Cari Lekebusch - Spindizzy

Cari Lekebusch is a producer and DJ based in Stockholm, Sweden. His productions vary in style and he owns record label, H. Productions. Spindizzy explores darker territory as a repeated bassline coupled with synth hook conjures up a tense atmosphere. Electronic wails (5:33) create an eerie breather as Lekebusch then orchestrates the gradual return of the central theme. A meticulous approach to production is pretty apparent as flawlessly crisp percussive sounds are combined with alluring digital effects. Overall, a dark slice of atmosphere designed for the floors.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/carilekebusch
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Michael Woods and Ant Brooks - Yemba

“My first memory is being sat at a piano,” says East-London producer and DJ Michael Woods. “I don’t remember not being able to play it. My father had us practicing every day from the age of three. And it didn’t stop there – next it was the trumpet, then guitar, followed by drums, and, erm, even the triangle!” Classically trained at Pimlico’s Trinity College of Music, Woods is the man behind a number of fresh productions lately. Yemba, has a solid floor-driving house backing as a saxophone motif keeps the party spirit flowing. And the use of vocal samples ("Yee--emba"!) coupled with the looped bass groove adds flavor to the tightly produced proceedings.

rating: ***
url: http://www.myspace.com/michaelwoodsrecords
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DJ Mozy - Bliss 2009

South African music producer DJ Mozy is behind Bliss 2009. It's a straightforward dancefloor-friendly production, firmly in the trance genre. With its snare rolls and repeated synth patterns Bliss 2009 has the feel of a retro production - reminiscent of the nineties trance heyday. Musically there are some interesting sections - I like the slow building low-register chords that grow from the ground up and are then coupled with string sustains and eventually driving percussion (1:50ish). There's also plenty of musical variation to keep things fresh. Looking forward to the remixes.

rating: ***
url: www.djmozy.com/
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Jocelin Brown - Somebody Elses Guy (Laurent Wolf Remix)

Jocelyn Brown's 1984 soulful track Somebody Else's Guy gets the remix treatment from french DJ Laurent Wolf. It's an interesting combination of styles where human soul and robotic elictronica meet. Serious in tone, cold tech-melodies mesh together with some rudimentary percussion and pulsing bass motifs. Thrown into the mixture are Brown's passionate vocals that work for the most part as incidental backings to the driving electronic atmosphere. A slightly unexpected a capella vocal break in the middle delivers a pleasant surprise as one genre emmerges from another. At the end of this section a digitally-sustained belted note takes us back to the house beats, with a new excitement high. A well sectioned remix for the more serious electronic DJ.

rating: ***
url: www.laurentwolf.com
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Mstrkrft - Heatbreaker (Laidback Luke Mix)

We reviewed the original Heartbreaker in May and it's gone on to become a DJ favourite with its soulful John Legend vocals and piano-bar sensibility. This remix is starting to take the original's place as Laidback Luke applies his well-known manic style to the material. Cutting into the piano riff with emulated turntable effects, the results are dramatic - creating a less conventional alternative to the more straight-laced original. Blasts of the Legend vocals emerge, but they're coupled with synth melodies and before long are effected with repeated segments and digital manipulation. Overall a cutty reversioning of a more conventional track.

rating: ***
Original review here.
url: www.myspace.com/mstrkrft
url: www.myspace.com/laidbackluke
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Kim Fai - Good Life (Original Mix)

The original Good Life (by Inner City in 1988) is one of those dance anthems of yesteryear that never truly left the club scene. It had a vocal hook and powerful electronic groove that was simply perfect on dancefloors and for this reason often crops up in current DJ sets. With such a classic as a starting point Kim Fai had a head-start here. He none-the-less creates something that's a strong reversioning of the original. The most impactful moment of the '88 version is when the vocals reach the "it's a goodlife" peak. Fai chooses to tease the listener here, by never fully releasing this part of the lyrics. He instead chooses to build around this moment, adding pounding current-day percussion and interesting sonic effects. I like the use of echo to create repeated vocal moments, like "I know you want to go - go - go". And anyone who's heard this in a Main Room lately will tell you it's a powerful one! Nicely done.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/kimfai
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Burn The Negative - Low

Signed to Gung-Ho Recordings, home to The Japanese Popstars, Gus Gus, Zoo Brazil, and others, Burn The Negative have just been added to ITB’s roster - the live agency that represents The Verve, Soulwax and many more. Burn The Negative's latest release Low has a smartly produced electro-pop vibe with crossover appeal that would work in clubs of many different musical styles. The driving synth bassline that starts the track out, lends itself well to dance-orientated DJs, while the vocals and more conventional elements carry an indy rock sensibility. There's a groove to Low, that coulpled with the vocal panache and hints of eighties pop rock, makes for some interesting listening. Looking forward to some remixes.

rating: ***
url: www.burnthenegative.co.uk
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Meleka - Go

From north-west London singer-songwriter Meleka has worked with Estelle and Sabrina Washington and was crowned Hugo Urban Rules winner in 2008 after impressing music industry folk. Go has a soulful sensibility that will work on the right dancefloors. There's genuine emotion in Meleka's vocals that gives the track an authentic sadness. Her lyrics also work well with the reflective keyboard accompaniments and driving percussion. Looking forward to the remixes from Booda, Doug McCourt, Diamond and Sid Mercutio.

rating: ***
url: www.
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Timo Maas - Jetstream

Timo Maas is back with Jetstream. This is a track that means business. Serious and menacing in tone, there's little time for melody here. Intensity and tension are created with hard driving percussion and stereo effects. The central focus is an alarm-like siren that gradually increases in pitch, growing threateningly until a maximum peak is reached. The effect is disturbing! Overall, the production here is solid and although this isn't everyone's cup of tea, with the right crowd this is explosive material.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/timomaas
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Above & Beyond Present OceanLab - Lonely Girl

Official release July 15th. Soothing minor chords pulse throughout this lyric-driven dancefloor-friendly number. Its overall tone is very pleasant, and although it stays in the same musical territory throughout, its consistency works here. The production and arrangement is tasteful and restrained, with well-thought-out layered vocal effects and instrumentation. I'd also suggest checking out the Ercola Radio Edit.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/aboveandbeyond
url: www.myspace.com/officialoceanlab
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Renaissance Man - What Is Guru (Riva Starr remix)

Riva Starr delivers a slimmed-down remix of "What Is Guru". This one's all about the "Hare Krishna" vocals, a unique and recognizable feature. The electronic treatment of these vocals is interesting - chopping the words up into tiny snippets and building them into complex layers of rhythm. In this sense, vocals are used as a percussion layer, rather than a musical element. The effect is hypnotic, and quite powerful when combined with the full drums. There's no bassline either (save for a sub-frequency sample once every bar) which also adds to the solo-percussive feel of the track. Overall, a solid remix.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/renaissancemanmvsic
url: www.myspace.com/rivastarr
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Joris Voorn - Sweep The Floor

This infectious little hook from Joris Voorn is getting dancefloors moving and shaking at the moment. With the focus on a looped one-bar phrase, Voorn keeps things interesting with the addition of hollers, vocals grows and some floor-friendly house percussion. Voorn's DJ skills are also brought into play as beats are purposefully removed, filtered, brought back in and dropped - all adding to the dancability factor of "Sweep The Floor". A smart production.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/jorisvoorn
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Reboot - Caminando

This has been getting a lot of word of mouth "buzz" lately. Reboot take some truly beautiful acoustic guitar with male vocal accompaniment, and feature it heavily as the centerpiece of this beat-driven track. The idea is brilliant, it's just a shame that the percussion doesn't fit better with the vocals. It drifts out of time and feels like two separate records competing on occasion. However, there's a magic to the vocal recording and group backing vocals, that makes this worthy of note regardless of the technical shortcomings. It conjures images of late night sing-alongs in a small-town venue, and is quite unique for a track of its type.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/rebooot
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Platnum - Trippin' (Thomas Gold Remix)

Platnum's Trippin' has spawned a number of strong remixes including this version from Thomas Gold. Immediately adjusting the tempo for a house crowd, Gold kicks things off with a dark pulsing bassline. Effects are then added to the vocals, which are combined with some new harmonics to create a darker flavor. A filtered break-down also leads to a powerful crescendo which introduces the first instance of the full chorus. There are well executed effects on display here, like looping pieces of the lyrics and some interesting vocal effects (4:55). Overall, this is a well designed reversioning of the original with a number of new elements brought to the table.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/platnumuk
url: www.myspace.com/djthomasgold
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Cassius - Youth Speed Trouble Cigarettes

Great new tune from Cassius. Vocal chants, reciting the title of the track work as a powerful hook when combined with an ascending melodic phrase and bassline. The signature of the track, however, is a wailing guitar theme. It gives an almost Prodigy-esque feel to portions of the record, and at one point it's doubled up to create interesting harmonies. The overall tone of YSTC is a kind of growing tension that never quite eases off. "Just One More", speaks the vocal sample before the full beat-driven accompaniment returns. Well produced and smartly written stuff. Plus a nice video mash-up above c/o macofilvideo.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/cassius15again
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Shlomi Aber & Kenny Larkin - Sketches (Kenny's Version)

This is cropping up in a number of DJ sets lately. "Sketches" (Kenny's version) sees a looped up four-note motif, straddled by a sinister bassline and some tightly packed percussion. Organ sounds, almost improvised in nature are brought in, and work effectively with the musically minimal sensibility of this Detroit techno style edition. The Shlomi Aber version is also well worth a listen.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/shlomiaber
url: www.myspace.com/kennylarkin
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Mark Knight feat. Dan Diamond - Club Politics

Dark and intense, a pulsing bass sustain is the driving force behind this minimalist tech house treat. An exercise in simple, melody-free ferocity, Club Politics is powerful enough to keep your attention, while inducing dancefloor mayhem on a susceptible crowd. The spoken word accompaniment is the icing on the cake here, adding a suitably filmic feel to this smartly composed production. Overall, energetic and slickly put together.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/djmarkknight
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Affkt & Fiddo - El Baladre

El Baladre is musically sparse but heavy on atmosphere. An array of darker percussive sounds add a slightly nightmarish tone to this driving minimalist house track. Eerie vocal samples loaded with digital effects and experimental instrumentation are on display, yet nothing is allowed to take away from the sparse sensibility of the composition. I like the "creaking" effects that also echo throughout, adding a unique flavor to this crisply engineered production.

rating: ***
url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdxzrBcr9jQ
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Fedde Le Grand – Scared Of Me

Brand new from Fedde Le Grand, Scared of Me is a widely accessible funk-filled house track. Soul vocals, electric guitar samples and a driving bass groove keep things funky. On top of that, a catchy rhythmic chant takes its lyrics from the title, while building excitement. I predict a hit!

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/djfeddelegrand

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Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge

SMD bring their trademark synth-staccato to this new release, Audacity of Huge. With a focus this time on producing something more broadly accessible, traditional verse to chorus male vocals are included, bringing conventional song structure to an otherwise unconventional track.

rating: ***
url: www.myspace.com/simianmobiledisco

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