Uno US At Juno Download

Review: In a blur of leftfield tendencies, Arca throws down some decidedly unusual hip-hop for Uno, sounding remarkably like little else out there at present. After the meandering lead in of "Dignity", "Focus" sets the tone for the rest of the EP as a loping beat gets decorated with ramshackle samples and melodies, while the vocal flow gets dragged through the electronic mincer to achieve an utterly delirious take on hip-hop paradigms. Everything is anchored by a pervading darkness, even when the melodies might try and be sweet as on "Walls", although the helium vocals might test you on "Ass Swung Low".

Review: It's certainly no rare thing to have a producer that straddles both the more experimental world of electronic music and the instant satisfaction of pop. The real challenge comes in finding someone who makes the combination of the two seem somehow effortless. As a newcomer to the sound of CFCF, it's hard to know what his legacy has foretold with an album and numerous EPs behind him, particularly for Paper Bag Records and more recently RVNG Intl. The lead track "Cometrue" warms to life on a melancholic but incredibly smooth piano hook. The beat comes in with a minimum of fuss; a conserved 2-step funk at an easy pace, while the yearning vocal hook comes not from an old R&B record but rather something more romantic. "Looking So" on the flip has the same downbeat qualities; once again the beat ticks away dutifully in the background while the considered melodies do their work. D'eon's remix of "Cometrue" is a nice surprise, bouncing to life on the kind of chimes that early electronica in the vein of The Black Dog made such great use of. The primitive techno percussion accentuates this feeling even more, creating a rather divine slice of ambience, inducing the kind of glassy-eyed reverie that a good ambient track should.

Review: Perhaps better known to most as Tri Angle artist Ayshay, Fatima Al Qadiri's EP of skittery, steel drum-led beats and bass was an undersung highlight of New York based label UNO last year. Here it gets the remix treatment - and we're not lying when we say some of the global bass scene's biggest names have gotten involved. Night Slugs fam Girl Unit and Kingdom, Hyperdub's Ikonika, Fade to Mind's Nguzunguzu, Dubbel Dutch and footwork titan DJ Rashad all get involved, and the results are pretty spectacular. Girl Unit's take on "How Can I Resist" you is like hyperkinetic club music put into an echo chamber, DJ Rashad's remix is spindly and rickety, Kingdom turns in a fantastic cut that riffs on 80s electro but perhaps the most striking is Ikonika's dark, rumbling rework of "D-Medley" which sounds like nothing else.

Review: A steady player in Grimes' backing band, as well as a member of Born Gold, Canadian Calvin McElroy uses his Kuhrye-oo alias on this excellent new EP for UNO. The knowingly awkward spiralling arpeggios of "Human Rights" make for an exhilarating start as it leads into footwerkin' 808 hits and creeping textures, while "Give In (For The Fame)" is a straighter trail through broken acapellas with a more fleshed-out set of modern 2-step beats. As well as chilly delights of "Untitled" and "Temple", Brick Bandits' Nadus smoothes out "Human Rights" for a mix that's more of a tasteful edit than a full-on overhaul.