Juno Recommends Minimal / Tech House: March 2024

Review: Lion & Lamb is the pub turned cult club in London that hosts special sessions from some of London's key electronic tastemakers such as Craig Richards, Radioactive Man, Butter Side Up and plenty more. In 2020 it launched a label that is as just as essential and Henry Hyde is next up complete the one release a year schedule it has favoured so far. He offers four tracks of froward thinking tech house starting with the full throttle funk of 'Approaching The Peak' then much more dubby and stripped back 'My Machine Walks'. 'Return To The Summit' takes off into the cosmos on fluttering synth leads and 'Over Cloud' is the trippiest of the lot with watery droplets and crispy percussion.

Review: Steve Bug is going on 30+ years of writing electronic music and travelling the world as a top DJ with no signs of letting up. It Just Happened is his latest and finds its way to the legendary and iconic Nu Groove records. It must be daunting to release music on such an amazing label. 'It Just Happened' has all the makings of a classic worthy enough for the Nu Groove logo. Veteran Cle who has worked on many projects with Steve is featured here as well. For those that really know Steve Bug's background, they know he is equally involved in house music as he is with techno. Tracks like 'Crew Thing' show his ability to make a standout house track while 'House Music Transcends' closes things out with your hands in the air. We respect Steve Bug so much for his work over the years. When he is old skool mode like he is on this EP, you just have to say respect to the man. Respect!

Review: Goettingen's long standing dub techno servant XDB takes us to Chicago At Midnight with this new 12" on Pariter. 'Fenders' is one and is a deliciously elastic rhythm with rolling kick drums setting a hypnotic groove as the bubbly synths rise up through the mix. 'Cagomi', more edgy and amped up with gritty hits and swaying bass, gets a new lease of life after first surfacing on XDB's Metrolux Music back in 2009. The same cut gets a remix from Delano Smith that's more rooted to the floor in the Detroit man's usual textbook style. A classy outing from all, then.

Review: When not knocking it out of the park with his garage alias Instinct, James Burnham is somehow also managing to find time to revert to his original Burnski moniker and the minimal and tech sounds with which he first made his name. On this latest 12" via his own Constant Sound label, 'Boom' is a rude boy jam for sure - the filthy bass and low-end wobble are accompanied by ragga vocals up top. 'Toxic' is a more straight-up tech pumper with slinky hi-hat designs, smart filters and bass-driven drums. As always with this powerhouse, the subtle production details really elevate this one into a standout cut.

Review: Sweely is one of the strongest producers in the European house scene for almost a decade now. This house wizard from Lyon, France has made the rounds on some of the most acclaimed labels during that time. In late 2022 he released his first album Closer Energy. The album is still consistently wowing people and even peers of Sweely. So much so that this EP is now here with key tracks from that release being mixed by artist friends who also are loving the album. Included is the killer, club rocking David Garrett remix of 'Security'. Huerta also gets in on the fun and offers his standout remix of 'Call Me Tonight'. Not to be outdone, OCB's remix of 'Not Part Of It' might be the sleeper of the bunch while Gene On Earth relievers a nice house remix of 'Minilook'. Fans looking for strong club music, look no further than this busy EP

Review: Che dropped this x-rated EP back in 1994 with production from the one and only Mr Fingers himself. It came with a warning about the scene expressed in the recording being "a fantasy in the age of promiscuity" and advice to "always wear a condom''. The four cuts are hardcore deep house with classic Heard synths and chords which originally came with four mixes on Trackmode Recordings. They are all included next to a newly unearthed version from the archives of Alleviated and each of them hits a super sweet spot where cosmic pads and dynamic drums meet in harmony under the sleazy vocals.

Review: Astral techno cosmonaut Space Dimension Controller serves up his vision of acid on this new sampler via Gerd Jansen's Running Back. The storied producer kicks off with 'Kosmische Conga' which has twitchy and sinewy lines lashing about over mid-tempo drums. 'Echopet' has a dubby feel and nice undulating grocers that are coloured with a prickly 303 that gently weaves its way in and out. 'Minehead' gets more manic as the 303s are louder, brighter, and more manic in their approach and 'Carinacid' then slows down to heavy drums and a mutant acid house and techno vibe that is full of late night menace.

Review: The unstoppable and always innovative Derek Carr returns with a new outing on Trident that is as potent as thew UK's weapon defensive system of the same name. It kicks off with the bumping beats and vamping chords of 'Ill Met By Moonlight"' then takes in 'Skeksis II' which is a more brain frying and acid laced techno cut. There is a super sweet garage feel and soulful house edge to the liquid grooves of 'Going Thru Life' then 'Nod' shuts down with some Detroit style hi-tek soul to round out Carr's most diverse and effective EP for a while.

Review: Damian Lazarus's Crosstown Rebels label has ridden out many different waves of popular sounds and always remained relevant. Right now it looks to Made By Pete for a new 12" that has a gritty, low slung and sleazy tech house vibe. 'Fires' has menacing basslines and steamy vocalisations that make for an unsettling mood. UK tech house titan Bushwacka! then remixes with his signature sense of drive thou with slithy more deep and pensive pads than usual. A dub mix is also included as is a rework from Victor Calderone & Mykol that is full of late night mischief.

Review: Fuse is one of those labels and parties that has a very distinctive sound and hardcore following for it. Spearheaded by Enzo Siracusa and now a real institution of the underground, here it looks to Admnti for three fresh new sounds. 'Vibrations' is kinetic future music that twists together wiry synths and tight tech drums into something irresistible. 'Infinite Function' is another brilliantly infectious mix of tech and dub that makes for high-speed groove-thrills and 'Original Sin' then takes a more spaced-out approach with warped acid lines. Malin Genie remixes the opener with a cool sense of deep house smoothness.

Review: This is the thirrd release by the amazing Italian producer Ivan Iacobucci for the Perlon label. The previous two were so well received, this next one was destined to come out sooner than later. Perlon fans know what to expect from their label of choice and Ivan delivers the goods. Those addictively quirky and fonky jackin' minimal techno jams. The title track is that and then some! We especially like the sexy jam 'Waiting For My Love'. Expect the unexpected when you flip over the record as 'Close the Door' is a full-on acid banger that combines high energy techno into what sounds like a video game soundtrack theme song! Closing things out is the wild sounding 'Fear & Madness in the Desert'. We are smiling at the thought of someone playing out these corkers to audience. Expect to see WTF typefaces everywhere!

Review: Keeping the house flavour bedded into minimal since the mid 00s, Audio Werner has long perfected a sleek, sublime style which maintains some 20 years in. On this new drop for Adam's Bite he's on superlative form, teasing out the most perfectly sustained double bass groove with just the barest of essentials for company on 'Deepozzarella' and then making everything sound so soulful in the process. 'Chordlift' opts for an airier tone, riding a more fractured groove that kicks tougher than most Audio Werner jams. 'Tension' completes the picture with the kind of subtly giddy roller which could truly take an afters in the stratosphere.

Review: Rocket Science is the latest EP by the standout Netherlands techno producer Eversines. It is also the first release by the new label Jamming Is Life. This record is all about the late-night sounds. The techno is richly infused with a bit of Goa and psy-trance that adds to the mythical and tribal sound like in the example, 'Act'. Each track here prides itself on constantly evolving the sounds in motion with an upwards trajectory or energy. These are properly sequenced tracks that go somewhere and not just placed sounds on a computer. Which in turn, makes them great for the dancefloor. Unlike older Psy-trance, these tempos are right in the sweet spot for house and techno lovers alike. 'M' is one of our early favorites on this clutch piece of hedonism while the acid line in 'Jamming Is Life' is pure flashback inducing business. The Jamming is Life label is starting out strong with this one.

Review: Casino Classix is one of several aliases for legendary minimal man Baby Ford. Here it is also the name of a four-track EP that finds the long time UK underground operative working alongside fellow British techno luminary Mark Broom on a quartet of devastating cuts. 'Ringer' opens up with some dark and nimble baselines darting about beneath a dense layer of percussion and FX. 'Hoppa' is then a more precise and minimalist cut with wonky bass snaking down low beneath the icy hi-hats and jumbled toms. There is a warm dub depth to 'Hot Pot' to kick off the flip and 'Beach Club' shuts down with a restless mix of synth daubs and deft percussion over an ice cold groove.

Review: Dahlia commenced operations as a sub label of Delaphine in 2017 with a brief run of on-point 12"s, which has been revived after a hiatus of some six years with this outstanding excursion into deepest house from SAM. The defining feature of the release is fathoms deep pads which bloom out in hushed tones behind elegant beats and dreamy synth lines. Each track is a knockout, but 'Her Wisdom' is especially captivating thanks to the interplay between the tender acid line and the bell-like tones which ping out into the expansive sweep of the chords, gently raising the temperature for a moment of truly soul-enriching dancefloor perfection.