Juno Recommends Electro: September 2022

Review: Electro lovers will be foaming at the mouth over this one - it is a super luxe reissue of some seminal UK electro from the late 90s. It channels plenty of Drexcyia vibes with its cinematic sound and sci-fi overtones and sounds as good now as it ever has. All of the tunes on it have been remastered from DAT tapes and included along the way is 'Original Flow' which wasn't on the album before and has never been released. It was only recently unearthed having been written in 2000.

Review: The spirit of ghetto tech looms large over this full length offering from duo Hi Tech, surfacing on Omar S' FXHE label. That said, the usual straight forward pumped up booty bouncing beats that the genre flaunts are left well behind by an eclectic and well constructed trip across the rhythmic spectrum. 'Milf Milo' is one of the more regular sounding jams, riding a relatively conventional house/garage production, but elsewhere elements of trap, hip-hop, techno, footwork and electro all influence the genuinely innovative and original frameworks. Even better, the cleverness of the arrangements doesn't lessen the alarmingly thuggish timestretched and over-autotuned vocals, giving us the best of both worlds.

Review: Two heavyweights of the Detroit underground come together on this kicking new EP from Puzzlebox. K-1 aka Keith Tucker brings his famously repetitive sounds and rugged electro-funk to 'On My Computer', which bumps irresistibly as smeared sci-fi chords set your sights on the future. Add in robotic vocals and supple bass and you have an instant classic. It's then to the Eastside of the Motor City for DJ Maaco's 'The People' which is just as funky but in totally different ways; his laid-back groove is embellished with lush synth sequences and late-night cool that is topped off by a more seductive male vocal. Two very different but equally brilliant tunes.

Review: Vaporwave Records founder Chris Kalera aka Dynarec released sporadically in the last decade but in the last few years has returned with a vengeance, releasing on tastemaker labels such as Cultivated Electronics, Superluminal and Umwelt's New Flesh. The Frenchman makes his Central Processing Unit debut here with the Force In The Sum EP, featuring four fierce cuts. From the pure futurism on 'A Dispatching Role' and it's advanced sci-fi beats, to the Motor City influenced-computer funk of 'Stabilized' on side A, to the pounding B side track 'Classification Of Elements' continuing with the theme of dystopian sounds - it's as the label said best themselves "wickedly danceable electro done right".

Review: Your Planet Is Next serves up a brilliantly weird and wonderful cover of time-worn classic 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' on one side of this new 7" by the Warning label in Germany. It has deadpan vocals that bring icy cool over just as cold analogue production. The dusty hi-hats and sheet metal synths are underpinned by a minimal beat and it's one of the best tunes we've heard in ages. Jotel California's 'Eisbar' is then a more upbeat electro cut with slippery bass.

Review: 'Frankfurt Bass' specialist O Wells has been associated with Die Orakel since 2016, though this EP - the artist's fifth in total - is his first for the imprint for two years. Wells goes in hard from the word go, adding ragged, mind-bending TB-303 'acid' lines and intergalactic aural textures to a punchy electro beat on opener 'Consico'. Focus switches on the following track, 'Rhytim'[sic], where outer-space melodies and bubbly modular motifs are layered over a tighter electro beat. Side-B opens with the tracky, hypnotic, otherworldly techno of 'Moldoom', while the EP's concluding cut (IDM inspired number 'Spectral') boasts deep sub bass, Aphex Twin textures, subtle bleeps and oddly swung beats.

Review: InTheBagg is a fledgling Californian label carrying some elegant strains of stripped back and melodious club music from a loose community of friends. You might not be familiar with all the names, but they've got a particular style they're pushing which warrants the attention of any dedicated digger. If you're into that Nicolas Lutz-esque sound, where minimal, electro, braindance and breakbeat can fluidly blend into one, you're going to love this label. Release number two sees J Onstott opening proceedings up with a hazy, pulsing pad and crisp drum lines, while 'Casper, My Daughter's Husband' strikes a wobbly breakbeat house tone with plenty of reverb. Wink (Will Fatorre, not Josh) has a warm and twinkling take on tech house with a little mystery in its bones, and Louiv wraps things up with a subtly spooky floor worker entitled 'Filter Analysis'.

Review: DJ WHPRSNPR may have upped sticks from the sunny splendour of Australia's Gold Coast to the German capital, but that still hasn't stopped him from using his hometown's namesake for his beloved label. Nerang's twelfth release comes from Berlin native Nasty King Kurl, CEO of Nasty Enterprises, with four UK influenced tongue-in-cheek tracks on the wicked Weak Lips EP. There's the bass-driven steppa 'All I Want' on opening duties, followed by the sleazy booty-bass of the title track and the deep, down and dirty slow burner 'Make Tech House Great Again' over on the flip.

Review: Welsh electro label Typeless has been carrying some serious heat over the past few years. They've mainly focused on VA releases featuring serious underground operators, but as they evolve so certain artists are getting a broader platform to present their sound on. So it goes for Viers, who follows up 2020's Innocence 12" with this incredible six-tracker of advanced, imaginative electro techno which has original ideas to match the classic electro tropes. From melodic, acidic braindance gear to metallic, high-pressure atmospherics, there's plenty of ground covered on this standout 12" from an exciting emergent producer.

Review: Fred Shepherd has been laying down thick slabs of electro for the past six years under the No Moon alias, taking in labels like X-Kalay, Echo Vortex, Craigie Knowes and Church. Now he's landing on Mechatronica with five new works, leading in with the compression chamber sonics of 'No Way Back' which doesn't need to roll fast to make its imposing presence felt. 'Small Moves' takes the interstellar elevator in pursuit of its own bruising intentions, while 'Go 2 Bed' locks into a more familiar mode of machine funk for the mid-tempo massive. 'Vegetarian At The BBQ' keeps things pinging and ponging atop those hard-ass drums, and 'All Roads Lead To Hear' winds things up with a rapid, bleepy selection for when the night wants to get a touch more delirious.

Review: Germany's Eudemonia label is building up a fine head of steam with its mix of cold wave, synth and techno offerings. This latest is a slithering and spaced out electro excursion on nice clean lines, shiny digital synth sounds and sleek rhythms from Konerytmi. It comes after a slew of good 12"s on labels like Infiltrate and Russia's Electro Music Coalition and 'Ikuisesti Nuori' is an early highlight with melancholic chords being a pensive mood over Kraftwerkian drums. 'Uimaranta' layers up the melodies with pumping arps and 'Aikakone' resets the mood with a more downbeat vibe that is lush and cinematic.