Juno Recommends Electro: August 2022

Review: The Exit Planet Earth series continues with the first ever collaboration between two undisputed electro-funk heavyweights Egyptian Lover & Soul Clap. Egypt knows how to rock the TR 808 like no other and has been a true player on the LA electro scene since 1984. While Soul Clap have forged their unique E-Funk sound coming out of New York City as part of the Crew Love collective. The resulting track 'Hai Karate' is a slice of superbly produced classic electro designed to rattle bass bins from Miami to Mars.
Following form in classic electro directions, Futurenauts present their debut track 'We are the Futurenauts' that brings a slower based groove reminiscent of 'A Love from Outer Space' into the cosmos and delivers a powerful message to humanity. The flip sees a welcome return to 20/20 Vision from the Maltese magician Sound Synthesis who continues the vocoded vocals but adds a state-of-the-art assault on the senses with a slamming track aimed firmly at the discerning dancefloor. EPE 08 is finished off in fine style by Mick Wilson & August Artier with 'Akira's Cry', which fuses a deep house bassline and chords with tight break beat programming and powerful lead strings.

Review: The Maltese machine funk specialist himself Keith Farrugia is back once more with yet more of his impeccable electro business as Sound Synthesis. This time the prolific producer is shoring up on Burnski's Infiltrate label with four cool and deadly cuts which build on his previous drops for 20:20 Vision, Furthur Electronix, Orbital Mechanics and more besides. From the nervy sci-fi flex of 'Motor Space Maps' to the playful fun n' games of 'Back In Time', Farrugia knows exactly what he's doing within the electro blueprint, and his tracks are reliably punchy warm - a true master at work.

Review: Carl Finlow has produced an astonishing catalogue of music over a career spanning three decades, with his discography including hundreds of releases and remixes under a variety of monikers. 'Desequence' is the latest edition to Finlow's expansive productions and a masterclass in electronic music.

'Desequence' kicks off the record with a heavy dose of integalactic funk with interstellar beats rockin' over squelchy bass lines and razor sharp glitches. While 'Downstream' delivers a warped groove wrapped up in Finlow's intricate programming.

'Guttural' is an overwhelming assault of rapid fire elements, forming complex off kilter breaks littered with robotic licks and served over deep, low end bass. 'Wavefront' closes yet another impeccable addition to Finlow's highly accomplished works, with an off planet adventure through extraterrestrial soundscapes.

Review: Gerald Donald's second album as Arpanet, Quantum Transposition, has long been hard to come by, not least because the label it first came out on back in 1995, Rephlex, ceased trading a few years ago. Fortunately, Clone has decided to reissue it on their Drexciya-related Aqualung Series. Now expanded to contain an extra, previously unreleased track from the same sessions, the album ditches the far-sighted electro of its predecessor in favour of an even more out-there, early years of the Internet-inspired experimental ambient trip (with occasional forays into abstract IDM). It's a classic of its type, balancing the glacial, intergalactic, and far-sighted electronics that Donald has long been known for, with darker, odder and more esoteric sounds.

Review: Mad Mike's shortlived Electric Soul alias popped up in the mid 90s, and while it didn't display any obvious alignment to Underground Resistance on the artwork the sound is just unmistakable. 'X2' is pure Mad Mike machine funk, positively dripping with the sound of Detroit in every lick of synth bass and every bar of rugged drum machine pressure. Now Australian label Electrostatic have picked the record up for a repress with the somewhat mysterious Tommie Cool remix on the A side, although it sounds like UR from where we're dancing. Forget about the pretenders and head to the main source - this is proper electro.

Review: Zeta Reticula is an astronomically space-age artist, having named themselves after a constellation, lending their chops to various starbound labels (this one coming to the one and only Mechatronica), and rivaling the work of even the most preeminent space-lectro artists. 'CLONE' judders with the tyrannical crunch of a giant drone-replication machine, telling its story via thick and piercing dance cuts C.L.O.N.E., Host Star and Dark Skies.

Review: Man of many artistic aliases Jodey Kendrick has released a lot of music over the years, including a string of decent but largely overlooked albums. We have a feeling that his latest full-length, the former Rephlex artist's first to be released on vinyl for seven years, will receive far more plaudits, and not just because Dutch techno institution Clone is releasing it. The six included tracks include some of his most startling productions yet, from the claustrophobic, surging techno paranoia of 'Wrest Park Grove Find' and the dub-meets-IDM pleasantness of opener 'Totternhoe Castles Red Kite View', to the sludgy, genuinely mind-mangling dancefloor chug of 'Ashbridge Forest Tatsumaki Tree'- a metallic and hallucinatory affair to say the least -and the clanking, Autechre-esque title track.

Review: Sheffield's Parallax Unknown returns this week with some high calibre computer funk. On side A of this one you have the party rockin', booty-bass shenanigans of "Fantasies" featuring samples from rapper Ludacris, while over on the flip things take a darker turn on the dystopian beats of "UGOTME" followed by a 'euphorique' rework by Canadian D Tiffany - with the added vocals of the ultimate pop diva.

Review: A masterclass in haunting electrance from London-based producer Controlled Weirdness, who reigns in and exercises mastery over his own oddball production tendencies over the course of four tracks. Packed with sci-fidelity, an alternative future post-COVID New York is imagined here, as 'Corona Acid' bridges the neuronal gap between trance and booty bass, while 'Bleeker St' casually fires off a steady steam of laser blaster sounds. Serious electro heat.

Review: Operating in the corner of electro where dystopian dreams (or should they be nightmares?) are made, TeslaSonic haven't forgotten how to keep things fun no matter how dark the vibe gets. Gianluca Bertasi keeps the project flying with this double LP drop on Libertine which has a nod to the likes of Maggotron in the nasty funk of opening track 'Ion Drive', while also knowing how to turn up the techno dial on the stiff and driving intensity of 'Poly Verisof'. These are tuned up, rough, ready and raucous electro cuts for those who like to have fun even as things get deadly serious.

Review: CYRK are a Berlin-based duo made up of Sammy Goossens and Pascal Hetzel, and they've burst onto the scene over the past five years with a rich and fulsome approach to electro and techno. Beyond appearances on Rawax, Vakant and the like they've been returning to Burial Soil, and this time around they brought their friends along. This collection spans collaborations with the likes of Steffi, Jensen Interceptor, Anthony Rother and Nite Fleit, all feeding into the dark and deliciously devilish sound CYRK whip up in their pursuit of electro exaltation.

Review: Veteran Italian duo D'arcangelo return with a new EP for Aussie label A Colourful Storm. Across the five tracks featured on the Arium EP, Fabrizio and Marco present their singular take on IDM that earned them several releases on Aphex Twin's seminal Rephlex label. There's the introspective, mesmerising bliss of opener 'Godsonix' plus the emotive 'Spacing Out', as well as the artificial intelligence of the title track and the visceral beats of closing track 'Familiarity' rounding out another terrific release by the Roman brothers.

Review: The Gated label very much deserves your attention if it hasn't already been getting it. Here the crew welcome back The Jaffa Kid for a second outing that again shows he has a wide taste ranging from techno to jungle to ambient. The opener has a nice mashed bassline and light, skipping claps and rhythms that lift you off your feet. 'Trinian' is then double speed electro with smeared synths provoking deep thought and 'War On Words' has a deliciously tight and snappy groove. 'Tangential' explores more jungle-tinged rhythms and 'Not The Way' ends on dry, whacked out beats.

Review: Brother Nebula is the alias of veteran Calfornian producer Lance Desardi, who some may remember presented a great EP on Nick Hoppner's Touch From A Distance back in 2019. He returns to London's Legwork label with a selection of high-def sonic workouts on Brother Says Relax. On side A, there's the elevating acid house of the title track taking its cues from the timeless Trax Records era, followed by some handy beat and acapella versions. Over on the flip, the woozy and saucer-eyed 'The Burden Of Proof' is followed by the druggy, chugging tunnel vision of 'SIS' (feat Solar - Bro Nebs In dub).

Review: Formerly one half of Together - they of 1990 rave anthem 'Hardcore Uproar' - and most recently the author of a (very) brief history of acid house, Suddi Raval is a bona fide UK dance music legend. It's perhaps fitting then that he's delivered the debut release on Balkan Vinyl's new seven-inch series, Kanlab. Raval sets his stall out with 'Transmission', an immersive chunk of deep space electro brilliance in which enveloping pads, jaunty analogue bass, star-fall electronics and bleeping lead lines cluster around a chy but laidback electro beat. On 'Loop 17', Raval brilliantly sets the scene via creepy chords and pulsing sci-fi electronics, before introducing foreboding bass and rolling machine drums. It's cinematic in its scope and feel, as if it was initially intended to soundtrack a critical scene in a sci-fi flick.

Review: Casablanca-based Casa Voyager returns this week with a various artists four-tracker in the form of Casa Sports Vol.3 : The Chase. On this one you've got label chief Driss Bennis aka OCB teaming up with Malik on the strobe-lit trance techno energy of 'The Magic Laugh' followed by Bergsonist with the off-kilter 'Indulge' up next on the first side. Flip over and there's Jalil with some evocative sunset breaks on 'Relief', Viewtiful Joe gets the Detroit vibes in effect on the bass-heavy electro of '4 The B-Brown' and Kosh gets deep on the New Jack Swing influenced 'It's Always Sunny In Casa'.

Review: The Hague's RTR returns with their third full-length release for Madrid's Analogical Force. Across the 10 tracks on 61 Cygni, you'll experience the cutting edge sounds of modern electro; descend into freefall on the acidic euphoria of '606 Roll', go on a breakneck headtrip on the hyperaware IDM of 'DSDE' and then bridges the gap between electro and drum 'n' bass on 'Spaceopera'. Elsewhere, there's the sombre downbeat reflections of 'Reverse Life' and the glassy-eyed closer 'Neverever' channeling those early '90s Warp Records vibes. Epic!

Review: Patrick Conway makes his fantastic debut on the Exotic Robotics label here with four tracks of wires electro electronics. 'Spring Sonnet' kicks off with jittery leads and a nagging pad over silky beats, then 'Early Assembly' casts you adrift in an ocean of rebred with scruffy broken beats spread wide apart. 'Vertical Society' taps into some old school rave energy with big horns, pitched up vocal stabs and jungle beats. The remix from the reggaeton king DJ Python then slows things down to a heavy, bouncy groove with brilliant loops dragging you in further each time.

Review: He's appeared on labels like Marguerite, Natural Sciences and Orloff, now Antonio Barbetta (aka Raw Ambassador) can add Seville's Another Perspective to the list with four tracks of raw electro on the Aquatica EP. There's the majestic tones of 'Never Ending Dreams' commencing the EP on side A followed by the alien computer funk of 'Too Many Trouble In This System'. Turn over to side B and the hypnotic chimes of 'The Never Ending Troubles' provide more underground quality, followed by more Drexciyan style beats on the analogue bass attack of 'Auftrag'.