Electro House Recommendations February 2011

Review: This week's Marmite award goes to Chromeo, with you either loving or hating all the people involved here. Perhaps peeved at all the attention her fellow flame haired object of critical acclaim, James Blake, is currently enjoying, La Roux's Elly Jackson teams up with P Thug and Dave 1 aka Chromeo for a redux version of last year's single "Hot Mess". Keeping things tight, Dave 1's bro A Trak is on remix duties with his mate Armand as Duck Sauce which realigns the track for the big room disco house fans.

Review: A really rather excellent four tracker from BNR's Mancunian dancefloor correspondent Shadow Dancer that has enough bang to please the hardcore fans of Alex Ridha's imprint but is equally defined by the producer's love of vintage Clone output from the likes of Legowelt and Alden Tyrell. Opening track "Catmoves" is that rare but delightful beast exclusive to vinyl that sounds equally impressive at 33rpm and 45rpm. The decidedly schizoid arpeggiated thrust that drives the track pulses with a euphoric glee at the latter correct speed whilst improper play at 33rpm presents the track as prime MDSLKTR midtempo crunch. Complementing this is the soaring disco tech crispness of "Parallax" which might just be an ode to the legendary corporation founded by I-F and INTL Gary. On the flip, the title track "Murder Room" has already been getting plenty of play from the BNR fam, with a increasingly violent shower of acid raining down upon punchy techno programming and a requisite build and drop that has prime time Kill Em All written all over it.

Review: Skint cull four of their biggest hits from last years fifteenth anniversary comp for this twelve inch that demonstrates the breadth of their output. Side A pitches Tiga's classic 07 electro reworking of Tomas Anderson against the industrial techno pressure that is Dave Clarke's "Dirtbox". On the flip you get a reminder of when MSTRKRFT were actually quite good with their thumping rework of Goose which is an uneasy bed fellow for X Press 2's chart bothering deep house collab with David Byrne. These tracks have been out of print for ages so it's nice to get another opportunity to grab them on vinyl.

Review: London based electro duo Punks Jump Up follow up their still excellent "Dance To Our Disco" with this EP for Kitsune, the intriguingly titled "Blockhead". The French imprint score quite a coup by securing the much sought after remixing services of Zombie Nation, who turns the club electro original into a pummelling, rave encrusted banger. Expect this to melt a few faces at music festivals this summer. Flip over for two more remixes from Hey Today! and SymbolOne, the latter of which impresses most with its gloriously refined 80s synth stabs.