Review: French electro-head Abstraxion continues to garner support from the DJ aristocracy. His "Jus Acid" release of a few months ago won much-deserved support from Erol Alkan, Andrew Weatherall and Brodinski, while this latest on Different Records has already been spun by Laurent Garnier, Boris Dlugosch and Punks Jump Up. With a bleep 'n' glitch lead line backed by acid bass and some soft-touch drums, "Jaipur's Elephant" remains entrancing throughout, as does "Pensae Nocturne" which sports an octave-straddling Euro melody fed through some trippy delays. Cosmo Vitelli also revisits "Jus Acid", with a mix that charges along like In Flagranti gone industrial.
Review: Enigmatic German producer Claptone released the album Fanstat in mid 2018 to much fanfare. A perfect accompaniment, music-wise, to his highly lauded Masquerade series of events, it featured an all star cast in guest roles such as Kele Okereke, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Zola Blood, Nathan Nicholson, Blaenavon, Jones, and Matt Simons. Featured on the third volume of remixes here is an absolutely massive rework by Amsterdam scene hero Patrice Baumel of "La Esperanza". Featuring the vocals of Austra's Katie Stelmanis, this adrenalised and glassy-eyed expression in dancefloor drama is going to be one you'll be hearing on dancefloors well into 2019. If that was not enough, there is also an extended mix of "Good Sense" featuring American singer/songwriter Joan As Policewoman - which also gets a funked-up and rolling groove makeover for the main room courtesy of Simion (Defected/Snatch!)
Review: Claptone's latest single, the infectious and hypnotic groove "The Drums" (Din Daa Daa) Ft. George Kranz has gone on to become something of a dancefloor sensation across the globe since first emerging as the ubiquitous anthem at this year's Miami Music Week. Now Spanish house titan Dennis Cruz, exploding UK talent Latmun and BBC R1 favourite Friend Within deliver three peak time remixes to continue the story deep into the summer. The original started life as a Claptone club tool, a voodoo spell road-tested and refined in clubs all over the world on his never-ending tour. Claptone took inspiration from the post-punk melting pot of early 80's NYC when he connected with the pioneering George Kranz who originally made the drums dance over 30 years ago. The result is a meeting of minds and rhythms, pure gold in the hands of headline DJs.
