CD Album Recommendations June 2011

Review: By now, we should perhaps all know what to expect from spiritual house veteran Osunlade. Over the course of a two-decade career, the St Louis born musician has developed a signature sound that effortlessly fuses the positive elements of deep house with African musical traditions, jazz, soul and broken beat. Pyrography, his seventh full length, touches on all these aural trademarks, infusing them with influences as diverse as 80s talk box funk, lazy disco and 90s NY house. This time round, there's little in the way of needless noodling and plenty of classic Osunlade moments (not least the rough bruk-house jam "Trinity Ov Me") meaning Pyrography is an album that should appeal to old fans and new converts alike.

Review: It's hard to put your finger on what exactly it is that Russian producer Kontext (real name Stanislav Sevostyanikhin) actually does. Musically, he seems to exist in his own space, nestling somewhere between dubstep, future garage, IDM, techno and pure abstract electronica. If you're struggling to get a handle on his unique and otherworldly sound, this double-disc overview of his career so far is a great place to start. It features a mix of previous hits (see the atmospheric "Convex Curved Mirror") and previously unreleased tracks (the cosmic stoner-step of "Star Clouds") all hand picked to showcase his immaculate, eyes-closed take on electronic music.

Review: Dave 'Hyetal' Corney's much anticipated debut album brilliantly demonstrates his development as a producer. Initially celebrated for the atmospheric quality of his heavy dubstep beats, Broadcast is a much more musically complex beast. Of course, there are plenty of dubstep-influenced rhythms amongst the shimmering ambience and off-kilter beats, but the lasting impression is of glistening electronics, heavy arpeggios and luscious synthscapes. Even the album's heavier moments come cloaked in a veneer of sparkling beauty (see the glistening melodies and floor-pummelling beats of "Beach Scene", or the crystalline disco-step of "Searchlight"), and there are enough deliciously touchy-feely downtempo moments to thrill all but the most hardened of bass heads.

Review: Birmingham-based Emalkay has been developing his floor friendly, dub wise take on dubstep for some time. Here he drops his debut full length album Eclipse, the first long player on popular dubstep imprint Dub Police. Like many of his previous 12"releases, it showcases a bold, brash and, at times, in-your-face take on dubstep that should find appeal amongst junglists. Certainly, D&B heads will enjoy the Baby D (yes, that Baby D) collaboration "Keep Moving On", which abandons wobbly, bro-step basslines in favour of vintage hardcore rhythms and big piano drops, and "Flesh & Bone", which races off on a classic ragga-jungle tip. Punishing stuff, all told.

Review: Christopher Manik has been skating around the fringes of US deep and tech house for some time, releasing the odd well received 12" without making much of a breakthrough. This is his debut solo full-length, and impressively expands upon his tried-and-tested formula to take in all manner of musical ideas, sounds and styles. While at 17 tracks it's a bit of a sprawling effort, it's worth persevering with - not least because the album's stand-out moments are excellent. There are well-crafted forays into old skool NYC electro ("City Kids"), Krystal Klear-ish nu-boogie ("Delorean Soho"), deep house-influenced hip-hop, Tom Trago-esque disco/deep house cut-ups and even vintage acid house (the sax-laden "Ruckus 8 Oh 8").

Review: St Petersburg producer BOP initially impressed a couple of years back with a debut album for Hospital offshoot Med School that blurred the boundaries between drum and bass, IDM and electronica. This sophomore effort continues that journey into experimentalism, impressing from start to finish with its mournful melodies, skittering beats and dream-like atmospheres. Like other junglists who have trodden this path - Instra:Mental and D:Bridge being great examples - BOP refuses to be chained to one style or tempo. So while there are D&B-influenced beats - particularly on the ludicrously titled "Extraterrestrial Creatures Are Stealing You From Me" and the excellent "Intercontinental Meltdown" - they often come wrapped in a sea of all-enveloping chords, ambient textures and heady electronics.

Review: German art-pop duo Pollyester have a lot going for them, not least a signature style that seems simultaneously comfortingly retro and thrillingly futuristic. In layman's terms, that basically means that Earthy Powers, their debut full-length, is distinctively stylish. Think English vocals with heavy German accents atop a smart, occasionally sparkling mix of new wave pop, heavy kraut disco (see, in particular, the wonky electrofunk of "Concierge D'Amour"), lo-slung dub-funk (the deliriously cosmic "Indian") and vintage synth grooves. Crucially, there's plenty of authentic fuzziness amongst the sharp brightness something that ensures that Earthly Powers delivers both style and substance.