James Curd At Juno Download

Review: Exclusive to Juno, here are four tracks from Chicago-born producer James Curd. Having beaten his own path from cult indie band Greenskeepers (a favourite of John Peel), he has made a name for himself as a DJ and beat-merchant over the last few years. In With The Old? shows off a range of styles that Curds got under his belt.

Anyone who was partial to his 2009 DFA single We Just Wont Stop will love Party Over Here. A house tune anchored by a jazzy piano and brushes, with some clarinet reminiscent of vintage Mr Scruff. It seems like Mr Curd has been rifling through some pretty vintage records looking for samples, as the trad jazz vibe spills over onto Be My Baby, which breaks into a 50?s doo-wop vocal loop, similar to The Wiseguys Start The Commotion, over a classy house beat.

Can You Get It is a heavier, synth-disco odyssey that does not lose any of its funkiness under the vocoders and big hard riffs. Got To Have is even bigger, complete with face-melting distortion in the vein of Justices Let There Be Light. Peppered with live drum fills and a guitar solo (remember those?), its truly stadium-sized.

Review: Chicagoan James Curd has a reputation for not taking himself too seriously, a trait that's previously been served by his Greenskeepers outfit. While this solo outing on Lost My Dog isn't quite as deliberately crazy as some of his Greenskeepers work, it is every bit as fun. Critically, it's also every bit as floor-friendly as his best work for Classic. Choose between booty-shaking bompty cut-ups ("Shake Shake"), late night disco-skank ("A Friend"), chunky house meets nu-disco anthems ("I Don't Really Care", featuring an excellent vocal from Devin Byrnes) and DFA-ish retro-futurist piano jams (the Shit Robot-ish "Left The Ground"); all, naturally, are excellent.

Review: Chicago-born producer and Greensleeves nabob James Curd returns, in conjunction with his pal Ziggy Franklin and a certain Derrick Carter on knob twiddling duties. Their original of "In Your Eyes" is a disco-shaped piece of cosmic loveliness, while dark electro meisters Black Strobe wring out all the sunshine on their mix and instead create a brooding electroclash soundbed that transforms the vocals. On a slower, Aeroplane-esque vibe, Australia's We Are Fans impress hugely, as does Jolie Cherie's atmospheric, half-step mix.