Clone Jack For Daze Holland At Juno Download

Review: A lesson in simple mathematics: Alden Tyrell + Mike Dunn x Clone Jack For Dazed = you need to check this! Tyrell has been busy of late remastering the back catalogue of Drexciya for Clone, yet still finds time to come up with the excellent "Touch The Sky" for the Rotterdam empire's crucial sub label. Little more than the distinctive tones of Dunn freestyling over a f******* huge acid riff and thumping kicks, the track's simplistic composition is outweighed heavily by just how devastatingly effective it is. 4Lux boss Gerd steps out of his Geeeman costume for a remix that evens out the kinks of the original while Tyrell and Clone boss Serge go in the opposite direction on the International House mix which lays down some classic piano lines where the acid was and severely f***** with the vocal programme. Such a good record.

Review: Long overdue return to Jack For Daze for Geeeman aka 4Lux boss Gerd, whose previous emission on the Clone sub label, the Traxmen referencing "Rubberband2" still remains a totally unhinged highlight of the Dutch hub's recent output here at Juno. Gratifyingly "Bang't" is every bit as good, twisting a detuned organ riff around a heaving, viscous basement beat and ham slicing percussion. That intermittent vocal sample dances a merry dance in-between the arrangement as the erstwhile Geeeman works it hard on the drum machine. "Fire Extinguisher" is a more thick set accompaniment, with gaseous analogue touches tickled by percussive rhythms in the opening moments before the entire emphasis of the track gets turned on its head as a metallic drone comes to the fore, the prelude to a full on glorious malfunction that gets repeated gleefully several times over.

Review: Whilst it might seem initially surprising that Actress has contributed these remixes for the new Jack For Daze release, Danny 'Legowelt' Wolfers has spoken widely about his admiration for Actress; calling his work "futuristic and advanced", it makes perfect sense that Clone should now extend an invitation to the Werkdiscs boss to remix material from Legowelt's recent album The Paranormal Soul. Actress has offered up two versions of "Elementz Of Houz Music," a track that perfectly encapsulates Legowelt's mastery of melodic, part-mysterious, part-cheesy synth lines. The first remix has Cunningham shuttling Legowelt's arrangement through a cloudy car wash of hissy mist, chopping up the original into his trademark cubist techno; this dovetails nicely with his second 12 minute offering. Markedly more drastic, this offering slows down the synths, kicks and percussion to a drunken stupor, with the results not unlike playing a 45rpm record incorrectly at 33rpm.

Review: It's rare that electronic music artists push themselves to the same degree as Danny Wolfers. The Dutch artist is one of the most prolific contemporary artists, working under an often bewildering array of guises. A Paranormal Soul is his most refined work to date, and there is an absence of the raw edges that characterised classic Legowelt releases like Klaus Kinski or Tower of the Gypsies. Yet despite this, Wolfers' music has not lost any of the touches and flourishes that make him so distinctive. "Renegade of a New Age" and "Elements of Houz Music" have those melodic, part-mysterious, part-cheesy synth lines that Wolfers pretty much owns, and "Voice of Triumph" and "I Only Move for You" see him revert to classic acid, with visceral jacking offset by warm, 303-soaked basslines. But the most significant measure of Wolfers' development lies in the fact that he has created his own interpretation of the early 90s techno sound that originally inspired him. "Rave Till Dawn" starts with "Red 2"-style chord stabs, but instead of bombast the track gets progressively more subtle thanks to fragile break beats and mellow pads. "Sketches From Another Century", with its dreamy sweeps and building chords sounds like classic Carl Craig, but just when the listener thought Wolfers was intent on making Detroit techno tribute track, those unmistakable melody lines and warbling bass kick in, the very manifestation of the Dutchman's musical soul.

Review: With previous releases on the Clone Jack For Daze imprint coming from Dance Mania-inspired Gerd alias Geeeman, Hague-based synth voyager Legowelt and Berlin-based Chi-house acolyte Murphy Jax, Night Slugs co-founder L-Vis 1990 makes for a logical addition. The Circuits EP follows a wave of club focused tracky material from the producer most notably the debut Night Slugs Club Constructions release and bangs hard across four productions. If anything this release demonstrates a more fully developed take on the raw house tracks of Club Constructions, combining the brighter palette of his earlier material with the jacking styles of the new. The title track especially is a raucous combination of bumping 909 rhythms and lysergic strings, while "That Thunder Track" throws a malfunctioning, phased lead with the hollow abrasion of classic grime into the mix.

Review: The artfully punned Anna Logue's Sleepover makes for a welcome return to Clone duty for the Morning Factory duo Jozef Lemmens and Pierre van der Leeuw, having debuted on the Royal Oak leg in fine style last year with Fantasy Check. Surfacing this time on the Jack For Daze arm of the Rotterdam operation, the switch seems all too appropriate when you bask in the title track, whose taut opening unfurls into an engrossing melange of relentlessly cascading drums and raw melodic emotion. "Sleep Walk" proves to be just as rewarding, formed around a rubbery analogue bassline upon which chattering 808s rain like it's London while rich streams of emotive, orchestral deepness emigrate towards your senses. Both tracks make for a very real representation of what the Chicago House progenitors were trying to achieve nearly 30 years ago.

Review: As his previous releases have so thrillingly demonstrated, nu skool German revivalist Murphy Jax is more than adept at conjuring intoxicating blends of vintage Chicagoan jack and head-warping electronic disco. "Kevin Spacy", initially released on vinyl earlier this year, is a perfect example of this. Revolving around hard, sharp sequenced basslines, twisted arpeggios and lazy, star-gazing synth melodies, it offers the sort of balls-out, analogue-heavy take on space disco that was once the preserve of fellow Clone adventurer Legowelt. Orgue Electronique take the track back towards Chicago on two string-drenched, Larry Heard on valium reworks, whilst bonus cut "Smoodrama" offers a deeper take on early Chicago house.

Review: Bio Rhythm boss Paul Du Lac makes a welcome return to Clone's all conquering Jack For Daze initiative, some three years after dropping the incendiary Blowback 12". From the opening "Set IT Off" style bars of the title track, it's overtly clear Du Lac is in Jack For Daze appropriate mode, slamming down bumping rhythm on top one another whilst playfully laying down a detuned key line, making for the label's most unhinged homage to the days of Dancemania since Geeeman's "Rubberband2" a few years back. "Spaces Below" comes from a deeper place, with growling synth lines and textures expanding across the channels as Du Lac works the drum machines to the bone and "Tantra Master" sees submarine FX thrown around the lower depths as the Rotterdam resident gets tantric with the groove.

Review: Turning tricks with ever more prolificacy, Roman Flugel is back in business once again with some decidedly rough stylings for Clone's Jack For Daze series. "Even More" is a taut and responsive floor worker shot through with that quintessential Flugel quirk, in this case defined by a funky guitar lick over the booming machine drums. "More & More & More" gets even wilder, bringing in a loony lead synth that calls to mind the primal production style of UK Funky over a rugged box-jam jack. With some classic Dance Mania flavoured vocal samples flown in for good measure, a crowd-busting belter is born.

Review: Clone Jack For Daze usher in this rather potent three track collaboration between label boss Serge and veteran contributor Alden Tyrell. The two have been irregular studio sparrers since the turn of the decade, contributing remixes to the various branches of the Clone conglomerate, but House Countdown marks their first original material together. There's no drastic stylistic departure from their previous work here, which isn't surprising given the bare bones house ethos that drives the Jack For Daze series. Two variants on "House Countdown" line the A Side; the first "EPS Deng't" mix is dominated by the grinding, thick bassline that just about fits between the channels, while the "Eighty Nine" mix rounds out the bassline and marries it to a rough drum flex with the results more playful. Up next, the amusingly titled "Pump-o-matic" is Serge and Alden doing Dance Mania with an early 90s Dutch rave twist.

Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from Clone's Jack For Daze offshoot; namely contemporary would-be Chicago jackers influenced by the city's mid to late '80s heyday. That's precisely what we get here, with lead cut "Splice" sounding like a vintage fusion of Ralph Rosario's "You Used To Hold Me" and Jibaro's "Can U Dance". Flipside "Project Piano", meanwhile, comes on like a hypnotic collaboration between Larry Heard and Virgo Four, mixing deliciously touchy-feely pianos, pads and synth bass with heavy acid-era percussion. With warmer production and a drifting late night feel to the melodies, it's arguably the pick of the two tracks.