Artist: JOIE NOIRE/BLACKJOY Title: The Jekyll EP Label: Public Release Genre: Disco / Nu Disco Format: Vinyl
The first two picture disc releases from boutique San Francisco imprint Public Release featured some brilliant and oh-so New York photography, with contemporary 5 borough icons Tim Sweeney and Jacques Renault taking the musical reins. The former - Sweeney’s only official productions to date – was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it promo affair, while the latter featured four essential edits from the Runaway man.
For release number three we’re treated to a decidedly French affair; steak with chives, what looks like a blob of hollandaise and chips on one side of the record, an empty plate on the other; a brilliant visual concept. Indeed, so brilliant the obvious concern is that the music doesn’t live up to the visual mastery of the release. Thankfully, in the hands of Parisian producer Jerome Caron aka Gallic edit maestro Blackjoy such concerns are quashed well before the needle reaches the run out groove on Side A.
Aptly named the Jekyll EP, Blackjoy debuts his new, somewhat darker Joie Noire alias (which even the pathetically monolingual scribes at Juno Plus could deduce as French for ‘Black Joy’) on the A Side, with the heavy acid jam “Secret”. Bordering on techno, it carries a menacing undertone beneath the intricately layered synth work, showcasing an altogether new facet to the producer’s armoury – a distinct move away from the upbeat disco edits and insouciant house he’s known for.
Flip over and Caron works under his more familiar nom de plume, dropping a sultry slow-mo disco excursion characterised by some wonderfully languid funk riffage. Originally released in shorter form on Blackjoy’s 2010 Erotis album, here the track is extended and given some much needed room to breath.
It’s time for the DJM 800 to step aside and make way for the massively updated new addition to Pioneer’s range of professional DJ mixers, The DJM 900 Nexus.
Artist: Rahaan Title: Edits Volume 1 Label: Spacemachine Recordings Genre: Disco / Nu Disco Format: Double CD
In underground disco circles, US crate digger Rahaan Young is considered something of an unsung hero. A formidable DJ and talented producer, the Windy City veteran has forged a reputation as one of Chicago’s finest underground exports – a hero to house heads who like their beats deep, their parties eclectic and their disco authentically crackly and upbeat.
Yet for all his DJ skills, it’s for his re-edits that Rahaan is most celebrated. Thanks to releases on KAT Records, Past Due, Jiscomusic and Stilove4music – the most recent of which dropped earlier this month – the Chicago resident is widely regarded as a fearless re-editor with a penchant for the weird, wonderful and little known. Crucially, he’s also sympathetic to his (usually obscure) source material – something that can’t be said for many 21st century scalpel fiends.
If you’ve yet to check Rahaan’s edit output, this lovingly packaged Edits Volume One double CD release from fledgling London imprint Spacemachine Recordings is an excellent starting point. It gathers together a selection of his finest edits to date – all fresh from his bulging hard drive. Additionally, there’s also a mixed CD, where Rahaan showcases his impressive DJ skills in an action-packed hour of sumptuous disco fun.
It’s the unmixed disc that is the real selling point, and with good reason. The 12 tracks span a range of moods and tempos, from string-laden slow burners and crackly disco-funk gems to horn-laden stompers and unashamed hands-in-the-air slammers. Most satisfyingly, there’s little in the way of 21st century studio trickery or digital wizardry – just high quality original grooves, subtly tweaked for contemporary dancefloors.
The organisers behind Field Day have announced the first details of the line up for this years edition of the East London festival with Actress, Matthew Dear and Pearson Sound amongst a raft of impressive and diverse acts.
Late last year Juno Plus brought news of a much overdue debut album from veteran bassheads Instra:mental and NonPlus++ have finally let loose with the full details of what we can expect when Resolution 653 drops in April.
Hold tight for the arrival of M-Audio’s Venom, a 49-key synthesizer which combines the character of classic analog synths with modern digital processing to deliver an aggressive, infectious new sound.
mulletover, Bloc and Deviation will curate the three rooms that make up the first Eastern Electrics soiree of 2011, with DJ Koze and James Holden amongst the first names to be confirmed for the event which takes place at the end of May.
Community continue to treat South London to Saturday nights that nonchalantly bridge the international gap between the established and the rising, with this weekend’s edition perhaps the most striking example of their programming ethos. They’ve only gone and booked Kerri Chandler.
Artist: Nicolas Jaar Title: Space Is Only A Noise Label: Circus Company Genre: Minimal, Tech House Format: Vinyl, CD
It would be no lie to suggest that Nicolas Jaar’s debut album, Space Is Only Noise, is one of the most anticipated electronic albums of 2011. And with good reason; through a variety of celebrated releases on Wolf + Lamb and Clown & Sunset, Jaar has developed a sound and style that’s unlike anything we’ve heard before.
Regular Jaar listeners will have come accustomed to his distinctive musical voice; those heart-aching piano figures, intensely beautiful vocal samples and hypnotic percussion patterns formed from a heady mix of found sounds, white noise and vintage vinyl crackle. It’s a style that rewards repeat listens and lends itself to the album format far more than the humble 12” single.
It’s perhaps fitting, then, that Space Is Only A Noise is a true album – a 46-minute journey that’s worth far more than the sum of its parts. If there is a concept – and it’s a loose one, at that – it would be blues. Through his use of off-kilter library samples, barely audible jazz singers, his own pain-drenched vocals and slow, considered piano motifs, Jaar explores a very 21st century take on the blues. His fusion of the traditional, unusual and the ethereal is, at times, stunning – far-sighted downtempo music for a generation reared not on cheeky 90s ambient house but dub techno epics and Matthew Herbert albums.
At its most basic, Space Is Only A Noise is an utterly mesmerizing audio soup – a kind of dimly-lit late night trip into the heart of the American deep south with little more than a vintage transistor radio for company. As debuts go, it’s breathtaking.
It’s fair to say Kyle Hall had an induction into house music that would be envied by most. Able to lean on family friend Raybone Jones for Djing lessons and guided through the basics of production techniques by Rick Wilhite and Mike Huckaby as a kid.
The recent Trouble Vision weekender at their delightfully grimey South London home, Corsica Studios, represented all that is good in electronic music right now, particularly Saturday nights proceedings. Alongside the Detroit legend that is Theo Parrish and the ever-familiar members of the Aus roster – Ramadanman, Midland and label founder Will Saul, was Stuttgart’s finest, Motor City Drum Ensemble.
Known for his signature raw sound combining his affinity for classic Detroit techno with Chicago house, Danilo Plessow brings a certain edge away from the same-old monotonous techno. As one of the guest producers besides Soul Clap, Henrik Schwarz, Midland and MJ Cole on Ben Westbeech’s forthcoming album for Strictly Rhythm, Danilo spent his final minutes before show time to chew the fat with Juno Plus contributor Flora Wong and Westbeech about their work together, the Ableton generation and what’s to come from his label Raw Cuts.
Amidst all the excitement over Radiohead’s sudden announcement of a new album, news reaches Juno Plus of a raft of new material from disco’s international men of mystery, Tiger & Woods, over the coming months including a debut album for Gerd Jansen’s Running Back imprint, entitled Through The Green.
Artist: Daedelus Title: Tailor Made Label: Ninja Tune Genre: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul Format: Digital
Alfred Darlington. Quite why you’d pick a pseudonym when you already have a name as incredible as Alfred Darlington at your disposal is a mystery, but then, it’s one of many brilliantly odd things about both Daedelus and his ever-evolving music. From indie-tronica, to the deeply warped hip-hop of his Exquisite Corpse album, his MF Doom hook-up Impending Doom” or his 2006 sample-tastic release on Mush, Denies The Day’s Demise, Daedelus has covered a huge amount of ground. Since signing with Ninja however, he’s distinctly upped the tempo and applied his scattered, bricolage techniques to making electronic/dance music in his own idiosyncratic way. 2008’s Love To Make Music By was a revelation, and the seasick Italo of single “Make It So” especially proved to be one of the year’s most affecting and standout tunes.
Thankfully, Daedelus appears to be building on this formula. As a prelude to new album Bespoke, this first single features Canadian electronica producer, and former Plug Research labelmate, Milosh on the vocals and positively charges out of your speakers at a galloping 130bpm tempo. With a thick kick and a juke-like clap keeping time, a thick wave of conjoined samples gets slowly filtered up, much like the start of “Make It So”, but even more bug-eyed and delirious. Short loops of urgent strings samples nestle up against tight bass hits, barber shop quartet backing harmonies, even guitar chanks that sound eerily like they’ve been sampled from Arabesque’s “In The Heat Of A Disco Night” (the sample source for Fake Blood’s “I Think I Like It”).
Milosh’s languid vocals fit like a glove over this sea of soaring noise, as he takes time over each line and allows the melodies to float over the top of it all like a saxophone player playing a deliberately restrained solo. The whole thing reminds hugely of Radiohead’s “Idioteque” but constructed with warm organic sounds rather than icy electronic ones. Remixes from Floating Points remix and Tokimonsta are lined up for the future, which will no doubt be pretty special, and on the strength of this first single, Bespoke looks like being a pretty essential purchase too.
Delusions of Grandeur will dip their toes into the artist album market for the first time this May with a much anticipated debut set from Glaswegian deep house fusionists 6th Borough Project.
A tender moment was shared at the Juno Plus office this morning as Young Turks revealed a video for the delightful Jessie Ware & Sampha duet “Valentine” which the London label released today on rather cute heart shaped vinyl.
Details for this years edition of the annual pre Sonar Festival musical jolly in London have been announced with a suitably diverse lineup which is notable for a live show from the masters of Kuduro, Buraka Som Sistema.
You could feel the love here at Juno this week, as the lead up to Valentine’s Day saw a sprinkling of lovingly crafted vinyl releases – most notably this heart shaped record from Jessie Ware and Sampha on Young Turks (pictured above).Read the rest of this entry »
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