Max Cooper At Juno Download

Review: The new master of UK trance delivers a release that combines the electronic and the organic and the pastoral with the futuristic. "Epitaphy" is a hands-in-the-air affair thanks to its buzzing bass and trancey melodies and in spite of its abstract beats. "Autumn Haze" meanwhile is more gentle and natural sounding, its serene melodies unfolding over microscopic beats. Ripperton's version does much to reinforce this pastoral approach with birdsong in the break down and chiming rhythms underpinning the bucolic melodies. Then it's back to the modern world with the distorted bass and robotic shuffle of "Raw" and "Simplexity", which is all brittle beats and gloopy bass providing the basis for backwards vocal samples.

Review: The leading contender to wrest the nu trance crown from James Holden sets out an impressively diverse stall here. "Echoes Reality" is a deliciously spaced out techno track, with a soaring, ghostly bassline, glitchy percussion and reverberating melodies pushing it through peaks and troughs. "The End Of Reason" is a totally different proposition, a symphonic, string-fuelled ambient arrangement that would make William Orbit envious, while "Darkroom" marks a return of sorts to the realm inhabited by "Reality", but this time the bass is more detuned and menacing. "Qualia" provides further surprises, its feather-light hooks resting on a delicate, introspective rhythm, and finally, John Tejada delivers a chiming, resonating take on "Darkroom".