Kling Klong Germany At Juno Download

Review: This four-tracker strikes a balance between the deep / tool house divide, but also invokes the spirit of 90s loop techno. Kerkhoff's "Reloaded" is a rolling DJ tool that alternates between deep and disco stabs, while Minicoolboyz' "Deeplines" is trackier, its heavy bongo drums underpinning vocal snippets and lush chords. However, it's Chizhik and Mehta's contribution that makes the most impact. "Chaos Theory" is a groovy but insistent tribal rhythm powered by heavy drums and a muffled, filtered vocal. The Rino Cerrone version brings back memories of late 90s techno, with a dense, loopy take - the only difference being that this time, the arrangement is in keeping with current trends and is at a house tempo.

Review: Continuing the trend that Ricardo Villalobos started with his Sei Es Drum releases, Benson and Gull's "Children" uses an evocative sample of children singing, and sets it to a drummy backing. It's not the most innovative release granted, but there is something deeply haunting and alluring about the voices that guarantees it'll grab everyone's attention. The remixes are more DJ friendly, with Matt Star delivering two rolling, filtered grooves that sit somewhere between party techno and tool-house, while Philip Bader's version strips back the arrangement to focus on a booming bass and driving percussion. However, if you're looking for a summer club hit in waiting, then the original version is the one.

Review: Tech-house may be an often maligned term, but on Meltdown, Heartik invokes the term's older meaning. Heavy drums and crashing snares lead the arrangement into a chord-heavy breakdown and when the "Big Fun"-like keys kick in, it sounds unlike all the monochrome releases trading under that name. Mihai Popoviciu's version lends the track a harder, techy feeling, while "Far from Chicago" sees Heartik return to the early 90s. Curiously though, the track has more to do with New York than Chicago, with its heavy tribal drums, sassy vocals and insidious bassline creating a perfect Tenaglia groove. Finally, Spencer Parker's reshape takes "Chicago" deeper, but the use of firing percussion means that it too remains true to the original spirit of tech-house.

Review: Listening to the title track, it's clear that Alessio Meschieri aka Heartik is a proponent of the kitchen sink approach to production. Starting off with dubby beats, it veers into whooshing filters, breaks down to the sound of Villalobos-esque horn samples and, just in case the listener still wants more, Meschieri adds in some chopped up vocals. "Mini Swing" is less unpredictable, featuring a walking bass and filtered stabs leading into a build up - as are the jacking, disco-inflected versions of "Grenadilla" by Kaiserdisco and Uto Karem - but Heartik reveals his playful nature again on "Malibeth", where dark horn stabs complement the insistent rhythm.

Review: Hot on the heels of the recent Butch album, Plastic Confidence suggests that more of the Great Stuff stable has rediscovered 'real' house. Admittedly, there are remnants of the minimal wave on the stripped back, slinky title track, but these references disappear on Hugo's remake. Deploying linear tribal drums and hissing percussion, the centrepiece of the remix is an insistent, infectious disco filter. The same approach applies on "Grasso"; over a rolling groove, Hermanez adds in an insistent vocal sample, but the arrangement reaches a crescendo with a building disco riff. It might be hard to appreciate in the depths of winter, but come the summer, this could well be the dominant soundtrack.