Halocyan At Juno Download

Review: Bristol's champion of full-bodied and immaculately produced dubstep business brings more of his plush melodics to bear on the Halocyan imprint after sterling turns for the likes of Apple Pips. "Addict" is a prime example of his style, fusing crisp, sugarsnap garage drums with thick swathes of synths that dart and parry around each other with grace and skill. Komon steps up on the remix tip with a simple fashioning of the track into a chunky house groove that retains the essence of the original. "23 Summers" takes a more laidback approach to the steppiness, slinging R&B samples around in a delirous and boogie-inflected haze, while "Iron Oxide" plunges into a more rolling breakbeat flavour shot through with a healthy dose of melancholia. Finally, October gets jacking on a remix of "23 Summers" that piles on metallic percussion and bubbling acid in a linear and psyched out fashion that's as much industrial as it is techno.

Review: ASC's influential traces and sonic lingers loom large amid bass circles. Peddling both the minimal D&B and Autonomic sounds before they were even coined, his depth and abstract clarity lead very much from the front. Examples of this abound across the originals, from the skittish triplet breakbeats of "Karma" to the all-encompassing bass drone of the title track. And the remixes from Chrissy Murderbot, Kangding Ray and Mike Slott aren't far from shabby either. Seldom does an EP live up to its title so literally.

Review: Lover of all things juke, Chicago's Chrissy Murderbot has plenty to say on the subject and he makes his feelings well known on this latest joint for Halocyan records. "Bionic Penguins" kicks things off with a plush and melodic juke chop up that moves through sophisticated chord progressions for the arpgeggiator to roam around in, while "Friendship" goes down a slightly darker route peppered with hefty amounts of bleep. Sumsun turns "Bionic Penguins" into an emotionally strained UK Funky joint, leaving it to Legowelt to create a serene funk of robotic melodics with lashings of acid and some serious Balearic sass.

Review: Paul Woolford has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, thanks to last year's collaboration with Psycatron for Hotflush and his Special Request project which has rightly gained many internet column inches thanks to it's rough and ready junglist spirit. Now he joins the likes of xxxy and Chrissy Murderbot on Halocyan with this superb EP. Placing a breakbeat rhythm over the top of some ominously swelling bass, "Pursuit" is reminiscent of the "Lolita" track he released as Special Request, with a leaner, brighter feel, while "Crank Call" displays the same rhythmic mastery, but with some distinctly electro tendencies, as layers rippling synths are placed under restless hi-hats and hammering offbeat snares. Digital only track "5meo" rounds things off on an upbeat note, as driving Detroit bass and tumbling melodies are driven forward on forceful rush of kicks and dry snares.

Review: Oliver Ho's more minimally minded venture signs up for the Halocyan imprint with an EP that ably demonstrates the creative paths those that evolved from the maligned scene were able to adopt. There's still an air of restraint about "Last", with its sparing use of drums where repeated synth phrases will suffice, and it makes the hat all the more exciting when it comes in as an afterthought at the end of the bar. "Dumb" is more aggressive in its demeanour, not least because of the abrasions afforded by the lead synth, while the drums clang out an industrial march of doom. Al Tourettes and Appleblim bring their shared vision to "Last", working that poised bassline into a snappy and finely garnished groove of garage mutation. Steve Moore takes "Dumb" and fits it to an urgent kick, piling on some trademark soundtrack synths that add the perfect amount of tension to the track.