Review: Having cut his teeth and caused attention with a string of accomplished bootlegs, west country repper Jaquo returns to his original repertoire with three sinewy slices of dark-tinged house. "NYC" is a fast Trax experience into the heart of house music's genus; all linear bass and crafted vocal elements. "Palm" takes us back to the bass-bitten future with a bulbous subby groove that nods respectfully at My Nu Leng and New York Transit Authority. "I See U" takes us even further into the future with a bubbly, techy groove and snippety-snip vocal playfulness. We see you Jaquo, we see you.
Review: Following a single-track salvo on a split release from the eccentric Play More Terrys label, Hot 'N' Heavy has handed a debut EP to Ian Place. The Washington D.C-based producer takes his chance impressively, delivering a couple of solid, floor-friendly rubs shot through with warm deep house flavour. "Control" features warm chords sprawled over a bumpin', low-end heavy groove and vintage US garage-influenced drums. There's a bit more shuffle to the drums on "Old Fashioned", but it's the sub-heavy UKG style bassline that really catches the ear. A promising debut is completed by a pair of remixes of "Control" from Bob Citrus (snappier and wonkier) and Tone Chaser, Commodore 69 and Fansea (deep house with dub techno influences).
Review: Lunova Labs is an electronic producer hailing from the unusual base of Nashville, Kentucky. Describing his sound as future garage and inspired equally by Debussy, Aphex Twin and Philip Glass, he finally releases this two-track follow up to recent EP Pneuma. "Burden" is a simple affair with a tropical xylophone motif gently lilting over sparse beats. Three further mixes of the track feature here: Kyson Market Stall take the song in a trippy slow motion soul direction, while Commodore 69 and Azedia both concentrate on toughening up the tropical beats and bass. Second track "Holding On" again has a minimal arrangement, but is augmented by soaring soundscapes and a fragile piano melody. Fedbymachines deliver a killer Burial-style doom mix, Admin delivers a laid-back house interpretation, but it's EPLP's standout garage-tinged mix that will fill the dancefloors.
Review: Combining broken garage beats, powerful basslines and some heavy textures, UK producer D3adl1ne's "Wait For You" boasts three dubby killers - the deeply-atmospheric title tune, the meditative half-stepper "Still Believing" and the more house-shaped chilled tech of "Baby Got Beef".
Review: Second time around for Mak and Pasteman's "Playboy", this time in glistening "VIP" form, backed by a string of new remixes. For those who enjoy their garage to flicker between fizzling haf-step and bombastic tropical rhythms, "Playboy VIP" should be essential. Remix wise, choose between the cut-up wobble of Udachi's remix, the breakdowns-and-dubstep-on-speed flex of the Clicks & Whistles version, and the snappy bounce of the Subio remix. There are also three new reworks of "Jungle Juice". Of these, it's the fairground two-step and call-and-response madness of the Palle Remix that most impresses, though there's something deliciously raw about Mike G's heavy rework.
Review: Delightfully smooth vibes can be found in abundance as Gullfisk marks his entrance into the bass world with his first full artist EP. With slippery synth pads and neatly diced vocal cuts running throughout, this will win you friends on the dancefloor and your home stereo. The title track is especially beautiful with its subtle kicks and trickling hi-hats playing careful cameos as the vocal and groove do all the talking. The two-step powered "Green Waters" is slightly more dancefloor inclined but equally deep and enchanting. Meanwhile "Explore" lives up to its name and explores the wonderfully retrospective world of synth sounds to such an expert level it almost sounds like an Orbital track. With remixes from EPLP, Commodore 69 and D3adl1ne, this really is quite the package.
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