Jimmy Edgar At Juno Download

Review: With bona fide Detroit legend Derrick May and new school hero Jimmy Edgar at the controls, this tribute to Detroit's electronic music pedigree was never going to be anything less than excellent. Fusing well-known and overlooked classics (John Beltran's astonishingly sweet "Sympatic Transmission", Edgar's own "Let Yourself Be") with lesser-known contemporary picks (Magic Touch's great "Niks Groove", Kyle Hall and Kero's mutant electro jam "Zug Island"), the two producers have succeeded in delivering an excellent overview of Motor City futurism past and present. It's a little more weighted in favour of newer cuts, but that's fine; the contributions from the likes of Lando Kal, Kai Alce and Kris Wadsworth are worth the admission price alone.

Review: News of Detroit native Jimmy Edgar signing to Paul Rose's Hotflush imprint for Majenta, his fourth studio LP, might have come as a surprise when it was announced, but it makes gradual sense given both reside in Berlin and the increasingly broad nature of the Hotflush release schedule. On the basis of lead single This One Is For The Children, Edgar fans will be more than satisfied with what the forthcoming LP has to offer, with Jimmy showing little distaste for the smut-edged electrofunk that has served him so well to date. Sounding very much like a track that was worthy of play in Trash's heyday, "This One Is For The Children" sees Edgar intone sarcastically over a snapping mainframe and gurgling analogue arpeggio. "Switch Switch" meanwhile sashays down the same sort of doe eyed lovers future boogie that Mr Bashmore did so ever briefly as Velour.

Review: Previously only available on vinyl, Citizen and Jimmy Edgar's superb Love Fever 12" gets a welcome digital release. The EP sees two Citizen solo efforts; "Room Service", a sleazy tech house cut filled with cavernous dub synths with echoes of Blawan in its heavy drums, and "You Give Me That Something", a deeper production whose titular vocal is combined with warm synth pads and rustling percussion. "Deep Touch" sees Citizen team up with Hotflush's Jimmy Edgar, a considerably more minimal house jam with breathless vocal samples and touches of Edgar's neon electro - this sold out fast on its original release and it's easy to see why.

Review: As one of the hookiest slices of audio sleaze on his recent Magenta LP, Jimmy Edgar's "Sex Drive" gets the remix treatment from a choice pair of producers, getting the slick electro tones rounded into equally hot-blooded forms. Jon Convex is up first, keeping much of the essence of the original but working it into an electro house template and layering in some choice big room dynamics, while his dub mix simply ditches the vocal turns leaving the track in its raw form. John Talabot takes a thoroughly different tact, issuing forth dramatic piano tones and poised drums that turn Edgar's track into an emotionally wrought nine-minute epic.

Review: The chances are if you're signing up for a Jimmy Edgar album, you know what you're in the mood for, and there's plenty of that sleazy funk to sink your teeth into on Majenta. There are points where it feels like Edgar is trying less to show off his considerable skills for micro-edits, instead just trying to make something a little more simplistically feel-good such as the tellingly-titled "Let Yrself Be." There's still plenty of edge to be found elsewhere, as on the marginally steppy feel of "Indigo Mechanix (3D)". The recent meeting point between dubstep, electro and juke couldn't be better typified than right here, but most pleasingly it comes off sounding like vintage ahead-of-the-game Edgar

Review: Jimmy Edgar decamping on Hotflush was a tantalising move and it paid dividends with the recent release of the Detroit artist's Majenta album on Scuba's imprint. Given Edgar's recent move towards fusing his usual atmospheric, ocean-deep synth funk with greater elements of British bass music, it made perfect sense too. This follow up EP presents the tough, vocoder laden 4/4 funk of "Heartkey", but of more interest is lead cut "Let Yrself Be", a highlight from the aforementioned LP. Its stuttering, pin-sharp synths and cut-up vocals are pure Hotflush, while the clattering analogue drums recall vintage house and even noughties garage. It is, then, exactly what you'd hope for from such an intriguing artist-label hook up.