Huntleys & Palmers At Juno Download

Review: In their first move away from their favourite son Auntie Flo, Huntleys & Palmers reveal a little more of their A&R intent with this signing of Alejandro Paz. "Callejero" is fuelled on a vibrant carnival spirit and the allure of early 90s tropes, dropping primal rave signifiers such as air horns over a rip-roaring soca break. However it's the Yorkshire bleeps that define this track, sounding fit for a Sweet Exorcist record but sounding even cheekier in the Latin context. "Cumbia A Lo Lejos" is a more esoteric turn, cooling off on the drums and upping the ante on the synths for a winsome and unusual ride through refined melodics.

Review: After the widely lauded "Oh My Days" got bodies popping last year, Huntleys & Palmers do the smart thing and serve up three remixes of Auntie Flo to get all kinds of future-minded shapes thrown about the place. Pearson Sound is in typically fruity and neatly clipped percussion mode, letting the layers of bongo and drum machine dart around each other without ever clashing, falling into a lean electro groove before too long. SOPHIE opt for a more direct (albeit slightly unhinged) reworking of "Highlife", while Alejandro Paz manages to fuse contemporary beats with slices of guitar for a musical melting pot that bodes well for crossover appeal.

Review: Both the muscle behind Glasgow's excellent Highlife club nights, as well as his Afro-futurist production alias Auntie Flo, Brian d'Souza kills it with this Huntleys & Palmers-released mini-album. Following much-buzzed tunes like "Oh My Days" and his Goan Highlife EP, d'Souza provides many new shades here - such as the glossy Eastern funk of "Haven't Got Any Body" the favela 2-step of "La Samaria", the minimal 4/4 Latin jazz of "He Makes The People Come Together". The standout so far is the juke-paced mix of 808 claps and congas on the Esa Willimas-vocalled "I Want To Blow Your Mind".

Review: Huntleys & Palmers continue their mission to bring the best of the world's dance music to the masses with this hugely anticipated release. Glasgow resident Auntie Flo's "Oh My Days" has already found favour with the likes of Jackmaster, xxxy and Pearson Sound, and it's easy to see why. Combining an infectious vocal snippet which lodges itself deep in your brain with a slowly rising synth line and clattering percussion, it succeeds due to its unique mixture of African pop and contemporary bass which is quite unlike anything released this year. But although it's the A-Side here that has been extensively caned by all the big names, South Africa's DJ Sdunkero's "Choosing Love" is easily as good. A deceptively simple kwaito track, it loops a simple rubbery synth line which is stretched to breaking point, whilst an underlying accordion-like tone gives it a curiously maudlin touch which contrasts its epic scope in great fashion. Essential.

Review: Huntleys & Palmers introduced the wider world to the production talents of Sophie via his excellent Auntie Flo remix, and the same label offers further insight into this producer's clear understanding of how a good house track works on this killer release. Sophie's statement that he tries "to make music which is fun to dance to-that should be the loudest voice talking" is very much evident on both "Nothing More To Say" and "Eeehhh". Already a long term favourite of everyone from Actress to Kode9 via the Numbers crew, it's great to finally get our hands on the chunky house business of "Nothing More To Say", whilst "Eeehhh" is even more impressive, literally exploding with vivid, colourful melodies.