Homewreckers - Not My Business

A Not My Business
B1 Chicago Urban Blues
B2 Not My Business (Dave Aju Remix)

Amid the usual suspects on Circus Company's Snuggle & Slap were a few label newbies. Chief among them were the Ruhr Valley's Homewreckers, a trio that announced themselves with the silky smooth lament "Chicago Urban Blues." The version on S & S was "live at Café Bohemia." The one on their debut single for Circus Company isn't. No matter: The rolling bassline is buffeted by what sounds like a live bass and sweet chords. With merely a sturdy beat and a delicate vocal added in otherwise, there's not much to "Blues" to speak of, but as with Joy Division (which this track's backing recalls in a strange way), minimalism is exactly the reason it has so much power.

A-side "Not My Business" would be similarly powerful, but the monologue detailing music industry shenanigans will take you immediately out of the moment. It's done by the three minute mark, leaving more than six minutes unmolested, but it's hard not to have been caught in the middle of what amounts to a few minutes of inside baseball talk about the biz. Good information, powerful topic, but unlike DJ Sprinkles, it seems too dance floor-driven to make it worthwhile for home listening, and too complex for clubbers to engage with on the dance floor. That's, of course, thinking that they want people to engage with it at all. For dancing purposes, it's highly recommended. Dave Aju seems to understand this, providing a powerful dub techno remix that largely leaves the vocals by the wayside...www.residentadvisor.net

Julio Bashmore - Um Bongo's Revenge

A Um Bongo's Revenge
B World Peace

From the lazer flares to the not-quite congo house meets Funky tabla riddim, by way of the '90s kid's fruit juice-referencing title, Julio Bashmore's "Um Bongo's Revenge" wears its British heart on its gravy-stained sleeve. More than that though, the release marks a seminal moment of sorts: It's the first major Funky release on a traditional house and techno label.

Dirtybird has made its name with a barmy, Bay Area brand of tech house, but Claude VonStroke's A&R ear clearly extends much further, as UK Funky arriviste Bashmore's debut rips that template to shreds, not so much desecrating past glories, but pointing the way toward richer, more innovative sonic pastures. "Um Bongo's Revenge" is without a doubt the standout track here, and seems almost to have anthem status written into its molecular structure, but its success should remind how useful such generic/scenic miscegenation can be. The oft-repeated "Um Bongo" refrain should be annoying, but isn't. The various illogical breakdowns, usually the hallmark of a producer with either ADD or a severe lack of discipline, should grate, but somehow arrive like manna from heaven, while the lazers and sirens fuse organically with the track's more Teutonic elements.

"World Peace" cannot help but come up short in comparison, a whirling organ ride that sets its cross hairs more intently on Berlin than London, replete with Rhodes and tambourine tropes. Nonetheless, with San Francisco, London and Berlin all in the mix on this EP, you get the sense that this globalisation thing might just work...www.residentadvisor.net

The Knife with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock - Tomorrow, In A Year

01. Intro
02. Epochs
03. Geology
04. Upheaved
05. Minerals
06. Ebb Tide Explorer
07. Variation of Birds
08. Letter to Henslow
09. Schoal Swarm Orchestra
10. Annie's Box
11. Tumult
12. Colouring of Pigeons
13. Seeds
14. Tomorrow in a Year
15. The Height of Summer
16. Annie's Box (Alt. Vocal / Bonus Track)

Commissioned by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma to write the music for their opera based on Charles Darwin and his book ‘On the Origin of the Species’, The Knife decided to make this a collaborative process, working with artists Mt. Sims and Planningtorock for the first time, to capture the huge width of the Darwin and evolution theme...www.fairtilizer.com

Tony Lionni -Sky's The Limit

1. Sky's The Limit (Original Mix)
2. My Shadow (Original Mix)

Tony Lionni can do no wrong at the moment. Having given us one of the biggest tracks of the year with "Found A Place", the Macunian-cum-Berliner does not rest on his laurels and brings us another two killer techno tracks, for Len Faki's Figure imprint. "Sky's The Limit" is a relentless techno banger of the old school days, whilst "My Shadow" is deeper and ever so slightly more laid back...www.phonicarecords.com