Minimal / Tech House Recommendations August 2011

Review: Soul Capsule aka Thomas Melchior and Baby Ford follow up from last year's "Seekers" with two deeply infectious trade mark cuts. Recorded at Thomas' "Deepsoundtherapy" studio "Deep Dawn" features what will be one of the most unmistakeable basslines of the summer season. The A side track is a peak-time floor filler. On the B-Side "New Day Dawn" is a deeper work out which has an equally distinct bass combined with loose shuffling 808 drum patterns and a spookier take on the vocals. Mastered by Rashad Becker at D&M.

Review: After the recent death of Kenny Hawkes, friend and studio partner David Parr resurrected a couple of tracks he and Kenny had worked on two summers ago. They unfortunately never made it to release before Kenny's death, but now, after work from David, "Green Grass" is available. This mesmerizing track flits between a jazzy vocal arrangement and deep house with ease - ripples of guitar and pulsing electronic pads create a beautiful and surreal soundscape as the vocals build into an ethereal string harmony. This is timeless house music just the way Kenny liked it. Everybody involved offered their services for free, so everything except the manufacturing costs can go to Kenny's nearest and dearest to help balance the books. Extra Paypal donations can be made to [email protected]. Full support from the Juno team.

Review: Cecille Numbers have taken aboard Alex Celler for his first solo EP on the label after a joint appearance alongside production buddy Anthea last year. "Blue Vaudeville" is typically Celler; thundering house that boasts just enough of that classy edge to make it more than just seasonal. Long drawn out synths and a sensual vocal are the stand out elements on Celler's original, a vintage gruffness adding to its appeal. Shonky turns that gruffness on its head with a summery, modern take on "Blue Vaudeville", which seems destined to wreck many a terrace this summer! Whilst both have their advantages, it's the original that gets our vote here at Juno. "Dawn In The Jungle", whilst easy listening and enjoyable never really picks up full speed on the B-Side, leaving plenty of room for "Eccosaire" and its spoken vocal to be the highlight.

Review: This remix is nothing new, having already been released in edited form on a 7" single earlier in 2011. But on hearing this 12 minute long version you'll see what a travesty it was to not be released this way in the first place. Opening with five minutes of marimba melody and sampled ocean sounds, with Noah Lennox's vocals cut into rectangular shards, it has all the rounded lushness of Panda Bear's production coupled with Actress's dark, compressed edges. But it's only when it gets into its second half that the real power of this remix becomes apparent, when the sub bass begins to build and the crunchy toms bring in a whole new ferocity to the track. One of the best things released on Kompakt for a long time.

Review: Lovebirds and Leif share the honours on this split twelve for the Liebe Detail imprint, with the former winning in the contest for most aptly titled track. It's pretty hard to refer to "The Beast" in anything other than monstrous terms with Lovebirds aka Seb Doring building an epic array of snaking modulated chords over gloriously loud drums. Coincidentally it also packs quite the Balearic punch at 33rpm as we mistakenly discovered upon first listen. On the flip Leif serves up "Almost Invincible" which combines neat, dusty swinging 2 step rhythms with delightfully melodic keys and sweetly soulful vocal layers for a completely different but equally worthy production.

Review: "Solid Session" was originally released in 1991 under Orlando Voorn's then alias Format #1, and is one of the more significant Dutch electro tracks of the time. Given its age, it still sounds surprisingly fresh, and is here given a reissue with remixes from Legowelt, Vince Watson and Voorn himself. Legowelt adds a slightly dubbier touch to the track, whilst treating the melody to give it that slightly otherworldly quality that only Legowelt can, whilst Watson's remix adds some synth strings that give the track a deeper Chicago house flavour. The most interesting of the reworks is the beatless remix by Voorn himself which removes the thumping rhythms and highlights the trance like quality beneath, sounding very much like a lot of the ambient synth revivalists of recent times. But really it's the original that is the essential track here, with its clattering hi-hats and synthetic piano stabs that still sound big today.

Review: Loco Dice surely needs no introduction; the Desolat label owner is globally known for his dubby, tribalistic records on imprints such as Cadenza, Cocoon, Ovum and more alongside an extensive gig schedule that sees him play around the world and back continuously. No newbie to Minus either, it was in 2006 that Dice last released on the label and five years on, he's back with a double sided cut - "Knibble Never Comes Alone". Written alongside long term studio collaborator Martin Buttrich, Dice explores an abstract and cerebral techno template with this EP. The A-Side opens up with sparse crackles, warped effects and a looped sole note as the atmosphere begins to take shape; a rumbling bassline arrives and catapulting claps and hats culminate into one of Loco Dice's most experimental works yet. Flipping over and "Loose Hooks" exudes a bold and chunky rhythm that builds slowly and intensely, its groove and dancefloor momentum increasing second by second until we are completely lost in its chaotic stream of sounds.

Review: Repress alert! Last year's Ricky Villalobos remix of Soul Capsule (aka Baby Ford, Tomas Melchior & Tim Hutton) gets a welcome repress on Baby Ford's revitalised Trelik imprint. The shaggy haired Chilean don turns "Seekers" into a sprawling, cerebral epic, stripping away the original's vocal elements in favour of some shimmering late night keys - typical Villalobos tackle and all the better for it. Flip over for the sweat drenched original version which ain't half bad either, as the competing vocal elements and sparse instrumentation lend the track a decidedly trippy vibe.

Review: Love Letters From Oslo have been going strong since 2008, supported by their parent label Oslo and its head honcho Nekes. It's rare that we see Nekes himself release on LLFO - his last output was back in 2009 - so this is cause for celebration. "Sleepless Nights" sparkles above all here, wispy and intriguing as its bassline ascends under warped vocal pockets and languid drum patterns. Hypnotic and blissfully sparse, it leaves room for imagination and groove. On the flip, "Soul Desert" compromises of a much funkier attitude with echoey tom drums and a rolling bass.

Review: The pairing of Efdemin and RNDM has already borne some fruitful results for a scattered selection of EPs, and now the pair return with more of their austere minimal techno. The most surprising entry is opening track "Dirty Float" which staggers to life in a tangle of warm synth gurgles and micro-crackles with not a kick in sight. "Painting The Tape" is much more standard fare, plumbing the depths of looped hypnotism full of hushed synths and whispering beats, but "Sunrise Industry" lifts out of the murk with a greater presence and an engaging chime pitched perfectly for those early morning moments.