Michael Mayer At Juno Download

Review: The follow up to 2004's Touch sees Kompakt boss Michael Mayer embrace a wide range of styles without losing his melodic touch. Yet despite this, Mayer's fondness for irresistible hooks and melodies is audible on the ambient opener "Sully", and "Lamusetwa", whose chopped up break beats combine sensuous strings and spy theme synths. Elsewhere though, Mayer tries his hand at new wave - on the storming rhythms of "Rudi was a Punk" - and visceral club techno - "Neue Furche". However, his pop techno past can't escape him as the infectious "Good Times", which features the vocal "let's just have a good time", demonstrates.

Review: Drawing on his recent Mantasy album for a second round of remixes, Michael Mayer gets the revisionist treatment from an eclectic spread of artists. Agoria gets positively effervescent on "Good Times", floating on trippy, sun kissed washes of melody while heavily processing the vocal into a celebration of extreme pitching. Robag Paavo and Velta get far deeper on their version of "Baumhaus", working around a minimal rhythmic construction made up of intricate percussion that gently feeds emotive keys and strings into the mix. Will Saul and October are in an equally slow-burning mood as they let "Mantasy" simmer under a mesmerising combination of searching melody and analogue drum rumble.