This week at Juno

Firstly, a big Juno Plus bear hug to everyone that came down to celebrate our first birthday at the Horse & Groom last weekend.

The Firecracker crew – Linkwood, House Of Traps (pictured above), Fudge Fingas and Discreet Unit – played classic after classic, keeping the crowd’s shoes shuffling and bums wiggling into the wee hours. We posted some pics on Facebook this week, check them out here.

It was back to work this week for all concerned, with the usual host of top 12″s coming through the door. The retro house vibes of Benjamin Sun and Monte Carlo Interchange went down a treat in the Juno office, as did new material from Radio Slave, Trickski and DJ Kaos.

The almost ludicrously epic Ninja Tune 20 Years boxset hit the shelves, as did a new EP from Flying Lotus and a nice little Rush Hour compilation curated by Detroit’s gatekeeper of deepness, Rick Wilhite.

Over at Juno Download, we saw the sixth release from the excellent Instruments Of Rapture label, as well as new material from Kirk Degiorgio, FaltyDL and the much anticipated Teengirl Fantasy album. Meanwhile the new Trickski EP arrived and delivered a masterclass in 100 BPM piano house. “Pill Collins,” which is also a contender for the coveted Juno ‘best track title of 2010’ award, builds with some sultry piano keys and vocal refrains for what seems like an age before dropping into an orgasmic breakdown.

We were also given a sneak peak into the upcoming Detachments album with a remix package for “Holiday Romance”. Naturally ThisIsNotAnExit secured some brilliant remixes to complement the track, with Bitches Brew boss Cosmo shifting the sonic focus into an extended driving electro popper. Nice enough but it was totally overshadowed by the colossal raw acid melt from Andy Blake. Clocking in at a monumental 17 mins 36 sec and delivered in one take, Blake’s effort is a contender for remix of the year.

Happy hunting.

Picture credit: Rochelle Flynn