This is exactly what has happened to Michael Hooker. I’m guessing that perspiration is as important as inspiration to Hooker, but perhaps a recipe with ingredients of equal measure is what bakes the perfect cake. What is clear is he strives to reach a level of quality in sound you don’t hear every day with each sound clear and balanced, but still with plenty of space in the mix.

Label boss of Re:Sound Music, Hooker himself, has had some great highlights such as the impeccable ‘Journey To The Rising Red’ as featured in Sasha and Digweed’s Miami mix that was a real standout (although in some steep competition from other tunes).

This release on Re:Sound Music, a collaboration with HoodyHoo is a triumph. I’m taking an educated guess here that Hooker and HoodyHoo are long-term friends. Their sound meshes, it’s intertwined and complimentary. That’s not a bad start, but ‘Sirens Call’ is intriguing. The groove is funky, it’s progressive. That on it’s own is attractive. At two minutes I’m drawn in, heads-down and floor workin’. But then there’s a touch of the Future Sound of London, the gated pads, the build and especially the vocal sample.

This is riding a bike into a big-rig at Burning Man or throwing shapes at a wild outdoor party.

When the groove kicks in from the break it transforms again into a techno stomper, a runaway train of a track with confronting stabs and sharp rolling bass.

It’s like all the seasons came at once; summer sunrises and winter ice, autumn beauty and spring freshness. As an end user of ‘Sirens Call’ you won’t know whether to put on your shorts or your bobble hat – and that’s just the way we like it.

There’s an Anakim remix too, and it’s solid. It is however a tough job to stare down the original and is left a little lacking because of it.

‘Sirens Call’ has grown and grown on me. It’s one of those tracks you should be proud to discover. Watch out for Micheal Hooker, mark my words he’s on the rise. Miss this release at your peril and whilst you’re at it check out ‘Journey To The Rising Red’.

Score: 9/10

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His album ‘Revelate’, 10 tracks of blissful electronica, spanning ambient, through breaks to house and back is, in parts, so unmistakably ‘Quivverish’ you could confidently pick it out of a line-up and take it down. Guilty as charged.

But this isn’t an accusation, nor a bad thing. Quivver’s sound is unique and distinct, it oozes quality with the hallmark of a musician that isn’t just naturally talented but has honed his craft over decades.

Hence the levels of excitement around the release of ‘Revelate’, on John Digweed’s revered Bedrock label, were extremely high as were the expectations. Yet the market that music is received into has changed. The album format is molested, the appetite for the listener to digest a body of work is diminished.

What Quivver has done with this ten-track long-player is to take the listener on the traditional album journey, something notoriously difficult for electronic music artists – especially those with an underground bent.

The album starts with ‘Moonlight Pools’, a dark and emotive ambient opener. The keen-eared amongst you will spot a touch of the ‘Stage One’, just a sprinkling. ‘Horizons’ picks up the pace with a low-slung, smouldering, house chugger. It’s filmic, like taking a journey through the city and staring out the window as the landscape slides by.

Things get interesting with ‘Nothin’ New to Feel’, starring a pop-like vocal laid bare on a deep bed of progressive house. The lush pads and sumptuous melody are strong and emotive, the ambients are unusual but somehow familiar. The production here is a tour-de-force, a masterclass in the selection of sounds and arranging them with space and texture. I was left needing more vocal and the uneasy feeling that if this was the album starter, the album journey might be more successful.

‘Atomised’ is a pure-deep soundscape, something that wouldn’t sound out of place in one of John Digweed’s own sets. As fast as you’re settling into the deep journey, ‘Funkily’ shoots you an accusing look and elbows you hard. “This is how it is”, it says; funky yes, but quirky, uneasy and edgy. Punchy toms, nagging bass, vocal snippets and spiralling effects. When the ethereal strings kick in, like a raging shepard tone, and that hoover bass, and then that spooky melody – wowzers it’s just something else.

This is the sort of tune you hear at 5am dancing hard to the sunrise and still talk about ten years later.

‘Altered’ is a hard-funk journey with a growling house framework and a queasy Pixie-esque sample and ‘Shine’, a modern-sounding breaks track.

‘Hold’ puts you back on that deep and dreamy journey and ‘5AM’ lays bare that deep backroom experience, with its repetitive, driving nature you can almost see the strobes flashing in the background.

As if the end of the night has finally arrived ‘Crystals’ closes the album with an exuberant flourish of breaks, sub-bass and wonderful melody. The quality not so much trickles but gushes. It is literally a showstopper of a tune. It’s hard to imagine a more Quivver sounding track here, it’s light-touch everything, almost subtle in its approach but heavy-hitting on its exit. The choice of sounds, the balance and the placement of sounds are truly special. At nearly four minutes it’s an almost perfect set-closer, an album crown and an accomplished piece of work, yet I need more. ‘Crystals’ could be an album on its own and it wouldn’t disappoint.

And there is the problem with this album. It’s a journey, it’s a club, it’s a festival but it doesn’t quite gel to be the ‘experience’ I know it’s capable of. I want more ‘Crystals’, ‘Funkily’, and ‘Nothin’ New To Feel’. I want more of those outpourings because they are truly full of fireworks. Instead, it’s an album that is very good with some sublime moments.

Despite its imperfections, ‘Revelate’ has been on repeat, in the house, the studio, the car and pretty much everywhere. Check out ‘Revelate’, but more importantly, check out Quivver, he is one of the talents of our electronic generation.

‘Revelate’ can be bought as part of a 4 album boxset alongside Satoshie Fumi, Lopezhouse and Captain Mustache.

Score 9\10

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When Moonface is in his artistic place there is nothing better than turning on, tuning in and dropping out of the stresses of life whilst it embraces your senses.

‘U Have 2 Change’ captures that Moonface magic that has been simmering since the heady days of Delta Heavy.

Despite losing myself in the groove, the melody, the richness of the production, what I overwhelmingly receive is the feeling of artistry. This is classic Moonface, the same feeling I got from ‘Futurized Fears’ and Moonface’s remix of Tijuana – ‘Groove is in the Air’ a mixture of thumping techno groove, lush ambients and a heavy teaspoon of quirkiness thrown in with a good stir.

The big groove is pure club, the vocal and pads are pure mescaline style, mind expansion. The ebb and flow of the song is like watching a spring tide roll in through a storm and drain away to leave a perfect sunset.

I don’t know how Moonface manages to produce a track that is both club and home listening worthy, but he has.

Nick Muir is on fire right now (check his recent remix of John Coasani’s ‘Centauro’ on onedotsixtwo) carving out his classic style and pushing it forward with a heavy techno-prog crossover that is both firing and quality in the same basket.

His remix of ‘U Have 2 Change’ is no exception, firing on all cylinders right off the launch pad, the bass groove is pure heavy, but when the synth overlays drop over the first break it goes roof-lifter.

There’s a huge break featuring the plentiful ambients of the original and, oh man, when that groove kicks back in it’s festival destroying, throwing shapes business.

Despite the remix being a perfect stomping partner, it’s the original for me that has the je ne sais quoi that keeps me coming back on heavy rotation.

The original was championed by John Digweed on his recent US tour (alongside Sasha), a big tune at the Space Miami gig, but also the Nick Muir remix has been getting spins.

One of the underground releases of the year. It could fly under the radar, but let’s hope not. Electronic music of this calibre deserves to be heard.

Score: 9/10

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Many have conjectured as to what label boss and co-founder Red Jerry is doing now, and what happened to the immense 136 track back catalogue which was effectively one of the greatest curated soundtracks, to what many consider, to be the greatest decade of house music; the 90’s.

What we do know is Hooj Choons made a brief comeback in 2007 with a re-release of Medway’s ‘Resurrection’ and then in 2011 ‘The Wasp EP’ by Dopefish but a consistent return never materialised.

It was with some shock when the rumour mill started to rumble about the return of Hooj swiftly followed by this release of orchestral reconstructions of selected Hooj Choons classics under the artist name HEO (Hooj Ensemble Orchestra). The rhetoric is brief but the updated story is the Hooj Choons catalogue owners wanted orchestral versions of some of their favourite tracks featured on the label. Something different, a creative way to interpret these much loved tracks.

My own personal dislike of orchestral renditions of electronic music is fairly well documented. I don’t see the point in reinventing what is essentially a DIY, punk ethic, hedonistic medium into a genre that can never capture the kick-drum-banging, bass-rumbling, syncopated goodness that emerged from that heady scene.

I have no issues with the use of real orchestras in electronic music. So when I peeled off the first layer of this release I was pleased to see that these versions were hybrid, orchestral but retaining some of the original (or replayed perhaps) electronic elements.

There are some great choices here too, ‘Cafe Del Mar‘ (of course!), but ‘Fruit of Love’, ‘Love Stimulation’, ‘Seven Cities’, ‘Sacred Cycles’ and my favourite Hooj Choons release; ‘Stage One’.

The excitement around this release has been immense, and you have to recognise that it’s a brave move to re-imagine a classic back catalogue on this reemergence of a much loved label.

The quality is extremely good too, I actually like some of these versions better than the originals which have (if I am brutally honest) dated slightly.

However, I cant pretend that I wasn’t disappointed to not have a more traditional approach to re-imagining this body of work. In saying that I have revisited this release in quite a few different environments and it does work very well. The melodies hold together outside of the club environment and that has to be the true endorsement of the original works. Let’s also recognise what seems to be an unbelievable amount of effort that has gone into this one release in what must be a back-catalogue whispering, fondle of love to the originals.

There is a further whisper that the more traditional remix approach to these tracks may not be far away. Let’s look forward to seeing how justice can be done to the same stellar back-catalogue and how the originals stand up to today’s hyper-scrutinised environment.

In the meantime, be thankful for creative and imaginative people and the reemergence of the Hooj Choons label. The world is a better place with ‘the occasional providers of half decent house’ back in it.

Score: 7.5/10

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On paper there’s really not much to dislike here; David Squillace‘s resume is impeccable as part of electronic super group Better Lost Than Stupid and as resident for the iconic techno brand Circoloco. His release schedule is ever growing, as is UK producer Nolan who has picked up some incredible traction this year with releases on LNOE, Mobilee, Bedrock and Circus amongst others. His production pedigree and ability to apply his sound to a variety of genres and situations is fast propelling him into the top tier of the electronic who’s who.

What I love about this story is the way ‘Drive Good’ came together; the two had agreed to collaborate when Davide sent over some projects to Nolan‘s Brighton studio. Straight away Nolan picked up the baton, taking the rawest sounds and shaping them into ‘Drive Good’.

The acidic, burbling, late-night groove with its Twiloesque stabs and the subtle flow and ebb of the arrangement is enough, on its own, to be a smouldering, head-down, strobe-up, 3am crowd worker.

Although Davide & Nolan have lit the fuse, Jaw‘s vocal ignites the whole affair creating a magical coming together of groove and song.

This is the kind of unique, classic sound that has staying power. It’s the kind of tune you reach deep for at that moment you need an incendiary turn of mood.

Rick Wade turns in a liquid, Detroit house remix with lush keys and solid production. Despite this remix picking up a good amount of action (and hearing the quality you can see why) it’s the original mix that does it for me.

A really interesting collaboration with unique output. You’ll be hearing this for some time to come.

Score: 9/10

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This release seemed, from the start to be a perfect storm of synchronicity; different worlds colliding, forming a big-bang of creativity.

In this case the super talented Eelke Kleijn squares away another track from his album with the second of a stellar set of remixes (the first being from another reliable talent Patrice Bäumel and well worth checking) from his creative outlet DAYS like NIGHTS.

Add to that the wonderful Diana Miro‘s vocal talents and have the whole thing remixed by Frankey & Sandrino, it’s something you’re going to have to give some attention.

It doesn’t always happen this way, but just as I imagined Frankey & Sandrino have re-imagined the original breaks track and turned in an eight minute deep-progressive, skanking, chugger – ethereal and full of wonder.

The groove and arrangement are unhurried and full of space and the vocal treated respectfully in the context of a house track. There is a simplicity here that seems easy to achieve but it is the product of talent, maturity and countless hours of time invested in honing the skills to be able to produce a remix this slick.

There isn’t much more to say about this release. It did two things; reinforce my belief that Frankey & Sandrino are a tour-de-force in electronic music production and turned me on to Eelke’s album ‘Oscillations’ which, despite the recent engaging remixes, is well worth looping back round on.

Watch out for Mano Le Tough’s remix of ‘Woodstock’ too, an inspired set of remixes from the album.

Score: 8.5/10

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Ireland’s Dee Montero is the artist behind releases on Diynamic, All Day I Dream, Anjunadeep and Knee Deep In Sound is progressing his own sound with his own label Futurescope.

‘Light In The Dark’ is a shimmering slice of vocal, pop-house, perhaps influenced by Dee’s Balearic experience as Café Mambo resident or his own life journey of recent years.

It’s wonderfully accessible, beautifully crafted and buoyant with emotion. Not only is the song steeped in honesty and creativity, it’s a masterclass in production. The bass is big and round, the synths are melodic but not overpowering, there are lush pads and kalimba and classy tribal drums. There’s so much in there, but it’s balanced and driving, impeccably mixed and mature beyond most everything else you hear.

But all said and done ‘Light In The Dark’ is all about the song, it’s uplifting and catchy, it’s wonderfully arranged and delivered in a sublime partnership of Dee Montero’s instrumentation and Cari Golden’s sonorous vocal.

Audiojack delivers a more up-tempo remix with a rolling bassline and M1 piano riff in the break. Despite being a fan of Audiojack’s productions they do this release no favours with this remix which lacks the depth of production and emotion in the original.

The instrumental is not necessary here either, not quite working without the vocal and not being reworked in any way apart from the vocal being removed. However, the ‘Beatless Mix’ is an absolute gem, highlighting both the vocal and the superb instrumentation. This is the sound of a sunset and the water lapping at your toes, being grateful for what you have and celebrating the artists we have in our lives producing music in a masterful fashion, and vocalists who can change your mood by pouring their own soul into their songs.

If this is the future of electronic music, I for one, want in.

Rating 8/10

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I am always wary when established players push back into the market. Some would say they never went away, but it’s with a sense of trepidation that I have watched Geoff Oakes & team reignite the Renaissance label and events business, but the recent output has been beautifully curated to showcase a mix of talent which is exciting, not just because it taps into the Renaissance heritage but because of the level of new talent that is joining the team.

If you need hard evidence then consider last month’s Underher release with that sock-knocking Tim Engelhardt remix, chunky and lush in that Renaissance style they are so famous for from back in the day. If I’m going to add a little verbiage of my own I would give kudos for picking up on Underher, whom I have somewhat of an obsession with (check out their collaboration with Midnight Works on Kindisch for example).

Then there is the criminally underrated Aera remix of Argy’s ‘The Third Degree‘ which has the momentum of a runaway train and epitomises a fresh approach to production that really is different. Not every offering has been of this quality, but in general it’s been enough of an engagement to create a kerfuffle in a notoriously sniffy market.

Then there’s this weekend’s ‘Renaissance by the Sea’ with Sasha & John Digweed, Just Her, Argy and Marcus James and the afterparty with Cypherpunx, you have to think the hard work is paying off for Renaissance.

All this and we haven’t even reached the main event here; Cypherpunx’s ‘Alien’ with vocal from Sian Evans complete with Sebastien Leger remix that has helped it break through to almost all of the top jocks across the related genres.

The mysterious Cypherpunx have been honing their own brand of quirky, tribal driven house with releases on Crosstown Rebels, Rebellion and Bedrock including a collaboration with Luke Brancaccio that have been very well received but this release with its vocal from Sian Evans has lifted things to a new level. 

What is great here is Cypherpunx have treated the vocal like a song, nurturing the arrangement to suit, building and dropping with the ebb and flow that elevates Sian’s vocal to suit the instrumentation. It’s more crafted than produced.

As outstanding as the original is, Sebastian Leger takes a logic defying swipe at it with a ten minute remix, epic in nature and deceivingly simple creating (and I don’t say this lightly) a modern classic.

This is the kind of track that crosses genres and stays in record boxes, tucked in the back as a secret weapon. Long have I been a fan of Leger, his releases on All Day I Dream elevated him to the upper tier of producers for me, the pure quality, the style and the ease his releases are delivered.

The clarity, the space, the gently building arrangement. There are no gimmicks, no forced production techniques this is pure quality execution of vision and good taste.

Do I need to say anything more? If you haven’t heard this yet, where have you been? Get out more. Massive.

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Samer has been slowly breaking through to the upper level of the progressive house scene with contributions to John’s respected ‘Quattro’ album and via his own label Pangea Recordings. He has consistently been a nurturer of up-and-coming talent, which makes his success gratifying to see, but it really is all about ‘Diaspora’ a restless, shifting soundscape, thoughtful and driving.

Such is the link with the track’s title, ‘Diaspora’ meaning the dispersion or spread of people from their homeland. ” The meaning behind my original music and label is to bring hope to humanity, especially those who feel like they don’t fit in or have been forced somewhere they may not feel right” says Samer. “The track symbolises toughness, yet hope. Fitting in can be a slow process that builds, similar to music in many ways”. This thought process translates directly to ‘Diaspora’, its driving bass groove giving forward momentum, the ethereal pads an out-of-body worldliness, and the vocal snippets a rallying cry.

‘Diaspora‘ may be deep and pensive, but it’s unusual for those elements to cross-over into such a snarling monster, relentless in its pursuit of movement, a journey through clever arpeggios (think Origin Unknown – Valley of the Shadows) and tinkling riffs and that thrusting bass groove.

The more you listen, the more you find tucked away in this puzzle of a record, the more you unlock the more satisfying it becomes to listen.

No remixes, no other tracks, this is progressive house in its purest form; ‘Diaspora’ speaks for itself. This is treasure and ‘Diaspora’ marks the spot.

9/10

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The excellent Get Physical label has been a curation machine of gems for some time now, keeping a solid approach to A&R and usually coming up with the goods. This EP is a snapshot of the forthcoming ‘Body Language’ album lovingly crafted by CIOZ himself. There are two tracks here, both collaborations, no remixes – just killer music.

The lead track with CIOZ, a collaboration with Boy Oh Boy almost as beat perfect a record as you’ll hear this year. When I hit play it wandered over, leant on my desk and slapped me hard. ‘Focus Pocus‘ has a definite sense of humour, so it did it with a cheeky grin.

The effect was the same, it got my attention in no uncertain terms. ‘Focus Pocus‘ is house music, maybe a little tech-house, a little techno perhaps even a little of deep house or progressive. I don’t really care, it has things that shouldn’t work, guitars, glockenspiel type noises, chants, big layered pads, growling analogue riffs and round bass tones. Somehow it all hangs together in a clean way with an arrangement that sends itself off into the stratosphere like it’s got a jet engine strapped onto the bottom end. Huge.

The second collab with native South African Sides is another bass-led, dancefloor melter. Perhaps a little less immediate, more of a grower, but the CIOZ hallmarks are there; masterclass arrangement, subtle melodies, solid bass and big lead. Simple, yet effective ‘Warm Worm’ is a mid-to-peak time floor worker. I don’t know how CIOZ stacks in so many sounds, orchestral pads, dub-delays, LFO affected lead all underpinned with that CIOZ driving drum bed.

Not one but two rocking tracks, each different but playable in the same set.

I can’t wait to see what CIOZ does next and take a peek at the upcoming ‘Body Language‘ album. I do know he’s a reliable talent and that makes me happy.

Miss this, you guessed it, at your peril.

Score: 9/10

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