Rainer Weichhold At Juno Download

Review: Rainer Weichhold only started running King Klong with Martin Eyerer at the turn of the year but the Great Stuff Recording artiste has wasted little time in slipping his debut EP for the imprint in the schedule. "I Want You" sees Weichhold deliver a peak time orchestral groover, once again working in tandem with producer Namito. A straight pad pattern is the backdrop to a succession of tightly bound string samples building the staccato groove through which hypnotic snatches of vocals emerge to finally form the title. Veteran producer Patrick Lindsay teams up with M.in for a remix which discards the orchestral elements instead mutating the vocal snatches to form the groove of a minimal shaker. Great Stuff stalwart Lutzenkirchen opts to retain the strings with a small flourish forming the pre cursor to a drop into peak time Berlin fare. Gigolo's Oliver Ton takes the props here with a remix that replays the string arrangements on piano, giving the track added energy and melody.

Review: mooth and catchy stuff here from underrated veteran Rainer Weichold, with "Tango For Noemi" coming out of the blocks with some Claude Von Stroke-esque vocal splats before drifting into an epic piano-driven breakdown. The descending piano lines and shuffling percussion give the track a strange, alluring vibe. The remixes take it more into club territory, with Ramon Tapia, Sascha Braemer and Chase Buch & Nick Olivetti contributing reworks. And to top things off, there's the Juno Download exclusive track "Long Time", which strays a bit deeper with an after hours groove and killer cut-up vocal.

Review: Jerk Chicken manages that rarest of feats, taking inspiration from dub-tinged dance music and making the results sound like a street party. Available in dub, radio and longer versions, the common theme on each version is a rubbery bass, a more upbeat take on the reggae vocals pioneered by Rhythm & Sound and the kind of reflective chords that made Rockers Hi-Fi's "Push Push" such an anthem. Daypak's remixes dispense with the hiccupping minimalism he is best known for, with his first version focusing on heavy drums and ravey stabs and the alternate dub take laying down a storming techno rhythm. Steve Mac's pumping, filtered techno version completes the package and is our pick of the bunch.

Review: The past year has seen a return of tribal influences to house music and this is audible on "Couscous". That said, it isn't a standard drum-led track, and trippy 303 licks can also be heard among the immensely pleasing rolling groove. DJ Madskillz takes even greater artistic licence on his version: adding in some deep, filtered chords and chopping up a familiar-sounding vocal, the end result is a more swinging groove. However, the Andhim Falafel duo's version takes the Juno cake here, with an even more imaginative approach. Making the groove less rigid and in places almost ramshackle-sounding, Andhim also uses a hillbilly sample that could have been lifted from 'O Brother Where Art Thou'. Great stuff!