Yamaha's Tenori-On

Anything to get us out of the hellish throng that enveloped around Holborn station on a mid-week afternoon. But to get ushered into a nearby small hotel room to test a prototype of a revolutionary new musical instrument? Well, stranger things have happened.

What you see above is the TENORI-ON. A touch pad musical interface developed by Yamaha and presented to us by Yu. The floor littered with strange metal boxes, leads and laptops. We felt like we were looking at something illegal. Expecting the authorities to bust the door down at any moment.

But all of this was offset by the sound of Jo Apps eeking out crystalline droplets of melody from the unit. Each sound and trigger accompanied by an LED pixel dance. Yu saw our eyes light up and let us loose on the units.

No point in me trying to describe how it works. Best you head to the online demo at http://www.global.yamaha.com/design/tenori-on. Needless to say this is next level shit and will prove to be the perfect gift for any aspiring laptop musician looking to add some pazazz to their performance. Either that or it'll be in Dixons for a tenner.

Audion: Just Fucking (Spectral Sound) - 12"

Lacing his Audion side project with filthy innuendo (via his track titles), an aggressive attitude and dollops of sub. Matthew Dear's palette is there to remind you of house music's ability to make you jack. But somehow it seems to be all dressed up with nowhere to go. Roman Flugel's (Alter Ego - the Rolling Stones of techno) associated remix is equally empty and vacuous. Music to make girls writhe.

John Dahlback: My Favourite Stars Vol.2 (Morris Audio) - 12"

As if Dahlback took minimal house cliches and forced them into a club populated by trashy electro kids. Then stood back and watched them try to move to a different swagger.

Both tracks are named after his favourite adult porn stars. 'Devon' is the more moodier of the two, reflecting LFO-style bleeps off a damp kick with some naughty vocals. 'Asia' brilliantly merges the rat-a-tat loops of Plastikman's 'Spastik' to time-stretched vocals and alternating sine-waves.

AFX / LFO: Split 12" (Warp) - 12"

Warp totally appealing to the IDM backpack crew with more exercises in bass weight. LFO proves he still has it in him to knock out adrenalin rushes of hyperspeed techno. 'Pathfinder' could be described as indifferent dance music for the alcopop generation. AFX smartly donates 2 leftover Analord pieces to the flip. Acid-washes try to keep up with rapid fire 808's. Limited Edition status for some, eBay bound for others

AM/PM / Lump: Split 12" (Sud) - 12"

Secondo's AM/PM project continues to shrink further into dimly lit introversion. The musical equivalent of resonance and reverberation filmed with a photosonics camera. Both offerings are cut from the same cloth; layered sustain stapled to a 4/4 pulse. 'Foolish Thing to do' edges ahead in terms of the funk. Lump on the other side reduces the scope, but brings proximity rhythms nudging up against unpredictable melodic turns.

Oliver Hacke: Subject Carrier Remixes (Trapez) - 12"

Hacke's recent album for Trapez was pretty faultless as far as I could tell. As mysterious and sexy as all the best dance music demands. Whilst these remixes don't really seem to add anything new to Hacke's near perfect equation, they do offer alternative viewpoints.

John Tejada takes the opening still-life of '6.04' to more synchronised steps but its Alex Under's masterful remix that scores highly. Evoking a mediterranean palette, like a Hockney painting; sun-drenched colours melt alongside hand-drawn sketches of rhythm.

Dominik Eulberg: Flora & Fauna Remixes Part 1 + 2 (Traum Schallplatten) - 12"

From the first 12" of welcome reinterpretations of Mr. Eulberg's work. Andre Krami's remix sounds like he's conducting The Orb to shuffle in 4/4 time. An english summer envelops low-level mutterings that climax in a tense, urgent pulse.

"That's nice, sounds like tap-dancing techno.", remarked Ayla during Remute's techno rush on the second 12". Hrdvsion is Mathew Jonson's brother. He takes pictures of toilets and makes geometric reductionist techno. His remix is in turns inverted, skewed and filtered with an arsenal of buzzsaw riffs and trapezoid licks. Possibly the best hybrid of glitch and house you'll hear all year, unless you're me.

Adam Kroll's remix is pretty tame in comparison. More concerned with linear propulsion and motion than technique. But it still glides along with much gusto and zing.

Lusine: Inside / Out EP (Ghostly) - 12"

Fuck it, at this rate, all other label's peddling arc-light minimal house should just pack up and quit. Lusine moves away from the rather predictable palette of electronica to, well, arc-light minimal house. His 'Serial Hodgepodge' LP was patchy in turns. But everything thing here is assured, refined and sophisticated to the nth degree. The final cry of 'These Things' is as heartfelt as anything Luomo has done. Refreshes the parts other labels cannot reach.

Prefuse 73 Reads The Books EP (Warp) - CD

Smart, collaging of folky vignettes, as Scott Herren's Prefuse 73 project moves away from obtuse electronic territories back to more pastoral areas. Intimate recordings punctuate crackly beats and playful variations on the low end theories. A quiet statement, but a compelling one nonetheless.

Hystereo: Validity Revision (Soma) - 12"

Hopefully, this will be the last time Soma send me any more records. Cloying, clotted, rancid, bottom-of-the-barrel dance music for those who spike their hair with gel and really wish that they had as much fun as those cunts in the WKD drink ads. Designed for daytime Radio 1 and Top Shop.

Burning bridges? I'm re-fueling the flame-thrower as we speak.

Franklin De Costa: Reaktanz EP (Trapez Limited) - 12"

On 'Like You', Mr. De Costa can't help but stray from the standard-issue Trapez template and so periodically disperses bursts of concentrated-DSP to nudge the rhythm along. 'Negotiation' takes the warped sub-bass sound so common in British Electro / Grime and sculpt it to a flickr'd skip. Decent.