Jacques Renault At Juno Download

Review: Producing house music is far from easy, but Jacques Renault time and time again manages to fools us into thinking it could be. His first rabbit out of the hat trick in 2013 is the functional and jovial Back To You EP on his own Lets Play House imprint. Lead track "Back To You" takes full advantage of some filtered horns and bouncing bongo percussion - it's not hard to see this track being embraced widely by DJs especially when samples washed in reverb and delay fill and litter the track, whilst subtle African chants add a individual edge. The same dubby horns - only dubbier - feature on the Paradis remix, only to be lightened by note and word sung vocals, triangle percussion tinkers and a reinforced bassline, deepening the track even further.

Review: The debut release on the Party Breaks offshoot of the always classy On The Prowl label set the tone with epic reimaginations of music from the New York City of days gone by for contemporary dancefloors. It's safe to say that volume II, compiled by label co-chief Jacques Renault, will further solidify OTP Party Breaks' potential as one of 2010s best imprints. Doubling the sucker punch with four edits that dip into different genres and play out like textbook examples of how to slay a dancefloor (you'd expect nothing less from someone who has released music on Rekids, DFA, I'm a Cliche, RVNG, Wurst, Chinatown and Mule). Setting the uptempo mood is "In The Middle of The Night", a subtley nuanced edit of a slice of classic late 70s disco from Jet Brown that adds some neat percussive chops to what is already a lovely warm melody. Fans of Tensnake's recent "Coma Cat" will be all over "Love & Happiness", a dirty basement jam that reworks a mid nineties collaboration between Louie Vega and long term muse India to perfection. Renault's production nous is on evidence with "Miranda" which begins with some very Switch-esque production before dropping into a massive jack of a tribal house groove with several little changeups to keep the dancefloor on its toes. The EP ends with "My Baby Loves Me" which amps up the 80s sax house to the max. More must have material from the record vaults of Jacques Renault.

Review: The finest moustache bearer since Selleck rocked the TV as Magnum PI returns. That's correct, Sccucci Manucci drop a long awaited second release on the fledgling imprint, enlisting a premier cast of continental friends to lay down some class A discoteria! Securing the talents of Runaway's Jacques Renault is no mean feat for the self styled "purveyors of fine music," and the On The Prowl boss serves up a beefy disco funk edit in the vein of his killer Public Release twelve from last year. In support, a cast of rising UK talent serve note of their budding prowess, with Tenth Circle's Zoo Look indulging in some monstrously expansive beatdown a la The Revenge on the aptly titled "Early Doors". Casino Times provide the "why didn't I think of that" moment with "That's The Truth," a Bashmore style take on the De La Soul & Chaka Khan collab which has been burning up sound systems from London to Petrcane this summer. Young one Picture House ends proceedings with aplomb on "Blaxploitation" a gritty shaker reminiscent of Eddie C in his pomp.

Review: Jacques Renault and Marcos Cabral's OTP Party Breaks series has always been a reliable source of floor-filling edits and reworks. This latest installment is arguably one of the strongest releases in the series to date. Cabral kicks things off with his edit of "Latin Box", a formidable chunk of titanium-clad proto-house business that evokes images of sweaty New York basements and Chicago warehouses. Renault continues the theme on his synth-heavy homage to the 'proto' era, "Love Reaction" - all razor-sharp drum edits, cut-up vocal stabs and fierce freestyle synths. Crate-digger and renowned editor Kon provides some sublime loopy disco on "No Mistake", before WooHoo steal the show with the low-slung disco house monster "Nightwalker", a cut-and-paste fusion of elements from familiar (and lesser-known) disco cuts.