Electro House Recommendations September 2012

Review: Anyone who sees a DJ set from Phantasy boss Erol Alkan on the reg will probably recognise this Switch collaboration "A Sydney Jook" which was kept as his secret weapon of dancefloor degradation, with the two having completed the track all the way back in 2009. Despite it's vintage, there's little doubt as to it's potency and there's something poetic about Alkan waiting some three years to release the track, given the ADD centric, next big thing obsessed nature of those who adore him so much. Of much more interest, however, is who the label looked too for remixes, with Night Slugs co chief Bok Bok and WT Records boss Willie Burns both offering expert revisions which demand your attention. Few people could hear Bok Bok's remix and try and pin the "Bass" tag on him, this is pure, sweat inducing ghetto techno that kind of sounds like MMM let loose on the Dance Mania back catalogue. The Freedom Mix from Willie Burns takes the track in a whole other direction too, with reversed Miami electro rhythms streaming out over a rib tickling bassline and spectrally charged synth work. And once again, Phantasy excel themselves in the presentation stakes once again with the oddest of Greek illustrated inserts (and accompanying post card) complemented an acid splattered plate of wax.

Review: The opening track from Lynch's mesmerising 2011 album gets the remix treatment from two very well considered producers; both of which have really highlighted the track's strengths in two vastly different ways. Trentemoller's up first and, as you'd expect, takes us head first into a swampy, rocky psychedelic groove that fuzzes and flickers with 50 shades of distortion and funk. Troxler et al's Visionquest retain this textured hypnosis while taking things deeper again thanks to haunted echoed voice samples and a deep, throbbing two note bassline.

Review: Erol Alkan's 2005 Bugged Out mix was a gateway release for many, soundtracking the entrance into club land, yet also introducing these virgin ears to more esoteric strains of music via the accompanying Bugged In Selection. Some seven years on, Alkan and the evergreen club brand have revisited the concept with a second edition, and like the inaugural release, the Phantasy Sound boss's ever lasting love for the vinyl format has seen a selection of tracks make the translation to this double vinyl release. Six tracks from the Bugged Out mix appear, with the Italo disco of Amin Peck brushing shoulders with Model 500 and an Obi Blanche edit of the Ron Hardy classic "Sensation", while the Bugged In Selection sees some psyche-folk fare from Buffalo Springfield and Space Lady among other gems.

Review: Don't get fooled by the "electro house" genre tag; Seattle's tropical, dreamwave pop brothers Jordan and Reed Juenger haven't gone all David Guetta. Palace Garden, their third full length, is as vivid and multicoloured as previous outings. Opening with the crystalline synths of "New Criteria", the duo set off on a whirlwind tour of their vivacious sound palette. So, we get a variety of jaunty Balearic pop gems (see "The Palace Garden 4AM", "Invisible Cities" and the jaunty Latin horns of "Saola"), atmospheric instrumentals ("Ouvreboard", "Trap House"), woozy ambience ("The Foreign Embassy") and dazzling moments of effortless beauty ("Other Side Of The Sky").