Benoit & Sergio At Juno Download

Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from messrs Benoit and Sergio - namely a delightful but melancholic blend of shimmering synth-pop and deep house. This new two-tracker for DFA adheres to those principles, offering two super-strong cuts to add to their fast-expanding repertoire. "Everybody" is a particular delight. Starting off as an unbelievably hooky, left-of-centre synth-pop groover, it quickly blossoms into a near-anthemic chunk of grin-inducing house. "Principles" is almost as impressive, offering a more cultured but barely less hooky dancefloor pop concoction. Both are, naturally, brilliantly produced, and sound like nothing else around - surely one of the highest compliments you can pay an artist.

Review: There's been a growing sense of excitement surrounding the debut release from the Visionquest label set up by Messrs Troxler, Curtiss, Reeves and Crosson that was threatening to render it slightly underwhelming when it finally arrived. Thankfully that is certainly not the case as Benoit & Sergio demonstrate on the three tracks that make up Where The Freaks Have No Name a restrained yet totally sultry take on house music dynamics which is quite infectious. As you'd expect from half of the Ndf duo that brought us the delightfully charming "Since We Last Met" on DFA last year there's as much attention paid to song writing as there is to dance inducing aesthetics here with opening track "Walk & Talk" perhaps being the most striking example, sleepy almost vocodered vocals lamenting a partner's lack of hygiene to a backdrop of crisp handclaps and stifling subaqueous melodies. The title track is naturally a tad freakier, being vaguely reminiscent of Visionquest boss Troxler's vampiric turn on last year's Art Department release before a swift turn into some truly epic synth sweeps that come to characterise the track. "Day Residue" meanwhile is ten minutes of sprawling synth flutters that noodle with a glorious soaring unpredictability over the top of a stripped down house skip and bump aided by the repeated vocal refrain and elastic bassline.