Beats In Space At Juno Download

Review: Arto Mwembe man Lauer has enjoyed considerable plaudits of late for his solo work, and it's not hard to see why. "Mascat Ring Down" shows him in fine form, sketching out the sort of twinkling space disco shuffler that would once have been the preserve of Oslo's Scandolearic set. Throughout, it urges us to gaze skywards towards a blanket of glittering stars. New York native Lee Douglas takes this theme and runs with it, turning in a blisteringly heavy (but still gorgeously spacious) rework that seems to stretch on towards the far-reaches of the galaxy. The digital-only Backwoods remix, meanwhile, introduces some spine-tingling piano action amid a near-Balearic sense of wide-eyed jubilation.

Review: After their debut last year for Beats In Space, French electro-pop duo Paradis are back with a new EP on Tim Sweeney's label. It's a sensitive kind of disco they ply their trade in, calling to mind the fragile voice and heart-warming charm of Erlend Oye and The Whitest Boy Alive. "Hemisphre" is especially soothing, and yet not afraid to be a little funky with a crafty break at the end of every eight bars. "Je M'en Nuit" instead has a quirky swing to it, and given the title the atmosphere is more logically aimed towards the night time rather than the gentle Sunday morning climes of the first track. Highly recommended.

Review: Paradis are a Parisian duo endowed with the honour of the first release on Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space label. Supposedly admirers of the weekly show from afar, some covert demo sending with the intention of getting airplay was the impulse for Sweeney to finally itch that record label scratch. Lead track "Parfait Tirage" oozes Gallic charm - dubby treatment of vocal cooing laying the foundation for a gently nudging beat embellished with gentle synthesizer sweeps and warm analogue modulations, topped off with distinct dream like vocals. It's complemented by a lovely melodic techno revision of 80s French pop hit "La Ballade de Jim" which is already a staple of Sweeney's DJ sets. This is an all round classy affair.

Review: And so the second release on Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space imprint arrives and, as you'd imagine for someone whose radio show runs the gamut of the electronic spectrum, it would be disingenuous to refer to this as mere "disco". Secret Circuit is just one of many musical aliases adopted by Eddie Ruscha - most commonly known for his work alongside Thomas Bullock as The Laughing Light of Plenty. To date material under the Secret Circuit name has been either self released curios or cassette tapes for the Teenage Teardrops label. Just the sort of thing that would appeal to a lover of lesser known music such as Sweeney then, and Nebula Sphynx is a double dose of off-centre dancefloor brilliance that deserves to reach a wider audience. If you could imagine the prospect of Gavin Russom tackling some vintage Chicken Lips analogue experiments, then your mind might be willing and capable of fully grasping the excellence of the title track. Complementing this is "Parascopic Rope" which joyously threatens to explode under the pressure of it's over abundance of fizzing sonics and richly colourful textures.

Review: The ever-interesting Eddie Ruscha returns with a new Secret Circuit full-length, the first on Tim Sweeney's excellent Beats In Space imprint. Given the usually vivid style of his psychedelic electronica, it's no surprise to find that Tactile Galactics is a mesmerizing trip from start to finish. Ruscha darts between kaleidoscopic space disco, wide-eyed shoegaze house, analogue psychedelia, touchy-feely ambience and intense, druggy Italo, somehow shoehorning 25 years of musical misadventure into 70 spellbinding minutes. It's bold, melodic, hypnotic, beautiful, blissful, intense, inspiring and exciting. Put simply, Tactile Galactics is a great album.