Juno Recommends Balearic / Downtempo February 2021

Review: Coyote offer up some of their wares to the Balearic gods for this remix excursion. Hardway Brothers get two chances to exercise their dubbiest tendencies over 'Sun Culture', leaning in on the live bass and losing themselves in a swimming pool of delay for the heaviest lidders to get blissed-out to. On the flip, Woolfy and Projections face off on a version of 'Shimmer Dub' that comes on with an easy, wistful demeanour that eventually bursts to life in a rush of 80s-licked boogie abandon. 'Ranura De Marihuana' gets reworked by Max Essa, who lays the vintage synths on thick and comes up trumps.

Review: Fabrizio Esposito is back on Parlesia with another round of funkified house business. This time around he's offering up two mixes of impassioned ballad 'Aria', which becomes a powerful 'moment' track for the club in his hands. On the A side is the 'Disco mix', which straps on a steady, punchy beat and works with plenty of 80s synth touches that sit easy around the romantic swoon of the vocal. On the B side, things get more mixed up with the 'Acid dub mix'. As you might well expect, there's some serious 303 bubbling away in this version, but it's kept very much in harmony with the more tender qualities of the song, making for a soaring piece that might well find favour with a wide range of DJs.

Review: Those who were clubbers in the late '90s and early 2000s should have fond memories of Megasoft Office, a series of usually rather good post-club, chill-out style compilations from Laurent Garnier's much-missed F Communications imprint. To celebrate 25 years since the imprint's launch, Garnier has decided to put out a series "best-of" that also marks Megasoft Office's first ever appearance on vinyl. There's much to enjoy throughout, including some dreamy ambient bliss from A Reminiscent Drive, Scan X, Frederic Galliano and Charles Webster's A Love From San Francisco project; a superb fusion of sixties dream-pop and Terry Riley style minimalism from Juantrip; a couple of typically jazzy Aqua Bassino joints and a solo piano cover of Garnier's 'Acid Eiffel' by Maxence Cyrin.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Crucially not to be confused with the other Powell (note the double L), Berlin-based producer and DJ Powel steps up for Lee Burridge's All Day I Dream label, itself an offshoot of the party series known for epic atmospherics at long, sun-kissed parties where subtleties, sexiness and melodies are often more appreciated than driving beats and bass.

Intros done, The Beauty of a Polaroid is likely exactly what fans of the artist and producer were hoping for. Downtempo tunes defined by the kind of sonics you'd expect to hear while watching sunset at whatever White Island spot you use for those essential evening pre-pre-party hangouts. And Powel certainly delivers a crop that's notably above the usual standard, the highlight of which could well be rave comedown overture Sunrise of Melmac - as emotional a thing as you'll hear all year.

Review: The always excellent Emotional Rescue comes to save us all once more with another of its perfectly escapist releases. This particular 7" comes from Silver Leaf, a short-lived mid-80s project out of Cincinnati, Ohio with a mysterious vocalist. The band was discovered by crate diggers on both sides of the Atlantic and now rightfully get brought to our attention with two brilliantly unique tunes. 'Hey!' is lush, synth driven psychedelic disco soul with a spoken word vocal and bendy chords all brimming with sunshine. 'Can We Rebuilt Our City?' then gets fully heartbroken and horizontal.

Review: We're not quite sure about the story behind this EP - Bathurst have not made clear whether it's the first in a series, or whether there's a theme - but the music on show is well-worth checking. Zoe Leonard dons the Simmerdown guise on excellent opener 'Legitimacy', a slowly unfurling affair that craftily combines sun-kissed ambient electronics with cut-up, club-ready beats, gargantuan bass and 140 style vocal cut-ups. David Hanke delivers two contrasting cuts: the shuffling, bass-heavy, spacey-but-sleazy excellence of 'Deep Shit Part 3' as Black Soyls, and the cheerier and bouncier 'Mirrorsides' under his given name. Our favourite though is ITO's 'Citylights', a jazzy, slipped instrumental number full of beautiful piano flourishes and languid bass.

Review: While she may never have become the huge star many expected she would, Beth Hirsch has nevertheless built up an impressive discography. Her albums are generally really good, with sumptuous and sun-kissed musical arrangements tailor-made to fit her pure and intoxicating voice. Love is For Everyone (L.I.F.E) is, somewhat shockingly, the American vocalist's first album for 13 years, though its blend of downtempo and up-tempo moments - most of which come with either chunky grooves or more soft-touch, atmospheric arrangements - fits with much of her discography. Whether you're a confirmed fan or a younger newcomer, we'd definitely recommend listening to the clips; it's definitely one of those albums that could help get you through the latest round of lockdowns.