Electro House Recommendations Best Of 2016

Review: It's easy to forget that Justice were once one of dance music's most hyped acts, gracing magazine covers and gate-crashing the pop charts with a succession of crunchy, electro-house bombs. Times may have moved on, but the Parisian duo remain big news. Woman is their first studio album for five long years, and smartly moves between quirky, radio-friendly pop and thrusting club workouts. In the latter category you'll find the spiraling, low-slung, Italo-disco-with-balls of "Alakazam", the classic Ed Banger growl of "Chorus", and the vintage Daft Punk madness of "Heavy Metal". While these are impressive, it's actually the more downtempo songs - "Love S.O.S" and the dreamy "Close Call" included - that arguably stand out.

Review: Back in May, Richard Fearless resurrected the Death In Vegas alias for Transmission, a throbbing journey through the veteran producer's EBM and dark-wave influences. Here, he looks to the band's past, serving up an expanded, double-disc "deluxe edition" of acclaimed 2003 set Scorpio Rising. Recorded at the height of Death In Vegas's "live band" era, the original album effortlessly joins the dots between Arab Strap style lo-fi rock looseness, post-Britpop dancefloor indie (Liam Gallacher and Paul Weller were amongst the high profile guests), and crackling psychedelia. The second disc boasts the full recording of a long-forgotten BBC session, plus notable period remixes from electroclash outfit Adult, dub type The Scientist, and The Polyphonic Spree.

Review: For the 17th instalment of the long-running Body Language series, Get Physical has turned to eccentric Copenhagen three-piece WhoMadeWho. The Danish trio's music - a blend of live instruments and machines, joining the dots between post-punk disco, house, techno and Italo - is thrillingly hard to pigeonhole, so it's nice to see that they've taken a similar approach on this DJ mix. One minute, you're listening to the misty-eyed indie-soul of The Invisible, the next you're shuffling to Cubicolour's tech-house, or the 8-bit melodies and live drums of The Golden Filter. It's a melodious and attractive trait that continues throughout, as the veteran threesome effortlessly hop, skip and jump between cuts by Fort Romeau, DJ Tennis, Clark and Nosaj Thing.

Review: It's been five years since Digitalism's last full-length, the noisy and boisterous I Love You Dude. Mirage is, in comparison, a little more considered in feel, but wears its' influences and inspirations even more proudly. From the start, there are obvious nods to classic Daft Punk ("Arena", "Utopia"), LCD Soundsystem ("Go Time"), and Shit Robot ("Destination Breakdown"). Others may note occasional nods to the Chemical Brothers, Justice, and late period Orbital. Throughout, the veteran duo keeps their eyes firmly on the dancefloor, despite the radio-friendly feel of indie-dance exercises such as "Indigo Skies", "Dynamo" and French Touch style "No Cash".