I like Minilogue, I like Extrawelt and I also think Leopards are pretty fucking cool. Basically, this track has all the components it needs to leapfrog the other crap I rifle through and firmly position itself at the forefront of my existence. I guess the fact that it’s an amazing tune also helps…although not as much as the leopard thing, they sit in trees a lot and sometimes they eat monkeys. Monkeys are basically stupid people with cute faces.

Anyway, spacious and impelling, the distinctive clarity of Extrawelt’s percussion enhances Minilogue’s ambient leanings, giving birth to the reason I think minimal is sick. This song is better than the time I found a bucket and spade in Cornwall and spent the day building sandcastles with my childhood friend Elijah, who definitely exists because I have lots of friends…honestly…loads…

I have no idea how old this is, chances are it’s pretty ancient but it’s still worthy of a post. Listennnn!

Hey, what’s the difference between French House music and French football? Absolutely everything because French House, in whatever form it happens to be taking at the time, doesn’t suck harder than that girl who pretended like she knew what she was doing. You might say I’m doing the nation of France a nice little favour right now, championing Circus Company’s label compilation. Fact of the matter is, I’m in love with the damn thing and I don’t care how old it is alright.

Snuggle & Slap has been out for a few months now but like an expensive French Merlot it has only matured spectacularly over time. The whole album has strong House and Jazz foundations that each artist then builds on. Quirky, optimistic, soulful House music with succulent, refreshing basslines holding it all together. What more could you ask for? A tapdancing monkey butler? Yeah fair enough.

Starvation is preventing me from banging on about this compilation for hours but know this; it’s unlikely another album will ever come more highly recommended. I’ll probably be fired if I mention Animals by Minilogue again. ‘Bonus Jack’ should be enough to whet your appetite.

MyMy – Bonus Jack

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Now sit down, stop salivating and buy Snuggle & Slap at 7digital.

Just a quick heads up on this filthy badger of a release. Although that makes it sound repulsive, which it is far from. And if you take filthy to mean like what all the kids say about Dubstep then it’s not that either. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. It’s taken just short of a year for these remixes to rear their funky heads and for good reason. Nicolas Jaar’s reworking of ‘Gorilla Hug’ below is a lovely slow burner with the sexiest bassline you’re likely to hear for a long long time. Looks like it’s a Beatport exclusive for the time being. Bit expensive though right? When will these companies realise that people are willing to sell their bodies for a fresh and juicy new tune.

Buy DJ T. tunes at 7digital.

Buy The Inner Jukebox Remix EP at Beatport.

It would appear that dOP have been busy. Only it’s that weird French kind of busy where you haven’t got a clue what they’re up to because they shroud everything in a fog of nonchalant mystique. WGVINYL02, otherwise known as Penguin EP sees dOP getting together with new and old friends alike, including Nôze, Seuil and Wareika. Taking the track ‘Les Fils Du Calvaire’, made in collaboration with everyone’s favourite cheeky frog Nôze, it is clear that Penguin EP is the most dancefloor-orientated effort we’ve seen in awhile.

There’s no messing around with a fit and healthy kick backed up by tasty, pounding bass from the word go. Don’t worry though because the meandering moans, haphazard horns and sneaky synths that we all know and love creep in at the optimum moments. dOP and co. are certainly representing the progressive French house scene far more convincingly than myself and those shitty GCSE creative writing techniques. Alliteration anyone?

dOP haven’t released anything short of genius for as long as I can remember (and I can remember when this was all fields). So many different aspects of their music make my little brain happy but we haven’t got all day so I’ll be concise. They manage to create that crucial organic depth, overlooked by so many in the electronic music universe these days, before laying on vocals that can be interpreted by each unique listener because they’re mental Franglais nonsense. Listening to select works of dOP is like sitting in long grass on a summer’s day playing Chinese whispers with your best friends. If that’s not enough, the final track is called Glory Hole.

dOP & Nôze – Les Fils Du Calvaire

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7digital aren’t actually selling Penguin EP right now, let’s write a letter of complaint! Searching for ‘penguin’ brings up The Penguin Café Orchestra which is alright I guess because they’re bloody awesome too.

Buy Penguin EP at Beatport

Hold tight, there is more to read »

Audio Werner is from Germany. Meaning the chances of his electronic music being vastly superior to anything coming from somewhere like North Korea are incredibly high. HCF17 aka Meanwhile EP is a superbly crafted four track that pretty much cements my theory that techno from Germany is awesome. Although I’d rather call this Minimal Soul House or something. The entire EP is held together by Werner’s trademark deep bouncy bass and warbling melodies but in a much more mellow and, dare I say it, mature fashion compared with earlier releases.

‘Meanwhile’ has a real ambient backbone and in a way shows how little Werner has gone all grown up on us and added some depth to his productions. I’m a real sucker for stretched out violins and organ samples in all honesty. It just so happens that he’s coming over to play a couple of shows in the UK so it will definitely be exciting to see what he pulls out of the bag. Check the official MySpace for more details and tasty treats.

Buy Audio Werner music at 7digital.

Dutch house virtuoso Laidback Luke dropped this huge tune last year and I’m pretty sure everyone in the world heard it before me. Like a fox with its head stuck in a crisp packet, I can be pretty damn blind sometimes. Better late than never though, right? I guess that philosophy doesn’t work for everything. If you turn up for a football match two hours late, you’re fucked…

Anyway, The Korgis ‘Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime’ is a song that always sucker punches me in the heart and it’s so fragile it could easily be butchered beyond all recognition. Luke, however, has chopped up a passage of emotional tender, managed to keep its power and injected it with a lethal beat. Beautiful stuff.

If I could make music this good, I’d be laid back too.

Laidback Luke – Need Your Loving

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Buy Laidback Luke music at 7digital.