Juno Recommends Balearic / Downtempo: June 2023

Review: A veritable time capsule of a bygone era that now seems enviably innocent - fallout of Thatcherite politics, economic crises, and wars in the Middle East aside. Perhaps not too dissimilar from today, then, irrespective of your personal feelings towards Happy Mondays the baggy Mancunian swagger-ers did contribute one of the most distinctive voices to the Madchester and indie-acid crossover era, and one that oozed an air of disassociation from mainstream politics of the day. Adding to the sense of this being a period piece, Balearic Beats comprises four remixes of Ryder et al's original work, three of which from one of the leading figures in the dominant narrative about house music arriving in the UK - Paul Oakenfold. The tracks are low-slung, hypnotic, and have an atmosphere that's as thick as the air on a Mediterranean evening.

Review: Jim Baron is a well-known DJ, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who co-founded Crazy P and who assumed new alias Jim for solo work back in 2021. His debut album Love Makes Magic is a superb mix of lush harmonic vocals, with funky back beats and a mix of organic brass and electronic synth sounds. It is music based around the work of the guitar but with plenty of sunny but eyed soul and subtle beach vibes that make it a gorgeous listen, especially as the days get longer and the sun that bit warmer.

Review: Ibiza legend and all round well respected industry man Chris Coco is back with more of his seaside sounds. This time his Mediterranean magic is cast over 'La Guitarra' which as the title hints has Flamenco style acoustics (from Micko Roche) with tropical house drums and heartfelt synths. There is a pair backed and delicious dub also, and then modern disco don Rune Lindbaek comes through with a mesmeric take that is laidback and lush in its design. Last of all is Daniel Braca with a Deep In Brooklyn remix thing brings some fine Latin house styles.

Review: Ferdi Schuster's debut album, 2019's All One, was criminally overlooked when it was first released, despite containing some of the most beautiful and atmospheric music ever released by Claremont 56 (and that's saying something). If there's any justice, this arguably even better follow-up won't be ignored. Schuster, a talented multi-instrumentalist, played, recorded and produced everything on the album - something that makes it even more remarkable given the variety of instrumentation on show. This is deep, dubby, immersive and evocative downtempo music to get lost in, with Schuster subtly doffing his cap to everything from krautrock, dub, trip-hop, ambient house, jazz, Afrobeat, jazz-funk and Latin beats on sumptuously produced and executed sunset and sunrise soundtracks. In a word: sublime.

Review: When it came to following up their surprise 1994 hit album "Amplified Heart", Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn decided to rip up the rulebook and do things differently. Previously, their music has been considered, downtempo and - whisper it quietly - Balearic. 1996's "Walking Wounded" retained their inherent beauty and sense of melancholia, but updated their musical blueprint to include far more influences from (then) contemporary dance music. As this half-speed re-mastered reissue proves, they largely hit the spot, with warm deep house cut "Wrong", the sparkling drum and bass pop of the title track and the similarly minded "Big Deal" standing out.

Review: The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.

Review: Emotional Rescue is at it again with another fully licensed and remastered offering, this time bringing to wax Mataya's Golddigger with a previously digital-only 'tape Mix.' Zimbabwe-born and later London-based Mataya "Clifford" Chewaluza was a core part of the vibrant West London music scene, using his songwriting, production and multi-instrumentalist skills on albums for RCA and Virgin. He also dropped a few 12"s and this one was released in 1988. It's a cult curio with crashing 80s production, disco-tinged grooves and plenty of subtle African rhythm which includes a standout dub mix from Jura Soundsystem.

Review: By the time they released "Amplified Heart" in 1994, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn had spent a decade churning out admired but relatively commercially unsuccessful "lite-jazz" albums. Then, on the back of a string of on-point club remixes (Todd Terry's chart-topping version of "Missing" included), the set surprisingly became a runaway success. To celebrate the album's 25th birthday, "Amplified Heart" has been given the audiophile reissue treatment. It suits the album's gently breezy, emotion-rich feel, with Thorn's evocative, lovelorn vocals perfectly matching Watt's sunset-friendly blend of acoustic guitars, soft-touch double bass, trip-hop style beats and Balearic-minded electronics. It remains one of the duo's greatest albums and should be in every discerning listener's collection.

Review: After being forgotten for a few years, a whole new generation of listeners has started digging into the vast back catalogue of Hull duo Fila Brazillia - a prolific outfit whose output of the 90s and noughties encompassed dreamy deep house, breakbeat-driven loved-up workouts, stoner funk and dusty downtempo gems. This fresh career-encompassing 'best of' showcases a mixture of stone-cold classics (early house single 'The Sheriff', confirmed chill-out classics 'Harmonicas Are Shite' and 'A Zed and Two Ls'), fan favourites (the decidedly Balearic 'Airlock Holmes', the undeniably funky 'Madame Le Fevre' and 'Throwing Down a Shape') and slept-on treats ('Bublehaun' and 'Little Dipper'). There's even a couple of relatively recent recordings ('Hush Hush' and the fresh 'Toro De Fuego', both of which return to the sounds explored in some of their earliest releases). In other words, it's a must-have celebration of Fila Brazilllia's often-unheralded genius.

Review: The follow up to his acclaimed album Reprise, released in May 2021, Resounds NYC sees electronic pioneer Moby reimagining and orchestrating fifteen of his most iconic tracks, written or recorded in New York during 1994 to 2010. Featuring an impressive array of internationally acclaimed vocalists including Gregory Porter, Ricky Wilson (from Kaiser Chiefs fame), Margo Timmons, and Amythyst Kiah, Moby has also paved the way for smaller names. Collaborating with lesser known artists including P.T. Banks - discovered by Moby via a wedding band in Texas - a democratic touch that sees the iconic artist giving airtime to the talent that has naturally crossed his path. Another instant-classic from the ground-breaking musician.

Review: Herbert's most recent album, the return-to-his-deep-house-roots treat that was Musca, has been given the remix treatment for Record Store Day 2023. It's a predictably impressive package, with Floating Points - delivering a 15-minute trip into glitchy micro-house territory in fine fashion - naturally taking top billing. His remix - kind of like a minimalist take on his own early house excursions, with added early morning weirdness - is far from the only treat on show though. Seven Davis Jr delivers a rubbery, loose-limbed and quietly funky tweak of 'Might As Well Be Magical', before Herbert steps up with his 'Greenery Dub' of 'Fantasy', a slow-burn, near 10-minute affair that recalls the oddball brilliance of his turn-of-the-millennium house releases.

Review: Multi-Culti regular Dreems (AKA Aussie producer Angus Gruzman) makes music that's deeply psychedelic, but often extremely difficult to neatly pigeonhole. He's at it again on this first outing for Pinchy & Friends, which combines a trio of original cuts with a similar number of total reconstructions from dub hero Scientist. You'll find the former on the A, with analogue-rich synth-wave throbber 'Watchamacallit Machine' being joined by the minimalistic, bass-heavy brilliance of 'String Gadget' and the tactile psychedelic electronic funk of 'Here Comes The New Prophet'. Scientist's dubs are naturally excellent, with the much-loved mix-master re-imagining Gruzman's tracks as deep, spaced-out electronic dub tracks. They're all great, with his dub of 'Here Comes The New Prophet' being the most dancefloor-ready of the lot.

Review: Spring has sprung and Statues bring some positive vibrations to IIB. Clear skies is a shimmering Alan Parsonsesque cosmic groove beaming out into the atmosphere Coyote soften the OG into a fading twilight reflection. The Vendetta suite create a mesmeric ambient gem The Creek continues the kaleidoscopic feel with a soothing dreamlike trip towards a lovely vocal finish. Nothing but clear skies all round.

Review: Electronic music production deity James Holden returns with a circling back to his dance music roots, following a brief detour into jazz with his last album 'The Animal Spirits'. Building on an increasingly otherworldly set of inspiration - which he's gradually entertained as his career has marched on - this new LP 'Imagine' playfully dissects the possibilities of dance music from the perspective of an alternate reality. Buzzing leads, detuned leads, and international flavours evoke a modern take on sounds espoused first by the likes of Amorphous Androgynous or Charanjit Singh.

Review: Originally issued back in 1998, Mezzanine remains the most commercially successful album released by Bristol troupe Massive Attack, thanks in no small part to the Liz Fraser-featuring "Teardrop". This third album signalled a change in sonic direction that played more explicitly on the darkness and tension that was always an undercurrent of their much loved debut Blue Lines and successor Protection. After numerous bootlegs over the years, Virgin have done the right thing and presented this official reissue of Mezzanine to appease fans of Massive Attack and it's clear the LP has lost none of it's bewitching power. The Quincy Jones and Isaac Hayes sampling "Exhange" and "Exchange" remain a delight in particular.