New releases last eight weeks: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz

Review: Twilight is the latest piece by long time DJ, producer and remixer, Dominic Dawson. The Japanese label Flower, has released this single to 7" complete with a remix for the second side. The title track is a catchy and funky house track that while the remix is a bit more Balearic and beachy. Both versions have their place in any house setlist and will set the tone for any eclectic DJ set. With the DJing background Dominic has, he is a great guide to setting the mood with music. Like the title artwork suggests, this is perfect music to watch the sun go down to.

Review: Magic Number is Ross Hillard, a downtempo and orchestral composer whose engineering and bass playing can be heard on an array of releases, most notably for the likes of his own house favourites including Louie Vega, DJ Spen, Kerri Chandler, Lay-Far and Atjazz. Now debuting his first record on the latter artist's eponymous label, Badly Written Songs sounds like a slice of humble pie, but it's actually well-thought out title: in Hillard's own words, "(it's) a tongue-in-cheek reference to how transient electronic music can be." Thus, writing songs in this genre might not have been the most sensible and sustainable idea - but we all love house music, so we put everything into it, hoping that people don't discard it too soon. True to an engineer's tastes, the album is ultra-dynamic and bright throughout, serving up a consistent guest-vocal steeze reminiscent of Charles Webster or Herbert's gravitas.

Review: The second full-length from Parisian dance producer Diogo Strausz, whose grasp on the nascent wave of samba-infused house, funk and Afrobeat flaunts a conspicuous expertise. Drawing on the titular idea of 'samba from outer space' - where dance music is a wordless, universal language that quantizes people's experience and flushes them of their iniquities - Strausz's point is that dance music pre-dates electronica and that, looked at it in a certain way, all dance music is simply cosmic samba. Whether or not you agree, this is an effortlessly enchanting full-length, feal to every samba hallmark from syncopated clave to two-tone piano riffs, albeit also backed up by robotic samples and FM ows.