Morning Factory At Juno Download

Review: The artfully punned Anna Logue's Sleepover makes for a welcome return to Clone duty for the Morning Factory duo Jozef Lemmens and Pierre van der Leeuw, having debuted on the Royal Oak leg in fine style last year with Fantasy Check. Surfacing this time on the Jack For Daze arm of the Rotterdam operation, the switch seems all too appropriate when you bask in the title track, whose taut opening unfurls into an engrossing melange of relentlessly cascading drums and raw melodic emotion. "Sleep Walk" proves to be just as rewarding, formed around a rubbery analogue bassline upon which chattering 808s rain like it's London while rich streams of emotive, orchestral deepness emigrate towards your senses. Both tracks make for a very real representation of what the Chicago House progenitors were trying to achieve nearly 30 years ago.

Review: Clone's Royal Oak offshoot has barely put a foot wrong since launching in 2009, providing open-minded deep house/disco/electrofunk heads with quality material from the likes of Space Dimension Controller and the hotly tipped Genius of Time. Here they give a Royal Oak debut to Dutch duo Morning Factory, who previously impressed on 2020 Vision. "Fantasy Check" is something of a slow-burning delight - an emotion-rich soup of gently cascading jazz pianos and sparkling chords that sounds like a long-lost Ron Trent production. "Diane's Love" is more densely layered percussion-wise, but still finds space in the building mix for some cute melodic touches and a delightful spoken word vocal.

Review: Morning Factory announce themselves in style with their debut release, "Forgotten Moments." Picked up by Andy Vaz's reflective imprint, Yore, this looks set to jump start the Dutch duo careers and propel them into the arena of deep house extraordinaires.

Jean-Pierre van der Leeuw and Jozef Lemmens deliver a particularly accomplished debut that lends itself perfectly to Yore's back catalogue of old school house and techno. "Runners" get things started with a high-octane spirit, unleashing a mid-tempo house groove that darts along with driving force and momentum. Approaching eight minutes in length, as do all four tracks on this hefty release, "Runners" drops in and out of intensity as the track builds and builds. The full might of the track is such that in the middle, the frantic vocals can scarcely be heard. As you listen to it pound away, you recognise instantly that is one that will get people moving.

"You Gave Up" on the other hand is far more subtle. The soulful female vocal joins the leisurely tempo to create a relaxed and breezy atmosphere. Its stripped back funk gives the track a sincere and sophisticated sleek feel. Changing impetuous once more, "Raw Tunes Vol 1" does exactly what its title suggests and offers a raw, techno edge to Morning Factory's funky aesthetic. Whilst keeping in line with the rest of the record, this tune takes on a fiercer persona than the rest. For the final track though, proceedings are slowed down on the care-free, warm sounding "Someone." Deep and soulful, it finishes off Morning Factory's debut fittingly. Soulful, emotive and often raw, Morning Factory have made a lasting impression from very start. Sounding like old hats of deep house already, we can only expect more of the same from the talented Dutch duo.

Review: A sub-label of Ralph Lawson's 20:20 Vision empire, Fina has already dispensed four EPs since they set up shop at the beginning of this year. For their fifth, they invite Dutch duo Morning Factory to the label. Titled "Sultans Of Swing", the EP (thankfully) bears little resemblance to Dire Straits and includes a remix from the UK's very own Cottam. The title track earmarks an instantly soothing edge; its succulent horn-like synths swelling against the percussion and making way for lengthy beds and brass melodies. Cottam's remix however drags "Sultans Of Swing" deeper still as pitches drop and synths slow to a crawl like pace to create a trippy, dream-like remix. "Lady" follows in its predecessor's simmering footsteps, before a looped vocal reminiscent of late nineties R&B lifts the entire track into a melodic heart wrencher.