Black Catalogue US At Juno Download

Review: Having debuted with a fine release on Rush Hour, unassuming Australian siblings The Carter Brothers return with their second release that ably demonstrates they have plenty more incendiary house material in their arsenal. The Wild Cats EP marks a further tick of approval for Monty Luke's fledgling Black Catalogue imprint too, containing at least one certified heater in the shape of "I Didn't Need You" which essentially drags a hypnotic vocal hook through the blender of chunky house music dynamics - all pulsating, fizzing rhythms, snapping granite beats and gut worrying bass. Alongside it, the title track is laser driven, expansive deepness at its most refined, demonstrating the duo can drop the energy levels down a notch and present something more atmospheric. "Run" is more twisting, jacking body music, bending an effervescent vocal stab around constantly filtered leads and funked out rhythms, whilst "No Caller ID" switches up their sound yet again for some spinal, stripped down techno that reverberates with fuzzy utopian ideas.

Review: Steadily working his way up with a sumptuous deep house sound, Monty Luke, Carl Craig's right-hand man at Planet E, appears on his own fledgling imprint with some surefire party rockers. "Yesterday & Today" ticks away in all the right places, using an urgent vocal to create tension while the same relentless bassline keeps hammering away at your dancing organs. "Tomorrow" is a stranger affair, taking an unconventional approach to beat-mapping which calls to mind the earliest drum machine workouts of the early Detroit forefathers. With pads to match, it's clearly a nod from Monty to those that came before him and he makes it work a treat.

Review: While Modern Underground Music Volume 1 may be a cumbersome title, it's certainly accurate. You see, this split EP is unflinchingly contemporary and touches on a multitude of styles and sounds. There's some loose, off-beat, hip-hop influenced instrumental action (Artie Strongman's delicious "Impressed To Dress"), some fuzzy analogue house gear (the Disco Nihlist-ish "Chasing Rainbows" by Fholston Paradigm) and even a dash of spacious, slightly cosmic hip-house (Monty Luke's "Through The Galaxies"). The Carter Brothers also dazzle with their trip back to the days of loose-limbed techno (check the Detroit riffage and tribal drums on "Ritual Business"), while Kuru goes all crunchy and spooky on the excellent "The Draconian Hybrids". Top stuff.