Roman Rauch At Juno Download

Review: Killer four track EP of sumptuous deepness here from the Much Love imprint, with James Johnston, Alkalino, Alphabet City, Bartellow and Roman Rauch all stepping up to the plate with uptempo house jams. Johnston's title track takes on an almost proggy hue with a killer titular vocal hook, while Alkalino & Alphabet City's insouciant key-driven "Dolve A La Discoteca" has 'Ibizan terrace party' stamped indelibly across its forehead. Bartellow's loopy, jazz-fuelled slice of house exotica ("Perhaps Strang") leads into the deepest of the lot - just check those chords on Rauch's "Space Places"!

Review: Vienna-based Nu-jazzers Philta have really pulled something special out of the bag on their latest release "Fire From The Sky". Similar to Herbert or very early Moloko, they ooze freshness and creativity and aren't afraid to do things a little different ? which pays off when the tunes are of this calibre. Opener "How Far" sets the bar high, with broken beats and wah-wah'd synths creating a soundbed for vocalist Fleur to lay down a seriously soulful vocal. Rapper and singer J-Todd joins in on title track Fire From The Sky, which is a thumping yet slick new-school Hip-Hop tune that makes Outkast seem like a distant memory.

Elsewhere, the Josip Klobucar mix of Dry Your Eyes is a berserk bit of mid-tempo fun, with the vocal struggling through a sea of strings and synths, as well as some punchy studio drums. The original is also included here too and sounds equally awesome with some chopped up Amen-soundalike drums crashing away throughout. On a different vibe, Don't Waste uses a simple two-chord pattern and Electro beat to devastating effect, again with Fleur working wonders over the top of it all.

With instrumentals available of all the big tunes, this could be an album that will stay with you for a long time and demand repeat listening