Unknown To The Unknown At Juno Download

Review: Musical output from Jonathan Burnip has been somewhat sporadic in the five years he has been in operation, but when he does drop a record it always counts for something. On 'House of Dolls', his masterful command of a standout hosue groove comes to the fore, as a perfectly bumping beat offsets a cavernous organ stab. All the while digital squalls flit around the track, but really everything revolves around the funk of the track. TAPES take a cheeky 8 bit dub approach to their remix, which is charming if not as striking as the fantastic original. Another winner for the on point Unknown To The Unknown imprint.

Review: Capracara's "House Of Dolls" was one of Unknown To The Unknown's finest tracks last year, and here it gets a reworking from library music and soundtrack specialist Jonny Trunk. The hookup, we can only assume, came through Burnip's appreciation of slasher movie soundtracks, and the result is as out there as you could imagine - stripping the radiophonic bleeps from the original, Trunk leaves only an echo of the original's melody and adds some acoustic samples to glue the remix together. Propelled by nothing other than a simple kick drum, it's what you might imagine a music concrete version of house music to sound like.

Review: The seemingly unstoppable musical juggernaut that is Unknown to The Unknown marches on with this incendiary single from label boss DJ Haus. "Need U'" is fresh as they come, a love letter to classic house and UK hardcore and a UFK anthem all at the same time. Mostly, however, it's just straight-up fun rave tackle, with the remix from shape-shifting producer Capracara every bit as good, replacing the original's stepping rhythms with a robust, refreshingly smacky 4/4 pulse. Highly recommended.

Review: Continuing to bait overly serious dance music with unashamed rave fodder, Unknown To The Unknown enlist a couple of rough and ready remixers in to take DJ Haus' "Needin U" into further realms of large. R1 Ryders step up first with more breaks than a Channel 5 film, wasting no time in launching into a dark slice of rolling old-skool goodness drenched in mammoth synths. Photonz's remix may seem restrained in comparison, kicking off on a haunting refrain and submerged beats, all the while edging towards a proper drop that calls to mind the finest space age machinations of Yorkshire bleep.

Review: As one half of the garage-loving Hot City, it makes sense for DJ Haus to be releasing Radio 1 Xtra and veteran garage and bassline producer DJ Q's All Junglist on his label Unknown To The Unknown - in fact it's almost surprising something like this hasn't been released before. Initially characterized by drum programming that is, well, "junglist", the track is interjected with a beat that is less broken, and more split in half, ripped apart with a tidal wave of woozy bassline action; combined with the tropical synth melody and hardcore referencing piano you've got a track that is classicist and very much in keeping with the label's technicolour focus. It's joined by "Will I Ever Be Free", marked out by a slightly housier touch given by its deep string melody, adding a rich contrast to the swooping low end and crunchy snares. It's a curious mix of bassline garage and Detroit moods, and one that works surprisingly well. Highly recommended!

Review: With a number of big releases under his belt, including an EP for Palms Out Sounds and Untold's SSSSS label no less, Dubbel Dutch finds himself on Unknown to the Unknown's own imprint for his new release. The original version of "B Leave" takes drum & bass inspired percussion and fuses it with a modern bass template, taking its R&B sample and combining it with icy synth stabs which create a sound much like a Detroit take on bass. Transatlantic Night Slugs associates NGUZUNGUZU meanwhile offer a significantly more stripped back version, adding pan pipe samples to its chopped and screwed future R&B aesthetics. Highly recommended.

Review: Former L2S player and MJ Cole remixer Duncan Powell rejigs his 2009 banger "Brake" on this new release from Unknown To The Unknown. The original - previously known and loved from Hot City's Fact mix of the same year - is included here thankfully and still shines thanks to its ultra-funky minimal garage motifs and catchy-as-hell chiming melody. The 2012 mix however throws some real fire at the tune - adding thicker kicks and some deeper sub bass whilst still keeping the rude funk locked in.

Review: All that time conversing with the likes of Marcus Mixx and DJ Stingray must have rubbed off on Unknown To The Unknown's DJ Haus. Despite his Hot City project (alongside Ben Keen) being known for its bass-heavy 2-step productions, this EP, in collaboration with the LA/Montreal pair LOL Boys, consists of a pair of tweaking acid-house jackers. The title track opens with a flurry of swung 808 kicks and neon stabs, before giving way to a rough and ready 303 line, with the rhythm straightened out in the second half into a tough 4/4 house rhythm. "Whitney (Jus Some Shit)" is another winning piece of Chicago inspired house, with a gnarled bassline, driven by furious cowbells and detuned ghetto vocal samples, all with a grimy undercurrent that keeps its feet firmly entrenched in the underground of contemporary London club music. If you're worried that the new direction will cause some of Hot Ciy and LOL Boys energy to be lost in translation, don't be - this is some their best output to date.

Review: UTTU return with what is probably their most impressive release yet; The Sadist, a collaboration by the legendary DJ Stingray, and Unknown To The Unknown's DJ Haus. It certainly lives up to its namesake, with "The Sadist (Part One) employing a 160BPM tempo and a searing electro bassline, and furious drum programming that brings the influence of Chicago juke to Stingray's Detroit leaning template. Part two of "The Sadist" meanwhile concentrates more on rapid 808 drum programming and more fluid synths, dragging the listener remorselessly through a world of alien sounds and breakbeat bass. The remixes meanwhile are something very special indeed, with Drexciya's Heinrich Mueller reworking "The Sadist" with a slower tempo, brittle, frosty synth shards and weird transmissions from the other side, and Cestrian (aka Ali Renault) provides similarly great remix of "The Sadist Pt 2", employing all manner of analogue arpeggios in a fine approximation of Detroit's finest.