“Babou” (Original Mix) by Julian Jeweil [Plus 8]
Lately it seems bloopy minimal may be taking a back seat to more straight forward house but you wouldn’t know it from this Plus 8 newbie. A main synth riff with automated release, white noise builds, and a drop that’ll curl your toes in anticipation make this genre more relevant than ever.
Download now at junodownload.com:

“Agua Ardiente” (Loko Remix) by Christian Malloni [So Sound Recordings]
The red-hot Loko stretches out the Latin-flavored original with a relentless skippy groove, subtle acoustic percussion accents, and a carefully crafted drop that showcases the female vocal. Just gorgeous!
Available soon on beatport.com.
Check the video for the original mix on YouTube:

Signal Deluxe "La Orquidea Negra"

“La Orquidea Negra” (Cubenx Remix) by Signal Deluxe [Blaq Records]
Organic tech-house from this Mexican remixer. It’s a slow building affair that starts with deep bass under pulsing pads but culminates with a flurry of drums, dubby chords and spacey echoes. Expand your mind and ears.
Available soon.
Listen here on HypeMachine

– Robert LaFrance

“Devi8or” (Original Mix) by D. Ramirez [Slave]
The man with the best hair in dance music releases an all-out stormer of an EP. The B-side is “Devi8or” with an evil male vocal, heavy bass, punchy percussion, and drops that will build and build into a frenzy. A brilliant production of pure peak time madness. (not yet available for purchase but you can listen here)

“Keep Off” (Original Mix) by Adultnapper & Mr C. present Sycophant Slags [Poker Flat]
These two quirky individuals team up to prove 1 + 1 = 3. Adultnapper lays his typically unconventional minimal funk foundation for Mr C.’s haunting, snake-like vocal performance. Together, they make an indelible fusion which will have you humming “sky’s the limit” while you peak at the equally striking video.  Listen and purchase legally right now at beatport.com

Ryan Crosson

“Something In The Way” (Ryan Crosson Remix) by Kelly Johnston [Culprit]
The dubby synth pads that kick this track off provide little inking of the pounding tech-house to come. But ultimately those atmospherics are skillful combined with trippy vocals, aggressive acid-flavored chord stabs, and heavy bass. Make sure to play the full 7 plus minutes of this one!  (not yet available)

– Robert LaFrance

“Jawbreaker” (Original Mix) by Ascii.Disko [Body Function]
The straight-forward house beat that sets this in motion offers little hint of the punishing energy to come. The incessant rising synth riff builds in layers and layers until the break where it becomes all-encompassing then bangs into a monster groove.  Found at beatport.com.

“Space Oddity” (Maher Daniel Remix) by James Teej [My Favorite Robot Records]
Using only a small portion of the lyrics to this David Bowie cover, Maher Daniel is able to make this track his own.  A perfect mid-set, well-paced track with gliding bass, plenty of white noise sweeps and mellow middle interlude to ease the tension and up the class.   (not yet available)

“Sinful Ladies” (Original Mix) by Umek vs Jay Lumen [Great Stuff Recordings]
The complex percussion poly-rhythms and syncopated keyboard stabs keep you on the edge of your seat begging for more.  Then, the drop introduces some happy melodic bells and flute – but don’t be fooled – “Sinful Ladies” never goes soft on you.   Found at beatport.com

– Robert LaFrance