Madtech At Juno Download

Review: On his website Joe Arthur, aka Applebottom, describes his style as simply 'house'. However, one listen to these two tracks reveals a talent much more complex and innovative than that term can describe. This debut is released via Kerri Chandler's Mad Tech - not bad for a Bristol boy still in his teens! Beginning with pitched up and down soul vocals and escalating clap-heavy percussion, "All Nite" bursts into a filthy techy-garage belter. "Turn On The Faith" is a total banger with a brutal stomping kick, chopped up hip-hop vocals, jackin' snares and some lovely 90s synth stabs.

Review: With their releases on Numbers and Hyperdub, Ill Blu have shown themselves to be one of UKF's most interesting voices, and this EP for Kerri Chandler's Madtech sees them refine their style ever further. "Omar" combines the wonky metallic synth stabs of their previous efforts with a thumping 4/4 techno kick, all bathed in dub, while "2nd Nature" sees them expand their remit to include house music, delivering some piano driven, bass infused beats, with only the slightest hint of the UKF heritage. "Tick Tock" however sees them go back to business as usual, with its manic square waves rippling across a tense backdrop.

Review: Recently signed to the Madtech label, 22-year old producer Kashii fuses ghetto rhythms with a classic house sound on "Rome" - the excellent title song from this new EP. Alongside it, "Make This" is a smoother yet still banging mix of dubby kicks and retro hardcore stabs arranged into a locked and jacking house groove. On a more militant and grimy tangent, "Rome" gets a makeover by South London Ordnance while Lakosa adds some deep and moody textures to "Make This".

Review: Deep house veteran Kerri Chandler has been broadening the scope of his label Madtech of late, and this new release, featuring the pairing of Midlands producer Lakosa and fellow producer IO, is a fine example of this approach. The title track is slow and crackly, with a deep vintage groove and evocative pads. Vocal snippets are peppered throughout to hypnotic effect. The West Norwood Cassette Library mix ups the feel good factor to 11 with its cheeky garage beginnings that soon flower into ecstatic and sweeping orchestrated disco. Finally UK grime guy Pedro123 delivers a dynamic but sparse, bassline workout.

Review: Continuing Madtech's exploration of edgier material that reflects the modern house music landscape, Seb Wildblood makes an early entry in his career for the label and captures the vibe of the times, not least on the title track. With a prominent bassline, spooky vocal sample and clean drum arrangement the scene is set for a downbeat kind of deep house that borrows plenty from the world of bass music. "Lusk" is a more lively affair with its fulsome square wave bassline and dynamic balance of chords and snappy beats, although still very much in the warm up end of the party spectrum. Artifact gets mechanical and techy on his remix of Toreki, while Thefft goes for a more hack and slash approach to "Lusk" that chops some of the key elements up nicely.

Review: Having spotted an opportunity to reclaim '90s revivalism with his rebooted Madtech label, Kerri Chandler turns to the equally hyped Waze & Odyssey to deliver some heady, late night thrills. Predictably, they deliver, offering a selection of tracks that meld cut-up vocal wails and smooth atmospherics to punchy '90s drums. Both "Be Right There" and "Ride The Rhythm" tread a similar path, focusing the action around mutant vocal samples and well-observed '90s house sonics. Citizen provides the obligatory remix of the title track, shuffling the elements around and adding some extra percussive pressure.