Juno Recommends Electro April 2020

Review: There's no shortage of great electro around at the moment, but lest we forget Carl Finlow has been dishing out some of the finest for decades now. In many ways 20/20 Vision is his spiritual home too, so it's great to see him imparting his skills for a fresh long player of razor sharp body poppers loaded with robo-funk. From charging opener "Apparatus" to freaky wriggler "Carbon Deposits", restrained creeper "Components" to punchy melodic workout "Ampere", there's a lot to enjoy and so much musical detail to absorb across this record. As if we'd expect any less from Mr. Finlow.

Review: The Craigie Knowes catalogue is full of mighty fine machine music, though it's only in recent times that the Scottish imprint has embraced electro. This 12" comes from one of electro's longest-serving talents, British scene stalwart Carl Finlow. As you'd expect, the quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, with Finlow breakdancing between deep, poignant electro/synth-pop fusion ("Descent"), starburst, ultra-melodious electronic bliss (the body-popping flex of "Undertones"), hard-wired mutant funk ("Cascade") and stretched-out electronic soundscapes that sit somewhere between pitched-down electro and evocative ambient techno. Finlow is a master at squeezing every last drop of emotion from his machines so it's no surprise that this EP is another emotive, mood enhancing treat.

Review: Slovenian electro master Zeta Reticula has been on the rampage over the past few years, spraying machine funk bullets all over the shop on labels like Bass Agenda, Electrix and Mechatronica. Now the man otherwise known as Umek lands on the rapid-rising Latvian label Blind Allies with the first dedicated artist EP after a string of various artist 12"s. The vibe is nocturnal and noirish across these five bombs, staying true to both the Reticula sound and Blind Allies. There are plenty of playful synth blips and bleeps wriggling their way through the mix too - this is far from morose dungeon electro, but something more like mutant body poppers for darkened souls.

Review: This seems like a marriage made in heaven. It sees electro scene stalwart 214 (AKA sometime Frustrated Funk, Touchin' Bass, CPU and Klakson contributor Chris Roman) pitch up on Cultivated Electronics for the very first time. There's a real sci-fi feel to proceedings, as if the cuts were created to soundtrack some neon-lit movie set in a dystopian future. If dancing through the apocalypse is your thing, check the fuzzy and forthright electro-funk of "Earthworms" and the punchy, Drexciya-on-Tatooine pop of "It Never Really Ends". Elsewhere, opener "Linolium Or Cardboard" mixes off-kilter electro beats with Mascara-clad new wave synth sounds, while "Nocturnal Hikes" is impressively weird and spaced-out despite its crunchy drums and weighty bass.

Review: Versalife is of course one of the many aliases of prolific Dutch artist Conforce. This one is reserved for club ready electro and comes on the Trust label out of Austria. As always these tracks are exquisite analogue explorations with multiple things going on a once, from burrowing basslines to squealing synths, bright, shiny pads to grittier drums. There is darkness on the opener "Neogenesis" before more celestial styles on "Cosmic Language." "Recirculator" drops into a thumping techno groove and "Gravitational Anomaly" steals the show at the end with its suggestive rhythm and lithe synth work.

Review: FTP has assembled another strong cast of characters for this second volume in their ongoing "Elevated Jit" series of electro-focused compilation style EPs. Salome and Volruptus join forces to deliver a suitably weighty, all-action opener - the rumbling sub-bass, ten-ton 808 beats and foreboding electronic surges of "Skreemsli", before recent Shall Not Fade signee Luz1e ups the tempo on the intense electro-jungle-techno fusion epic "Park N Ride". Over on the flip, B Calloway sprints through acid-electro territory on the insanely funky "Party N Bullshit (Dirty Mix)", Jadzia pops a pill and doffs a cap to Rephlex style braindance on "Gray Inside" and Baby Val and Paco Pak combine with impressive effect on the revivalist rave giddiness of "Bloody Skies".

Review: 20/20 Vision have firmly gaffa taped their flag to the electro antennae with "Exit Planet Earth", a new compilation series celebrating veterans and newcomers in the business of tweaked out machine funk. The Hacker is up first with "Positif/Negatif", a rubbery, FX-laden workout with plenty of uneasy space around the core rhythm section. 214 follows up with the decidedly creepy, sound design-embellished "Testy Robot". On the flip Reedale Rise brings something a bit livelier with the plush synth flex pinging through "Lux". Derek Carr completes the set with "The Gap", a lush slice of melancholic machine dreaming for mellower moments.

Review: The latest missive on Bjarki's bonkers-but-brilliant BBBBBB label comes courtesy of label regular Volruptus. "First Contact" is the alien electro explorer's second album, following the release of an eponymous debut full length on Sweaty Records in 2016. It's a hugely inventive and entertaining affair, with Volruptus giddily flitting between skittish alien funk ("Tapetum Lucidum"), bass-heavy ghetto-tech insanity ("We Are The Cyborgs", "Butt Shakin' Freaks"), acid-fired workouts ("Chicxulub Space Rock"), melodious deep electro ("First Contact"), rave-addled brain-dance ("Hyperbola") and much more besides. It's the kind of album that keeps you guessing from start to finish, and there sadly aren't too many of those around.

Review: The second release to come from fresh new imprint Future Massive, the 'Existenzmaximum EP' from John M Davies aka Datassette is five brand new tracks of sublime and wonky electronics that perfectly combines the analogue and the digital, resulting in a record that runs the gamut of electro, chilled acid, braindance, IDM and everything in between. This carefully considered EP offers a return to that classic and instantly recognisable Datassette sound and much, much more.

Review: L.F.T.'s brand of electro is punked out and industrial, with flashes of acid and EBM toughening it further. The mesmeric lead on "Red Pyramid" is a brilliantly psychedelic one that morphs and contours before your very ears, turning your mind in on itself many times over. "Chemical Confidence" is as brash as the title suggest and "Anti Tune" is a skittish beat with real snap. The flip-side closes out with two angst riddled, fist clenching electro bangers. If you want to make a real impact on a dark, strobe lit club, look no further.

Review: classic & saught after 2005 electro - Miami warehouse find!

Review: For the first release on Electronic Leatherette sub-label Heretic Electro, the Latvian label has chosen to showcase tracks by two artists inspired by the sound world of Detroit deep sea voyagers Drexciya (hence the "Aquatic Experience" title). MRSG handles side A, swimming between the snappy, funk-fuelled "You Don't Need To Know" (all trippy electronics, chunky bass and liquid synth motifs), the deeper and more emotive "Jais" and the melodious warmth of "Rak Funk", which sits somewhere between the previous two tracks sonically speaking. On side B Reedale Rise takes over, first wrapping metallic electronics, drowsy chords and bubbly acid lines around a snappy beat on "Languid Bodies", before offering up the bolder - but still melodically rush-inducing - "Manifest".

Review: 767139-01 Launching the new year with a split EP that continues the label's theme of 'Biophilia', the crew from down under Potatoheadz pursue the same vein of Aussie larrikinism as labels like THUG, Ken Oath and Nerang, while 'packing the kind of dancefloor punch that only the heart of nature can supply.' Fibre Optixxx makes his debut and takes care of the A side with the hyperaware electro breaks of "Hive Activity" and "Hibiscus", while on the flip DJ Life, who clearly has a taste for the 'acid' life: as displayed on the mind altering "Lightning Ridge" or his homage to early '90s UK IDM on "Butterfly".

Review: Sheffield's Central Processing Unit's good work continues with a return to the label for Annie Hall. It comes four years after her last and is another sleek electro offering from the future. "Verd Mar" is an edgy affair with glass melodies that keep you in suspense as heavy bass trudges below, but the pace picks up with the superb Detroit electro funk of "D'Un Altre Planeta". The title track gets more into it with its razor edge synths and hall of mirrors effects, before "Promeses De Fusta" closes out with a serene atmosphere that has you gazing far off into the distance.

Review: Mutant Joe has been lurking around low key tape releases over the past year or so, but now returns to Natural Sciences with a first outing on 12". This is nasty electro to get the place going freaky, not least on "Hokus Pokus" with some seriously saucy MCing from Freddie Dredd. "What U Thinkin" is a more twisted, acid-laced throwdown featuring Julien Andreas as well as a return stint from Dredd. "Knick Knack" takes things up to a footwork-jungle hybrid with guest duties filled in by YVNCC, before Dredd steps up one last time for the catchy machine funk pumper "Like A Blunt".

Review: Compiled by label founders Steve Hyland & Nathan Phillips, and mastered by Keith Tenniswood at Curve Pusher, Volume 1 is a statement of sonic intent from new electronic label, Future Massive. Weighing in with a total of eight tracks from well-established and brand-new artists alike, Side A sets the tone by offering up a sublime slice of electro-soul from Plant43, followed by a mesmerising techno track from Berlin based producer Eluize, before dipping into a dancefloor shuffle of groovy acid tracks from Rootsix and The Gasman. Side B drops the tempo to indulge in dreamy sounds from Hyland's own Attraktta moniker, before Rolando Simmons' haunting but wonky melodies pick things back up. The Future Sound Of London legends Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain deliver the experimental acid in fine fashion on a brand new Humanoid track, before the album closes at full tilt with a glorious exercise in drum & breaks from Karsten Pflum.

Review: Project Ghost might be a new name, but the producer behind it, Andrew Lagowski, has previously recorded under a variety of aliases and has no less than 14 solo albums to his name. While much of his material is experimental in nature and rooted in ambient and industrial, "Fractal Disruption" sees Lagowski join the dots between hypnotic old school techno and body-popping electro. He begins with a confirmed floor-filler in the shape of four-to-the-floor jam "Live Sparks", before wrapping spacey electronics and glacial melodies around a crunchy electro beat on "The Irdologist's Dream". "Dead Calm" is a ragged, TB-303 powered slab of acid-electro, while "Photo 4" is a clanking deep electro workout and "Fast Assembler" recalls the mid-1990s IDM and ambient techno movements.

Review: Whereas the shadowy Motion Sequence imprint explores the outer limits of minimal house and techno, its sub label Type/5.2 tends to explore more electro (ish) sounds. The last three releases have been by anonymous artists, but this latest one has a name to it - Patrick Klein. As one of the founders of the hot Frankfurt imprint Traffic, Klein has been known to explore the old school sounds of Detroit, northern bleep and rave aesthetics recently and 'TYPE 52004' ticks all those boxes. From the spaced-out breakbeat action of A1, to B side jams like the funky B1 cut (reminiscent of sounds from the Motor City's second wave) and B2 that goes further with the futurist vibes on this off-kilter electro belter - tip!

Review: Back in 2018, Gianluca Bertasi re-launched the TeslaSonic project he'd started with Valerio Lombardozzi in 2008 as a solo venture. This outing on Rotterdam imprint BAR Records is his third release since - an expansive six-track mini album that takes the electro template in a number of different directions. So while opener "Magnifying Transmitter" is a funk fuelled affair guaranteed to get you body-popping, "Neuralink" is a deeper affair full of picturesque synthesiser melodies and "Hydrex Returns" an alien-sounding slow jam that bubbles away at a seriously druggy tempo. Elsewhere, "Hydrex Acid" brilliantly re-invents that tune as an ultra-slow TB-303 workout, "Positronic Brain" is a deliciously wide-eyed IDM cut and the Animalistic Beliefs remix of "Magnifying Transmitter" is a Drexciya-style delight.

Review: Having launched the Decade Box imprint last September via a punchy EP featuring a fine Radioactive Man remix, veteran producer Derailleur (real name Lee Graves) returns to the imprint with a similarly impressive sequel. In its original form, "Formula 14" is an impressive chunk of outer-space electro where computer bleeps, robotic vocals and metallic electronic motifs buzz around spaced-out beats and a vibrating bassline. British electro stalwart Carl Finlow adds a little more dancefloor weight on his robo-electro revision - think beefed-up Kraftwerk meets LFO on Jupiter - while Adam Reid's revision is a moody, bass-heavy breakbeat beast.