Mark Reeve At Juno Download

Review: Kudos to Soma for signing and releasing work by Reeve when it would have been far easier - and possibly more financially rewarding - to put out big room minimal techno. "Phobia" is based on a pulverising rhythm, its dark, dense pounding beats wrapped around an evil bassline and bursts of white noise. Think Perc getting it on with Surgeon and you're not far off the mark. "Fear" meanwhile manages to unite US minimalism with Birmingham style techno. The steel-plated, razor sharp rhythm is mean enough in its own right, but when Reeve combines it with the kind of sulphuric bassline that Regis would spew out, it becomes clear that Soma has hit pay dirt.

Review: Progressive heads get stuck into this tasty treat, as for release number 21 on the wicked MicroCastle label they welcome back Cid Inc and for another double header EP following on from 'Our Benefactors' back in 2010. There is a real techno undercurrent to these, making the grooves impossible to stand still too and injecting energy and lift in to your sets at any time. The Original mix of Emotional Self is what's doing it most for us and will be hammered by everyone from Sasha to Zabelia, while the likes of Cattaneo are on the Microtrauma cut. On the flip 'Urban Biorhythm' is a little less dancefloor yet still with plenty going on to keep those late night smoke filled underground clubs bubbling.

Review: Mark Reeve manages to cover a wide range of ground on Horizons. The title track is a drummy, tribal affair, but Reeve makes it sound different to the glut of toolish releases by using a walking funk basslime. "Closed Doors" is built on a similar base, but it veers into evocative, melodic chords. Melody is a recurrent theme here too, with "Cold Places" giving MANDY's "Body Language" a run for its money in the melodic trance stakes and Arnaud Le Texier's take on the title track consisting of washes of dreamy ambience. The other remixes, from Pig & Dan and Hermanez, keep the diversity quota high, alternating between disco loops and bass-heavy techno.