Juno Recommends Minimal / Tech House November 2021

Review: Laidlaw and Jamie Mannion's Subee label (itself a spin-off from BEEYOU), strides into its fourth release following excellent drops from Haass, b0n & t3x3 and Mathijs Smit. Committed to the tech house underground, the label now offers up some bubbling party tackle from French producer Aladdin. Even if the name isn't instantly familiar, the tunes are so damn catchy they'll soon be staples in your bag. 'GIVEMETHEFUNK' bounces with a 90s garage house organ riff which gets smoothed out by subtly dubby FX touches and an overall moodiness to balance out the boisterous rhythm section. The swinging bounce abounds on 'Shhh...t' while '420 Reve' offers up a more clattering, bleep-flecked kind of old-skool. 'Locked Steps' keeps the pressure up, ensuring this 12" stays firmly at the front of the pile when you're thinking about artfully crafted tackle to whip the crowd up good n' proper.

Review: All 4 tracks coming from a mystery selection of The Beeyou Crew, Can you guess who? the seventh instalment in the label brings together the fledging hive of bees for an EP full of colaborations. The A side kicks off the EP with the bouncy beats of Bubbling Crew before coming back for more and double dropping with Drop The Bass on the A2 which is enough to slap the wig off your head. When you flip over to the B the honey keeps dripping with the rolling grooves of No White Lines before rounding off the EP with the driving and slightly spooky We Need To Have A Think

Review: Birmingham-based party TRMNL is one of Britain's most reliable regular events. Last summer, the crew kicked off their own new label with a fine EP from East End Dubs that didn't hang around long. It's taken them a while but finally they are back with a seance offering, and this one comes from techno craftsman Samy L with some top remixes. 'Skyline' is a simple but effective tool with depth and warmth for those early hours. 'Ricfab' has a nice skip to its drums, with wooden hits and rasping bass underlining the playful groove. 'Skyline' then gets two remixes - firstly from Seb Zito who layers in a seductive soulful vocal and then Herck, who keeps it minimal.

Review: Looks like we have another Digwah white label in this week. The label first appeared on our radar several years ago with its second release 'Something Else' by an anonymous artist who threw down a sublime vocal by Cuba Gooding over a pumping acid tech house groove. Fast forward to DIGWAH 07, the formula remains the same and is still rather effective. In this case, the vocals are taken from a rather legendary early '90s pop collaboration over a hypnotic, bass-driven minimal house groove aimed squarely at the afterhours dancefloor.

Review: Rotterdam-based Ukrainian duo Antenna has got a super discography that includes outings on all the finest labels out there from Pinkman to Guidance to their own Antenna International US. Here they return to Clone Royal Oak for four tracks of deeply atmospheric house music. There is a big and tribal feel to 'Timbales' which is defined by thunderous hits of the eponymous drum as well as some spooky vocals. 'MDF' is more shadowy and paired back. The drum designs are so fresh it's a killer groove before things get all aggy and in your face with the off-balance stop and twitchiness of 'Bodja.' 'Park Life' closes out in reflective fashion with lush harmonies swirling around a big open space.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: UFO Series welcome the bubbly hi-tech soul of Seafoam into the mix. Brian Cavender's premier project was active some 20 years ago on the likes of Guidance and Straylight, plying a line in tech house that favoured dubby moods and inquisitive experimentation - the kind of thing DJs like Nicolas Lutz have made theur name unearthing. That vibe maintains in fine style on this stellar 12", 'Easy Tiger' gently skips its way through a thicket of gloopy analogue synth lines, while 'Hard City' shuffles into a perfectly smudged out dub house headspace. 'Outerwears' creates a subtly kinked groove to carry plush soulful keys, and 'Give The Drummer Some' rides a slender break through a misty lake of pads n' chords for the dreamier end of the dance.

Review: The unstoppable East End Dubs launches yet another vinyl series here: introducing the first edition of the Collaborations series which features the label chief teaming up with some of the biggest names in tech house. Four cuts on this one: on the A side you've got 'Stargaze' in conjunction with Mannheim's Fabe (Salty Nuts) where they serve up some minimal boompty-funk, while C1 is with the ever reliable Sidney Charles on the hypnotic swing of 'Mental Stealth'. On side D is where it gets serious, on the moody, heads-down groove of 'Delicut' with fellow Londoner Rich NxT, and ending with the infectious afterhours bounce of 'Static Sea' with the ascendant Cuartero.

Review: OGE is a leading outlet for lovers of white hot, white label minimal. They turn out the tunes at a decent rate of knots and on this third EP of the year the in house team once again impress. 'Weird Situation' is a nice smooth 90s tech house groove with subtle, balmy pads and crispy drums and snares. 'Calamaro's Face' has majestic bleeps and beeps and a super nice melodic baseline that takes you on a joyous ride. 'Background Flour' is jacked up and bumping with again with lush chords softening the edges and last of all 'Southern Breeze' is a lovely off-balance rhythm with silky chords, deft vocals and atmospheric vocals.

Review: It's smooth and silky grooves all the way with French label Berg Audio. Now up to a fifth transmission, it is Badeo who comes thorough with three original tunes. The is his debut release, and an impressive one at that. 'Facade' is just well pitched, spaced out tech house with smeared pads and rubbery drums. 'Controller' gets a little more minimal and textured, with layers of hits, synth and underlapping bass pulling you in deep. Icelandic dub legend Thor remixes 'Facade' into a 5am, dubbed out techno roller and 'Visionay' is similarly warm and atmospheric.

Review: Florence is another white label series that marries '80s pop vocals with heady minimal house grooves. With previous titles such as 'Born Trippy' and more blatantly 'Rihanna', 'Chaka' or 'Bonobo' - you can kinda see where this lot are coming from. For their tenth edition though, they've put a twist on a modern microhouse classic (guess which one) on "Easy". Whoever churned out this one certainly had some audacity, but respect to them! Over on the flip, we have some boompty swing-fuelled deepness on 'Resist' followed by a dope hip-hop joint in the form of 'Game' which provides a welcome change in tempo.

Review: Next up on Amsterdam's PIV imprint is Talman Records chief Okain, with four tough rolling tech house cuts on the eighth edition of their limited vinyl series. He merges the best of UK tech house and classic early '90s stateside deepness just perfectly on opening cut 'Tinker', while 'Foursquare" goes down a glacial and cavernous path in the vein of dub techno. Over on the flip, we see the return of esteemed French producer Brawther who delivers a sublime rework of 'Tinker' in the vein of Swiss minimal house (think The Mountain People or Agnes) followed by a remix of the A2 by Chris "Up The Stuss" Stussy.

Review: Marc Romboy launched Systematic in 2005 and it has since gone on to release music from producers as diverse as Mike Dunn and Fur Coat, through to Robert Babicz, Pongo as well as Romboy's own productions - garnering a reputation for emotive strains of house and techno. Music From Space (Dimension A) is a nine track various artists compilation that is inspired by Romboy's Music From Space radio show, and features exclusive recordings. Croatian hypnotic techno expert Petar Dundov is in fine form always on the spellbinding groove of 'Andante', Mobilee staple Rodriguez Jr serves up some meditative and introspective polyrhythms on the ultra deep "Mare Serenitatis", while veteran producer Scan X creates deep space sonar transmissions on "Stellar Nebula" and Munich-based Julian Wassermann's "The Red Planet" is epic dancefloor drama at its finest.

Review: Fuse off-shoot Locus is driving itself as vital as its parent label so far. And the 15th outing is another doozy from Casey Spillman. Drawing on spaced out house, breaks and electro as well as the underlying tech house that is this label's staple, he cooks up a fine new sound. 'Get Upper' is driving and punchy but with style and soul, then 'I Know' gets a little more unhinged with garage percussion and farting bass that will sound killer on a big system. There is a clean and serene melodic edge to 'Summer Dreaming' and its breezy groove, then 'Good Morning Ninety Free' rounds out with the best sound of the lot - a balmy, jazz tinged US house sound for the earliest hours in the morning.

Review: Following up some fine releases by the likes of Giorgio Maulini and Cosenza, Djebali delivers that unmistakable French touch as always, and this edition features a respected stalwart of the Parisian house music scene in the form of Mancini (hedZup) who is joined by ascendant Slovenian Alex Ranerro on DJEBPR 016. It kicks off with the ethereal and hypnotic "Alocasia" which would make even Mulen or Tripmastaz stand up and notice, followed on the flip by the trippy UK tech house vibe of "Willow" and the deeper late night mood music of "Gas Tank".

Review: Everybody likes to have a go at elitism in any form of art, but plenty of us also like to quietly value our own taste over other people's. For that reason the bold title of this one alone is rather endearing: the EP is staking its claim as Advanced House For Purists, and why not. 'Chant For The Underdog' is a bristling, lo-fi, scintillating cut for steamy, sweaty clubs. 'All Right' cuts even more loose with its whirring loops and pounding kicks taking you back to go forwards. 'I Believe' might be the best of the lot with its lush soul vocal and roughed up house groove, then 'Funky Funky Makossa' and 'Bullshit On Wax' close out in big, rambunctious fashion.

Review: MIDI is one of the many labels out of Romania to operate in the bottomless world of minimal techno. The first five releases have done well to establish it and this sixth is another doozy. It comes from the main man Arapu and features just two tunes, one on each side of this 12". The first is 'Explorers,' a waif, floaty light groove that evolves slowly and subtly over the course of its 12 and a half minute length. A minute longer than that on the flip is 'Noir-Jam,' a more dark and winky tune with slippery synthetic sounds, melancholic chords and rubbery drums and bass.

Review: As my Life continues so does the musical story. Hope you enjoy this one! Ed Jus-Ed That is...

Review: House on Wax is back with its 15th EP and is a label that continues to take inspiration from early white label house music releases.Paul Rudder steps up for this one and does a fine job of navigating some groovy house waters. 'Theory' is a balmy, deeply cosmic opener to get you on your toes. 'Horizon' is with Jay Nortown and is denied by nice pumping kicks and lithe chord word that channels all the US classics. Flip it over for the starry night skies and slinky drums of 'Twilight' while 'Earthed' is another masterfully smooth and serene groove with one eye on the future and plenty of subtle reference to the greats gone by.

Review: It's time for the third transmission from the young and keen Issues label and for the third time in a row they opt for a various artists EP. This special and limited edition splattered vinyl includes some of minimal tech's biggest tunes of the last few months and opens with George Smeddles's simple but effective tech roller 'Fix.' CAAL & Baum link up for the more funky and elastic 'I Wish' which has nice height to the kicks and some trippy effects keeping therein busy, then Brown Vox's 'Do It Ma Way' is a prickly, busy, dynamic cut with a woodpecker beat to get you freakin. Detlef closes down with the bleeps and squeaks of his remix of 'Other Dimension.'