EP Review: It's Fun You Know - Rework

Having had five years off prior to its release I'd half expected Rework's Werewolf EP last year to be one off, or at least for a couple of years to pass before we heard anything else from our enigmatic trio. And yet here we are, just half a year later, with some new material.

What's more, whilst Werewolf came out on Parisien label Meant this new release, It's Fun You Know, comes on Rework's own label Loveyeah. Loveyeah is set to be a label for like minded artists but to usher it into the world Rework have understandably chosen to put out some of their own material.

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​It's Fun You Know - Rework

The It's Fun You Know EP features three original tracks and opens with the title track. That track treads a line that will be familiar to fans of Rework but it's still noticeably distanced from the analogue aggression of Werewolf, with It's Fun You Know consisting of a hypnotic techno soundscape. Vocal clips are blended into a mechanical, atmospheric mix full of reverb and a tightly looped bass line.

Thrill Me is a little more extroverted, snappy bass, lose drums and high hats whilst Rework's trademark approach sees vocals worked deep into the mix - it's both funky and understated to the point of being aloof.

The last of the original tracks is The Sign, a locked down bass groove that delivers slightly scratchy drum kicks and very little else. Rework's productions are full of cool touches - the sound of those drums perfect, the slight analogue vinyl crackle almost inaudible - yet I'd be the first to admit that it's not exactly accessible, and this is the trio tacking that to extremes.

A little more easy to get into is Jeans Team's version of Werewolf, which closes out the EP. They add a series of hollow drum sounds and strip back the synth groove a bit whilst pushing the vocals up high in the mix. The result retains that Eurotrash cool but gives it a more ambient, open feel. Some ridiculous vocal synths complete the look, creating a track that feels like it would have been as at home in 1986 as now. With slick analogue synths and lots of echo, it's not exactly fucking pretty, but it's pretty fucking cool.

It's Fun You Know is out now on Loveyeah, listen via Spotify below:​

EP Review: Slipstream / Pressure's On - Estate

Out later this month, this is the first release on Minneapolis' Bass Nites Recordings to appear on BlackPlastic.co.uk and it features local three-piece Estate, with remixes from Dirty McKenzie, DCUP and Sloslylove.

Slipstream / Pressure's On is a double a-side showing off Estate's funk and house influenced pop sound. They've toured with Yelle and Ellie Goulding amongst others and on hearing their sound it's clear why - this is polished, clean electronic pop. The band make a point of highlighting its appropriateness for both the dance floor and home listening, and it is unashamedly aiming to cross-over.

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Slipstream / Pressure's On - Estate

Slipstream opens, a slick melodic number with yearning end-of-summer vocals, a crisp bass line, sparkling disco melodies and a series of warm pads. It's a little clinical, but the warm production and that bass make it a pretty enticing soundtrack to beers by a sunny pool. The vocal is fairly incomprehensible but in comparison to some of the populist EDM flooding the market state-side this is pure gold.

Pressure's On is a little funkier, but still fairly horizontal, with a loose bass line, snappy drums and filtered vocals. The synth melody picks out a soft melodic patter amongst the reverb of the percussion that gives the track a cool, relaxed feel.

The Slipstream remixes struggle to keep up with the original. Dirty McKenzie's Flutestream remix layers the vocals over a chugging funk bass and hands over the centre stage to a flute solo - neither do anything for me. It's a little campy but more importantly not really any fun.

Also remixing Slipstream is DCUP, who does what DCUP is known for, with the Australian taking the filtered disco / crunchy techno thing popularised by Ed Banger a few years back. It's a chopped-up, funky take on the original - unfortunately what it achieves in catchiness it loses in originality.

Finally Sloslylove gives Pressure's On a Ballearic overhaul - guitar licks emphasised, atmospheric chimes added and soft, off-time drums providing the smallest sense of forward momentum. It's the more successful of the mixes and helps Estate lose a little of that slickness that currently stops them from being great rather than good. ​

​Slipstream / Pressure's On is released through Bass United Recordings on 25 March.

EP Review: Tahiti Love EP - Phil Gerus

Another slice of winning alternative electronic melodies courtesy of DhARMA, this time from latest signing, classically trained musician Phil Gerus.

Phil Gerus' Tahiti Love EP is a trippy kind of love. Filled with loops and dubs and chill wave shoe gazing, it's both melodic and textural.

The title track rides heavy, looped hip-hop sounding drums whilst sunny eighties synths slice back and forth. The opening section, roughly a minute-and-a-half long, is perched halfway between one thing and the other. It's only when the melodic keys come through that the track feels at ease, a glimpsed slice of paradise sandwiched between smart urbane cool.

Second track Have To Say Goodbye is thick and slow like treacle, caramelized bass poured over the vocals, smothering them in opaque, cloudy dreams. It's the sound of being incommunicado - voices held at bay through the sheer density of the substance surrounding them. It's an explanation of departure that feels like it never quite got through.

Polpette provides a dreamy remix of Have To Say Goodbye to close the EP. It's considerably less thick, but punctuated with shuffling, fuzzy percussion and staccato melodies that maintain the theme but acts as a counterpoint to the slower origin.

​The Tahiti Love EP is out on 15 March through DhARMA, check it out via Soundcloud below:

EP Review: Booty Jazz EP - Jupiter Jazz

This new EP from Jupiter Jazz should come with a health warning: it's more than just a little bit sick. Coming on Maceo Plex's Ellum, Jupiter Jazz are actually Danny Daze and Maceo Plex himself and this EP appears to be a tribute to the seedier side of nightclubbing.

Booty Jazz is a bit of a change of tactic for Maceo Plex - this EP has a heavy, funky vibe that feels a long way for the heady, tech-filtered elastic-house he has been focusing on recently. In places it's as inspired by electro as house.

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​Booty Jazz EP - Jupiter Jazz

Opener Shake It Mama lays down slabs of grimy thick bass and 808s whilst mixing in samples from Zapp's 1980 electro-funk classic More Bounce To The Ounce. It's a rude, upfront electro record that boasts a cocky simplicity that doesn't leave even when the sample drops back, leaving an instrumental final-third of raw groove.

Technology is more introverted, a smooth techno-ride with hushed vocals that give way to some wild bass and synth melodies. It's cool, sensual and minimal to the rough stuff of the EP's opener.

Final track Good Girl is dark and sleazy - the most sexually depraved sounding track since Matthew Dear's excellent You Put A Smell On Me. More hard 808s give the rhythm a Planet Rock feel but with plenty of hi-hats, whilst spaced out synths play out a dreamy, seductive melody.

Maceo Plex has been knocking out releases at quite a rate recently but this is certainly one of his best in a while. The dark, seedy sound of this Danny Daze collaboration suiting his trademark production style. More please.

​The Booty Jazz EP is out now on Ellum Audio.

EP Review: Automaton Remixes - Fairmont

Fairmont is Jake Fairley and whilst I'm not consciously aware of having come across his work before he's apparently been in the electronic music world for more than a decade now. This EP follows on from his My Favorite Robot released album from last year, his third album in total.

This release is a remix EP featuring re-imaginings from four of the tracks from that album. The first of these is Last Dance, which receives a remix from Ewan Pearson. Positioned at the beginning of the EP and with an instrumental version of the same remix closing the release out it feels like this is what the label view as the tent pole of the set.

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Automaton Remixes - Fairmont

And that is not without reason. Pearson has a proven history of quality remix and production work and he doesn't disappoint here. Last Dance takes the form of a dark, melancholic house record. There is a cinematic, night-driving-down-the-autobahn aesthetic to the record that conjures up visions, aided by the lyrics. "The hardest part is moving on / who knew this song would be our swan / I never meant to cause you harm / but it don't matter who's right or wrong" sings Fairley. It's hard not to question just how final that Last Dance is. The Spanish flamenco guitar that flickers in the background adds a further element of sophisticated, downbeat emotion. It's a quality mix no doubt assisted by terrific source material.

Whilst nothing else quite reaches the same heights the other remixes are good nonetheless. Ryan Crosson (of Merveille & fame) remixes Alkaline, turning it into flowing techno track that applies some touches to give the track an impressive range and melodic depth. It may not have the emotional punch of Last Dance but it certainly shines as a deep track for dark discos.

The Undo remix of Fate is slow and moody, a dark electro piece full of out of step timing and barely whispered vocals. The heavy synths roll over the track, giving it a building, immovable feel.

Tiny Diamonds is the last track bar that instrumental and it gets a treatment from Arthur Oskan. Oskan uses arpeggiated synths to create another dark, sleek remix full of menacing melodies.

Off of the back of this EP I'll certainly be checking out the album, and it's another quality release from My Favorite Robot.

Automaton Remixes is released through My Favorite Robot Records on 25 February.