This week at Juno

This instalment of This Week At Juno is devoted to the art of the vinyl double pack: too lean for an LP, too beefy for an EP, it inhabits a bizarre world unto itself.

In 2011 Andy Stott has proven to be something of a master of the double pack, and this week he followed up his stunning Passed Me By effort with We Stay Together, another collection of dark, slowed down techno that took his style further down the bleak rabbithole, concentrating on the micro level detail within its expansive scale.

The second ace DP of the week came courtesy of the Future Times crew from Washington D.C. Vibe 2 pitted Future Times label stalwarts (Max D, Beautiful Swimmers) alongside L.I.E.S. alumni (Steve Summers, Steve Moore) and some carefully chosen outsiders (Juju & Jordash, Hunee) for one of the finest collections of varied, slightly off-kilter house music you’ll hear in 2011. On the reissue tip, Theo Parrish’s seminal First Floor LP was split into two double packs. They are going for a princely sum, but Parrish completists will agree these are pretty much essential if you missed them first time round.

DP eulogising aside, our love for the humble (single) 12″ remains – and this week saw a veritable slew of new material, including the latest missive on Rush Hour’s Direct Current series, which saw Lazer Sword’s Lando Kal drop two neon-tinged house bombs in a similar vein to his excellent release for Hotflush earlier this year. Dan Snaith’s reincarnation as Daphni continued unabated with the first single on his newly minted Jiaolong imprint, which seemed to have a slightly more electronic focus to his other fledgling label, Resista.

Elsewhere, Cos/Mes were not content with providing an exemplary slice of weirded-out remixness for Lord Of The Isles’ debut on Ene Tokyo, so they also dropped a new 12″ in the shape of a belated addendum to their 2007 debut LP Sadistic Skatepark. Techno lovers were catered for by Marcel Fengler, who launched his own IMF imprint, while one of electronic music’s most esoteric monikers – 19.454.18.5.25.5.18 – became The Artists Formerly Known As 19.454.18.5.25.5.18, with a frankly epic piece of wax that also boasted a remix from Skudge.

The latest acid throbbers on the Acidicted imprint came courtesy of Adalberto, while the 7″ of the week award went to Jay Simon, whose reputation was given a boost by way of an appearance on Kyle Hall’s always impressive Wild Oats label. Artwork of the week prize went to xxxy, whose Kerpow 12″ for All City was housed in a killer pop-art referencing sleeve (check it out above).

Over at Juno Download, there was a big release on I’m A Cliche for the supposedly mysterious Crackboy, who followed up some music par excellence for Tigersushi with this triplet of incendiary dancefloor tackle. Emika stepped up with her debut album for Ninja Tune, a canny mixture of pitch-black pop, bass and dead-pan vocals that is frankly hard to resist, and former Juno Plus One To Watch alumni Blue Daisy also released a debut opus, and it was nothing short of magnificent.

Elsewhere, the Rush Hour backed campaign to secure wider acclaim for the music of Nebraska aka producer Ali Gibbs gathered pace with a digital edition of a long overdue second album, while Tim Sweeney’s spanking new Beats In Space label entered the digital domain alongside Vakula’s recent missive for Unthank.

CD-wise, Ben UFO’s entry into the Rinse FM mix hall of fame was the clear highlight, with a fast-paced 29-track set that effortlessly joined the musical dots between modern day London, Bristol and Berlin.