Juno Reactor Release 'Let's Turn On' Single

"The Mutant Theatre is named for the stage show that I was originally contacted to create for the 2016 Ozora Festival. I always wanted to have a big show, a Barbarella meets Pan's Labyrinth tableau with a sci-fi edge, set to trance and psytrance music; a huge, Las Vegas-style spectacle for the eyes, ears and imagination. We have staged The Mutant Theatre many times since and it has developed with each show. 'Let's Turn On’ was inspired by the 3000 LED, wifi controlled costume designed by Sasha of Stigma [one of the dance troupes that comprise The Mutant Theatre]. It is a trancification of my love of 70’s disco, a fusion of my musical style and tastes. I brought in Shpongle vocalist Michelle Adamson to round out the song and play to that larger than life spectacle that I had imagined. I love her very British voice and the way she is a virtuoso with the TC Helican Voiceworks.”  Ben Watkins - JUNO REACTOR 

The Mutant Theatre is an interactive live show created by Juno Reactor where music, theatre, dance, wifi-controlled LED costumes and a vast array of stage weaponry en-trance the audience into a fantasy world of adrenalin fuelled dreams and hard wired adventure. ‘Pans Labyrinth’ meets ‘Barbarella’ in a sci-fi invasion of the mind and body.

Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor is a pioneer of the electronic trance scene. From the back streets of 

London to the Hollywood blockbusters of The Matrix trilogy, his group has constantly morphed and evolved, exploring new areas visually as well as musically.

Juno Reactor will release its new album, ‘The Mutant Theatre’, on Metropolis Records in June 2018, which will be followed by globe-spanning shows in the summer and autumn, from Caesars Palacein Las Vegas to Mt. Fuji in Japan.   

http://junoreactor-mutanttheatre.com/ 

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Review: Juno Reactor – 'The Golden Sun... Remixed'

JUNO REACTOR
'The Golden Sun... Remixed'
METROPOLIS RECORDS

Ben Watkins, AKA Juno Reactor has enjoyed an enviable career releasing a slew of genre bending dance albums that have gone one to fill dance floors and inspire artists all over the world to secure his legacy and an innovative electronic artist. It has been two years since the release of 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East' – the first studio album since the acclaimed 'Gods & Monsters' – and 2015 finally sees Watkins return with the remix companion to the 2013 full-length, and it is safe to say we're overdue another visit to the reactor.

OK, so it is only a remix album, but even Juno Reactor remix releases have a strong fanbase and often show of a range of approaches to the source material that is just as varied and interesting as Watkins' originals. And 'The Golden Sun... Remixed' is no exception... it's perhaps the strongest one yet.

The original album was a solid and methodical exploration of world music and body moving electronics that worked as a whole, but sadly lacked that one lead track that reached the heights of 'Navaras', 'Mona Lisa Overdrive, or 'Conga Fury'. But the remixes displayed on 'The Golden Sun... Remixed' more than just extends the club potential of the original songs. It completely revitalises them.

Tracks such as the GMS remix of 'Zombi', Bliss' version of 'Guillotine', the Zeologic reworking of 'Tempest', Modus' remix of 'Shine', and 'Tanta Pena' as re-imagined by Mickey Noise all illustrate the power and integrity of Watkin's songwriting with each track still sounding overwhelmingly like Juno Reactor rather than becoming vehicles purely of the remixing artists. The album still feels like a proper Juno Reactor album rather than a quickly put together extra to set up an excuse to tour.

'The Golden Sun... Remixed' is a strong album in its own right that returns to and preserves the psychedelic, ethnically infused trance formula that fans crave, and throws in just enough interesting additives to keep it fresh. This is an extension of the original that sees the artists complete Watkins' vision rather than totally reinterpret it. For long-term fans of Juno Reactor, this is exactly what you have been waiting for. 

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Review: Juno Reactor - 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East'

JUNO REACTOR 

'The Golden Sun Of The Great East' 

METROPOLIS 

Some artists simply need no introduction as their body of work speaks for itself. Ben Watkins, AKA Juno Reactor is one of those artists. A career of blending ground-breaking electronica with dance and world music has seen his music grace both dance floors as well as some of the biggest film soundtracks of the past decade. Now, five years after his last outing on 'Gods & Monsters' Watkins returns with 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East'. With a twenty-year legacy to his name there is a lot of high expectation for this album.

From the opening of the fast-paced 'Final Frontier' it is evident that Watkins' edge hasn't dulled in the interval years. All the elements that have come to be associated with Juno Reactor are evident throughout; globe-hopping instruments and vocals along with classical embellishments compliment the incendiary trance beats and hypnotic electronics.

Songs like 'Invisible', 'Trans Siberian', 'Tempest', 'Zombie', and 'Playing With Fire' will no doubt come to be viewed as classics within the Juno Reactor back catalogue. But all the tracks have the power to move you both physically and emotionally as the various ethnic, classical and choral overtones interact with their strong fundamental dance structures.

Yet 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East' doesn't particularly break new ground for Juno Reactor. For all the evocative power of the songs there isn't really anything that pushes the envelope for Watkins. For the most part, the album takes the slower, more restrained path laid out on 'Gods & Monsters'. But while it may arguably lack the full-on force of tracks like 'Navaras' and 'Conga Fury', it is still a solid dance album. Albeit a rather psychedelic and immersible one.

With 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East', Watkins returns to do what he does best. There isn't any need to fix what isn't broken. Instead Watkins focusses on the kind sheer cinematic scope and evocative song writing that is begging to be part of a huge live show.  

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