Electro House Recommendations October 2011

Review: The latest all-star emission from French label Kitsune sees the divisive producer celebre Mark Ronson call on a list of his famous friends on "Record Collection 2012" which comes lined with the usual array of remixes. Featuring Pharrell Williams, Wiley, MNDR and Wretch 32, the original is as odd as you'd expect, being the sort of pop track that doesn't occupy any particular genre but sprinkled with just the right amount of crossover dust. CSS lead the remix selection with a throwback electrohouse circa 2007 effort, whilst French types Logo embellish the track with some scratchy darkness. Check the flip for a bolshy disco refix from Moonlight Matters with some overbearing orchestral flourishes, whilst LA based Aussie Plastic Plates turns in perhaps the best remix, discarding with the majority of vocals - MNDR's chorus only remains - in favour of building a lysergic dancefloor groove.

Review: Despite their inactivity in recent years, New York post punk/dancefloor fusionists The Rapture are still box office. Now back on DFA as a three-piece, there's a confident swagger to In The Grace Of Your Love, their follow-up to 2006's Pieces Of People We Love. Check the grandiose opener "Sail Away", recent single "How Deep Is Your Love" or the grubby, far-out rocker "Blue Bird" - all boast that in-your-face funkiness and raw power that marked out their early work. Sure, there are a few musical curveballs (check the pompous balladeering of "The Roller Coaster" or bluesy "It Takes Time To Be A Man"), but for the most part it's an album oozing with traditional Rapture fare - and there's little more fun than that.

Review: JJoakim's musical mutations from album to album have always made for a pleasant and sometimes brilliant listen, and the Tigersushi boss's latest long player continues this tradition. Furthermore it's seems that Joakim is attempting to draw a line between his talents for song writing and incendiary dance rhythms, with his albums and remixes representing both respectively. Across the eleven tracks, Nothing Gold sees the Frenchman lyrically traverse the theme of growing old whilst wrapping proceedings in his unique sound. Lead single "Forever Young" is the most obvious concession to the dancefloor, though "Find A Way" and "Paranoid" are gems too. However this is an album that should be soaked in, as opposed to played out, and it's finer qualities emerge with repeat listening,

Review: Ferocious duo South Central launch new single "The Day I Die" with three contrasting remixes dripping with energy and experience from The Prodigy, Toxic Avenger and The Qemists. Endowed with powerful basslines and screeching high ends, the original version of "The Day I Die" twists and turns through rapid musical sections, with a downtempo vocal chorus nudging it into certified anthem territory. All three remixes take a different approach with The Toxic Avenger stripping things down, The Prodigy firing things up and The Qemists taking control of the already hectic tempo for a version that ascends into chaotic mayhem.