Body High At Juno Download

Review: DJ Funeral returns to Body High - what is fast turning into one of the USA's premier bass imprints - with another four tracks of lean dancefloor killers pitched somewhere between paranoid grime and ghettotech house. The title track pitches manic strings against ice cold eski-inspired synths, powered along by tribal drums, while "Last Breakfast" provides a combination of wheezing synths, dramatic horns and jackhammer drums. "Out There" uses a UK funky template and moulds its own demented horror movie atmospherics around it, while final track "Just An Eskimo" offers the sparsest track of the bunch, with threadbare snare rolls opening up an all enveloping pit of bass underneath.

Review: Tech sounds like the bastard son of juke and rude ass ragga. Over a detuned, rumbling bassline, Soulja Man drops insanely pacey claps, pseudo-horror riffs and the sound of a gun firing and reloading. It's like a sonic expression of every concerned parent's worst nightmare. The DJ Dodger remix is more upfront but straighter and more DJ-friendly: based on a slamming rhythm and pounding beats, the arrangement supports jarring riffs. The hilariously titled No Pulse No Heartbeat remix by Massacooramaan provides a further surprise, as it veers into low-slung break beat territory with a focus on the gun reload samples.

Review: Since the success of his debut release, Drifted, American producer Floyd Campbell is obviously is on a creative roll - this newie could almost be a mini album. Proceedings begin on a high with bright and bouncy 4/4 banger "Bank Walls", "Catch Vampyrs" is moodier with 808 claps driving this voodoo booty tune, while "Lentix" is off-kilter techno with faint juke-isms. "Stretch" meanwhile is a killer slice of arpeggiated tech-funk and "4tha July" a subdued Patriotic interlude before things end with the aptly named "Tension", which sees itchy beats tip toe around irritable, chopped melodies while a one note melody holds it all together. Intense!

Review: Since their inception late last year, Body High have been a reliable source of some of the best bass music the US has to offer, proving that they are just as on point as any of their Transatlantic cousins. This debut release from Floyd Campbell is possibly the best drop yet from the label; opening with the euphoric broken beat and R&B synth vibes of "Taped", it nevertheless hits hard in all the right places, as the Boddika-like jackhammer of "Multipass" demonstrates. "Escalate" alternates between manic elastic bass and drawn out chords, its rising dread underpinned with hard hitting 808s, "Close2" demonstrates a more techy UK funky rhythm with deep subs and a warm afterglow, while the trance like arpeggio of "Drifted" comes across like what you'd imagine an AraabMuzik commission for Swamp81 to sound like. Finally, the thick techno squelch of "Tajunga" recalls the more interesting end of Turbo's recent output - high praise indeed.

Review: Hailing from New Orleans, Jim E Stack certainly has plenty of dirty south swagger behind him on the rough and tough beat that defines "Bubble Boy", his offering to the Bodyhigh imprint. The snare comes rattling in a militaristic rattle while the bottom end stomps in that half-house lurch. There's plenty of diversion in the midrange as well, as woody panpipe imitations and more overtly electronic flourishes try to cool the tempestuous drums. For all their melodic intent though, this track is about the rhythm, and it comes weighing with an unstoppable intent.

Review: Home to recent releases from DJ Sliink, Todd Edwards and DJ Soulja Man, LA label Body High plays host to the newest jams from Myrryrs, who mixes Auto Tune pop styles with fierce 808 programming on "I'm A State of Mind", deep Southern crunk 'n' bass on "Nimh" and juke rhythms with detuned vocals on the gloriously tripped-out "Fantom Doze". Fans of Jackmaster, Rustie and the rest of the LuckyMe posse will definitely be feeling this.

Review: Tropical bass troubadour Samo Sound Boy delivers a decidedly high energy new EP for label Body High. The title track is a relentlessly pounding banger, featuring a pulsating electro-house bassline and campy chopped up vocals samples reminding us of Tobi Newman's Khia remix from many moons ago. "Watch Me Ride" piles on the old 303ims and hammers them home with a stomping kick and cowbells galore. "Drive Time" is a supreme electro-house workout, sounding like early releases on Destined Records. "Acid Walk" is a showdown between an overzealous 303 and sleazy vocalist Njena Reddd Foxxx. It's bass Jim, but not as we know it.

Review: Bridging the coastal divide in the States, LA's Body High imprint is offering up some fresh wares from New York's finest garage pioneer, Todd Edwards. Lead track "Shall Go" is a lean cut by Todd's standards, keeping a deeper tech house lean in his track, while "The Stranger" heads straight for classic territory in its sassy sample butchery. It's one big toothy grin of a track, much like the uplifting bounce of "Hold The Faith". Across all five tracks, Todd is on fire, turning out vibes parallel with his finest moments to date.