Juno Best Sellers 2011

Review: Autoreply do the record buying public a favour and give Baby Ford's Tin Of Worms 12" another repress, this time on yellow wax. Baby Ford has been making electronic music since the late 1980s and is regarded by most as one of the key players in the nascent UK acid house scene. His entry into the Autoreply stable is a classy, versatile two tracker. The title track showcases crisp, tight linear drum programming - with ribcage shaking sub bass and supernatural synths which undulate over its eight minute cycle, displaying the original principles of minimal techno alongside forward thinking sound design. On the flip you'll find "Westway", originally recorded on Ford's now defunct hardware set up and mastered from DAT. This track conjours images of smoky late night jazz clubs with its smooth piano chords and strings that seem to float in an out of the mix- set starter, nightclub techno lesson, afterparty showpiece; the choice is yours...

Review: Parisian label My Love Is Underground calls on the service of Kool Vibe, a veteran DJ & clubber from Paris. Although now in his 40s, this is his debut release, but to hijack a well worn phrase, it's been worth the wait. Mr Vibe has clearly spent many a night on discerning dancefloors, and the three tracks on offer here are produced with the steady hand of someone who knows their way around a house tune.
"House Fever" is essentially an ode to all that is good about 90s house, with a cleverly chopped female vocal, tough drums, oven warm chords and a bumpin' bassline. First up on the flip is "Midnight Call", which boasts an addictive chord sequence, while "Talkin' About Love" rounds off a stellar 12" with some seriously deep vibes and sleazy sax.

Review: Another sought after exclusive just for Juno repress from those cheeky Americans at Killer Funk, with curiously named artist Lucien's Luck kicking off the A Side with an infectious hip hop friendly brass led work out big with the b boys. You really should know this, as they so rightly tell us, and they could be right! On the flip, the Funktified Enforcers drop what could be the best instrumental version of a James Brown million dollar seller yet. Great drum breaks doused in screaming Hammond organ in large enough amounts to keep that dancefloor on the boil with your dancing feet occupied for the duration.A funk 45 must have record !

Review: Soul Capsule aka Thomas Melchior and Baby Ford follow up from last year's "Seekers" with two deeply infectious trade mark cuts. Recorded at Thomas' "Deepsoundtherapy" studio "Deep Dawn" features what will be one of the most unmistakeable basslines of the summer season. The A side track is a peak-time floor filler. On the B-Side "New Day Dawn" is a deeper work out which has an equally distinct bass combined with loose shuffling 808 drum patterns and a spookier take on the vocals. Mastered by Rashad Becker at D&M.

Review: Yam Who?'s ISM label come through with a four track slice of disco centric Futurism, featuring the man Yam himself alongside PBR Streetgang and Ron Basejam. It's the latter who takes the lead with a remix of Alena's "Changes" that sees her sultry vocal teased by a most excellent of analogue synth leads that splurges brilliantly across the crisp mid tempo chug. Yam Who? teams up with vocalist Natasha Watts for the similarly bottom heavy bump of "I'm In Love" which has a certain warehouse appeal to it. On the flip, PBR pay respect to the godfather of soul James Brown with the gritty flex of "J2thaB" with the sadly departed Mr Brown strangely sounding at times like he wants to go to Tesco. We always took him for a Waitrose man, but regardless this is probably the track you'll reach for most! Finally Brothers Young do their thing to a Trammps classic, with little more than the bassline retained. Big tip!

Review: Shadow Ray is best known in house music circles as the co-producer of the Oasis 1, 13, 13 1/2 and 14 releases with Omar S, although he is also well known to the Ryan Correctional Facility for more nefarious reasons. The Detroit-based producer has spent the past four years at Ryan earning not only a hard knocked life but a trade in Sound Engineering. That was until Alex Smith (aka Omar S) made a presentation to the facility's parole board to commission a remix of his recent hit "Here's Your Trance Now Dance" as part of Ray's work release program! Rumour has it the parole board was inhabited by at least one old school house head, and we're delighted to see Alex's idea come to fruition, with Shadow Ray really nailing it with this remix. Staying true to original's shimmering melody, Ray opts to bolster the bottom end with a raw bassline that creates a nice, fat rolling groove.

Review: The sixth release on the excellent Parisian imprint My Love Is Underground comes from Inner Sense - aka French producer Henri Fontaine - who serves up only his second ever solo release (his first was back in 2006!) Sprawled across the A-Side you'll find "Lowdown", a jam that brings to mind the output of New York house dons Masters At Work (indeed look closely at the centre of this record and you'll see the totally appropriate inscribing "1993 forever"). Swirling chords combine with a thumping kick, stuttering keys and, of course, a killer vocal wail for a slice of what can only be described as Proper House Music. "Wanna Dub With U" opens proceedings on the flip with the kind of thumping bass drum and funk-infused skipping hats that would make it a snug fit in the Kerri Chandler back catalogue and, again, the vocals are absolutely gorgeous. Finally, "Rawllin'" wraps up the EP on a more stripped back yet equally groovy tip. Limited to 500 copies on rather fetching 180g orange vinyl - essential.

Review: Trelik reach into their recent archives with a much needed repress of Whalesong, the label's 2011 debut from UK producer OCH. With a compulsive passion for the dying art of crate-digging combined with a love for modern synthesis techniques the now Sweden based OCH manages to put together a 12" that could easily be described as psychedelic Chicago. "Whalesong" is a pulsating floor work-out which references the US greats whilst building an emotive sub-aqua soundscape. "Blind is The Wind" follows with a sneaky chord driven spoken interlude which creates an air of tension before climaxing into "Last Chance Saloon".

Review: Repress alert! Wednesday: Hyperdub announce a new three track release from enigmatic producer Burial - his first solo work in four years. Thursday: Said records arrive on Juno doorstep. How's that for service (and secrecy)! The news came just a matter of days after the producer's collaboration with Radiohead front man Thom Yorke and Four Tet arrived on record shelves across the UK and promptly sold out amidst a frenzy of hype. There are three new tracks on offer here, namely "Street Halo", "NYC" and "Stolen Dog". First up "Street Halo" showcases the classic Burial sound; subterranean bass gurgles, trademark clicking beats and barely-there vocal snatches. A sweet childlike vocal pervades the sonic mist on "NYC" while "Stolen Dog" closes out with ethereal vocal harmonies buried deep beneath vinyl crackle. Stunning.

Review: ** Repress from the Hands Of Time ** The second Hands of Time Gold release sees everyone's favourite Parisian called Dimitri transposed from the exotic climes of Tokyo to the less salubrious Stoke On Trent for a handful of edits that have wedding disco tackle written all over them! Dimitri's timeless edit of the purple one's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" has long been desired by the disco loving cognoscenti and will guarantee this release a towering presence in the bestseller charts. Let's not forget the trio of cuts that make up the remainder though, with "Just Sayin' Really" and "I Pay A Little Slayer" adding a sprinkle of magic to two soul classics whilst "Dem Oi Garl" is guaranteed to get the uncles on the floor.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: This time on transparent vinyl. Amsterdam dwelling editor par excellence Em Vee took the solo reigns on the inaugural Lumberjacks In Hell - and truly excelled with a great reimagination of "Miss You". The second release on the label sees the German share duties with Spanish edit demon Rayko, with the Rare Wiri boss hogging the A Side. First up is an expert rearrangement of Candi Staton's cover of the Bee Gee's standard "Nights On Broadway" which strips the track of its orchestral leanings to focus on the groove! Following this is a meaty take on a classic, with Barbara Keith's cover of "All Along The Watchtower" reinforced with some bottom end bump. Em Vee spreads a special disco version of Alma Lee's late 70s Philly delight "Gimme Your Love" with an extended intro that fully displays his edit talents.

Review: The All City Harmony Show rolls into Ornate towers with the A MasDelux Session EP. Kicking proceedings off "I See" is endowed with the kind of boompty bass that immediately brings to mind Julio Bashmore, complemented by gently cooing vocals and synths that drop in and out of the mix sweetly. The mid section breakdown is divine! Moodymanc takes a good long hard look in the mirror with his Deep Reflection mix of "I See", stripping back the original to create a genuine late night burner - exactly the kind of quality we've come to expect from this producer. This shares the flips side with another original ACHS cut, namely "Extra Funk", which shapes a broken beat around some killer boogie bass and cleverly arranged funk samples.

Review: Autoreply Music marks the coming of the summer season with a very tidy little 10" from OCH. This man recently recorded for Baby Ford's PAL SL imprint, gaining support from a diverse range of DJing luminaries including ZIP, Sammy Dee and Efdemin. Now the mysterious producer steps up with a big room floor rocker that has been described as Ian Pooley's "Chord Memory" meets Christian Vogel. Thunderous drums, hypnotizing chords and a cheeky sample that the old house heads will be sure to recognise make this one for the peak time. Claro Intelecto's Warehouse Sessions on Modern Love is regarded by many as one of the most definitive collections of contemporary techno to hit the shelves in recent years. Fresh back from remixing Depeche Mode he takes time out of his busy schedule for remix duties. Taking his cues from the warehouse classics that accompanied him through years in Manchester's revered clubs like the Hacienda, Home and Paradise Factory, he serves up a powerful, stripped down reworking of the original track that is equally suited to sweaty dance floors. Fasten your seatbelts.

Review: Jimmy Posters and Huxley's new imprint Saints & Sonnets present their debut EP from production duo Ethyl & Huxley with the 3 Feet High EP. Deep, powerful and rounded deep house is on the menu for release number one as strong bass holds down light melodies and slurry vocals for an undoubtedly peak time record. Electronic chameleon and self proclaimed dandy Roman Flugel is in for remix duty and his dubby "Mix 2" flirts with push and pull percussion and chopped vocal snippets for a delightfully experimental revision.

Review: The brilliantly monikered Big Strick - familial elder to Omar S and responsible for the odd killer release on his younger cousin's FXHE imprint - belatedly sates the appetite of record collectors keen to indulge in his recent album Detroit Heat with a six track selection of the choicest cuts spread across this twelve inch. Seemingly drawing influence from a myriad of Motor City influences, Detroit Heat impressively flits between murky deep house, tracky techno and hypnotic jack-tracks. Like many of his contemporaries, Strick is a sucker for 'cement mixer' production - that distinctly Detroitian sound where every beat, groove or bassline sounds like the master tapes have been marinated in grit. That trademark sound, alongside a solid selection of floor-friendly grooves, makes Detroit Heat an excellent addition to the Motor City house canon. The rubbery spinal atmospherics of "Under Tone" and the Tony Coates vocally assisted jack of "Maybe 1 Day" are particular highlights!