things forward; Hooverian Blur cleans up with these ageless electroid explorations that take inspiration from early Basement Records and Ectomorph releases while remaining wholly relevant and resonant with the modern club music sound. Expect chunky-bottomed breaks, venomous instrumentation and intoxicating pace and energy throughout as we bump and bruise our way through the 140 selection. Highlights include the dubby subs, acidic sinewy bleeps and oceanic breaks of 'Splash' and the forthright gritty techno relentlessness of 'MX3B' but the whole EP absolutely slaps.