EP Review: The Calm - Danny Daze

It's been going big guns out in the Miami WMC (or so says the Guardian) and it seems like Maceo Plex and his Ellum label are on an unstoppable roll. It was less than a month ago that I was praising his collaboration with Danny Daze (as Jupiter Jazz) and Ellum are back, this time with Danny doing a solo turn to drop some heavy tech on us.

The Calm feels a little bit like what I envisage a stroke to feel like - disconcertingly incomprehensible vocals, weird sound effects and a menacing atmosphere. It also shares a stroke's momentary sense that that you are staring into the abyss, as the track devolves into a moment of near silence midway through. It calls to mind Soulwax's absolutely ripper / mental remix of Justice's Phantom Pt. II, both in the way it will make crowds all over think the DJ's just quit and because it's also a bloody monster.

Dexter's remix is similarly amped, a whirling cacophony of bass and thick, chunky synths that turns the track into a serious dancefloor weapon but lacks a little of the original's slightly terrifying and unhinged sensibility.

Daze rounds out the EP with a second original track, I See You, which comes from a similar place as the original track but with a heavier focus on top-end and a little more subtlety.

For me none of these quite live up to the genius of the Booty Jazz EP but it's hard to deny their obligatory status within clubs this summer is pretty much guaranteed.

The Calm EP is out now through Ellum Audio, you can preview the EP via Soundcloud below:

EP Review: Booty Jazz EP - Jupiter Jazz

short clip of Maceo Plex & Danny Daze aka JUPITER JAZZ show you how to really ride a scooter, gangsta style! "Shake It Mama" by Jupiter Jazz - Ellum

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.