Visionquest At Juno Download

Review: There's been a growing sense of excitement surrounding the debut release from the Visionquest label set up by Messrs Troxler, Curtiss, Reeves and Crosson that was threatening to render it slightly underwhelming when it finally arrived. Thankfully that is certainly not the case as Benoit & Sergio demonstrate on the three tracks that make up Where The Freaks Have No Name a restrained yet totally sultry take on house music dynamics which is quite infectious. As you'd expect from half of the Ndf duo that brought us the delightfully charming "Since We Last Met" on DFA last year there's as much attention paid to song writing as there is to dance inducing aesthetics here with opening track "Walk & Talk" perhaps being the most striking example, sleepy almost vocodered vocals lamenting a partner's lack of hygiene to a backdrop of crisp handclaps and stifling subaqueous melodies. The title track is naturally a tad freakier, being vaguely reminiscent of Visionquest boss Troxler's vampiric turn on last year's Art Department release before a swift turn into some truly epic synth sweeps that come to characterise the track. "Day Residue" meanwhile is ten minutes of sprawling synth flutters that noodle with a glorious soaring unpredictability over the top of a stripped down house skip and bump aided by the repeated vocal refrain and elastic bassline.

Review: Visionquest and Dinky? We can't say it's a partnership we were expecting. "Teka" kicks of the Time To Lose It EP with bubbling vocal pockets, tight-tapping drums and a solid house/tech groove. "This Is Your Heart" on the flip is a playground of percussive rhythm and Dinky's expertise shines bright; smooth, punchy, warm yet spiky. "Time To Lose It" is the real killer, however, as it demonstrates something unexpected from both parties. Ethereal double tracked vocals, intricate, ambient electronic touches swaying in the background... it's pure headphone fodder and a surprising (but oh so welcome) addition from party kings Visionquest and Dinky herself, as a well known ambassador of dark, tumbling techno. Recommended.

Review: On one hand, it's quite a surprise to see one-time prog houser Guy Gerber throw his lot in with Seth Troxler's achingly hip Visionquest label. On the other, it makes perfect sense. Visionquest has long been obsessed with soft focus melodies and dreamy compositions, and "The Mirror Game" - a loose deep houser blessed with cascading melodies and progressive atmospherics - ticks all those boxes. "One Day In May" opts for a more old skool house approach, mixing shuffling, West Coast deep house percussion with woozy chords and heady vocal samples. Gerber rounds off the EP by dropping that most prog house of selections - a beatless ambient version of the comfy title track.

Review: It's a mark of the quality and consistency of Visionquest's releases that you can tell them a mile off. This debut EP from four-piece Life & Death is a great example of that. Without checking the label details, you would instantly identify Step Aside as a Visionquest release. It features the label's usual sonic palette - snappy, 808-influenced percussion, woozy synths, sub-bass heavinesss, atmospherics akin to 1980s goth records- and a moody, spoken vocal straight out of the Benoit & Sergio school of thought. Second track "Morgana" flips the script slightly, but it still sounds like a Seth Troxler record. If you, like us, enjoy the Visionquest sound, then, you'll love Step Aside.

Review: Given that this loose, chiming and impressively organic three-tracker was co-produced by Visionquest co-founder Ryan Crosson, it seems strange to suggest that it's not a very Visionquest type record. Yet on the face of it, it isn't. Neither the distant, icy and snaking "DRM" - a 13-minute vibraphone-laden tech-house epic - or the more upbeat "Orca" easily fit into the Visionquest catalogue, but both are magical. The latter, in particular, sounds like contemporary take on the Steve Reich minimalist classical sound, but with serious dancefloor oomph. With the acoustic guitars and downbeat house pulse of "The Day You Left" adding another texture, DRM Part 1 is an excellent EP.