Juno Recommends Breakbeat: June 2023

Review: With a run of knockout singles on XL reaching back to 2016, Tom and Ed Russell finally deliver the album we always knew they had in them. Overmono is a project which happily gorges on the best bits of rave culture and spits back out something fresh, universal and yet still headsy enough to keep the underground faithful happy. Good Lies builds on that promise in every way, threading in anthemic vocal hooks and massive emotive brushstrokes without losing that legit bite which has made them so enduringly popular. 'Is U' has an eye on the charts for sure, with plenty of big festival moments bagged along the way for their live shows and everyone else DJ sets. 'Walk Thru Water' hits a more melancholic note with St. Panther on vocals, but it's still masterfully crafted to bring out joyous escapism with gnarly synth flex on top. Something for everyone, then.

Review: Leftfield really managed to make lightning strike twice back in their heyday. After the pair's seminal self-titled debut album set a new benchmark for what was possible with a dance music full length, they managed to do it again with Rhythm & Stealth. It will be forever best known for the tune that was picked and used in the Guinness advert ('Phat Planet') but that is just one of the many highlights. The album originally came in 1999 and was nominated for the 2000 Mercury Music Prize as well as making number one on the UK Albums Chart. It is a full-fat mix of epic basslines, driving percussion and dark moods that adds up to a head-melting soundtrack to a damn good night.

Review: KC

Review: Romanians Drago Ilici and Prichindel's Tonomat Records welcome boss man Ilici in his Dilly Bombastik guise for a new EP packed with power across three fresh cuts and one remix from DJ Normal 4. 'Reflo' kicks off with the sort of crunchy drums and breaks that you don't hear all too often out of the more minimal minded Romanians. It's awash with some cosmic melody that brings the vibes then 'Workout' is a party pumper with slinky drum loops and molten synth patterns raining down from above. 'Stelu Gamanu' gets all dark and paranoid with a more edgy breakbeat foundation and DJ Normal 4's Melange mixX is all 90s video game synths and melted neon synths. Great stuff.

Review: Numbering Drifted's fifth release, we have an eye-opening collaborative project from Anna Wall and Corbi. A heady fusion of house and breaks, 'Satellite' is the ultimate energetic pumper that feels impressively true to the late 90s rave sound despite its recent production and pressing date. On the B-side 'Mind Sweeper' takes a darker turn, embellished with glistening high hats and resonant, obscured vocals, this track develops beautifully over the course of its length. A testament to the power of collaboration and creativity in electronic music, this is definitely not one to miss.

Review: DJ Seduction does what he does best on this new and banging 12" for Impact. Hardcore Heaven is correctly titled because that's where this two tracker will take you: the title track opens up with all the rave motifs, spin backs, reversed stabs and vocal jibes you would expect of a title with that name, all dropped over some big and dusty breaks. 'You & Me' on the backside keeps the high-energy vibes coming with increasingly wild synth lines, crashing drum hits and old school signifiers. Blistering beats for sweaty dancefloors.

Review: Old school amen breaks lovers this one is for you: Pearl River Sound has perfected them across this five-track offering on Adepta Editions with 'Acidduo' kicking off with lashings of acid. 'The Horny' is a jungle workout with distorted textures and busted bass in constant motion, then 'Breakyweaky' flips the script and offers up some electro-tinged hip-hop funk with a dark and menacing mood. 'Ragga Bass' is a brilliantly silly cut that will blow up any sound system and 'Rob Of The D' is just as thrilling and unhinged.

Review: Perko is one of those newer-school experimental artists whose fingers straddle many pies, but who nevertheless refuses to allow this inner tendency towards versatility to hold him back. The FELT label owner has welcomed artists as far-flung as Civilistjavel! to Moxie into his inner circle; and the fruits of this open-mindedness are more than translated into his latest EP for Glaswegian dance legends Numbers. 'Prang' errs on the side of playfulness, giving some hot seconds of pure danceable flavour. Huerco S lends his usually-texturally-rich addprod to the nominal A-sider, a rather impressive future-garage-acid cut that recalls some of Objekt's earlier stuff, while regular collaborator and mournful vocalist-producer Cucina Povera crops up on the ambient dub plunger-into-the-sound that is 'Sisu'.

Review: KW has long been a talented producer who has operated in the shadows. He emerges from them now with another EP on Ilian Tape only six or so months after his last standout effort. Altgr is another fine one that opens with 'Midnight Run', a skittish flurry of breakbeats and snares, grumbling bass and kinetic energy that never lets up. 'Paste' is just as rhythmically inventive, this time lurching backwards and forwards but with more pensive pads and 'Copy' keeps up the leftfield inventions that make this return so welcome. 'Lastmin_Res' closes out in head-spinning fashion.