Funky House Recommendations May 2012

Review: Trance-house God Avicii was remixed by a rather fancy collection of artists this year, all bringing something new to his original, a track that pretty much sums up what's going on now in the electro-progressive area, plus, we even get an acappella! Skrillex starts by transforming it into a neo-rave wobble tear up, proceeded by Cazzette NYC Mode Mode who rips apart and injects a nastier strain of electro into it. On the flip we can Tom Rezo going his dubstep thing again and it's propah! Clockwork re-work those chords and give them a new spin, whilst fTampa goes all bleeps and snares on ya! Indulge yourself...

Review: A shamelessly filtered accapella of Prince's "When Doves Cry" sings in harmony to drowsy synths and stripped back drums in Jack Fell Down's cheeky remake of the '80s hit, naming his version "Prince's Cry". "Loop De Canta Loop" adds chunky bass pulses and lo-fi synths on top of De La Soul raps, while a quintessential house groove and closed 909 hats act as a backdrop to more sampled vocals in "Smoking With You". Gotye's "Somebody I Used To Know" gets the Jack Fell Down royal treatment, washing the Australian's voice in reverb and a little delay while adding a solid bass line and downbeat drums.

Review: It's been nearly 20 years since Madrid-based darkroom tribalist DJ Chus dropped his first 12". The time seems perfect for a career retrospective then, with mainstream clubbing behemoth Defected duly obliging. House Masters is a suitably hefty two-disc selection of his finest productions and remixes, which should have a feeling of familiarity to those that. have followed the career trajectory of DJ Chus.. Expect sweaty, percussion-heavy workouts that sit somewhere between the shirts-off pump of golden era Tenaglia and the handbag-friendly soulfulness of classic Defected releases. It's arguably the "Iberican" phase stuff (circa 2000-2005) that stands out, though there's plenty of newer material that also passes muster - most notably a near-anthemic remix of Kevin Saunderson's most recent Inner City outing.